The legislature’s judiciary committee will undergo drastic changes next year as both longtime co-chairmen are taking jobs in the new Malloy administration.
Rep. Michael P. Lawlor and State Sen. Andrew McDonald - the leaders in the thick of the battle on controversial issues like same-sex civil unions, gay marriage, and the death penalty - will both step down from their legislative seats to work for Democrat Dannel Malloy.
Lawlor is taking a job in the governor’s budget office, while McDonald will be Malloy’s chief legal counsel.
Lawlor is the longest-serving co-chairman of the judiciary committee, even surpassing “King Richard” Tulisano - the outspoken orator who ruled the committee with an iron fist in his heyday. Lawlor was one of the chief proponents of changing the statute of limitations in civil sexual abuse cases, which is directly related to the high-profile lawsuits regarding the late Dr. George Reardon, who treated patients at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford before his death more than a decade ago.
In the swirling, non-stop rumor mill at the state Capitol, Lawlor had been mentioned frequently for a high-level job at the Office of Policy and Management that would focus on some of his core issues - criminal justice, prisons, and funding for programs.
The departure of both committee leaders at the same time brought optimism from the Family Institute of Connecticut, a conservative organization that has often battled against the two leaders.
“Andrew McDonald and Mike Lawlor are two of the legislators who were most opposed to traditional family values, so having them inside the Malloy administration … does concern us,” said Peter Wolfgang, the institute’s executive director. “On the other hand, Malloy accomplished for us something that our political arm was never able to accomplish. He got McDonald and Lawlor out of the judiciary committee co-chairmenship and out of their seats in the legislature. In that sense, Christmas has come early for the Family Institute.”
When told of those remarks, Lawlor burst out laughing. He declined to get into a back-and-forth clash with Wolfgang.
“There you go,” Lawlor said, adding that it was a coincidence that he and McDonald will be leaving simultaneously.
Lawlor was one of four high-profile appointments Thursday by Ben Barnes, the new budget chief under Malloy.
