All-day marathons, lack of sleep, hours of debate. CT lawmakers blame each other as ‘obstructionist’

Hartford Courant – Thursday, May 7, 2026
By Christopher Keating

As part of a last-day scramble to beat the deadline as the 2026 legislative session was expiring at midnight Wednesday, the state Senate debated all day Tuesday and through the night on various bills before starting another debate at 3:20 a.m. Wednesday on one of the most controversial bills of the year, banning new Glock pistols that can be easily converted to fire like automatic machine guns.

With most Connecticut residents sleeping at 3:20 a.m., the senators started their debate at that hour in a clash that didn’t conclude until about 7:20 a.m. as many residents were waking up. The bill passed by 22-11 with three members absent as one Democrat, Sen. Cathy Osten of Sprague, joined with 10 Republicans against the bill.

In political fashion, each side blamed the other for the all-night marathon.

House Republican leader Vincent Candelora of North Branford said that top Senate Democratic leaders should have managed the Senate calendar better over the course of the session instead of leaving important items to virtually the last minute.

“We talk about filibustering in this building, and Democrats attempt to say that we’re obstructionist,” Candelora told reporters Wednesday. “But I have to defend my Senate colleagues. When you take a bill as controversial as a gun bill, that didn’t get any [Republican] support in the House, and you call it at 3 a.m., what do you think is going to happen? … I think it’s disrespectful to the process that the leadership would do that. So I don’t put that on the Republicans whatsoever. I put it on the Democrat Party who should not be calling bills at 3 a.m. It’s something that doesn’t happen in the House. … The Speaker does not call bills that late at night.”

Candelora added, “Manage your calendar. Don’t go home at 8 p.m. last week, and then all of a sudden — surprise — you have a number of controversial bills to do. I think they really back-loaded the process, and that’s a management issue. I think they could have done some of these bills last week, like the Speaker had done. There was no reason for it.”

But Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, a Norwalk Democrat, said that Republicans had known since last Thursday that they would be debating the gun bill, along with a budget bill and legislation offered by the state Department of Transportation, which eventually passed easily, 32-4.

“They’re the ones who chose to filibuster a bipartisan DOT bill for six hours,” Duff said of Republicans. “Our side of the aisle would have been more than happy to leave at the same time as the House did. Basically, there were no surprises. … The wheels fell off the wagon on their side, not our side.”

Duff added, “Look, I like Vin Candelora. I think he’s a good leader. If he wants to know what’s happening up here, he has my number.”

If necessary, Duff said that Democrats were prepared to continue straight through without a break from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

But Senate Republican leader Stephen Harding of Brookfield said Republicans were caught off guard by the size of some of the bills that were debated on short notice.

“We had general outlines of what was to be done, but what ultimately got dropped in our hands was 30 bills that we were not told were absolutely running or not,” Harding said. “In addition to doing the Glock bill, which is a huge, controversial bill. In addition to that, they threw in a second budget implementer that was 104 pages, and it was a strike-all amendment that we didn’t get until the afternoon. In that bill was a bunch of earmarks, questionable rats, and absentee ballot changes that we were unaware of. … Things weren’t fully disclosed — put it that way. Just because Bob likes a bill doesn’t mean it’s not controversial, with all due respect.”

During the Senate’s short break Wednesday morning, Harding, who is 38 years old, said he ran 6 miles to “clear my head” in order to get reinvigorated for the rest of the day.

After getting some rest, the Senate reconvened at about 3 p.m. Wednesday.

“We are all tired — running on fumes,” said Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, who presides over the Senate.

The Senate started by debating House Bill 5001, a 73-section, 116-page document concerning no-excuses absentee ballot voting that will make it far easier for voters to obtain ballots.

Sen. Rob Sampson said on the Senate floor that Democrats had wanted to continue with the debate at 8 a.m. Wednesday but that Republicans agreed to limit to two hours of debate on the elections bill in order to gain some rest from 8 a.m. until about 3 p.m. when the debate restarted.

“I think it’s a travesty the way this process is working,” Sampson said. “I couldn’t be more frustrated in the past couple of days. … I will refer to this as the shenanigans bill throughout.”

Despite the short break, some senators essentially got no sleep at all for more than 36 straight hours.

