by Donald Eng CTNewsJunkie
HARTFORD, CT — A reworked housing bill encountered spirited resistance from House Republicans Wednesday, although both sides of the aisle acknowledged it was unlikely to make a difference.
The bill, HB-8002, makes numerous changes in regards to housing and planning and zoning, according to the bill analysis.
Debate on the 70-page bill began shortly after 10:30 a.m., and as of 3 p.m. was continuing. Republicans focused their criticism on various topics, including the role of municipal councils of governments (COGs), minimal parking mandates for multi-family housing development, and a claim that the bill had been created behind closed doors, among other issues.
“You might as well give those planning and zoning people a nice thank you for their effort, but you’re really not needed now because we’re going to handle it out of Hartford or a COG,” said Rep. Steven Weir, R-Hebron.
The bill includes dozens of sections including things like a first-time homebuyer savings program, a requirement for a town to either opt into a COG plan or develop their own plan to increase affordable housing and submit it to a COG every five years, a requirement for the housing department to create a plan to provide portable laundry and shower facilities for people experiencing homelessness, creation of fair rent commissions for communities larger than 15,000 residents and more.
In a pre-session briefing, House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, and Majority Leader Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford, pointed out that the bill had received the support of regional COGs and municipal leaders that had been critical of the original proposal at a Friday press conference.
“The agreement that the bipartisan group of local elected officials , representatives from all levels of government stood behind is still the bill that we have today,” he said.
Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, answers questions before the House special session on Nov. 12, 2025.
Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, disputed that assertion, saying House Republicans had received a copy of the bill 15 minutes after the Friday press conference ended.
“We certainly did have local leaders stand there in support of a bill which, frankly, I’m not sure any of them read,” he said.
Rojas called the approval among municipal leaders and opposition from Republican lawmakers, “a disconnect that they’ll have to explain.”
Rojas said the new bill addressed concerns with local control and local officials being involved in decision making.
“We actually did that. Compromised,” he said. “And now they’re trying to find all sorts of other reasons to oppose a bill that is really important to the State of Connecticut.”
State Rep. Antonio Felipe, D-Bridgeport, speaks during the Nov. 12, 2025 special House session at the State Capitol in Hartford.
With debate on the bill entering its sixth hour Wednesday, the House had three other bills on its agenda: funding the purchase of Waterbury Hospital by UConn Health Center; creating a $500 million reserve to address potential cuts in programs by the federal government; and a bill that would codify in law courthouse restrictions on federal agents taking people into custody and limiting information sharing about individuals between public state agencies and entities that are not public state agencies.
The Senate, which has its own special session scheduled for Thursday, would also have to pass and Gov. Ned Lamont would have to sign any legislation the House approved.