View source for Connecticut General Assembly

{{short description|Legislative branch of the state government of Connecticut}}
{{use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox legislature
| background_color  = {{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}
| name              = Connecticut General Assembly
| coa_pic           = Seal of the General Assembly of Connecticut.png
| house_type        = [[Bicameralism|Bicameral]]
| houses            = [[Connecticut Senate|Senate]]<br />[[Connecticut House of Representatives|House of Representatives]]
| leader1_type      = [[Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut|Senate President]]
| leader1           = [[Susan Bysiewicz]]
| party1            = ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]])
| election1         = January 9, 2019
| leader2_type      = [[Presidents pro tempore of the Connecticut Senate|Senate President pro tempore]]
| leader2           = [[Martin Looney]]
| party2            = ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]])
| election2         = January 7, 2015
| leader5_type      = [[Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives|House Speaker]]
| leader5           = [[Matthew Ritter]]
| party5            = ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]])
| election5         = January 6, 2021
| house1            = State Senate
| house2            = House of Representatives
| structure1        = Connecticut State Senate 2025.svg
| structure1_res    = 250
| structure2        = Connecticut House of Representatives 2025.svg
| structure2_res    = 250
| members           = '''187''' voting members
* 36 senators
* 151 representatives
| political_groups1 = {{Unbulleted list|class=nowrap
| {{Color box|#0000FF|border=darkgray}} [[Democratic Party of Connecticut|Democratic]] (25)
| {{Color box|#FF0000|border=darkgray}} [[Connecticut Republican Party|Republican]] (11)
}}
| political_groups2 = {{Unbulleted list|class=nowrap
| {{Color box|#0000FF|border=darkgray}} [[Democratic Party of Connecticut|Democratic]] (102)
| {{Color box|#FF0000|border=darkgray}} [[Connecticut Republican Party|Republican]] (49)
}}
| session_room      = Connecticut State Capitol, Hartford.jpg
| session_res       = 275px
| meeting_place     = [[Connecticut State Capitol]]<br />[[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]]
| website           = [http://www.cga.ct.gov Connecticut General Assembly]
|constitution=[[Constitution of Connecticut]]
|rules=[https://www.cga.ct.gov/lco/pdfs/Rules_and_Precedents.pdf Rules and Precedents]
|last_election1=[[2024 Connecticut State Senate election|November 5, 2024]]<br />(36 seats)
|last_election2=[[2024 Connecticut House of Representatives election|November 5, 2024]]<br />(151 seats)
}}
[[File:Connecticut Legislative Office Building interior.jpg|thumb|right|Interior of the Legislative Office Building (LOB)]]
The '''Connecticut General Assembly''' ('''CGA''') is the [[State legislature (United States)|state legislature]] of the [[U.S. state]] of [[Connecticut]]. It is a [[Bicameralism|bicameral]] body composed of the 151-member [[Connecticut House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] and the 36-member [[Connecticut Senate|Senate]].  It meets in the [[List of capitals in the United States|state capital]], [[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]]. There are no [[term limit]]s for members of either chamber.

During even-numbered years, the General Assembly is in session from February to May.  In odd-numbered years, when the state [[budget]] is completed, session lasts from January to June. The governor has the right to call for a [[special session]] after the end of the regular session, while the General Assembly can call for a "[[veto session]]" after the close in order to override gubernatorial [[veto]]es.

==History==

The three settlements that would become Connecticut ([[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]], [[Wethersfield, Connecticut|Wethersfield]], and [[Windsor, Connecticut|Windsor]]) were established in 1633, and were originally governed by the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony|Massachusetts Bay Company]] under terms of a commission for settlement. When the commission expired in 1636 and the [[Connecticut Colony]] was established, the legislature was established as the "General Corte", consisting of six magistrates along with three-member committees representing each of the three towns. In 1639, the [[Fundamental Orders of Connecticut]] were adopted, which changed the spelling to "General Court;" formalized its executive, judicial, and legislative authority; and changed its membership to consist of the governor and six magistrates (each elected for one year terms) and three or four deputies per town (elected for six-month terms). Although the magistrates and deputies sat together, they voted separately and in 1645 it was decreed that a measure had to have the approval of both groups in order to pass. The [[History of the Connecticut Constitution#The Connecticut Charter of 1662|Charter of 1662]] changed the name to the General Assembly, while replacing the six magistrates with twelve assistants and reducing the number of deputies per town to no more than two. In 1698, the General Assembly divided itself into its current bicameral form, with the twelve assistants as the Council and the deputies as the House of Representatives. The modern form of the General Assembly (divided into the upper Senate and lower House and devoid of all executive and judicial authority) was incorporated in the [[History of the Connecticut Constitution#The Constitution of 1818|1818 constitution]].<ref>''Under the Gold Dome: An Insider's Look at the Connecticut Legislature'', by Judge Robert Satter. New Haven: Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, 2004, pp. 16-27.</ref>

