Connecticut
Lamont presents optimistic view of Connecticut in State of the State address
In a speech interrupted by protest, Gov. Ned Lamont presented a State of the State Address that underscored tax breaks and attractive budget initiatives while downplaying crises unfolding in the state.
After feeling “footloose” and free in his 2023 address, Lamont’s remarks for the 2024 session cast a rosy glow on a state constrained by challenge.
In a meandering 30-minute speech, Lamont emphasized wins secured in 2023, including a tax cut for the middle class, millions of dollars earmarked for mental health, workforce incentives, health care, debt relief, technological advancements in quantum and biopower, and population growth.
Citing the “state’s largest ever commitment to child care, K-12 education, our universities, workforce training, and not-for-profits,” Lamont largely glossed over several problems plaguing the state, including a historic rise in homelessness, a crisis in early child care, continuing teacher shortages, strains on the nonprofit system and deficits in higher education budgets.
The issues Lamont did acknowledge? Affordable housing, extreme behavior, climate change and social media.
“We have too many people who cannot find a place to live — it is not available, or it is not affordable,” Lamont said.
Lamont highlighted new housing development in Connecticut’s urban centers and the commuter rail investments “turbocharging this renaissance.”
The governor said he wants to expand the reconfiguration of empty parking lots, office buildings, and brownfields into new, affordable communities. Lamont said he wants to take that approach to the suburbs.
“We are taking this model across the state, and we will be looking for input from towns and cities — where do you want the housing to be, what is the density, and how far are you from public transportation and our schools? The state will be your partner in completing the financing ASAP to get that shovel in the ground.”
He added that the state must balance the growth with green space preservation and other considerations.
“We are one of the densest states in the country — more people per square mile — so we have to manage our growth carefully. What do we want Connecticut to look like in 2035?”
Six minutes into the address, pro-Palestinian protesters interrupted the proceedings shouting “Cease-fire now” as they attempted to unfurl banners from the gallery.
The disruption lasted less than a minute as Capitol Police quickly escorted the demonstrators out.
Returning to the podium, the governor noted that he had been to “a few antiwar demonstrations, as well” back in his day.
“Whatever the justice of the cause, I think you do a disservice when you’re rude and disrespectful in a room like this. Disrespecting the people in this room, disrespecting the audience,” Lamont said.
His response received a round of applause and standing ovation from lawmakers.
“All right, back to our regularly scheduled programming,” Lamont quipped as he carried on with his remarks.
After discussing continued clean energy initiatives to combat climate change and extreme weather, Lamont turned his attention to “extreme behavior,” which he said “reflects something … profound.”
“Our culture is unleashing more extreme behavior, be it expressions of racism and hate speech, increased domestic abuse and fentanyl overdoses, with a sad surge in mental health calls starting younger and younger,” Lamont said.
When it comes to youth, Lamont said later in his speech that “severe anxiety and aberrant behavior can be traced back to social media.”
“Social media is often anti-social, and too much smartphone makes you stupid,” Lamont said.
To address the problem, Lamont said he hopes to take “little bit from China and a little bit from Beyoncé.”
In China, Lamont said children are barred from using TikTok for more than one hour each day. At Beyoncé concerts, attendees must place their phone in a “Yondr Pouch” — a smartphone sleeve that magnetically locks and unlocks devices to inhibit use.
“We will be sending out guidance to your school board — have your younger students leave their smartphones at home or drop them in a Yondr pouch at the start of every school day,” Lamont said.
Toward the end of his speech, Lamont addressed Connecticut’s fiscal health.
“Like too many of our citizens, Connecticut in years past was living paycheck to paycheck with too much debt and no room for error,” Lamont said. “Today, in addition to making our regular payments to the pension fund we have paid down an extra $8 billion, saving taxpayers about $800 million every year for the next 25 years that can be dedicated to critical services.”
The spending caps and guardrails that ushered Connecticut out of debt and into an era of record surplus have been faced with criticism lately from lawmakers who argue that as residents struggle, the state should do more with its reserves.
“Paying down our debts and a robust rainy day fund doesn’t short change our programs, it has resulted in six years of consistent increases in our key social programs, rather than the herky-jerky boom and bust cycles of yesteryear,” Lamont said.
But not everyone in the legislature agrees.
