General Assembly session opens, briefly

For the record: The Connecticut General Assembly met its constitutional duty of convening its 2014 session at 10 a.m. Wednesday, despite a snowstorm that largely shut down the state.

All substantive matters, primarily Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget address, were postponed until Thursday, but the Senate and House gaveled in, formally opening the three-month session.

House Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden, did the honors in the House, witnessed by House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, House Majority Leader Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, and Rep. Pamela Sawyer, R-Bolton.

Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman, the presiding officer in the Senate, tapped the gavel in the upper chamber, where a staff attorney, Joe Quinn, took on the role of acting chaplain and offered this prayer:

“Lord, give us each day: the patience to understand those who disagree with us, sensitivity to the needs of others, and the prudence to make decisions which work toward the common good.”

Malloy ordered first-shift, nonessential state employees to stay home and urged private employers to do the same. Later in the day, he ordered second-shift nonessential state employees to stay home as well.