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CSFA Connecticut 2012 CT House Bill Status Report – Check for Weekly Updates if Legislature is in Session

by on Monday, July 30th, 2012 | Comments Off on CSFA Connecticut 2012 CT House Bill Status Report – Check for Weekly Updates if Legislature is in Session

The Latest CT Legislative News for CSFA:CSFA CT 2012 House Bill Status Report

Please check the following link for Legislative updates and related news for The Connecticut State Firefighters Association:

 

CSFA 2012 CT House Bill Status Report

The above link is the latest news for CSFA members from the State Capitol in Hartford – from our lobbyist Ted Schroll, Jr.

Connecticut General Assembly 2012 Legislative End of Session Notes

July 1, 2012

All,
I would expect this to be a final report from the 2012 legislative session.  The regular session ended on 5/9, and a special session was held on 6/12.  As you probably know from updates through the media, the General Assembly only passed 2 bills during the special session.  However, they packed a lot of legislation in those two bills.  The fortunate outcome was that there was nothing in those bills that either hurt or reversed any of the legislation that passed earlier.
  • House Bill #6001 was the bill that was initiated in the House.  In this lengthy bill there was 2 issues that will have some effect on the fire service.  Section #241 of the bill made only minor changes to the E-911 Advisory Committee’s annual reporting procedure.  Sections #251-#263 includes many changes to the Underground Storage Tank Petroleum Clean-up program.  The changes take up several pages and appear to be extensive.  I would suggest that you research this language if this program affects your duties.
  • Senate Bill #501 was the bill that was initiated in the Senate.  There was only one item in this bill that affects the fire service.  As part of the property conveyance portion of the bill, the Dept. of Corrections would convey approximately 10 acres of land to the Shaker Pines Fire District #5.  The language states that the land is to be used “for firefighting educational and training purposes.”  If the parcel of land is not used for that purpose the land parcel shall revert back to the State.
You will note that all the bills I have been following for you have now been signed by Governor Malloy.  I would not expect to make any further reports unless, for some reason, the General Assembly would convene a special session.  With this being an election year I would not expect that to happen at least until after the election.  If there are any concerns that any of you or your members need clarified, please do not hesitate to inquire by email.
Ted Schroll Jr., Legislative Representative
Connecticut State Firefighters Association
703 Ridge Road
Wethersfield, CT 06109-2634
Email thschroll@snet.net

 

April 30, 2012

 

All,
You will note a few changes to this week’s listing.  As I stated last week, I have deleted almost all of the bill that died in committee.  I have also added 2 new bills.  These take the place of 2 of the dead bills, but their content was inserted into the new bills.  All of the bills currently on the listing have the possibility of moving forward toward passage.  I’m sure that some may not as there is only 7-10 session days left in the regular session.  The House worked on 2 “talkers” this past week, minimum wage and medical marijuana.  Now they have to go through the Senate.  A Senate “talker” was passed this week, the JOBS bill, which now has to go through the House.  Besides these mentioned bills, they still have to pass a budget and bonding bill in both houses.  The Education Reform bill is hanging out there in front of everyone; that will probably be another “talker”.  Then there are all the miscellaneous bills sitting on the calendar.  There’s going to be some late nights.
Some good news for the fire service this past week.  On Friday, the Bond Commission met and allocated $800,000 for design/build architectural fees for 5 Regional Fire Schools.  This is a major step forward for the project.  This amount will set the stage for construction of the schools in Burrville, Willimantic, Beacon Falls, Cheshire, & Fairfield.  Since 4 schools except Willimantic will basically be of the same design, we will not have to stop and redesign for each school.  With this step forward, and hopefully the additional $28.2 million in this years bonding package, the CSFA Education Committee is breathing a little easier after 12 years.  The important next step will be the passage of Senate Bill #25, the bonding bill before the end of session.
Activity this past week include:
H.B. #5378, the E-911 surcharge bill, passed the House and moved to the Senate,
H.B. #5087, #5236, S.B. #25, & #61 moved onto the Senate calendar,
H.B. #5348 & S.B. #320 are now on the House calendar,
S.B. #62 passed the Senate,
S.B. #354 was referred to the Public Safety committee.
I am available for any questions.

