The Democratic and Republican leaders of the Connecticut Senate say they’ve reached an agreement to share control of their chamber. This comes after both sides ended up with an equal number of seats as a result of the November election.
The agreement between Democratic leader Martin Looney of New Haven and Republican leader Len Fasano of North Haven calls for Looney to remain Senate president, while Fasano will now serve as Senate Republican president. Fasano says it’s a fair compromise.
“What the agreement basically does is allow for a sharing of power with respect to committees and the Senate chambers. Given the fact that there is no longer a majority party, we had to figure a way to deal with this.”
The arrangement calls for Norwalk Democrat Bob Duff to remain Senate majority leader while Canton Republican Kevin Witkos takes on the newly created title of deputy Senate Republican president.
And each legislative committee will now have a Democratic and Republican Senate co-chair. There is confusion as to how this will all work out because it’s the first time in more than 100 years that there’s an 18-18 split in the state Senate. The new legislative session begins January 4.
Copyright 2016 WSHU
