In all seriousness, CT has a part-time legislature and it's tough for a lot of them to find regular jobs that will accommodate their legislative + campaign schedules; raising salaries helps ensure that people who aren't independently wealthy can still serve in the CGA.

Also, $40k/year merely brings CT up to the same level as other state legislatures that make similar demands of their members, despite being way more expensive to live in than most of those states.