Like many Democratic officials, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz believes her party suffered significant election losses across the country earlier this month because it lost sight of the economic issues affecting the middle class and lower-income Americans.
“At the national level, I would say that inflation trumped democracy. I would say the democratic economic message did not appeal to a majority of the voters, unfortunately,” she said during an interview with Events Host John Dankosky for The Connecticut Mirror’s “In the Room” event series.
But Bysiewicz, who previously served as a state lawmaker and secretary of the state, argued that Connecticut voters handed Democrats even more seats in the state legislature this year because, at the state level, officials remained focused on improving the state’s finances and paying down its debt.
“We won seats. Why was that? It’s because we’ve had six balanced budgets, two big tax cuts. We’ve paid down $8 billion of debt. And we’ve used the money we’ve saved from those debt payments to invest in people,” she said.
The balanced budgets, tax cuts and debt payments that Bysiewicz associated with Democratic gains this year are actually the result of a bipartisan agreement in the legislature, which was passed after a fiscal crisis paralyzed the General Assembly in 2017.
That agreement, which was brokered between Democrats and Republicans, set up spending caps, limits on state borrowing and measures that forced lawmakers to save a significant portion of its revenues. And in recent years, those so-called “fiscal guardrails” helped Connecticut to generate annual surpluses, expand its budget reserve and pay down more than $8.5 billion in pension debt.
Bysiewicz attributed the Democratic Party’s electoral success in Connecticut, at least in part, to those improvements to the state’s finances.
“That economic message clearly appealed to people because we picked up seats,” she said.
Even so, she acknowledged the growing number of Democrats in the legislature who are calling for the fiscal guardrails to be overturned or revised so they can use some of the financial reserves to boost spending on education, social services and other government programs — something Gov. Ned Lamont and Republicans are opposed to.
That fight over the state’s finances, Bysiewicz said, is likely to play out in a very public way during the 2025 legislative session.
Bysiewicz also recognized that many people in the state are still struggling with day-to-day expenses, including skyrocketing rents, inflated grocery prices and some of the highest utility bills in the country. And she said those are the things her party needs to prioritize moving forward.
“People need to be laser focused on affordability, and so that is what we are doing,” she said.
Republican legislators have repeatedly called for a special legislative session this year in order to debate legislation focused on reducing the size of people’s gas and electricity bills. That call to action has not been taken up by Lamont.
Bysiewicz said there will be legislation developed in the upcoming session focused on lowering household utility bills.
As 2025 approaches, Bysiewicz said Connecticut Democrats are also focused on how to deal with the second term of President-elect Donald Trump and how to create a bulwark to counteract the potential policies coming out of the Trump White House.
Bysiewicz said Connecticut’s political leaders, all of whom are elected Democrats, need to be prepared to oppose Trump’s policies on education, abortion and a host of other economic and social issues.
“I think that what the governor and I were focused on was letting people know that we understand their concerns and that nonetheless we are going to stand up for Connecticut values, like reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, labor rights, civil rights, voting rights,” she said.