AMERICAN ASSOCIATION of
UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS
The CONNECTICUT STATE
UNIVERSITY CHAPTER
2010 Legislative Report
Betty Gallo & Co.
May, 2010
Betty Gallo
Joe Grabarz
Kate Robinson
Mike Johnson
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I.
Introduction …………………………….page 3
II.
Budget …….……………………………..page 4
A. Deficit Mitigation……………………..page 4
1. Governor’s Novenber 24th Plan
2. Legislature’s December Deficit Mitigation Plan
3. Governor’s March 1st Deficit Mitigation Plan
4. Democrat’s March 26th Deficit Mitigation Plan
5. Governor’s April 1st Deficit Mitigation Plan
6. Deficit mitigation Plan That Passed
B. The 2011 Budget……………………...page 14
C. Revenue...……………………………..page 20
D. Bonding...……………………………..page 24
III. Resolutions..……………………………..page 27
IV. Bills………..……………………………..page 30
A. Labor and Jobs………………………page 30
B. Higher Education…………………….page 50
C. Secondary Education Reform……….page 79
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I.
Introduction
The impending elections and a retiring Governor combined with the overall
fiscal malaise made this session unique. Despite being a “Short Session” we
were busy on all fronts. We reminded legislators of their commitment to
increase faculty and the hardship represented by the lack of professors in
many areas. We worked with other SEBAC lobbyist and labor to remind
legislators of the significant help that CSU-AAUP members and other State
employees already made. With other groups interested in fiscal reform and
tax fairness we argued for a more rational funding of State government.
Where necessary we argued for the unique position of higher education
within the budget process and advocated for the proposals that would help
CSU and AAUP meet the needs of students and the State. The staff of CSUAAUP was extraordinary in their efforts to help us advocate for the interests
of CSU-AAUP. As always, the members of the faculty, students and staff of
CSUS who testified and met with legislators were significant in advancing
our causes and we were happy to help facilitate. Whenever CSU-AAUP
interests coincided we worked to share information and support the efforts of
the CSUS Administration in preserving CSUS resources, programs and
capital projects from reductions. We work extensively with the liaisons of
the Department of Higher Education and other systems and the other higher
education union lobbyists.
This legislative session saw a new Senate Chair of the Higher Education
Committee due to the replacement of Senator Hartley with Senator Handley
and next year will as well since Senator Handley is retiring. Legislative
frustration with Higher Education administration increased this year and will
most certainly reappear in the coming session. Labor came together to help
the State with the current fiscal troubles and will be “called to the table”
again. In the final analysis, this session resulted in a relatively modest
impact on the CSUS budget and building projects. The legislature used “one
time” sources of revenue or cuts to help close the budget gap this year that
will not be available in future years. It is clear that in 2011 CSUS will
continue to be impacted by the budget situation and that AAUP will need to
be vigilant. The volatile political atmosphere in Connecticut combined with
a new Governor and other constitutional officers and many new legislators
will contribute to the challenge of coming sessions.
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II.
Budget
This session was to a great extent about the budget. Discussions about deficit
mitigation plans were a major focus. A deficit mitigation plan was adopted
by the legislature and signed by the Governor in April. The general
consensus was that Democrats were not going to adopt revisions to the 2011
budget passed in August. Even the Appropriations Chairs stated in meetings
there was “no appetite” for doing any 2011 budget revisions. That decision
changed with passage of the deficit mitigation plan and the talks with the
Governor that followed. The Governor reached an agreement on a deficit
mitigation plan and the budget revisions for FY11 partly to enable her
judicial appointments to be approved. The Democrats did not want to be
forced back into session over the summer or fall to deal with a budget deficit
in an election year. Because of these factors a FY11 budget came together
very quickly at the end of the session and passed with virtually minutes left
to go in the session. . The final budget, the only one to pass, cut $632,242 in
general funds and $8 million in reserve funds from CSUS.
