High drama in Hartford.

The 2025 legislative session ended with a late-night filibuster that ground the Connecticut House to a halt. The move came as lawmakers raced to pass hundreds of bills in the session's final hour.

The drama started when lawmakers attempted to remove a controversial section of the new state budget. It forces the city of Ansonia into state financial oversight.

The little-noticed provision took the city's mayor – and most legislators – by surprise.

"It is the most egregious, abusive thing that I have ever seen in this building. And to me, it feels vindictive," said House GOP leader Vin Candelora (R-North Branford). "I am disgusted that it is in this budget."

State Rep. Kara Rochelle (D-Ansonia), who pushed for the measure, accused city leaders of mismanagement and vowed to keep talking until the midnight deadline to pass bills.

“I find it insulting that this is just a political move," Rochelle told fellow lawmakers. "The residents are bombarding me with calls, begging for intervention."

The standoff ended around 11:45 p.m., when fellow Democrats abandoned the attempt to remove Rochelle's budget provision.

In the session's final hours, lawmakers approved more aggressive carbon emissions targets to combat climate change, even though Connecticut isn’t meeting its current goals.

“We are aware it is an aspirational bill, but it looks to reach for the future of our environment and what we want in the state of Connecticut,” said state Sen. Rick Lopes (D-New Britain).

After several years of failed attempts, lawmakers also banned foreclosures for most unpaid water and sewer bills. Bridgeport's Water Pollution Control Authority has threatened to foreclose on more than 1,000 homeowners over the years.

Legislation to lower prescription drug prices and ban police from handcuffing children under 14 passed with just minutes to spare.

But time ran out for hundreds of bills, including tougher penalties for roaming dogs and legislation letting Gov. Ned Lamont order a bear hunting season.

“At some point, if you get to the last day, there is just not enough time,” Connecticut House Speaker Matt Ritter (D-Hartford) said.

On the final day of the legislative session, lawmakers’ biggest task was approving a two-year bond package. It lists billions of dollars in projects eligible for long-term state borrowing.

The massive, 256-page package includes:

The state will also borrow up to $500 million to lower electricity bills.

After last summer’s deadly flooding, $20 million is earmarked for a new disaster fund and statewide flood mapping.

“If your town got hit by a flood, and you saw damage and your town cannot afford to help itself,” said state Rep. John Piscopo (R-Thomaston).

The bond package makes it easier for local schools to install air conditioning, by changing how the state funds those projects.

In addition, University of Connecticut and Connecticut State Colleges and Universities could get tens of millions of dollars in borrowing to mitigate lean funding in the new state budget.

But one major project was left off the list.

Bridgeport asked for more than $100 million to build a massive professional soccer and hotel complex at the old greyhound race track. Instead, the Connecticut Department of Community and Economic Development will study the project and issue a report by Oct. 1.

“There’s a study in the bond bill to have DECD report back on what this development could generate in terms of state sales tax, income tax,” said Connecticut House Speaker Matt Ritter (D-Hartford).

Getting into the bond package is no guarantee of funding. Gov. Ned Lamont and the State Bond Commission have the final say over who gets money – and when.

Most of the General Assembly’s “must-do” list was already finished before the last day.

Lawmakers sent Lamont a new $55.8 billion state budget early Wednesday morning. It includes his signature Universal Preschool program and a new $250 a year tax credit for lower-income parents.

“It includes significant investments in our education system, beginning with historic levels of support for early childhood education, up through our K-12 public schools and our higher education institutions,” Lamont said. “While other states are increasing taxes and cutting services, economic analysts are pointing to Connecticut as an example of a state that has worked hard to maintain fiscal stability and make the smart decisions that are critical for economic growth.”

But Republicans blasted the budget for spending too much.

“We are putting ourselves back into that recessionary spending that we have seen time and again,” Candelora said.

Lawmakers also approved a bipartisan package to cut about $10 per month off the Public Benefits Charge of electric bills, and a controversial bill that requires towns to zone for a specified amount of affordable housing and eliminates parking requirements for new apartments.

Lawmakers are also putting more eyes on Bridgeport.

An election monitor will once again oversee voting in 2025 and 2026. The move comes as several people – including three current or former Bridgeport city council members –currently face 156 ballot fraud charges.

Mayor Joe Ganim will also have to submit a corrective action plan to the state by Sept. 1, showing how the city will get school finances under control. The Bridgeport Board of Education recently voted to cut 20 teachers, all 15 librarians and five assistant principals – and that’s on top of 45 positions eliminated in December.

Money isn't the only problem for Bridgeport schools. The state Department of Education is now overseeing the district’s operations as well.

The bond package approved on Wednesday also reverses controversial legislation to give lawmakers the power to reject the state’s top elections regulator. Lamont said he would veto the bill.

Lawmakers may not be gone long.

House Speaker Ritter said they may need to return to make “fixes” to a state hospital tax. And he said a special session is likely this fall, once Connecticut knows how deep the federal cuts from Congress will be.