Affordable housing

While helping solve the problem of affordable housing is among the legislature’s highest priorities, lawmakers said they could not resolve the issue Wednesday but would come back to it next year.

One of the answers that lawmakers thought they had this year was a bipartisan bill to allow homeowners to rent bedrooms in single-family homes without any permits or zoning approvals. Known as the “Golden Girls” bill, the measure said that the rooms could be rented “as of right” without notifying local authorities about new tenants moving into neighborhoods normally occupied by one family per home.

But the measure got bogged down in the state House of Representatives as lawmakers with constituents near colleges and universities became concerned that too many young, rowdy students might move into the neighborhood. House Speaker Matt Ritter, a Democrat who lives near the University of Connecticut law school in Hartford’s West End, said residents and legislators have raised concerns in various neighborhoods. Ritter thought the bill applied only to those 55 and over, but it states that the rentals could go to those 18 and over.

“I think next year we can sit down and figure it out,” Ritter said Wednesday. “It’s a tweaking. I get the concept. We’ll work on it.”

Retiring lawmakers

In a growing tradition, Gov. Ned Lamont and his staff walked through the historic Hall of the House on the final night and shook hands with various members. He congratulated Ritter on a successful session and greeted other lawmakers at about 8:45 p.m. Wednesday. Outside the chamber, he gave a hug to Rep. Tammy Nuccio of Tolland, the ranking House Republican on the appropriations committee. Lamont addressed her as a lawmaker who “actually gets the budget” before saying, “We took some of your ideas.”

Lamont went upstairs and expected to shake hands in the same way in the state Senate, but he stopped at the door as Sen. Douglas McCrory of Hartford was making a fiery speech on Senate Bill 307 regarding President Donald Trump’s administration policies concerning diversity, equity, and inclusion and the state’s minority business revolving loan fund. The state could potentially lose $160 million in state funds if it does not comply with the federal administration, including making changes that would erase the word “minority” from the website, lawmakers said.

“I’m sick of compromising, and this bill says compromise again,” McCrory thundered on the Senate floor before voting for the bill. “I’m not all right. You don’t have to ask me. I’m not all right. I’m unhappy because I have to compromise again.”

The final day also included the last regular session day for 19 lawmakers who are either retiring or leaving the chamber in order to run for higher office. The House broadcast a video of lawmakers giving words of wisdom as they were departing the chamber.

Rep. Tim Ackert, a Coventry Republican who is running for lieutenant governor, got emotional in his final speech.

“God bless you all, I love you all,” Ackert said as he bid farewell to his colleagues.

Rep. Tammy Exum, a West Hartford Democrat whose husband passed away suddenly from a heart attack in October 2023, said the support of her colleagues allowed her to continue working at the state Capitol.

“I’ve been living a very parallel life,” Exum said. “Today I stand here because of the beautiful support I’ve been given, and I call it grace. I know I’m not the same person I was when I came in here. I believe I can continue to help in different ways. I thank you for your belief, your support.”

Rep. Devin Carney, an Old Lyme Republican who has served for 12 years, said he dressed up as different presidents for Halloween, extending that to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich when he was in sixth grade.

“I don’t view this as retirement,” said Carney, who is getting married in one month. “I’m 41 years old. … This has really been the honor of a lifetime.”

In her final remarks, Rep. Lucy Dathan, a New Canaan Democrat, mentioned a popular moniker for the state.

“Connecticut is not the land of steady habits,” she said. “It’s the land of incremental change.”

Rep. Jillian Gilchrest, a West Hartford Democrat who has served for eight years as a legislator, is stepping down because she is running in a four-way primary for Congress against U.S. Rep. John B. Larson, former Hartford mayor Luke Bronin and Hartford attorney Ruth Fortune.

“To the Democratic women who keep me laughing when things are a little intense around here, thank you,” Gilchrest said. “It’s been an honor, and I wish everyone the best.”

Rep. Mary Mushinsky, a Wallingford Democrat who has won 23 elections, is currently tied with Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney as the longest-serving lawmaker after winning her first election in 1980.

“I did not expect to be here,” Mushinsky said. “I’m trained as a biologist, and I didn’t expect to be anywhere near the government.”

Mushinsky added, “As Marty Looney said, 46 years really went by in a flash.”

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