==Facilities==
Most of the General Assembly's committee and caucus meetings are held in the modern Legislative Office Building (LOB), while the House and Senate sessions are held in the [[Connecticut State Capitol|State Capitol]].  The two buildings are connected via a tunnel known as the "Concourse", which stretches underneath an off-ramp of [[Interstate 84 (east)|Interstate 84]].  Most offices for legislators and their aides are also housed in the LOB, though some legislative leaders choose to be based in the State Capitol itself.

Each committee has its own office space, with most being located in the LOB.  A few committees, particularly select committees, have their offices in the Capitol.  Committee chairs and ranking members normally choose to have their personal offices near their committee offices, rather than staying in their caucus areas.

The General Assembly is also provided with facilities such as a cafeteria, private dining room, newsstand, and library.

==Committee system==
The General Assembly has 26 committees, all of which are joint committees; that is, their membership includes House and Senate members alike.  Several committees have [[subcommittee]]s, each with their own chair and special focus.

Before most bills are considered in either the House or Senate, they must first go through the committee system.  The primary exception to this rule is the [[emergency certification bill]], or "e-cert," which can be passed on the floor without going through committee first.  The e-cert is generally reserved for use during times of crisis, such as natural disasters or when deadlines are approaching too quickly to delay action.

===Permanent committees===
Most are permanent committees, which are authorized and required by state statute to be continued each session.

