Democratic lawmakers set November special session for federal shutdown response

CT Examiner – Thursday, October 23, 2025
By Robert Storace

HARTFORD — Democratic lawmakers have called for a two-day special session next month to address possible cuts to federally-funded programs if the three-week federal shutdown in Washington, D.C. continues.

Senate President Pro-Tem Martin Looney, D-New Haven, told CT Examiner this week that there could be “a lot of suffering involved and we will have to look to see whether there’s any additional ways that we can address it [projected federal cuts to programs]. There’s a tremendous amount of hardship involved here.”

The state House will hold its special session on Nov. 12 and the state Senate will meet the following day at the Capitol.

Looney said the State Treasurer’s office has assured lawmakers that they “feel comfortable” with legislators using $500 million of the state’s $2.5 billion surplus to offset programs affected by a prolonged government shutdown.

Looney – who told CT Examiner he’d personally like to see upwards of $1 billion allocated to the fund – said Treasurer Erick Russell believes the state using $500 million for such a fund “was reasonable” and would not “in any way violate the covenants” on which “the bondholders rely.”

“If he [Russell] were able to justify a higher figure than $500 million, I would certainly endorse it,” Looney added.

State House Minority Leader Vince Candelora, R-North Branford, told CT Examiner he shares “the concerns that the federal shutdown is going to have terrible implications for the people that rely on these programs and we need to be in a position to offset those cuts. … I don’t support the notion that we need to create a slush fund because these cuts are temporary. When the government opens, the money will flow back to the state of Connecticut.”

Candelora called on Connecticut’s two Democratic U.S. Senators, Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, “to vote to reopen the government… The fact that they [federal Democrats] are trying to use this shutdown to leverage other policy changes is reprehensible… The Democratic Party [nationally] is being held hostage by left-wing extremists.”

At issue, Democratic lawmakers said, are programs like SNAP, WIC and the state’s winter heating assistance program, which are supported with federal grants.

The Office of Gov. Ned Lamont announced on Oct. 8 that the state would cover the estimated $200,000 per day it costs to run the WIC program, which provides food for women and children. In total, more than 52,000 residents receive WIC support, including 30,000 children, 11,000 infants and 11,000 pregnant and postpartum women.

Speaker of the House Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, told CT Examiner Thursday that covering SNAP “is more complicated.” Reserves for the program expire Nov. 1, Ritter said.

“Even if the state wanted to pay for SNAP, the computer system that sort of unloads the funds onto the individual [SNAP] cards will not open and will not be working. … We are in a tough spot. We are exploring different options, maybe it’s to increase the funding to food pantries. We will look at different things,” Ritter said. “Unfortunately, [funding] SNAP is a major problem.”

Ritter estimated that the state distributes about $18 million a week in SNAP funds from the federal government. SNAP serves about 360,000 people in Connecticut per year, according to state officials.

“It [SNAP dilemma] keeps me up at night, no question,” Ritter said. “Mayors, Republicans and Democrats, call me about this because they are getting calls from senior citizens asking what’s going to happen.”

The Connecticut Department of Social Services website currently states it “has received notice from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Services that if the federal government shutdown continues into November, there will not be enough funds to pay SNAP benefits.”

Looney and Ritter both told CT Examiner the state is in better shape than most states because both its surplus and because it’s exploring options. They both warned, however, that the longer the shutdown occurs, the more drastic things could become.

“There’s no way the state can backfill all the federal cuts on an annual basis and still make the investments that we have to make,” Ritter said. “It’s a big problem and it’s going to affect all 50 states. It’s not just Blue states. Red states are going to struggle mightily on the changes to SNAP.”

Looney was critical of both state Republicans and the GOP on the federal level.

Of state Republicans, Looney, who is currently serving his 17th two-year term, said he did not expect much GOP support in Hartford next month. “They seem to be pretty much in lockstep with anything the federal government is doing.”

On the national level, Looney said, “The GOP refuses to extend federal subsidies to make health insurance policies affordable for low and moderate-income people. … There will be a lot of hardships when those subsidies expire.”

Candelora, instead, suggested that state Democrats were using the shutdown to loosen the state’s purse strings

“I don’t support state Democrats using this crisis in order to grow government and spend beyond our means,” said Candelora.

Access this article at its original source.