A. Deficit Mitigation (All deficit mitigation plans attempted
to close the deficit for FY10, the current fiscal year)
The Governor submitted a deficit mitigation plan (DMP) on November 24th,
2009. This was the beginning of a long struggle to adopt a mitigation plan; a
struggle which did not get resolved until the end of April. The House and
Senate went into session in December and adopted a mitigation plan in two
pieces: the mitigation plan, SB2101, and the repeal of the cut in the estate
and gift taxes, HB 7101. The Governor vetoed both bills. The Governor
released a new DMP in March but on March 26th the Senate made a second
attempt at a DMP and adopted SB 492. When the Governor threatened to
veto it, the House declined to take it up. Finally, on April 10th the House and
Senate passed a mitigation package, HB5545, which the Governor signed.
1. The Governor’s November 24th Mitigation Plan
This plan included the largest number of cuts of any mitigation plan
proposed (including the plan the Governor introduced in March). This plan
included over $16 million in cuts she indicated she could make within her
gubernatorial authority. All of the Governor ‘s mitigation plans included a
number of cuts that she claimed she could make within the authority of her
office. It was unclear under what authority she was making some of the cuts.
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The OPM Secretary indicated at several hearings that unless the expenditure
was an entitlement or there was specific legislative language requiring the
expenditure, the Governor could cut the expenditure. The legislature did not
challenge her authority to make such cuts and the cuts the Governor
proposed in her November DMP that she claimed to make under her own
authority included:
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Mid year student adjustment to CAPCS - $1,170,693
Mid year student adjustment to CICSG - $422,852
Department of Higher Education recissions in various line items
Suspend intake of voluntary services at DDS- $2.5 million (DMP
(the deficit mitigation plan that passed), instead reduced the
funding in this line item by $1,696,390 to reflect caseload
decreases)
Reduce autism pilot-$75,000
Delay young adults services placements for 185 referrals for 2
weeks- $261,538 (DMP included a savings of $174,000 and
indicated this was a cut under the Governor’s Unilateral
Authority)
Reduce mental health grants- $250,000 (DMP included this cut
and indicated this was a cut under the Governor’s Unilateral
Authority)
Eliminate coverage of non-formulary drugs under Medicare Part D$4.3 million
Eliminate vision and non-emergency transportation under SAGA
-$550,000 (DMP included this cut and indicated this was a cut
under the Governor’s Unilateral Authority)
Suspend payments to FQHCs and hospitals’ for services for
undocumented pregnant women-$2 million.
It also included cuts that required legislative action; these cuts included:
(The cuts that were actually adopted in whole or part, in the DMP that
was finally adopted are in bold.)
 Reduce culture and tourism line item grants by 25%- $3,064,845
final DMP cut these grants by 5%
 Postpone juvenile jurisdiction change-$10,885,770
 Suspend Funding for Home CT-$2,380,000 (the final DMP left $1
million in this program.)
 Reduce AIDS Funding by 25%
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Reduce the Needle exchange program by 25%-$113,768
Reduce School Based Health Centers Account by 25%-$2,610,162
Delay HIV Waiver- (DMP-delayed waiver)
Reduce Services for Children with AIDS by 25%-$61,257 (The
total amount for this program was eliminated in the ’11 budget.)
Align HUSKY B Co-pays with State employee plans $- $70,000 (
DMP cut it)
Eliminate Parents Trust Fund $500,000
Suspend Funding for Nurturing Families non-hospital sites$1,759,560
Close intake for T-RAPS-$322,000
Eliminate Coverage for eyeglasses for adults under Medicaid
(DMP and budget restricted new eyeglasses to one pair a year)
Eliminate coverage of most over the counter drugs-(DMP and
Budget)
Expand Preferred Drug List to all mental health drugs-$230,000
Eliminate non-emergency dental services for adults
Reduce certain Medicaid provider rates $14,430,000
Impose co-pays on Medicaid-$1 million
Reduce DSS non-entitlement grant amounts by 25%-$13,860,069
Freeze intake to SAGA-$5.2 million
Eliminate payment for SSI Attorney-$50,000 in ’10 / $200,000 in
’11- (DMP required the State to pay for cases that had already
been accepted by attorneys. $200,000 reduction in ’11)
Eliminate legislative commissions-$356,000
Reduce non-Sheff interdistrict cooperative funding- $3 million-(in
DMP)
Remove non-Head Start Program, $545,000
Suspend after school programs $4,920,000
Lapse funding for Children of Incarcerated Parents-$902,500
Lapse Funding for Mental health alternative to incarceration Center
$1175,000
Postpone funding for supportive housing including debt service,
DMHAS and DSS funding-$1,774,000. (This was in the DMP since
these funds could not be expended until 2011 anyway.)