 

Ted Schroll Jr., Legislative Representative
Connecticut State Firefighters Association
703 Ridge Road
Wethersfield, CT 06109-2634
Email thschroll@snet.net

 

 

April 23, 2012

All,
With just over 2 weeks to go before the end of session, the General Assembly is moving forward with many bills.  The House was in session four days this past week and the Senate was in session for two days.  Many committees also were meeting to attempt to keep up with the movement of legislation.  A few of the bills we have been following are moving.
The deadline for new bills has passed approximately two weeks ago, so this week I am flagging those bills that have died in committee.  I will be removing them from the listing next week.  This does not mean that some of these concepts will surface within other bills as amendments, but those bills as they are numbered are dead.
Activity this past week:
H.B. #5014, #5016, #5233, #5378, #5514, #5526, #62, moved to their respective calendars.
H.B. #5094 & #5236 passed the House and moved to the Senate.
S.B. #61 was referred to the Energy committee.
S.B. #320 passed in the Senate and moved to the House.
S.B. #200 passed the House and now goes to the Governor for his signature.
For those following H.B. #5378, it is expected to be sent to the Energy committee.  Usually all proposed legislation dealing with telecommunications goes through the Energy committee.  It was hoped to bypass this committee, but it is not unexpected.  Better to go now than wait until the last few days.
I am available if any questions.

April 16, 2012

As of this Wednesday, 4/18, there will only be 3 weeks left before end of session on 5/9/2012.  As in last weeks report, many bills are passing between committees and the respective chambers.  In a Senate session on 4/11, S.B. #200 was passed and the bill moved to the House.
Other activity includes: H.B. #5094 moved from Transportation to the calendar.
H.B. #5218, #5506, #5527, #S.B. #23 were placed on their respective calendars.
H.B. #5233 was JF’d from Appropriations to the calendar.
H.B. #5236 was JF’d from Public Safety to the calendar.
S.B. #61 was referred to the Transportation committee.
S.B. #62 was referred to the Energy & Technology committee.
H.B. #5378 was referred to the Finance committee.  This bill is on the Finance committee agenda on Monday 4/16.

 

April 9, 2012

There is very little to report this week.  Because of the way the legislative process works, almost all of the bills that we follow are either in committee waiting to move to the calendar, or are already on the calendar.  Two bills worthy of note were passed out of the Finance committee this week.  S.B. #25 is the bonding bill that includes $28.2 Million for the Regional Fire Training Schools capital improvement project.  The full amount was approved without any opposition.  The other bill helps the state, but also benefits the public safety family.  S.B. #354 would require a 50 cent fee on each purchase of a prepaid wireless service from a retailer.  That fee would be placed within the E-911 fund to supplement the E-911 surcharge.

 

I have also updated the substitute language for H.B. #5514.  Previous language required AED’s in health clubs.  The new language from the Public Health committee deletes the requirement in health clubs, but requires AED’s in athletic departments of institutions of higher education.

 

The General Assembly met in session on Wednesday 3/4, and the result was that H.B. #5094 moved from the Transportation committee to the House calendar, and H.B. #5236 moved from the House calendar to the Public Safety committee.

 

I am available if there are any questions.
April 2, 2012

The past week started out rather uneventful.  Both the House & Senate met in session on Wednesday.  During that session H.B. #5094 was moved to the Transportation Committee and H.B. #5247 was moved to the Appropriations Committee.  At an Appropriations Committee meeting on Thursday, the committee put forth their answer to the Governor’s budget bill.  In their version they restored the 5% cut to the operating budgets for the Regional Fire Training Schools.  The Fire School budgets, the CSFA disability account, and the county & state fire radio accounts were maintained at the FY 2012 levels.

The news of the week is in regard to H.B. #5526.  I attended a Public Health committee meeting on Monday in which the subject bill was to be favorably moved (JF’d) from the committee.  At the last minute the committee put a HOLD on the bill because they said they were waiting for substitute language.  They stated that they would be acting on the bill on Thursday.  I reached out to a very reliable source for further information.  The source came back to me with the substitute language.  It would greatly change the content of Section 1 of the bill.  The language changed the make-up of the Office of Emergency Medical Services Advisory Board (OEMS A/B) from a 39 member board to a 12 member board.  It eliminated the appointees from the CT State Firefighters Association (CSFA) and the Commission on Fire Prevention & Control (CFPC) from membership on the board.  It retained the appointee from the CT Fire Chiefs Association (CFCA).  Thus I began an attempt to restore the fire service positions before the Public Health Committee meeting on Thursday (3/29).  Unfortunately I was unable to accomplish that in the timeframe available.  However I was able to bring this deletion of both fire service organizations to the attention of several Public Health committee members, and they expressed their concern, on the record, to the committee leadership.  We will be working diligently in the next few weeks to change the language back to include more representation from the fire service.

It would appear that someone “out there” is attempting to limit the voice of the fire service participating in the EMS service.  Most of you know that the fire service is performing approximately 70% of the EMS “street work”.  We deserve to have a place at the table whenever our activities are being discussed.  We don’t deserve to be put in second place.  Your assistance is going to be needed to contact your legislators asking them to either change Section 1 of H.B. #5526 to include the CSFA or vote “NO” for the entire bill.

 

 

CSFA Online 2012

 

 

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