HARTFORD — In its first late-night action of the legislative session, majority Democrats in the House beat back GOP efforts to unwind some of the 2020 police accountability rules; finally approved the end of dog racing in the state; then morphed a bill limiting the wake of boats in eastern Connecticut into an effort to plant noninvasive species along brooks and streams.
During debates and votes that finally ended at about 9:45 p.m. Monday, minority Republicans — facing a Democratic majority of 97-54 — came close to successfully amending a bill recommended by the Judicial Department, state prosecutors, public defenders and the Department of Correction that would allow certain people convicted of drunken driving to eventually get rid of their car ignition interlock devices.
Provisions that would have paid state jurors minimum wage, and create a pretrial diversionary program for defendants on the autism spectrum were dropped, as part of earlier discussions to avoid tinkering with the state budget at this late date. The General Assembly adjourns at midnight May 8 in this short session year.
Republicans led by state Rep. Craig Fishbein of Wallingford, a ranking Republican on the law-writing Judiciary Committee, introduced the failed amendments to the 2021 legalization of adult-use cannabis law. The proposed changes would have loosened restrictions on police, including prohibitions on searching cars without consent and stopping motorists suspected of smoking marijuana.
“The concern about an officer who sees someone smoking a marijuana cigarette, or perhaps a bong while they’re driving, which I would think is distracted driving, but anyway, under the law presently in Connecticut, if an officer sees someone ingesting cannabis, they cannot pull over that car,” Fishbein said during the hour-long debate. “I think the general public would be appalled if they were to learn that.”
Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee, led the opposition to the attempted GOP amendments. He said police officers can’t tell from a distance what a motorist might be smoking or eating.
“This amendment would allow a police officer to pull a car over because they saw someone eating Gummy Bears and they didn’t know whether it was cannabis or not cannabis,” Stafstrom said. “I understand the sensitivity to our roads and the rise of fatalities we’ve seen on our roads. The amendment, I believe, just goes too far. A police officer can stop someone who they believe is impaired. They can stop someone who they believe is operating under the influence of cannabis. I think we struck the right balance when we passed this in 2021.”
That amendment failed 76-72 in the closest of the attempted GOP changes. The overall bill eventually passed unanimously, 147-0.
Also on Monday evening, after years of similar House bills dying on the Senate calendar, the House voted 131-17 to end all dog-racing regulations in the state. The vote comes nearly 20 years after the last greyhound circled the track at Bridgeport’s Shoreline Star. State Rep. Mike D’Agostino, D-Hamden, co-chairman of the legislative General Law Committee, noted that this year, the bill removing dog-racing regulations originated in the Senate.
“Yes, it is a feel-good bill,” D’Agostino said. “No, we do not currently have dog-racing in the state of Connecticut. I understand there are much-more important things for us to be doing. How is a bill that simply removes the authority to approve dog track racing in the state of Connecticut 21 pages long? Because we over-regulated the hell out of everything in this state.” That legislation next heads to the governor’s desk.
Finally, state Rep. Joe Gresko, D-Stratford, co-chairman of the Environment Committee, led the amending of a bill that had been focused on banning watercraft from creating wakes in the Pawcatuck River in eastern Connecticut. It includes provisions allowing homeowners to voluntarily plant native shrubs and vegetation abutting streams and brooks to assist with storm water retention, under state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection oversight.
This time of year, with the end of the session in sight, bills are often hijacked as so-called vehicles for other legislation. The shrubbery debate prompted veteran Rep. Kurt Vail, R-Stafford, to see if the bill still included the title provision to stop boat-driven waves in the Pawcatuck River. “I sure hope so,” quipped Speaker of the House Matt Ritter before Gresko confirmed that the underlying bill remained in place. The bill next heads to the Senate.
As for further amendments, on Tuesday morning House Majority Leader Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford said it was up to Republicans to decide if and when they will offer any others.
House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford on Tuesday morning said his caucus will keep raising issues related to crime and cannabis use.
“It’s something we’ve been concerned about for quite some time and we’re going to continue to talk about it,” Candelora told reporters before the 11 a.m. start of the House’s work day. “We believe that Democrats are falling short on public safety initiatives for our residents in Connecticut.”
