“It is time for us to resume our responsibility as legislators.”

Sen. Henri Martin (R-31) offers the following statement following the State Senate votes on HB 6672 and LCO 6253 Senate Amendment A.

“I want to be crystal clear about my vote today. This is not about the validity of the pandemic. It is time for us to resume our responsibility as legislators.

“Now with over a year under our belts managing through this pandemic as a state, there has been ample time to determine which executive orders need to be ratified by the legislature and which can simply lapse.

“Today the Senate Republican Caucus offered an amendment to emphasize the necessary steps that should be taken to manage the Governor’s emergency powers and to reassert the legislature as a coequal branch of government.

“While there are certainly times where the Governor is best suited to act under emergency authority, the year’s long autonomy over state policy during the Covid-19 pandemic should be coming to a close. As the Governor has determined he should expand businesses’ abilities to remain open, that larger gatherings of people are permitted, as the state leads the nation in vaccination rates, we too should have the legislature reinstated and get back to work.

“I cannot, as a state senator, as the ranking senator on matters concerning state financing and commerce or as the ranking senator on matters concerning Connecticut’s youngest residents, support any further delay to having the legislature return to business.”