The Connecticut General Assembly began its 2026 Regular Session on February 4th, 2026. 761 pieces of legislation were introduced this year. Governor Lamont can either sign or veto pieces of legislation that passed both chambers. The General Assembly can override a veto with a two-thirds vote in each chamber. Any measure that does not receive an action by Governor Lamont becomes law.
Governor’s State of the State:
Governor Ned Lamont (D) delivered his State of the State Address on the first day of session. Governor Lamont outlined that his legislative priorities were legislation that responds to federal cuts created by the One Big Beautiful Bill. He also mentioned a potential cell phone ban in public schools for non-instructional purposes, construction of housing developments next to train stations and busways, and examination of whether the proposed Connecticut Option program can help reduce health insurance premiums.
All four of Governor Lamont’s 2026 policy goals manifested in the following measures: SB 83, HB 5035, HB 5378, and HB 5502. Only one of these measures became law. Senator Martin Looney’s (D) SB 83 creates the “Federal Cuts Response Fund.” The measure appropriates $330,811,954 to the new fund to respond to policy impacts of H.R.1. It was signed on February 9, 2026.
Governor Lamont’s HB 5035 directed local and regional public-school boards to prohibit students from using their cell phones for non-instructional purposes during the school day. HB 5035’s attempt to implement a “bell-to-bell” phone ban policy in the state failed. Twenty-eight states instituted such policy during the 2025 Regular Session.
Representative Kerry Wood’s (D) HB 5378 instructed the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management to research whether the proposed Connecticut Option Program can help reduce health insurance premiums. The Connecticut Insurance Department published the “Health Insurance Rates for 2026” report on September 10, 2025. It discovered the premiums for Anthem, ConnectiCare Benefits, and ConnectiCare Insurance Company in AccessHealthCT, Connecticut’s official health insurance marketplace, experienced a 13.6% increase, 20.6% increase, and 20.3% increase. It did not pass the Joint Appropriations Committee on April 13, 2026.
Representative Eleni Kavros DeGraw’s (D) HB 5502 incentivized municipalities to adopt zoning regulations that permit the construction of housing developments near train stations and bus stops. This attempt to expand transit-oriented housing across the state was modeled after the Lamont administration’s previous success in modernizing the entire Waterbury Branch line commuter rail line operated by Metro-North Railroad in the Naugatuck Valley of Western Connecticut last July. HB 5502’s goals never made it out of the House.
Governor Lamont additionally shared his intentions of creating the Blue-Ribbon Commission on K-12 Education Funding and Accountability (Commission) through an executive order during his State of the State. This proclamation came to fruition on April 16, 2026, when Governor Lamont issued and signed Executive Order No. 26-3 in Hartford. It instructed the Commission to research state education funding.
Legislative Accomplishments
Representative Emmanuel “Manny” Sanchez’s (D) HB 5003 authorizes teachers to receive all their weekly earnings if they were assaulted on the job. An October 28, 2025, Hartford Courant article revealed a rise in students insulting, threatening, and verbally and physically assaulting teachers since the COVID-19 pandemic. Connecticut school boards, in response, implemented mandatory restorative practices to resolve incidents through dialogue, mediation, and relationship-building instead of suspensions, expulsions, or incarceration in juvenile detention facilities. Governor Lamont signed HB 5003 on May 11, 2026.
Governor Lamont’s HB 5043 prohibits non-licensed individuals from delivering, purchasing, receiving, selling, or transferring ghost guns’ frames or lower receivers that do not have a serial number from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). ATF requires manufacturers of ghost gun parts and kits to add such numbers to the firearm frame and receiver, so they are registered. It was signed on May 26, 2026.
Representative Steven Stafstrom’s (D) HB 5312 establishes any individual impacted by the unlawful dissemination of a deepfake can file a civil action in the Connecticut Superior Court for economic damages, emotional distress, and punitive damages. This proposal comes after President Donald Trump (R) signed Senator Ted Cruz’s (R) S.146 on May 19, 2025. S.146 was a priority of First Lady Melania Trump’s Be Best Initiative, the public awareness campaign on the importance of children’s emotional, physical, and social health. It restricts the nonconsensual online publication of intimate visual depictions of adults and children. Governor Lamont signed HB 5312 on May 26, 2026.
Representative Jonathan Steinberg’s (D) HB 5336 directs the Connecticut Council for Advancing Nuclear Energy Development to conduct a study of the need for skilled labor in the advanced nuclear energy and the development of small modular reactors, microreactors, or reactors that use molten salt, liquid metal, or high temperature gas as cooling sources. Governor Lamont released a joint statement on March 31, 2026, with the governors of states in the New England region. It instructed state energy offices to construct advanced nuclear energy facilities in communities that agree to host them for economic development and employment opportunities. HB 5336 was signed on May 20, 2026.
Budget
The General Assembly planned to adjust the state budget for the biennium ending on June 30, 2027. Governor Lamont introduced budget recommendations in HB 5032, which allocated $28,800,000,000 to state agencies for making statutory and discretionary grants to municipalities and various organizations, funding entitlement payments to Medicaid and other social security programs, and addressing debt service and mandated retirement system contributions for the 2027 Fiscal Year. HB 5032’s proposals failed upon adjournment of the legislature on May 6, 2026. They also did not appear in the piece of legislation adopted by the General Assembly, Senator John Fonfara’s (D) SB 1.
SB 1 makes the additional following budget adjustments: invests $300,000,000 in the Early Childhood Education Endowment, provides over $100,000,000 in financial assistance to towns and cities, offers $892,000 to the Connecticut Department of Public Health to pilot free flu vaccines to uninsured and under-insured adult residents, appropriates $3,500,000 to the Connecticut Department of Transportation for free bus passes, and allocates $9,860,000 to the Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection to modernize equipment and technology used by the state police. It was signed by Governor Lamont on May 26, 2026.
What Happens Next
Governor Lamont filed paperwork on November 7, 2025, to run for a third term. He will face Representative Josh Elliott (D) in the Democratic Primary for the gubernatorial election on August 11, 2026. Senator Ryan Fazio (R), former New York Lieutenant Governor Betsy McCaughey (R), and Timothy Wilcox (R) are running in the Republican primary for the gubernatorial election on August 11, 2026. Senator Tony Hwang (R) announced his retirement on March 31, 2026. Senator Looney declared he will not seek reelection on May 2, 2026. The general election will be held on November 3, 2026. Voters can cast ballots for the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Comptroller, Treasurer, federal Representatives and Senators, state Representatives and Senators, Probate Judge, and Registrar.