The twenty-seven permanent committees of the General Assembly are:
* Aging Committee<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/age/ Aging Committee]</ref>
**Co-Chairs: [[Jan Hochadel]] ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]]-[[Connecticut's 13th State Senate district|S13]]) and [[Jane Garibay]] (D-[[Connecticut's 60th House of Representatives district|60]])
**Vice Chairs: [[Patricia Billie Miller]] (D-[[Connecticut's 27th State Senate district|S27]]) and [[Mary Fortier]] (D-[[Connecticut's 79th House of Representatives district|79]])
**Ranking Members: [[Tony Hwang]] ([[Republican Party (United States)|R]]-[[Connecticut's 28th State Senate district|S28]]) and [[Mitch Bolinsky]] (R-[[Connecticut's 106th House of Representatives district|106]])
* Appropriations Committee<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/app/ Appropriations Committee]</ref>
**Co-Chairs: [[Catherine Osten]] (D-[[Connecticut's 19th State Senate district|S19]]) and [[Toni Walker]] (D-[[Connecticut's 93rd House of Representatives district|93]])
**Vice Chairs: [[Joan Hartley]] (D-[[Connecticut's 15th State Senate district|S15]]), [[Julie Kushner]] (D-[[Connecticut's 24th State Senate district|S24]]), [[Tammy Exum]] (D-[[Connecticut's 19th House of Representatives district|19]]), and [[Corey Paris]] (D-[[Connecticut's 145th House of Representatives district|145]])
**Ranking Members: [[Heather Somers]] (R-[[Connecticut's 18th State Senate district|S18]]) and [[Tammy Nuccio]] (R-[[Connecticut's 53rd House of Representatives district|53]])
* Banking Committee<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/ba/ Banks Committee]</ref>
**Co-Chairs: [[Jason Doucette]] (D-[[Connecticut's 13th House of Representatives district|13]]) and [[Patricia Billie Miller]] (D-[[Connecticut's 27th State Senate district|S27]])
**Vice Chairs: [[Farley Santos]] (D-[[Connecticut's 109th House of Representatives district|109]]) and [[Paul Honig]] (D-[[Connecticut's 8th State Senate district|S8]])
**Ranking Members: [[Tom Delnicki]] (R-[[Connecticut's 14th House of Representatives district|14]]) and [[Eric Berthel]] (R-[[Connecticut's 32nd State Senate district|S32]])
* Children Committee<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/KID/ Children Committee]</ref>
**Co-Chairs: [[Corey Paris]] (D-[[Connecticut's 145th House of Representatives district|145]]) and [[Ceci Maher]] (D-[[Connecticut's 26th State Senate district|S26]])
**Vice Chairs: [[Mary Welander]] (D-[[Connecticut's 114th House of Representatives district|114]]) and [[Christine Cohen]] (D-[[Connecticut's 12th State Senate district|S12]])
**Ranking Members: [[Anne Dauphinais]] (R-[[Connecticut's 44th House of Representatives district|44]]) and [[Henri Martin (American politician)|Henri Martin]] (R-[[Connecticut's 31st State Senate district|S31]])
* Commerce Committee<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/ce/ Commerce Committee]</ref>
**Co-Chairs: [[Joan Hartley]] (D-[[Connecticut's 15th State Senate district|S15]]) and [[Stephen Meskers]] (D-[[Connecticut's 150th House of Representatives district|150]])
**Vice Chairs: [[MD Rahman]] (D-[[Connecticut's 4th State Senate district|S4]]) and [[Sarah Keitt]] (D-[[Connecticut's 134th House of Representatives district|134]])
**Ranking Members: [[Henri Martin (American politician)|Henri Martin]] (R-[[Connecticut's 31st State Senate district|S31]]) and [[Chris Aniskovich]] (R-[[Connecticut's 35th House of Representatives district|35]])
* Education Committee<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/ED/ Education Committee]</ref> (K–12)
**Co-Chairs: [[Douglas McCrory]] (D-[[Connecticut's 2nd State Senate district|S2]]) and [[Jennifer Leeper]] (D-[[Connecticut's 132nd House of Representatives district|132]])
**Vice Chairs: [[Gary Winfield]] (D-[[Connecticut's 10th State Senate district|S10]]) and [[Kevin Brown (politician)|Kevin Brown]] (D-[[Connecticut's 56th House of Representatives district|56]])
**Ranking Members: [[Eric Berthel]] (R-[[Connecticut's 32nd State Senate district|S32]]) and [[Lezlye Zupkus]] (R-[[Connecticut's 89th House of Representatives district|89]])
* Energy and Technology Committee<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/ET/ Energy and Technology Committee]</ref>
* Environment Committee<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/ENV/ Environment Committee]</ref>
* Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/EXN/ Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee]</ref>
* Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/FIN/ Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee]</ref>
* General Law Committee<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/GL/ General Law Committee]</ref>
* Government Administration and Elections Committee<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/GAE/ Government Administration and Elections Committee]</ref>
* Government Oversight Committee<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/GOS/ Government Oversight Committee]</ref>
* Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/HED/ Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee]</ref>
* Housing Committee<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/HSG/ Housing Committee]</ref>
* Human Services Committee<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/HS/ Human Services Committee]</ref>
* Insurance and Real Estate Committee<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/INS/ Insurance and Real Estate Committee]</ref>
* Internship Committee<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/ISC/ Internship Committee]</ref>
* Judiciary Committee<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/JUD/ Judiciary Committee]</ref>
* Labor and Public Employees Committee<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/LAB/ Labor and Public Employees Committee]</ref>
* Joint Committee on Legislative Management<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/LM/ Joint Committee on Legislative Management]</ref>
* Planning and Development Committee<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/PD/ Planning and Development Committee]</ref>
* Public Health Committee<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/PH/ Public Health Committee]</ref>
* Public Safety and Security Committee<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/PS/ Public Safety and Security Committee]</ref>
* Regulation Review Committee<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/RR/ Regulation Review Committee]</ref>
* Transportation Committee<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/TRA/ Transportation Committee]</ref>
* Veterans' Affairs Committee<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/VA/ Veterans' Affairs Committee]</ref>

Of those, the Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee, Internship Committee, Joint Committee on Legislative Management, and Regulation Review Committee are considered bi-partisan and feature leadership from each party.

===Select committees===
Some committees are select committees, authorized to only function for a set number of years before being brought up for review.  Most select committees deal with issues of major importance during a particular time period and are created in response to specific problems facing the state. As of the 2025 legislative session, there is one active select committee, the Select Committee on Special Education.<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/SED/ Select Committee on Special Education]</ref>

===Leadership and staff===
Most committee chair positions are held by the ruling party, but committees considered officially bi-partisan have chairs from both the Republican and Democratic [[caucus]]es.  Bi-partisan committees are ones that are mostly administrative in nature, such as the Legislative Internship Committee.  Most committees have [[ranking member]]s, or leaders from the minority party who serve as the leaders of their party on each committee.