“I’ve been here during some really challenging and promising economic cycles. I’ve been here for $4 billion deficits, never fun. I’ve been here for $4 billion surpluses. That should be fun, but it doesn’t quite feel that way right now,” said House Majority Leader Jason Rojas, reflecting on his 16 sessions in the legislature in a speech before Lamont’s address.
“We are paying down debt. Wall Street has responded positively. The business community has responded positively. Those are all good things, but what about the stability of many other critical institutions in our state? Our system of higher education is not stable. Our nonprofit providers are not stable. Our homelessness response system is not stable. Our state agencies are understaffed. We’ve done our best to provide as many resources as we can to them, but we have to do more,” Rojas said.
In reference to Lamont’s proposed budget adjustments, Rojas said the legislature will have “some tough decisions to make.”
“We’ll have to strike a careful balance between his priorities and ours, recognizing that we share many similar priorities between the executive branch and the legislative branch,” Rojas said. “We clearly have the work to do. Are we up to that challenge? I believe we are.”
PHOTOS: CT State of the State Address
The U.S. economy added fewer jobs than expected in December, capping what economists say was the weakest year for job creation since 2009, aside from 2020.
Data from October shows about 73,000 job openings in Connecticut, according to the Connecticut Business and Industry Association. The state’s unemployment rate stands at about 4%, which is historically low.
Here is the topline information from Connecticut’s October and November jobs report released this week, according to the state’s Labor Department (data was delayed due to the government shutdown):
- Overall, Connecticut job growth is +1,800 from November 2024 to November 2025.
- Private sector payrolls were up 1,900 in November after a 900 decline in October.
- Health Care & Social Assistance is up 1,700 in November and recovered September losses.
- Construction is at the highest level since August 2008, a trend expected to continue with infrastructure and housing initiatives.
- Retail continues a slow downward trajectory. The sector was up 200 jobs in November, not enough to offset September and October losses.
- Initial unemployment claims are just under 30,000, slightly higher than last year at this time when they were around 25,000.
In a press release, Connecticut Department of Labor Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo said: “After several years of strong job growth that created a job seekers’ market, the economy is now more competitive—it takes job seekers longer to find employment than it has in the recent past.”
Experts say the experience of finding a job can be very different for job seekers.
Dustin Nord, director of the CBIA Foundation for Economic Growth and Opportunity, said the state may be seeing what economists call frictional unemployment.
“We’re not seeing huge changes in hiring and quits,” Nord said, adding that it’s possible people who are losing positions are not necessarily seeing positions open in the field that they’re losing their job from.
Although unemployment remains relatively low, Nord said recent trends raise concerns about the direction of the labor market.
“There’s not that many people on the sidelines, but I’d say the trends are definitely not moving in the right direction,” Nord said.
Connecticut faces longer‑term workforce challenges. The state’s labor force has declined by about 19,600 people since January, according to the new data.
“Federal immigration policies may impact these numbers. Connecticut employers rely on an immigrant workforce to offset retirements in Connecticut’s aging workforce and the state’s low birthrate; 23% of Connecticut workers are born outside of the U.S.,” the state’s Department of Labor said.
Connecticut’s labor force participation rate of 64% is higher than the national rate of 62.5%, the Department of Labor said.
The CBIA said since the COVID‑19 pandemic, Connecticut’s labor force has grown just 0.2%, compared with 4.3% growth nationwide.
That gap is occurring even as wages rise. Average weekly earnings in Connecticut are up 5.4% since November 2024, outpacing inflation.
Still, the CBIA says those gains reinforce the need to address affordability across the state.
“If we take the right steps, especially over the next six months, to try to find ways to make it more affordable,” Nord said. “I think there’s no reason we can’t continue to see, at least steady economic activity in the state.”
Nord said those steps include addressing costs tied to housing, energy and childcare.
Overall, the data suggests Connecticut’s job growth has been largely stagnant. Looking ahead, what happens in 2026 will depend both on state‑level policy decisions and broader national economic trends.
Patrick Flaherty, director of research at the Connecticut Department of Labor, said in a review of the data that recent numbers suggest the pace of growth could continue, but at a slower rate.
“The November increase suggests modest job growth that Connecticut’s labor market has shown could continue into 2026, although at a slower pace, as long as the nation avoids a downturn,” Flaherty said.
See the state report here. Read the CBIA’s analysis here.
