Political positions
Energy
As Ranking Senator of the state’s Energy &Technology Committee,Fazio has been a prominent voice on energy issues and critic of current state policies. In 2023,he co-authored parts of SB7,including a section requiring utilities to itemize the cost of dozens of energy and environmental programs run by the state government on residents’monthly bills. [9] That category,called “Public Benefits,”has become a source of debate. It includes subsidies for solar power,electric vehicle chargers,low-income households,and many other programs. [10]
Fazio has repeatedly proposed legislation to eliminate “Public Benefits”charges from residents’energy bills,either eliminating programs or funding them in the state budget process. [11] Fazio’s proposal has drawn disagreement from progressive environmental groups and support among Republican legislators. In 2025,Fazio subsequently co-authored SB4,which cut over $100 million per year from “Public Benefits”charges—although it was a compromise and didn’t eliminate the roughly $1 billion of costs as Fazio originally proposed. [12] Gov. Ned Lamont gave Fazio some "credit" for advancing the law. [13]
Fazio has also been a supporter of expanding natural gas pipeline capacity from the Marcellus shale region and better regulatory treatment for nuclear power. [14]
Taxes and spending
Fazio is a fiscal conservative who has supported tax cuts and opposed large spending increases over his tenure. He earned a career 100% rating from the Connecticut Business and Industry Association for his voting record in support of economic growth. [15]
Fazio introduced a tax plan,SB602,calling for a 1.5 percentage-point income tax cut for middle-income households. It would funding the tax cut by reducing tax expenditures and state bonding. He also introduced a proposal for a property tax cap,SB556,that would cap increases in property taxes to 2 percent or inflation every year,like the law in Massachusetts.
Fazio was a loud proponent of the state’s so-called “fiscal guardrails,”which were passed in 2017 and included a spending cap,“volatility cap”,bonding cap,and revenue cap with the goal of mitigating the state’s tax increases and debt overhang. [16]
Abortion
Fazio has stated he is in favor of keeping abortion legal in Connecticut. [17] In 2022,Fazio voted against House Bill 5414,which allows aspiration abortions to be performed by midwives or nurses without a doctor. [18]
In 2023,Fazio,along with the majority the Republican Senate conference,voted in favor of House Bill 6820,which increases public access to birth control in Connecticut,and also protects licensed medical providers from having their licenses revoked for providing an abortion. [19]
Contraceptives
In 2023,Fazio co-authored a bill to expand contraception access in Connecticut by allowing certain trained pharmacists to prescribe oral contraception. The proposal was included in HB6768 and passed into law. [20]
Economic issues
Fazio wrote and moved legislation to cut occupational licensing fees for workers. Legislation that Fazio introduced with several other legislators would cut all fees for workers like tradesmen,nurses,accountants,and others,to a maximum of $100. The legislation passed the Senate in 2024,SB135,but did not pass into law.
Fazio passed a law in 2025,SB1558,aimed at bringing back hundreds of millions in income tax revenue collected by New York and other neighboring states from Connecticut residents while they work from home for companies based in the other states. The law offers a 60 percent credit to any resident successfully appealing or litigating against another state in this area. It also requires the Attorney General to write a legal strategy to challenge other states taking such tax revenue from Connecticut. [21]
Legislation
Fazio has been able to author or co-author several new laws as a state senator despite Republicans’minority-party status in the legislature:
- SB6768,Section 6,in 2023 to allow trained pharmacists to prescribe hormonal contraception.
- SB7 in 2023 to reform oversight of utilities and require disclosure of “public benefits”charges on utility bills.
- SB333 in 2024 to increase the ability of towns and cities to make changes to their municipal charters. [22]
- A 2024 law to eliminate college degree requirements for most state jobs. [23]
- SB1558 in 2025 to prove financial support and state direction to sue New York and Massachusetts for taxing the income of Connecticut residents while they work from home for New York and Massachusetts companies.
- SB4 in 2025 to cut “public benefits”costs,including cutting subsidies for EV charging stations,solar subsidies,and more.
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