Gov. M. Jodi Rell has agreed to give up some power.
Should senators Chris Dodd, Joe Lieberman, or some future senator, vacate their lofty seat, the governor would be hands-off in picking a replacement.
The voters would decide through a special election.
The law was born out of the Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich controversy just after then-Sen. Barack Obama was elected president. You’ll recall that Blagojevich’s political decline began with allegations that he tried to sell Obama’s seat.
However, this is Connecticut, which tends not to be a breeding ground for Commanders in Chief.
Here, things were working just fine for decades, Rell said. But the new law puts it into the hands over voters, and Rell said she has long believed "every action possible" should be taken to involve citizens in their government.
But not all folks in her party are taking such a stance. Some Republican lawmakers said this is a power grab by the General Assembly's majority Democrats and an insult to Rell.
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The legislation takes effect immediately.
On a positive note for the governor, the voters can’t blame her if they decide they don’t like whoever they sent to Capitol Hill.
