Senate Republicans Decry Emergency Bills Expected To Pass Senate

by Donald Eng

HARTFORD, CT — As the state Senate prepared to vote on a number of bills Wednesday, the Republican caucus decried the emergency certification designation applied to a pair of them.

The two bills are Senate bills 298 and 299. One, S.B. 299, makes a series of changes in the state’s bottle redemption laws. Though not particularly controversial, its emergency certification raised questions about process among the Republican contingent.

The other emergency bill, S.B. 298, is a wide-ranging, 121-page piece of legislation that addresses, among other things, school construction projects, warehouse workers’ rights, Islamic and Arab studies and antisemitism in schools, police training on interacting with people with disabilities, early voting and ballot security, firefighters’ cancer funds and municipal pensions. 

All of those issues should be addressed through normal legislative process, Republicans said. Emergency certification allows lawmakers to bypass normal legislative delays and is typically used when bills are needed to address an urgent issue or are stalled in one chamber.

“None of these issues are an emergency,” said Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield. “But I can tell you what’s an emergency when I go around my district and when (other senators) go about theirs: affordability and being able to pay the third-highest tax burden in this state, by most metrics. We have nothing on the board today by the Democratic majority to address that emergency.”

State Sen. Ryan Fazio addresses the media outside the Senate chamber on Feb. 25, 2026 at the State Capitol in Hartford, CT. Credit: Donald Eng

State Sen. Ryan Fazio, R-Greenwich, said he intended to introduce a series of amendments to address what he called the only real emergency in this state.

“We as Senate Republicans will introduce amendments today to address the real emergency in people’s lives,” Fazio said. He said the amendments, similar in nature to the proposals the caucus had introduced earlier this month, would cut taxes and electric bills.

“We are focused on the issues that matter to people in their daily lives in this state,” he said. “There is no emergency that requires us to bypass public hearings and the regular legislative process in order to pass a wish list of spending.”

L to R: In this file photo, Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff and Senate President Martin Looney discuss bills on behavioral health and the effects of hate speech on children during a news conference Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Hartford. Credit: Hudson Kamphausen / CTNewsJunkie

Senate Democrats defended the action, saying the state would benefit actions such as strengthening election security, empowering workers and ensuring the bottle redemption system was sustainable.

“Republicans will look for any excuse to vote against legislation that supports workers and makes our elections safer,” said Senate President Martin Looney, D-New Haven. 

Majority Leader Bob Duff of Norwalk said the legislature had the opportunity to deliver needed change for state residents and needed to take it.

“In the current landscape, that means protecting voter data, supporting warehouse workers and keeping recycling viable,” Duff said. He called the legislation on the Senate agenda “thoroughly vetted, thoroughly reviewed” and positive for constituents.

The two bills are scheduled to be the last two on the Senate agenda, following debate on a series of judicial and state commission nominations and approval of an arbitration award between the state and some union employee groups.

The Senate was expected to debate the bills into the night. The state House of Representatives is scheduled to convene on Thursday to take action on the bills presuming they pass the Senate.