Connecticut Senate elects leaders, adopts joint and chamber rules to start 2025 session

Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas, acting as presiding officer, called the Connecticut State Senate to order on Jan. 8, 2025, citing Connecticut General Statute section 2-1 and opening the chamber for the 2025 session. "I, Stephanie Thomas, Secretary of the State, acting as President of the Senate, call to order the 20 25 Senate of the Connecticut general assembly," she said.

The Senate immediately moved through organizational business: the chamber elected Michael Jefferson as Senate clerk by acclamation, named Sen. Martin M. Looney president pro tempore by acclamation and adopted joint rules, chamber rules and several procedural resolutions to govern the session. The Senate also confirmed chaplains and appointed a three-senator committee to invite the lieutenant governor to the chamber.

Why it matters: Organizational actions set who controls the chamber calendar and how committee and floor business will be processed over the next two years. Objections from the minority highlighted two procedural questions that may shape committee operations this session: the partisan composition of a new oversight committee and whether committees will return to in-person-only voting.

The key outcomes

- Michael Jefferson was nominated for another term as clerk by Sen. Martin Looney and, with no further nominations, was elected clerk "by acclamation," the chamber declared. The nomination and acclamation were announced from the floor and followed by the formal oath administered by the presiding officer.

- Sen. Martin M. Looney was nominated by Sen. Bob Duff for another term as president pro tempore and his nomination was seconded by Sen. Stephen Harding. Looney accepted the office and was sworn in; the oath was applied by Judge Fisher, who the transcript identifies as Judge Brian Fisher.

- The Senate adopted Senate Joint Resolution No. 1 (concerning the joint rules of the Senate and the House) and Senate Joint Resolution No. 2 (concerning publication of the legislative bulletin, printing of bills, and expenses for the 2025 session) after voice votes. Sen. Stephen Harding announced he would vote no on the joint rules, citing concerns about bipartisan composition of a newly created government oversight committee; the chamber adopted the rules nonetheless.

- The Senate adopted a set of chamber resolutions (Senate resolutions Nos. 1–6), including a resolution raising a committee to inform the lieutenant governor to appear in the Senate chamber and a resolution confirming Reverend Benita Grubbs and Rabbi Philip Wazowski as chaplain and deputy chaplain of the Senate. The chamber moved for immediate transmittal of the adopted joint resolutions to the House of Representatives.

- The committee on canvas of the votes reported that returns were in order; the Senate then proceeded to other opening-day business and to the governor’s address scheduled for noon.

Points of dissent and procedure

Sen. Stephen Harding, the Senate Republican leader, spoke against portions of the adopted rules and registered two specific objections on the record. On the joint rules and the chamber rules, Harding said he would vote no and explained his reasoning on two counts: first, he objected to the partisan composition of the newly created government oversight committee, saying, "if we can't agree to bipartisanship on government oversight, I ... am lost as to what we can find bipartisan agreement on;" second, he objected to any continuation of remote or non–in-person committee voting and urged a return to in-person-only voting, a practice the House was adopting that day.

What the record shows (and what it does not)

- All adoptions and confirmations reported in the Senate were approved by voice vote or acclamation; formal roll-call tallies were not recorded in the public transcript for those items. Where the transcript records a named dissent (Sen. Harding), that dissent is included here; other individual roll-call votes were not recorded in the transcript and are therefore not attributed.

- The Senate cited Connecticut General Statute section 2-1 at the start of the session when the presiding officer called the chamber to order.

What’s next

With leadership established and rules adopted, the Senate moved to prepare for committee work and the noon address by the governor. Several members urged quick movement into committee work and an orderly start to the legislative calendar.