Good morning and welcome back to the Tip Sheet, a weekly newsletter from Tom Dudchik’s Capitol Report written by Mike Cerulli.

This week, we’ve got a packed Tip Sheet. We’re taking a look at the continuing saga of the Connecticut Sun and a novel idea that’s being floated to keep the team in the state.

Plus: Fazio nabs endorsements, Ritter weighs in on special session timing, Nick Simmons has a new job, a favorite House Republican Office staffer heads south, and a treasure of the Connecticut news biz celebrates two decades.

Let’s dive in…

The PenSUN Fund?

In the multifaceted drama of the Connecticut Sun, a novel approach to keeping the franchise in the state is being discussed at the highest levels.

As Dan Haar reported last week, state leaders are exploring a number of options to keep the pro hoops team in the place they’ve branded as the world’s “basketball capital.”

Haar wrote that the bid by Marc Lasry, a Connecticut billionaire, is still on the table. But both Haar and ESPN have said the WNBA has signaled opposition to an outright sale to a buyer who would like to move the team from Uncasville to Hartford.

In the apparent absence of a clean option to transfer the team entirely to a new owner who would keep it in Connecticut, officials have been exploring options for a minority investment in the team – including an investment by the state itself.

The concept as described by multiple knowledgeable sources would see the state make an investment in the team through its pension funds. There's no ink on paper, sources stressed, and other options remain in the mix. But the pension fund idea is certainly one of them.

The idea of a public pension fund investing in a professional sports team might sound exotic but it is something that other states, including Maryland and Oregon, have done…sort of. Both states have made sizable commitments to private equity funds that specialize in taking minority stakes in franchises like the Golden State Warriors and the Miami Dolphins.

The professional sports world has seen ballooning valuations for teams – enticing institutional investors to dip their toes in an industry that was once the exclusive realm of wealthy families.

Still, investing in private equity funds which take stakes in multiple franchises across multiple leagues is one thing. A government entity directly investing in a team is another. Currently, that’s an activity that’s mainly reserved for the monarchical petrostates of the Middle East.

One could imagine a basketball jersey branded with the revamped Connecticut logos a la Paris Saint-Germain’s Qatar Airways kit. Qatar’s government-operated sports fund controls the soccer team. The Qatari government also owns the airline. Arctos Partners, an American private equity outfit which has secured nine figures in investments from Oregon’s Public Employees Retirement Fund, owns a minority position in the team.

Could Connecticut be a pioneer in the business of sports? Time will tell. 

Get your costumes out: Ritter predicts special session sometime “between Columbus Day and Halloween”

It wasn’t too long ago when Tom O’Dea, the affable representative from New Canaan, donned a pirate costume on the floor of the House of Representatives. The occasion was the annual “Dress Down Day” and O’Dea was already wearing an eye patch for medical reasons.

O’Dea might find himself reaching for his hook and bandana again if the expected special session of the legislature falls on the later end of the timeframe offered by House Speaker Matt Ritter.

Ritter recently told News 8 that his best guess for when a special session could take place is some time “between Columbus Day and Halloween.”

Ritter’s comments dovetailed with a similar prediction from Marty Looney, the State Senate president, who told Mark Pazniokas that a session before the middle of next month is unlikely.

If there is to be a special session scheduled around Halloween, the Tip Sheet will closely monitor which legislators choose to fully embrace the holiday.

Fazio flexes endorsements

The automated text messages arrived on the phones of Connecticut’s Republican Party insiders all at once.

The timing was no mistake.

The party’s most loyal and influential insiders were gathered in Stamford last Thursday for the annual GOP dinner named in honor of Prescott Bush, the former Connecticut senator and patriarch of the branch of the Bush clan that spawned two presidents.

The text messages were sent by the campaign of Ryan Fazio. The Greenwich state senator was heralding the recently-announced endorsements of the two highest ranking elected Republicans in the state.

Within the ranks of Republican state legislators, word that both Vin Candelora, the House GOP leader, and Steve Harding, the Senate GOP leader, would throw their support behind Fazio wasn’t exactly a state secret. Candelora was among the first Republicans to go on the record talking up Fazio as a gubernatorial candidate. Harding counts Fazio as a friend and ally in the small but lively caucus he commands.

The endorsements of the two legislative leaders provided a boost for Fazio’s new campaign and offered a preview of the coming fight between Fazio and his likely rival for the GOP nomination.

“Clinging to the Hartford establishment is an interesting campaign strategy, best of luck to them,” Morgan Wilson, a senior advisor to Erin Stewart’s exploratory campaign, said in response to the endorsements.

Publicly, the two leaders and Fazio all pushed back on being described as the members of the Hartford establishment. Privately, Fazio backers pointed out Stewart’s own longstanding ties to power players in Hartford – including the top Republican staffer in the State Senate.

As we noted in a previous edition of the Tip Sheet…this could get ugly.

Simmons “100%” focused on new job

With Ryan Fazio eyeing the state’s top job, interest in his lower Fairfield County senate seat is ramping up.

Barring a quick retreat by Fazio next year, Democrats see an opportunity to grow their supermajority in the absence of an established incumbent defending the seat. Much speculation has centered on the intentions of Nick Simmons, Fazio’s rival in last year’s election.

Though Fazio substantially grew his margin of victory in 2024, Simmons drew attention for his record-setting challenge. His campaign attracted historic financing and his field operation surpassed anything the state has seen in races at that level.

While many assumed Simmons would make another run at the seat, it appears as though the former deputy chief of staff to the governor has his eyes set elsewhere. He recently told the Tip Sheet he is “100%” focused on his new job as CEO of a nationally-recognized workforce development nonprofit.

“100% of my attention is focused on my new role as CEO of Pursuit and building high quality workforce training programs that bring economic mobility and transform lives,” Simmons said.

Vogt rounds out CTYR board

A rising star in the ranks of GOP staffers is adding another item to her resume.

Hannah Vogt, a House Republican Office staffer, was recently made national committeewoman for the Connecticut Young Republicans. 

The Fairfield University alum is the latest addition to CTYR’s new board, which is now led by Patrick Burland.

Jalbert heads south

The House Republicans bid farewell to one of their own last week.

Melissa Jalbert departed her role in the caucus and is heading south to live in North Carolina.

“Melissa is going to be missed by our entire caucus family,” Vin Candelora said. “We wish her well in her new endeavors in North Carolina. Our loss is their gain.”

Wishing you lots of fun and sunshine down south, Melissa!

New Haven Indy celebrates two decades

At a time when shifting business models driven by rapid advances in technology has the news business confronting hard questions about its future, it’s easy to be consumed by a doom loop that leads one to believe the worst about what’s to come.

The era of the local paper is dead, right? The archetypal gumshoe reporter is being slowly pushed aside in favor of short-form slop and the output of large language models…or, maybe not?

There’s certainly cause for concern in the world of local news, but there are also success stories that provide a glimmer of light at the end of what can seem like a pretty bleak tunnel.

Case in point: The New Haven Independent.

The outlet recently celebrated 20 years in operation.

Under the intrepid leadership of Paul Bass, the Indy has adapted to the times and remained a font of solid, local reporting.

Journalists like Bass remind us that, at the end of the day, there really isn’t anything that can replace the reporting of someone who has been there and done that.

To this day, the Indy continues to remain a relevant and vital source of information in a city that shapes the character of Connecticut and the world. The outlet has also served as a proving ground for young journalists just getting their start. Many have gone on to other ventures (we hear one is making a name for herself behind the scenes at ABC News) and many remain key members of civic society in New Haven.

Here’s to 20!

We’ll be back next week with another edition of the Tip Sheet!