2025 Legislative Session Commences Next Week

Next Wednesday, January 8, marks the start of the 2025 Legislative Session.  The Connecticut General Assembly will convene and lawmakers will take the oath of office to be sworn in to serve in the State House of Representatives and Senate, vote to elect caucus leaders, and adopt joint, House, and Senate rules.  Governor Ned Lamont will deliver a State of the State address and is expected to detail his annual legislative priorities.

As an odd-numbered year, the upcoming legislative session is long, commencing Wednesday, January 8 and concluding Wednesday, June 4.  During long session years, the legislature is required to produce a budget for the following two fiscal years.  The session also allows individual legislators to introduce bills on any subject. 

The Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA) will continue to advocate for policies that enhance healthcare accessibility and affordability for all.  Ahead of the session, CHA has been engaging with lawmakers on the importance of raising Medicaid reimbursement rates to keep pace with the rising cost of care and redesigning the Medicaid program to address root cause drivers of health by strengthening collaboration between hospitals and their communities.  CHA also looks forward to working with legislators to support and grow the healthcare workforce, improve the state’s Certificate of Need (CON) process, invest in behavioral health services, protect the 340B Drug Pricing Program, and deter unfair and burdensome health insurance company practices that jeopardize patient access to care.

This session, the governor is required to deliver his proposal for the fiscal year 2026-2027 biennial state budget to the General Assembly no later than Wednesday, February 5.  Debate over the state’s so-called “fiscal guardrails” is expected to dominate lawmakers’ and officials’ negotiations.  Before the session ends in June, both chambers of the legislature must pass the same version of the budget before sending the final budget to the governor’s desk for his signature.

To learn more about CHA’s advocacy priorities, visit the CHA website here.