The Committees of the General Assembly met throughout this week to raise concepts which will be heard in Public Hearings throughout the coming weeks.

Every week, you will receive a brief legislative update from us and a list of upcoming relevant public hearings and pertinent legislation. The attached weekly report will be updated frequently, so please be sure to check for any additions as the Session progresses. 

John Carew
CSFA Legislative Representative
203-214-5535
Jpcarew@snet.net

I would expect that this will be the last report for the 2021 CGA legislative session.  Last in the listing is the budget implementer bill (S.B. #1202) which was passed at a special session on 6/15/2021.  There were several bills passed in that 6/15 session, but only that specific S.B. 1202 had any issues that pertained to any Fire Service issues.

With back-up from Chief Oates who perused all 837 pages of the implementer, I also scanned through the same 837 pages, plus the 69 pages of the budget bill (H.B. #6689), and the 128 pages of the bonding bill (H.B. #6690.  The results of all 3 of these bills are on the bill listing.  We only found 4 items within the implementer that were Fire Service related.  I have listed only the “jist” of the items in the implementer, as some items involve several paragraphs of text.  If anyone is interested in the full text of any legislation, you may contact me and I can lead you through the process.  It is rather simple once you have done it.

As in past years I have colored the text of passed bills in GREEN.  Most items that did not pass have been deleted.  Some bills that did not pass are still listed, but colored RED, because they were of interest to some individuals.  You will also note that some bills passed one chamber and not the other.  I left those listed, a some individuals have expressed a desire to know what happened to them along the process.  

If anyone is aware of any bills that they had an interest, and I have not listed them, please contact me via the email at the bottom of the listing.  After scanning through approximately 1000 pages of text, some pages get “blurry”. I will be happy to research any missed items.  Be aware that these results are of today, Saturday 6/26.  Some bills have not been signed by the Governor yet, but, if passed, they should be signed within the next week or so.

Ted Schroll Jr., Legislative Representative
Connecticut State Firefighters Association
Email  thschroll@snet.net

All,

All bills listed completely in GREEN passed both chambers.  They are not official until assigned a Public Act number and are signed by the Governor.

Bills still in RED died either in committee or on their respective calendar.  I left them on the list for now to show all that were being tracked and did not pass.

The regular session ended at midnight on this past Wednesday.  I have not had a chance to closely review each passed bill to see if there are any surprises hidden inside.  I would expect to have that done by next week and will refine the list by then.

Please note H.B. #6689 (Budget Bill) and H.B. #6690 (Bonding Bill).  Both bills passed the last day of the session.  All Fire Service items under the control of CSFA in the budget bill were flat funded from the previous biennium.  However, the Approps committee inserted $70K per year for both years of the biennial budget to fund firefighter training for distressed communities (H.B. #5666).

In the Bonding Bill, we were able to work with the Bonding Sub-Committee to insert $5 Million in the second year of the biennial toward the Regional Fire School Capital Improvement Program.

If anyone has any questions about any issues that you “heard” about, you can contact me by email and I will try to get you an answer.

Ted Schroll Jr., Legislative Representative
Connecticut State Firefighters Association
Email  thschroll@snet.net

Little to report this week.  Normally a 4 day week because of the Monday holiday, but because this was the last weekend before the end of session, the Senate worked late Friday night into Sat A.M and the House came in at noon Saturday and worked all day into the late evening.  Now only 3 days left, but who’s counting.  The 2021 regular session ends at midnight on Wednesday.  If like any normal year, both chambers will probably be working at least 12-14 hour days these last 3 days.  It has been interesting to watch both chambers these last few weeks.  More and more legislators are attending inside the building as the end nears.  However, the Capitol complex is still closed to the public.

Activity this week was 6/1  S.B. #1 passed.  This bill started out in session as a public health bill.  It ended as a bill that declared racism as a public health crisis.  No F.D. related items.

On 6/3, S.B. #261 passed the Senate.

On 6/4, Activity was performed on H.B. #5412, #5420, #6420, #6422 & S.B. #931.

On 6//5 S.B. #261 passed the House & S.B. #660 was passed.

It is hoped to be able to reach an agreement between the Governor and the legislature on a budget document early this week. Each day for the past 2-3weeks it is an on-again off-again announcement of an agreement.

Sports betting has passed, recreational “WEED” has not….. yet.

Without a budget document, at this time, both the Governor’s budget and the current Legislative budget have flat funded (same as last year) the CSFA disability account, both the county and state-wide radio maintenance accounts, and the operating budgets for the Regional Fire Training Schools.  We, as late as today, working with other fire service organizations are still attempting to convince the Legislature to increase these accounts. We continue with the philosophy of “It ain’t over ’til it’s over”. 

I can be reached by email if any questions.

Ted Schroll Jr., Legislative Representative
Connecticut State Firefighters Association
Email  thschroll@snet.net

All,

It has been said that the days dwindle down to a precious few.  Last week was a 4 day week because of the holiday and the coming week will be a 4 day week also.  When the CGA goes back to work on Tuesday there will only be 9 days left to the regular session, and that is if they work over the last weekend.  They usually do.

Activity this past week which is on my listing are as follows:

Monday 5/24       H.B. #6600 was passed in the House and is on the Senate calendar.

Tuesday 5/25       S.B. #1083 Passed in the House and should be heading to the Governor.

Wednesday 5/26  H.B. #5412 & H.B. #6666 were passed in the House and are on the Senate calendar.

                             S.B. #123 & S.B. #660 were passed in the Senate and are on the House calendar.

Thursday 5/27      H.B. #6646 was passed in the House but does not show on the Senate calendar yet.

Friday  5/28          No sessions on this day.

If any questions you may email to the address on the bottom of the listing.  

Ted Schroll Jr., Legislative Representative
Connecticut State Firefighters Association
Email  thschroll@snet.net