CSFA Legislative Update – March 11, 2014 from Ted Schroll, Jr. with House Bill Status Report
All,
The 2014 legislative session continues. New bills published this week include H.B. #5503, #5507, #5531, #5533, #5537, S.B. #386, #416, #426, #427, & #430.
Three more new bills are to be published tomorrow (Monday) morning, H.B. #5541, #5542, & S.B. #439.
Public Hearings next week:
3/10 Judiciary S. B. #386
3/11 Public Safety H. B. #5531, #5533, S.B. #426, #427, & #430.
3/14 Public Health H. B. #5503, #5537, S. B. #416.
3/14 Plan & Dev. H. B. #5507.
Of the new bills to be published tomorrow morning, 2 of them should be of special interest to the fire service. H.B. #5542 is the bill that concerns the recommendations of the PSA Task Force. It will have to watched closely. It was originally thought that this bill would have a public hearing on 3/14, however the agenda for that hearing is published and the bill is not on that agenda. For those with an interest, keep close contact with Mary-Ellen Harper for the latest.
The other bill that should be of special interest to the fire service is S. B. #439. Section #1 of this bill could be interpreted as an attempt by the EMS Advisory Board to circumvent CGS 7-313 AUTHORITY OF A FIRE OFFICER. This legislation has been discussed before. This original legislation was instituted for a reason. There can be only ONE Incident Commander at a fire/emergency scene. It is definitely NOT in the best interest of the fire service to allow any attempt to “water down” the existing statute. A public hearing has not been scheduled yet, but this could be the same day as the PSA bill. We will need your input when the hearing occurs.
Ted Schroll Jr., Legislative Representative
Connecticut State Firefighters Association
703 Ridge Road
Wethersfield, CT 06109-2634
FAX 860-529-7106
CELL 860-402-3865