All committees have their own staff members.  The four largest committees (Appropriations, Finance, Judiciary, and Public Health) are led by non-partisan senior committee administrators. The rest are led by a committee [[clerk (position)|clerk]] appointed by the majority party. The majority and minority party appoint assistant clerks.

Each committee is assigned additional non-partisan staffers from the Office of Legislative Research, the Office of Fiscal Analysis, and the Legislative Commissioners' Office who, respectively, research legislation and issues, assess fiscal impacts, and draft legislation.

==Subpoena power==
The General Assembly has [[subpoena]] power under [[Connecticut General Statutes]] §2-46. Recent decisions by the [[Connecticut Supreme Court]], the [[state supreme court]], have clarified and limited this power.

§2-46 vests the Connecticut General Assembly with broad subpoena power. The power to compel documents and testimony is vested in the [[President of the Senate]], [[Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives|Speaker of the House of Representatives]], or either of the chairman of any committee (Connecticut has joint Committees, with a chairman from each house of the General Assembly). Once subpoenaed, a person refusing to comply may be fined between $100 and $1000, and [[imprisoned]] for between one month and one year.

The legislature has the power to subpoena the sitting [[governor of Connecticut]] in limited circumstances. The Connecticut Supreme Court clarified these circumstances, during the [[John G. Rowland]] [[Impeachment in the United States|impeachment]] process, in ''Office of the Legislature v. The Select Committee On Inquiry'', 271 Conn. 540 (2004), holding that the legislature can issue subpoenas only in conjunction with its mandate under the [[State constitution (United States)|state constitution]]. Impeachment is a constitutional power of the legislature under Article IX of the [[Connecticut Constitution]], and therefore the legislature can compel the testimony of the governor in conjunction with impeachment proceedings.

The ability of the legislature to subpoena [[judge]]s of the [[State court (United States)|state court]] has also been clarified in court. During the controversy surrounding the retirement of the [[chief justice]] of the Connecticut Supreme Court, William "Taco" Sullivan, the Connecticut General Assembly subpoenaed the testimony of Sullivan, who was still sitting on the Court. Sullivan challenged the subpoena in [[Connecticut Superior Court]].  The court ruled, in ''Sullivan v. McDonald'' (WL 2054052 2006), that the legislature could only subpoena a sitting Justice in an impeachment proceeding. On appeal, the entire Connecticut Supreme Court [[Judicial disqualification|recused]] itself, and the argument was made before the judges of the [[Connecticut Appellate Court]] sitting as the Supreme Court. The Judiciary Committee, who issued the subpoenas, argued that they could also issue subpoenas in conjunction with their constitutional confirmation power. Sullivan voluntarily testified before a ruling was issued.

==Public participation==
The majority of General Assembly proceedings are open to members of the public.  Public hearings are held regularly during the session for residents to be given a chance to testify on pending legislation.  Viewing areas are offered in both chambers for people who would like to observe, though the floor of each chamber is generally restricted to legislators, staff members, interns, and certain members of the media collectively known as the Capitol Press Corps.  Additionally, the [[Connecticut Network]], or CT-N, broadcasts the majority of each session for viewing on television.

Members of the public are often recognized during legislative proceedings, particularly sessions of the House.  Representatives and Senators can call for a "point of personal privilege" when there is no business pending on the floor, which allows them to introduce family members or residents of their districts to the rest of the membership.  The entire chamber often recognizes civic and youth groups, particularly championship-winning sports teams.  Some residents receive special citations from the membership as well.

==See also==
* [[Connecticut State Capitol]]
* [[Connecticut House of Representatives]]
* [[Connecticut State Senate]]
* [[Connecticut Capitol Police]]
* [[List of members of the Connecticut General Assembly from Norwalk]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{wikisource index}}
* Connecticut General Assembly<ref>[https://www.cga.ct.gov/ Connecticut General Assembly]</ref>
* CGA Legislative Member Database, 1776-Present<ref>[https://www.ctatatelibrarydata.org/connecticut-general-assembly-members/ CGA Legislative Member Database, 1776-Present]</ref>
* Capitol Tours<ref>[https://wp.cga.ct.gov/capitoltours/ Capitol Tours]</ref>

{{Current Connecticut State Senators}}
{{Connecticut House of Representatives}}
{{United States legislatures}}
{{Connecticut}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Connecticut General Assembly| ]]
[[Category:1636 establishments in Connecticut]]
[[Category:Bicameral legislatures]]
[[Category:Legislatures of the Thirteen Colonies]]