There is a peculiar danger in political supermajorities—not only in what they do, but in how they do it. When one party, any party, holds too many cards, the temptation becomes irresistible to play the hand alone. Consensus gives way to coercion; deliberation is replaced by decree.
Yet Connecticut’s 2025 legislative session offered not just warnings but, in a few key moments, reassurance. In the midst of a policy landscape tilted heavily toward one party, bipartisan leadership still managed to emerge. And no legislator better demonstrated this than Senator Ryan Fazio.
Now in his fourth year representing the 36th District, Fazio did not limit himself to symbolic dissent. He worked—earnestly, relentlessly, and across the aisle—to advance substantive reforms. Two of his proposals, both bipartisan in authorship and overwhelming in their legislative support, prove that political pluralism is still possible when principle guides the pen.
The first, Senate Bill 4, achieved a long-sought breakthrough in energy reform. It marked the first time the state cut “public benefits” charges on electric bills—previously opaque costs funding dozens of government programs. These fees often ballooned monthly bills without explanation, and Fazio believed the public deserved not just relief, but clarity. Thanks to his persistence and the cooperation of Democratic co-authors, the measure passed 178–4.
Equally significant was the success of Senate Bill 1558, aimed at ending New York’s taxation of Connecticut residents who work remotely. New York’s “convenience of the employer” rule has long enabled the Empire State to collect income tax from our citizens—even when they never set foot in Manhattan. Fazio’s bill, which encourages legal challenges to this policy and calls upon Connecticut’s Attorney General to craft a coordinated strategy, passed with similar bipartisan support. Again, members of both parties recognized the injustice and rallied to correct it.
Such votes are not incidental. In a Capitol where one party commands a supermajority, it takes political courage for members of that majority to cast votes that deviate from the script. Yet scores of Democrats joined Fazio on these bills, a quiet but vital act of civic responsibility.
That spirit, however, was notably absent from the late-night passage of House Bill 5002, the sweeping “omnibus housing” legislation that consolidates zoning power in Hartford and punishes towns that resist. Bundling the controversial Fair Share and Work Live Ride policies, the bill overrules local planning in favor of central mandates. Its passage, shortly before dawn on the last Saturday of session, typified what happens when political power is exercised without procedural restraint. More than twenty Democrats opposed it—but not enough to stop it.
Likewise, the new $56 billion state budget, which dismantled the 2017 bipartisan “fiscal guardrails,” was muscled through with only a few defections. The spending caps that helped Connecticut reduce debt by $8 billion are now gone, and with them any semblance of fiscal restraint. Future tax hikes are not a possibility—they are a certainty, deferred but inevitable.
Still, the session was not without virtue. Ryan Fazio’s bipartisan victories prove that policy crafted through negotiation—rather than imposition—can still command widespread support. They also underscore the importance of having a vibrant minority party in Hartford, not as an obstacle, but as a counterweight.
When one party rules unopposed, the system bends toward arrogance. But when a legislator like Ryan Fazio persuades colleagues across the aisle, the system reorients toward balance. His achievements are a tribute not just to his own resolve, but to the open-minded members of the super-majority who joined him.