If you grew up in North Carolina, you don’t just eat fast food — you inherit it. The first time I walked into a Connecticut drive-thru, I realized something that shocked my younger self: I missed home because I missed the food. Connecticut may pride itself on being the Pizza Capital of the United States, but for anyone raised in the South, that crown doesn’t solve the state’s biggest problem — it lacks the fast-food culture that keeps everyday meals fun, comforting and quick.
Before Nutmeggers fire their ovens to defend New Haven, let me acknowledge the obvious: Connecticut has world-class pizza. The state is so proud of it that the governor’s office issued a press release doubling down on the title, even noting that there are 1,376 pizza restaurants statewide and 63 in New Haven alone.
And yes, the pies are incredible. Many are handmade, cooked in old ovens and worth the wait.
But that’s the point: You have to wait. A lot.
Most weekends, you’ll stand in line at Pepe’s longer than it takes to drive from New Britain to Hartford. Connecticut pizza may be extraordinary, but it’s not fast food. And it can’t replace what the South does best: comfort meals you can get in minutes.
As a North Carolina native now living in Connecticut, here are three things this state needs to truly level up its food game:
- A legendary fast-food chain — ideally Bojangles.
Southerners don’t go to Bojangles. We return to it. It’s fried chicken that tastes like home, biscuits you can’t replicate, and seasoned fries that make road trips worth it.
Connecticut may not realize it, but people here miss it too. Some residents literally drive from Connecticut to North Carolina just for Bojangles, as shown in this Reddit thread from transplanted Southerners longing for a “Bojangles fix.” Another Reddit post raves about trying Bojangles for the first time.
Even YouTube creators have jumped in, praising the chain with videos like this review of its famous chicken and biscuits.
There’s also a full breakdown of the chain’s significance in “The Untold Truth of Bojangles,” which you can read here. For an outside perspective, a Connecticut-based writer included Bojangles in a ranking of the best Southern chains.
And recently, Bojangles made business news when reports suggested the company is up for sale — a reminder of how culturally important it is to its fans.
Bottom line: Bojangles has more than 800 locations across 17 states, a loyal fan base and a flavor profile the Northeast simply doesn’t match.
- More variety. The South’s fast-food universe is huge.
A writer who lived in both New England and the South described the contrast clearly in this Business Insider piece: “The fast-food options are seemingly endless in the South.”
North Carolina has Cook Out, Zaxby’s, Biscuitville, Smithfield’s Chicken ’N Bar-B-Q, and more. Connecticut has far fewer regional chains, meaning fewer signature flavors and fewer low-cost comfort foods. It’s not just about fried chicken — it’s about choice.
- A stronger culture of quick, flavorful meals.
Fast food in N.C. isn’t just food — it’s rhythm. It’s grabbing a Cajun Filet Biscuit before school, hitting Cook Out after a late game or stopping at Bojangles on road trips because you know exactly what that first bite will taste like. Connecticut leans heavily on sit-down meals and pizza culture. Great traditions, but not always practical for families, students or workers looking for fast, inexpensive meals on the go.
The Counterargument: But Connecticut Has Pizza.
True — Connecticut has some of the best pizza in the country, and locals love it fiercely. But pizza isn’t filling the same role Bojangles does in North Carolina. It’s not a drive-thru meal; it’s not a cultural touchstone, and it doesn’t come with a sweet tea strong enough to fix a bad day. Pizza can be phenomenal while still leaving a gap in the food landscape.
The Solution
It’s time for Connecticut to welcome a major Southern chain, ideally Bojangles, and embrace the culture that comes with it. Even a single location would bring new flavors, new customers, new jobs and maybe even a new sense of identity around quick comfort food. Connecticut doesn’t have to stop loving pizza. But it can expand its palate — and its drive-thru options.
Because here’s the truth that no Connecticut resident wants to hear from a Southerner: Your pizza is amazing. But you have no idea how good life can be with a Bo-Berry Biscuit.
Max Frazier is a sophomore, a Blue Devils basketball player and a proud North Carolinian studying communication at Central Connecticut State University.
BURLINGTON, Conn. (WFSB) – Connecticut State Police are investigating a suspicious incident at a residence on Case Road in Burlington.
Multiple state troopers and police vehicles were seen at the home conducting an investigation. A viewer reported seeing nine police cars and numerous troopers at the scene.
State police said there is no threat to the public at this time. The investigation is ongoing.
No additional details about the nature of the suspicious incident have been released.
Copyright 2026 WFSB. All rights reserved.
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