The Connecticut Senate opened its 2026 session Wednesday by quickly acting on legislation that would extend Gov. Ned Lamont’s emergency powers to unilaterally draw on contingency funding as needed to cope with federal cuts. With three Republicans joining all 25 Democrats, the Senate voted 28-8 for emergency-certified legislation that was called for a floor vote without the normal process of committee vetting and public hearings. Two partial federal government shutdowns, abrupt spending cuts ordered and sometimes rescinded by the Trump administration, and the expiration of federal subsidies of health premiums all contributed to the creation of the $500 million contingency fund in a special session last fall. About $330 million remains. “All of this volatile churning we have seen has left us in a position of real instability and lack of confidence in what we might be facing,” said Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven. The House has called a vote Thursday afternoon. With Democrats controlling two-thirds of both chambers, passage is assured. The chaos in Washington and impact on Connecticut residents has served to shrink differences between the fiscally cautious Democratic governor and the Democratic legislature.  “Because we have used Connecticut common sense, we have been able to make up for some of the harsh cuts coming out of the White House,” Lamont told a joint session of the General Assembly before the vote. “We were among the very first to backstop food support for working families. We saw the scared faces and long lines at the food pantries just a few months ago.” The Republican minority objected to the emergency action. Sen. Ryan Fazio, R-Greenwich, a gubernatorial candidate, complained that the contingency fund had been sold to lawmakers as a temporary emergency measure for use when the legislature was not in session. “None of the arguments for this special emergency provision are in existence today,” he said.  Fazio voted against the original measure last fall, but he said Wednesday that he took his colleagues at their word when they said the powers would only be given to Lamont on a temporary basis. Sen. Rob Sampson, R-Wolcott, deplored what he called undercutting legislative practice for “convenience.” “When you can just say it’s an emergency and therefore you can just skip the whole legislative process and grant one man extraordinary power, it’s absurd,” Sampson said. Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, said the president makes the case regularly for giving Lamont the ability to move quickly. “It’s a game where it’s a moving target, and we don’t always know what we’re facing and what is going to happen day to day coming out of Washington, D.C.,” Duff said. “So, this is an opportunity for us to be able to control a little bit and to be able to protect some of the emergency gaps that happen here.” Looney pointed to a recent announcement of federal cuts to mental health and additional services grants, a decision that was reversed a day later. “You don’t know which ones will turn out to be threats and which ones will turn out to be actual,” he said. The Republicans voting for the measure were Sen. Tony Hwang of Fairfield, Sen. Jason Perillo of Shelton and Sen. Heath Somers of Groton. ...read more read less