Hartford ― Before hurrying to a New London press conference with U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Gov. Ned Lamont launched the 2023 legislative session Wednesday at the State Capitol, delivering an upbeat, post-pandemic State of the State Address that emphasized Connecticut’s improved finances and prospects for the future.

“Four years ago,” he said, “the elephant in the room was ‘a permanent fiscal crisis.’”

The legislature that year delivered a balanced budget, on time, “without relying on the tax increases which had become the historic norm,” said Lamont, who turned 69 years old Tuesday. “And just as we were feeling some momentum, COVID hit ― and it hit our region hard.”

Connecticut weathered the pandemic better than most states, with government focused on “lifelines and rescue operations” and “direct payments to keep small businesses open,” he said, addressing lawmakers, state officials and their families in the House chamber. “Three years later, I still worry like heck about COVID. But I worry even more that we will lose this opportunity as a state and as a country to lift families up.”

“The next four years should focus more on recovery, less on rescue, less need for lifelines, and more focus on ladders,” Lamont said. “Keep our economy growing, making sure that growth means a ladder to opportunity for everyone regardless of background or zip code.”

“My fiscal priorities are economic growth, because growth is the precondition to opportunity,” he said.

Well into his speech, which lasted only 20 minutes, Lamont said it’s time for the state “to enact a meaningful, middle-class tax cut,” providing no specifics.

The message was likely welcomed by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

Rep. Holly Cheeseman, an East Lyme Republican, said Lamont’s mention of a tax cut would resonate with her caucus. She said she also was encouraged by the governor’s support for the extension of nuclear power generated by Dominion’s Millstone Nuclear Power Station in Waterford and for the expansion of small businesses.

Cheeseman, who began her fourth term Wednesday after a swearing-in ceremony prior to the governor’s inauguration and subsequent address, has been appointed an assistant House Republican leader and has been reappointed the ranking member of the legislature’s Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee.

"We must remember, that due to the high rate of inflation, Connecticut state government has profited by collecting additional sales tax revenue,” she said in a recent statement. “Giving some of that overtaxed money back to struggling working families should be at the top of the list for the 2023 legislative session."

Cheeseman said she planned to champion the causes of constituents affected by a fatal overdose of the drug Fentanyl and domestic abuse as well as the need for specialized training of firefighters who respond to electric vehicle fires.

State Sen. Cathy Osten, the Sprague Democrat who co-chairs the legislature’s Appropriations and Public Safety committees, also applauded the notion of a tax cut for the middle class. She has advocated exempting all retirement income from state taxation. Currently, the exemption is capped at $75,000 of income for individuals and $100,000 for couples.

Osten said the legislature needs to provide more resources for low-paid child health care workers who are tempted to leave the business. She said eastern Connecticut is a child care “desert.”

Other issues Osten said she plans to pursue include the growing incidence of mental health problems among the state’s prison population, the need to expand benefits for police and firefighters who suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome, and the creation of jobs in manufacturing and other sectors of the economy.

“I don’t know of any job classification that doesn’t need more people,” she said.

During his speech, Lamont said Connecticut has almost $1 billion in federal money to invest in education.

“So, I urge all of our superintendents and principals and teachers, let’s implement your best ideas to help students recover from learning loss,” he said. “Let’s get them loving to learn again, with apprentice and career opportunities to put them on the path to success. We have high health care costs and high energy costs and high housing costs, and the answer cannot always be more subsidies or bailouts. The taxpayers cannot afford it, and too often the subsidy is an excuse for no structural reform.”

He said the biggest impediment to economic growth in the state is the lack of housing.

“Connecticut towns and cities, you tell us where developers can build more housing so more housing can be built faster, at less cost, and local control will determine how and where it is built,” Lamont said. “Our future is more local businesses and more housing options in your downtown ― walk to work or take faster public transit.”

In addition to Cheeseman and Osten, the other southeastern Connecticut lawmakers who began terms Wednesday were: Sens. Heather Somers, R-Groton; Martha Marx, D-New London; and Norm Needleman, D-Essex; and Reps. Devin Carney, R-Westbrook; Kathleen McCarty, R-Waterford; Anthony Nolan, D-New London; Christine Conley, D-Groton; Aundré Bumgardner, D-Groton; Greg Howard, R-Stonington; Brian Lanoue, R-Griswold; Derell Wilson, D-Norwich; Doug Dubitsky, R-Chaplin; and Kevin Ryan, D-Montville.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com