Republican State Representatives Cara Pavalock D’Amato, R-Bristol, and Anne Dauphinais, R-Killingly, have filed a lawsuit in Connecticut Superior Court against House Speaker Matthew Ritter, D-Hartford, and Senate President Pro-Tem Martin Looney, D-New Haven, over the use of emergency certification to pass two bills this session, arguing it violates the Connecticut Constitution.

“Connecticut House Speaker Matthew Ritter and Connecticut Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney are frustrated with the Connecticut General Assembly’s inability to pass a myriad of laws due to the well-raised objections of individual legislators,” attorney Cameron Atkinson of Atkinson Law wrote in the complaint. “To ‘fix’ the problem, they decided to abuse the emergency certification powers granted to them by the Connecticut Constitution and Conn. Gen. Stat. § 2-26 to force legislation to a vote while stifling any opposition to those bills.”

The bills – Senate Bill 298, a massive catch-all bill incorporating a myriad of issues, and Senate Bill 299, which added additional regulations to Connecticut bottle and can redemption laws – were both passed under emergency certification, meaning no public hearings were held and the legislation was passed by majority Democrats in both chambers before being signed by Gov. Ned Lamont.

Pavalock D’Amato and Dauphinais argue this violates both the United States Constitution and the Connecticut Constitution, which guarantee a “republican form of government,” and violates Connecticut statute because neither Looney nor Ritter issued letters indicating “the facts which in their opinion necessitate and immediate vote on such bill.”

Citing the letter calling for an emergency vote on February 24, Pavalock-D’Amato and Dauphinais claim, “The letter declaring this ‘emergency’ contained no information as to what the emergency actually was to such drastic action.”

“Defendants’ arbitrary use of the Emergency Certification Process as a norm, as opposed to an exception, violates the Connecticut Constitution and laws giving it such powers,” the lawsuit states.

Democrats’ use of emergency certification during the regular session earned the ire of Republicans, who argued the emergency certification powers were being used to push through legislation that had not passed during the 2025 session, skirting around the usual process of a public hearing and committee vote. 

Following passage of the two emergency bills, Ritter stated that majority Democrats did not intend to make use of emergency certification a regular thing, but warned Republicans that filibusters had consequences.

“It’s not a new way of doing business, but it is a reminder that it could be one day the way of business, and I hope it doesn’t come to that,” said Ritter in a press conference this morning. “But this is a byproduct of some people, not many, but some perhaps abusing the system a little bit. And it’s a reminder, don’t abuse it. Use it when it needs to be used.”

Ritter indicated that part of the reason the emergency certification was necessary was that some bills, including bills passed unanimously, died the previous year due to an “abuse” of the filibuster, particularly in the Senate. Although he was not mentioned by name, Sen. Rob Sampson, R-Wolcott, has been particularly effective at running out the clock, keeping some bills from even being brought up.

In a press statement issued after the emergency certifications, Sampson said it was a “misuse of emergency authority that ignores the real crisis facing Connecticut.”

“The real emergency in Connecticut is affordability,” Sampson said. “Families are struggling to pay property taxes, electric bills, groceries, and prescription medication. Instead of addressing that crisis, the majority used emergency powers for their own convenience.”

Pavalock-D’Amato was reprimanded by Ritter earlier in the year after she wore a jacket with the words “ICE IN” in support of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions during Gov. Ned Lamont’s state of the state speech in which he criticized the federal agency.

The lawsuit filed against Ritter and Looney in their official capacities asks the court to declare the legislature’s “arbitrary use of emergency certification process to be unlawful,” and, “fashion criteria” under which the legislature can use emergency certification.

“Dissent, however, is crucial to ensuring that our state is not governed by a tyrannical oligarchy,” Atkinson wrote. “What Ritter and Looney did destroys a crucial check and balance mandated by the Connecticut Constitution, and this Court should declare their conduct unconstitutional.”

Republish This Story

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.