‘Bipartisanship in the Legislative Session’

The following was written by State Sen. Dante Bartolomeo as a reflection of her first session as a state senator.

There is often a perception among the public and media alike that Connecticut’s government mirrors the gridlock and inefficiency that has long divided Washington D.C.

Like many others who have run for elected office, I promised to work across party lines in Hartford, but was uncertain how difficult it would be to accomplish. As I prepared to begin my first term in the State Senate this past January, I entered with the expectation that the legislature would be rife with partisan fights over every public policy issue imaginable.

After all, isn’t that what usually makes the news?

I am happy to report that was not my experience at all. In fact, even with a few high-profile votes that primarily followed party lines, I came away convinced that regardless of party affiliation, the people of Connecticut are well-served by their elected representatives in Hartford. The level of cooperation and agreement between Democrats and Republicans was refreshing and surprising to me, and may be eye-opening to the average citizen.

For example, I personally introduced or co-sponsored almost 100 bills this session on issues ranging from providing affordable housing and labeling genetically-modified foods to making it easier for our men and women in uniform to vote overseas. Not all of these bills became law (only about a quarter of all legislation even gets voted on), but of the bills that I supported which were voted on in the House of Representatives and the Senate, 70 percent passed on unanimous, bipartisan votes.

That means that seven out of every 10 of my top public policy priorities were unanimously supported by Republicans and Democrats alike. Bills regarding public school pool safety, ‘blue alerts’ for injured police officers, domestic violence prevention, restoring veterans benefits, newborn health screenings, prohibiting price gouging during severe weather, and – my proudest achievement – mental health treatment for children all received unanimous and bipartisan support in the legislature.

It is enormously satisfying to know that regardless of one’s fiscal, moral, religious or ideological beliefs, my 186 colleagues in the General Assembly largely supported my personal public policy goals for 2013. At a time when our Congress in Washington, D.C. seems frozen in a perpetual impasse, Connecticut is getting things done.

Only a handful of the bills I co-sponsored – seven, to be exact – were passed along ‘party-line’ votes, with Democrats and Republicans splitting along political lines. But that was the exception rather than the rule: of the 628 votes in the state Senate this session, the Republican minority voted with the Democratic majority almost 85 percent of the time. I think 85 percent agreement is quite respectable for any work environment.

So, what to make of all this?

Obviously there’s a lot more cooperation in Hartford than generally gets reported in the media. Not only did I work very closely with the Republican ranking members of the Children’s and Housing committees that I chair, but I also collaborated with Republicans from across the state, child advocates and executive branch officials on Public Act No. 13-178 “An Act Concerning the Mental, Emotional and Behavioral Health of Youths” which was approved unanimously and signed into law by Governor Malloy on June 24th.

Working together gets things done for Connecticut’s citizens, and I was pleasantly surprised by the level of cooperation that I experienced at the State Capitol this year. It bodes well for our future when elected officials set aside political differences in favor of beneficial public policies for the people we were elected to represent.

Now that’s an expectation I can get used to!

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