Governor Lamont plans to release his proposed budget this Wednesday, February 10.The governor has also introduced Executive Order No. 10 which includes a relaxation on religious gathering restrictions and absentee voting eligibility during the pandemic.
The distribution of COVID-19 vaccines will get a boost as the Connecticut Vaccine Appointment Line will now run 8 a.m. – 8 p.m., seven days a week with 125 people to manage the phones, and an expected 10,000 appointments available per week according to the Department of Public Health .
Governor Lamont is expected to name up to 15 new superior court judges this month with public hearings to take place in March in the Judiciary Committee. The Judicial Branch is authorized to have 201 judges: seven on the supreme court, nine on the appellate court, and 185 on the superior court. In the recent past, new judges had requested to be placed on “the list” anywhere from a couple of months ago to 15 years.
The state is mourning the loss of Robert Kane, a state auditor and former state senator from Watertown, who died suddenly on Saturday.
DAILY BILLS & TESTIFYING
CBA section and committee chairs and legislative liaisons continue to receive the daily lists of House and Senate bills. They then receive specifically identified (section interest) bills for review. Bills can be quickly searched using the BILLS search bar found at the bottom of each CGA webpage.
As public hearings are now regularly held and generally there is a five-day notice of a hearings, it is imperative for a section to request authorization to testify or submit testimony on bills. Please note whether you have authorization through the updated legislative agenda. If not authorized, please go to the Legislative Affairs page on the CBA website for legislative agenda, forms, etc. Complete a position request form and submit by Mondays so that it may be reviewed by the Legislative Policy and Review Committee.
LEGISLATIVE CALENDAR
The calendar of the legislature is available daily to view scheduling of committee meetings and public hearings. Each day through this calendar we have an opportunity to view committee agendas, attend virtual committee meetings, hear the discussion, and note the process.
COMMITTEE MEETINGS AND PUBLIC HEARINGS
Note meetings and hearings in the information below. Some issues to be tackled this week include tobacco products, renomination of a workers’ compensation commissioner, and limited services pregnancy centers.
A long list of concepts raised as well as over 300 claims were raised at the Judiciary Committee’s February 8 meeting.
Public hearings this week are in the following committees: Public Health, General Law, Aging, Banking, Insurance and Real Estate, Labor, Environment, Commerce, Public Safety and Veterans. On Monday, February 8, an informational forum was held on Medicaid 101 and the Environment Committee also held an informational forum.
Legislator committee assignments are here.
PUBLIC HEARINGS and INFORMATIONAL FORUMS
Public hearings and informational forums are listed in the Daily Bulletin. When you open that website, navigate to the top menu bar and click the links for Public Hearings or Committee Forums and Presentation.
Also note each committee’s public hearing process. It includes signing up to testify for a particular committee hearing with your contact information. Hearings are a lottery. You should receive a link to your email address. Once you have connected to Zoom, you will be placed in a waiting room at which time there should be three of you waiting to testify. Once you are admitted to testify, you should be unmuted and need to share your video. You will have three minutes plus any time needed to respond to legislator questions.