Lamont, lawmakers look ahead to special sessions for tolls, gambling

The latest state legislative session only wrapped hours ago, but lawmakers are already talking about heading back to Hartford.

News 12 Staff

Jun 6, 2019, 9:55 PM

Updated 1,797 days ago

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The latest state legislative session only wrapped hours ago, but lawmakers are already talking about heading back to Hartford.
Lawmakers did not take a vote on this year's most controversial issues -- tolls. On Thursday, Gov. Ned Lamont says he wants to take action on the situation soon.
Lamont took a short victory lap Thursday morning as the legislative session wrapped, but quickly reminded lawmakers of the next task at hand.
"I hope it didn't take too much of a 'toll' on you -- which reminds me, we do have a little bit of unfinished business," says Lamont.
Lamont says he will call a special session on highway tolls, but did not reveal exactly when that would happen.
Expanded gambling may also come up in a special session. Jobs are why Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim is pushing for a plan to let Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun build on his city's waterfront. In exchange, they'd get exclusive rights to sports betting.
"I'm hopeful this is something people say, 'Hey, this is something we could do and we should do,' and let's get it going," says Ganim.
Lamont says he's open to the Bridgeport deal, but isn't in favor of what's on the table right now.
"My sense is ... the tribes' deal still seems a little half-baked to me, so I don't know if it's going to be ready to go in a special session," says Lamont.
Looking back at the legislative session, a lot was accomplished. On the list is raising the minimum wage, creating a family medical leave program, raising the smoking age and making community college debt-free. Among the items that did not pass was a government-backed health insurance option, tighter rules for faith-based pregnancy centers, free phone calls for inmates and a smoking ban at state park beaches.


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