2: Martin Looney and Joseph Aresimowicz

Senate President Martin Looney (left) stands with House Speaker Joseph Aresimowicz (center) during a press conference.

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Senate President Martin Looney (D-New Haven) and House Speaker Joseph Aresimowicz (D-Berlin) control the legislative agenda at the state Capitol.

Holding the top positions in the Senate and House, respectively, the two Democrats — long the majority party in Connecticut politics — lead their respective caucuses and control committee appointments and which bills will come to their chamber’s floor for debate.

Looney, who has been in the Senate for 27 years — the last five as Senate President Pro Tem — hasn’t been afraid to exercise the power that comes with his position.

With a niche in healthcare and insurance matters, Looney has pushed through patient protection reforms, often in rare bipartisan fashion with his Republican counterpart Len Fasano.

He has also taken on his own party at times.

Recently, Looney was a nail in the coffin for Gov. Ned Lamont’s latest highway tolling plan, after his caucus members wouldn’t support the scaled down, trucks-only proposal.

Aresimowicz, a longtime union member and current education coordinator for AFSCME Council 4, which represents more than 14,000 Connecticut state employees, was promoted to House Speaker in 2018, after five years in that chamber’s No. 2 position.

His ascendancy to the top position was controversial, as Republicans criticized his labor ties as disqualifying, but the Office of State Ethics disagreed.

Despite his loyalty to labor, Aresimowicz has shown an ability to separate his two jobs. In 2016, he drew criticism from his own union after he voted to pass a state budget that resulted in member layoffs.

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