Republican lawmakers in Connecticut are launching a statewide tour they’re billing as a chance to pitch an alternative to the Democratic majority’s policies.
This week, they kicked it off at Coastal Carriers, a small petroleum transportation business in Ansonia.
Republicans have been the minority party in Connecticut’s legislature for nearly 30 years. GOP leaders said this tour will allow them to speak with local business owners and residents about why their plan is better than what Democrats have offered in the past.
State Senator Ryan Fazio (R-Greenwich) said it includes cutting the Public Benefits charge on energy bills, capping property tax increases at 2%, and a $1,000 income tax cut for the middle class, among other things.
“We will be taking these plans on the road to say that we are not just here to cast stones as Senate Republicans,” Fazio said. “We are here to provide help, to provide leadership, and to provide hope for the future of the state of Connecticut.”
Democrats have agreed that energy costs for consumers are too high. However, their approach to lowering them has been different. Their bill, S.B.4, deals partly with new nuclear construction and offshore wind readiness. It was passed by the General Assembly’s Energy and Technology Committee last week.
“We have obviously heard many, many complaints about rates and about the volatility of rates,” Senate President Pro-Temport Martin Looney (D-New Haven) said at the beginning of the session. “And we are, of course, very sensitive to that.”
The state’s Republicans have also been vocal in supporting the so-called fiscal guardrails that keep Connecticut from spending much of its rainy day fund. They’ve historically been on the same side as Governor Ned Lamont (D) and in opposition to many Democratic lawmakers and activists who think the state should spend more on issues like education and housing.
In Ansonia, Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding (R-Brookfield) accused the state’s Democrats of being too focused on national politics.
“We have a plan to do something right here in the state of Connecticut about something we can directly control, and they want nothing to do with it,” Harding said. “Instead, they want to talk about Washington, DC.”
The Republicans’ next stop will be in New Cannan on April 22.
Senate Democrats did not reply to a request for comment on this story.
