With the 2024 legislative session underway, Rep. Matt Ritter and Sen. Martin Looney continue to preside over Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, respectively, making them major influencers in shaping state policy.
House Speaker Ritter (D-Hartford), who is also a lawyer at Hartford law firm Shipman & Goodwin, comes from a political family. His father Tom Ritter was a former House Speaker and is now a partner at law firm Brown Rudnick in Hartford. Tom Ritter also sits on the UConn board of trustees. Matt Ritter’s mother, Christine E. Keller, is a former justice of the state Supreme Court.
Ritter is likely to be a key player in helping decide if lawmakers will approve spending above Gov. Ned Lamont’s recently proposed two-year, $26.1 billion budget. Ritter recently made headlines when he suggested that the legislature, with a simple majority vote, can adjust the revenue cap, a fiscal guardrail adopted in 2017 that requires lawmakers to build a surplus into any approved budget.
That could signal a desire by Democrats to boost spending for core programs.
Ritter also recently proposed creating a new bureau for the deaf and hard of hearing community that would offer a more centralized resource of services.
Looney (D-New Haven) is the Senate President Pro Tempore, who was first elected in 1992. He’s been known to advocate for progressive policies, including an expanded earned income tax credit for the working poor, higher minimum wage, and paid family and medical leave.
Looney also recently spoke out in favor of loosening the state’s fiscal guardrails, so more investments can be made in higher education, early childhood education and social services.
Other topics Looney and Ritter are likely to weigh in on this year are affordable housing, tax policy, energy and healthcare costs, and labor-related proposals.