The 2023 legislative session began on Wednesday, January 4 with more than 35 newly elected legislators taking the oath of office and Governor Lamont giving his State of the State outlining legislative priorities and budget agenda. A full copy of Governor Lamont’s address can be found here.

For the first time since March 2020, the Legislative Office Building has fully reopened to the public. This means that legislators, staff, and lobbyists have once again convened under the gold dome to navigate the legislative process. This session will still contain many of the hybrid components we’ve seen in recent years, with committee meetings and public hearings able to be viewed on committee YouTube pages, and testimony sign-ups happening online.

During the first several weeks of session, more than 2,400 bill concepts have been proposed by individual legislators and committees will begin the process of narrowing down which concepts will be raised, fully drafted, and will result in a public hearing.

In February, Governor Lamont will present his proposed budget to the general assembly and that will kick off the Appropriations and Finance committees’ negotiations to create the final state budget, which will need to be voted on by members of the House and Senate before being signed by the governor.

This year, the Department of Agriculture has submitted one agency bill covering all three bureaus within the agency – Regulatory Services, Agricultural Development and Resource Conservation, and Aquaculture. This agency proposal contains a significant number of livestock revisions to bring our statutory language in line with USDA, a small scale shellstock lease initiative program aimed at supporting new and beginning aquaculture ventures, and measures to increase land access across the state. All available agency proposals can be found on the Office of Policy and Management website here.

In addition to our legislative package, the department will continue to work with fellow state agencies to address farmland preservation, working to meet our climate change goals, and will continue to support and promote the agricultural industry through the legislative process. All events happening at the general assembly can be found on their website here.

For legislative inquiries pertaining to Connecticut agriculture, please contact Kayleigh Royston at Kayleigh.Royston@ct.gov.