Sat. Dec 28th, 2024

Gov. Ned Lamont finished his review Thursday of the 175 bills passed by the General Assembly in the regular 2024 session, signing one final bill: a measure making numerous unrelated changes to insurance statutes.

The final score: 173 bills signed, two vetoed.

The General Assembly meets for three months in even-numbered years and five months in odd ones, and the legislative output this year was similar to 2022, when Lamont signed 167 bills and vetoed two from the regular session.

In 2020, the legislature largely shut down the regular session due to the COVID-19 pandemic and passed only one bill. Lawmakers returned to pass 13 bills in two special sessions: four in July and nine in September.

His two vetoes in 2024 were House Bill 5431, which would have created an ill-defined $3 million program intended to provide state aid for strikers; and Senate Bill 226, which would have doubled the maximum value of contracts that a city or town could exempt from sealed bidding from $25,000 to $50,000.

Legislative leaders have said no attempt will be made to override either veto.

The General Assembly will return at month’s end for a special session to act on relatively minor measures: a bill necessary to avoid a spike in motor vehicle assessments in several cities and another intended to make Connecticut more attractive to a special type of business-to-business bank.

Both items, which were the subjects of public hearings in the regulator session, are expected to be presented to lawmakers in one bill. The Senate is expected to meet on June 26; the House on June 27.

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