In The Loop – February 11, 2022
2022 CT General Assembly – Open for Business – Kind Of!
Wednesday, without much pomp and circumstance, the 2022 General Assembly convened, adopted their modified rules for the session, greeted the governor and listened politely to his state of the state ( with a couple standing ovations and cheering from his fellow Democrats) and his vision for the next year (and hopefully another four years based on the November elections).
The joint session was quickly adjourned and the house returned yesterday to tackle the governor’s wish list of 11 Executive orders to be codified into state law with a sunset date. In an unusual move, the House Democrats also introduced a somewhat confusing resolution to take away certain powers of the governor under certain emergency circumstances. As it was explained and debate continued, I’m not so sure who knows what exactly it will do and what impact it will have on the governor in reality.
Since our democracy is based on the separation of powers, the legislature is limited in what it can and can’t do as far as state agencies. They can develop policy and a pathway to achieve it, but the executive branch is in charge of getting it done in a fashion that falls within the broad policy directions. The governor has the exclusive right to direct and order the commissioners to take actions in case of an emergency declared under the authority given to him in the constitution. Soooooo – from my limited understanding, I am not really sure what the resolution will do to “curb” the governor’s powers and have the legislature be the lead in cases of certain emergencies.