Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano during the opening day of the legislative session.
Former Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano.
Former Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano mark pazniokas / ctmirror.org

Former Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, who did not seek re-election in 2020, is returning to the General Assembly as one of two political appointees overseeing the legislature’s non-partisan legal staff.

The legislature’s Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee voted Monday to endorse his nomination as a legislative commissioner, a part-time job that pays about $55,000 annually.

He will succeed former Rep. William Hamzy, R-Plymouth, who recently won a special election to become a probate judge. Hamzy, a legislative commissioner for 10 years, said he must resign before being sworn as a judge on June 4.

“It gives me an opportunity to come back to a place I love,” Fasano said at a confirmation hearing Monday morning.

A Democrat and a Republican oversea a staff of 19 lawyers who review and help draft every bill reported by a committee to the floor. The Democratic commissioner is Ed Maley, a former chief of staff and counsel for the Senate Democrats.

With the support of leaders of both parties, Fasano’s confirmation by the full legislature is assured.

Mark is the Capitol Bureau Chief and a co-founder of CT Mirror. He is a frequent contributor to WNPR, a former state politics writer for The Hartford Courant and Journal Inquirer, and contributor for The New York Times.

Leave a comment