December marks the end of the calendar year, and for legislators it has historically been a time of reflection and to simply enjoy the holiday season. This December has been anything but lazy days. In fact, this year, December has become a springboard for tasks to accomplish in January 2008. Here is what we all have to look forward to in 2008.

The resignation of State Sen. Louis C. DeLuca (R- Woodbury) took effect on November 30. Gov. M. Jodi Rell set a special election for January 15 to fill the vacant seat in the 32nd senatorial district. This caused both parties to not only scramble to find a suitable candidate, but also to mount a successful campaign right through the middle of the holiday season. The GOP caucus has nominated a Watertown town councilman, Rob Kane, as their candidate. Kane edged out current State Representative Arthur O'Neill for the nomination by a vote of 34 - 30. The Democrats have scheduled their caucus to select a nominee this Sunday in Woodbury. Both candidates are short on time and this may be the first year that a political mailing comes in the form of a Christmas card!

Several towns away in Bridgeport, the newly elected Mayor of Bridgeport, current Senator Bill Finch (D), is contemplating whether or not to hold onto his title as State Senator. The rumor that Finch is receiving political pressure from the Senate Democrats to stay in his current position so that they can maintain their veto-proof majority in the State Senate is still buzzing about. If Finch decides to tender his resignation, Governor Rell would schedule a special election within 45 days and with the state's new public financing regulations, this will be an interesting race to watch.

The House and Senate both convened a special session on Wednesday, December 5 to vote to open another special session in January to address a series of criminal justice issues in response to the Cheshire tragedy. It looks as though the 2008 session will be starting a month early this year.

The real opening day of the 2008 regular session, Wednesday, February 6, will bring a Governor's State of the State message and an update on the progress of the two-year budget. Debate will reopen on additional bonding projects and the possibility of a supplemental bonding package in addition to the one finally passed in late fall. Issues like judicial changes to parole, universal healthcare, and expansion of the bottle bill are all on the table. More hot topics are sure to pop up as the holidays pass and January snows arrive!

Connecticut is one of only six states that have a limited scope legislative session. In other words, session in even numbered years is limited to consideration of specific types of legislation. Only committees and the governor can propose legislation. In Connecticut, it is referred to as the "short session."

"Long sessions" occur in odd numbered years. During long sessions, legislators consider a broad range of legislation affecting people of the state and adopt a state budget covering the following two years. Individual legislators can submit proposals for consideration. Long sessions run from January to June.

Short sessions are intended to be budget- adjustment sessions that deal solely with items that pertain to the budget and secondary issues that a committee deems to be of importance. The 2008 short session will run from Wednesday, February 6 to the stroke of midnight on Wednesday, May 7.

To prepare for any budget issues that must be dealt with in the 2008 session, the Appropriations Committee held a public hearing to address projected state agency deficiencies. At that hearing, commissioners testified that for FY 08, the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services projects a $9 million shortfall, the Department of Correction projects a $16 million deficiency, and the Department of Education predicts a shortage of $15.4 million.

Commissioner Thomas Kirk of the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services attributes the department's shortfall in large part to, "corrective action efforts to reduce perceived deficiencies at Connecticut Valley Hospital and our other state facilities." This corrective action includes increased staffing and overtime, increasing expenditures for repairs and maintenance, and hiring outside experts to assist in developing new training models.

Commissioner Theresa Lantz testified about the Department of Correction's deficiencies. One of the main reasons given was the unprecedented level of the incarcerated population, now at 19,848. The Department's FY 07-08 budget was constructed when the average prison population was only 19,000. This population increase has led to increased overtime costs, increased maintenance, food, and energy costs, and increased medical costs and staffing.

Geary Maher, Assistant Director of the Office of Fiscal Analysis offered an overview of all of the state agency deficiencies, including the Department of Education. The Department of Education's shortfall is due to higher than projected enrollments in magnet schools and increased special education costs.

According to Maher, the FY 08 budget is already over the spending cap by $690.4 million. He offered three options to award additional funding to make up for the state agency deficiencies. The first is to transfer already budgeted allotment holdbacks in Personal Services and Other Expenses to reduce deficiencies. The second option is to pass legislation to transfer potential lapsing dollars from other state agencies to the agencies experiencing deficiencies. The third alternative is to provide additional funds by further exceeding the spending cap. This would require an emergency declaration from the Governor and a three-fifths vote of the House and Senate.

In February, the legislature will begin to craft a deficiency bill where it will take these options into consideration. In addition to budget issues, 2008 is also an election year and no one wants to appear soft on the major issues! Expect issues such as parole violation, home invasion, open container laws, and other hot topics to pop up in legislation as well.