By Kent Jarrell
(August 27, 2025) — The Connecticut General Assembly is now on hiatus after passing a two-year, $55.8 billion budget in June that holds the line on taxes and, according to Governor Ned Lamont, expands funding for some programs, including early childhood education.
But a special session of the Legislature is expected in September to deal with expected cuts in federal spending coming from Washington D.C. and in funding for affordable housing.
Two local members of the Connecticut House of Representatives, Democrat Renee LaMark Muir and Republican Irene Haines, were interviewed about decision-making in Hartford. Both interviews were edited for length and clarity.
Representative LaMark Muir, a former police office and legislative investigator, represents Haddam and is serving her first term.
Kent Jarrell: You now have a two-year budget bill in place holding the line on taxes, eliminating $3.7 billion in deficits and increasing the rainy day fund to an estimated $4.1 billion. There must have been a lot of hard discussions to get to that.
Rep. LaMark Muir: So, in our caucus just to get to the balanced budget, that’s sort of balancing the checkbook. We’re in such a good position, given this surplus, we’re almost hamstrung in terms of pivoting and saying, given this surplus and given that we’ve got our fiscal house in order, how do we give back?
We wanted some more wiggle room to send some of that money to social services, to non-profits, to maybe the child tax credit, things where we’re really going to impact people where they live and their pocketbooks, making it less expensive for working families.
Kent Jarrell: How much easier is it now? Because the state has regained some stability, although I think you indicated it’s still a dilemma.
Rep. LaMark Muir: Yeah, I mean, I think all of governing is a dilemma, right? All of governing is how do you split the baby? I like to say that I go down the center of the road because, as a former policy analyst, I think that’s where the best decisions are made.
But at the same time, we’re losing so much federal funding. And there’s this retaliatory, vindictive nature to it, and the policies are really hamstringing. You’re now facing a great deal of uncertainty. Nobody really understands the details of the cuts in the federal budget coming out of Washington. We’re all going to find that out in September.
Kent Jarrell: What does that do to you as a lawmaker? You’re going to have to look at it again.
Rep. LaMark Muir: I’ll hold my breath a little bit. So, we really couldn’t address things in our budget. We almost had to proceed with kind of rose-colored glasses on. We take the glasses off in September. Then we can see the cuts, how bad it is and where to cut.
Kent Jarrell: There’s a new Harris poll that shows that more than four out of five adults, 85%, say government officials and other community leaders care more about their own power and influence. How hard does that make your job as a state representative in this kind of environment?
Rep. LaMark Muir: I think it’s really difficult because you know friends and neighbors in close knit communities. And if there’s a distrust, and it even goes beyond distrust, it’s trickled down from what the current presidential administration has done. We all read the paper, listen to the news, the tribalism. It’s what’s wrong and who do you blame? And what are you afraid of? Now, it’s personal. It’s like, I don’t like you because you’re on the other side. And so, whatever you say is not true.
Kent Jarrell: Will you run again?
Rep. LaMark Muir: I’m enjoying the work. I really enjoy helping people solve a problem or talking about something that’s not working for them, even in this moment in time. The good thing about America is at some point we come together, and we take steps forward. We’re back on our heels, and I’m not minimizing that at all. This is very serious and could have long-term or even permanent implications, but I want to stay in the fight.
********************
Irene Haines is both the state representative for East Haddam and the town’s First Selectman. She says the latest state budget was rushed through by the Democratic majority in the legislature without rigorous scrutiny and that it breaks budget caps put into place in 2017 after a string of deficits and tax hikes in Connecticut.
Kent Jarrell: One of your main priorities has been smarter budgeting. What do you think of the latest state budget?
Rep. Haines: I voted against it, so that will give you the first clue. I’m really disappointed that they felt it necessary to blow through the guardrails that had been put in place. I think the guardrails have been for fiscal health and it also paid down a lot of pension debt. Actually, the latest and greatest is that we’re coming up with all kinds of millions and billions of dollars that we have a surplus. There wasn’t the need to go into those caps and blow those caps. I think that was very irresponsible planning. We’ve also increased spending by two and a half billion. So, there’s a lot of things that they do as far as managing this money and managing this budget that I just think is totally egregious.
Kent Jarrell: Turning to the possibility of a special session with Congress and the Trump Administration in the midst of significant budget cuts affecting spending in the states, how serious will that be for Connecticut?
Rep. Haines: We haven’t heard exactly how it’s going to trickle down yet because we’re in the information age and because we have a very vocal president who likes to get on Twitter and rattle off things. Everybody runs for the hills because something has been said, there’s a lot of rumor, but so far, it hasn’t happened. So, I think we need to wait until it gets down to where we can really see the difference and see what is affecting Connecticut.
Kent Jarrell: Political discourse appears to have become more partisan and contentious. There’s a new Harris poll that shows that more than four out of five adults, 85%, say government officials and other community leaders care more about their own power and influence. Does that make it harder to be in political office?
Rep. Haines: Absolutely. And I’m not sure why. Maybe because of social media, people are hypersensitive, hypercritical, looking for somebody to blame for whatever the problem might be. Connecticut is tough. It’s very expensive, and there’s a lot of people here who need help. We talk about affordable housing. We talk about food banks. People need these services, and we have to provide as best we can.
With all these costly programs, I think we need to get back to basics. And I think if the cost of living and the quality of life here in Connecticut can get a little easier and more affordable, people will calm down. But everybody’s feeling the pain and people are angry, and people are upset.
Kent Jarrell: Why did you decide to leave the Connecticut House of Representatives?
Rep. Haines: I’ve actually been in the House of Representatives for eight years. I’m somewhat of a term limit person, and we need to get younger people in there because they come with fresh ideas, and the latest of what’s going on out there as far as the pulse of the people. There are new issues coming up every day. It’s been a wonderful opportunity. I want to give that opportunity to another person. So, I’m going to retire at 65 and be done.
Photo of Renee LaMark Muir by Kent Jarrell
Photo of Irene Haines provided by Irene Haines