Lapse $2 million of funding for Operation Fuel (DMP left $1
million in funding for Operation Fuel)
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Her plan included raids on a number of funds including a 5% cut to the
Culture and Tourism Commission grants of $171,000 which included The
Discovery Museum’s grant money. Other cuts included:
 Citizen Election Fund $6 million (DMP took $10 million from the
fund in 2011 and the budget reduced that to $5 million)
 Community Investment Act $4,789,000- * DMP $5 million for ‘10
and the budget transferred $5 million for 2011.
 Reserve a portion of the court fees for legal services for the poor for
domestic violence and juvenile services.
This plan also included another round of rescissions (within the Governor’s
5% rescission power) which totaled over $31 million in cuts. This recission
also effected The Discovery’s Culture and Tourism grant.
2. Legislature’s December Deficit Mitigation Plan
SB 210- AN ACT CONCERNING A DEFICIT MITIGATION PLAN
FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2010. December Special
Session, Public Act 09-1. Passed. Governor Vetoed 12/28/09.
The legislature went into session on December 21st to adopt a deficit
mitigation plan. That plan, SB 210, cut appropriations by more than $9
million dollars. This plan contained no extraordinary or significant cuts to
Department of Higher Education constituent units. The reduction however,
included some of the Governor’s cuts listed above including:
 a 5% cut in the line item culture and tourism grants-$171,500 that
effected The Discovery Museum
 $380,000 cut to Home CT
 Increase HUSKY B premiums under band 2-$130,000
 $2 million for Operation Fuel
 $1 million for interdistrict Cooperative Funding
 Postpone supportive housing funding.
The plan included most of the Governor’s fund sweeps. It reduced the
Disproportionate Share payments to hospitals by $47 million and increased
the Medicaid payments to hospitals to offset that cut in an attempt to capture
the federal matching funds for this expenditure. It included the $100 million
delayed payment to the employee pension fund.
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SB 2101 passed the House on a vote of 101-38 with five Democrats voting
no because the cuts were not larger: Rep. Heinrich (D-Madison), Rep.
Johnston (D-North Groversdale), Rep. Mazurek (D-Wolcott), Rep. Mikutel
(D-Griswold) and Rep. Shapiro (D-Stamford). It passed the Senate on a
vote of 19-15. The Democratic Senators voting “nay” were Sen. Duff (DNorwalk), Sen.Hartley (D-Waterbury), Sen. Maynard (D-Stonington) and
Sen. Slossberg (D-Milford) again, because the cuts were not larger. All the
Republicans in both houses voted no for similar reasons. The Governor
waited until after Christmas to veto the bill. Ho, ho, ho.
HB 7101- AN ACT CONCERNING THE ESTATE AND GIFT TAX.
December Special Session, Public Act 09-2. Passed. Governor vetoed
12/28/09.
In addition to the deficit mitigation plan, the legislature passed a bill to
rescind the cut to the estate and gift tax they had passed during the 2009
special session. Under current law, the following changes in the tax are
scheduled to take effect starting with deaths occurring and gifts made on or
after January 1, 2010: (1) an increase, from $2 million to $3.5 million, in the
minimum value of an estate or gift subject to the estate and gift tax; (2) a
reduction of 25% in marginal tax rates on estates and gifts valued at $ 3.5
million or more; and (3) elimination of the so-called “cliff” in the tax. This
bill delayed the increase in the tax threshold from $2 million to $3.5 million
and the 25% rate reduction for two years. Under this bill, those changes
would have taken effect for deaths occurring and gifts made on or after
January 1, 2012.
The Democrats felt they had an agreement with the Governor that included
the sales tax reduction and the reduction in the estate tax. Because there was
a deficit of more than 1% the sales tax reduction did not go into effect. The
Democrats felt that the estate tax reduction should be repealed. HB 7101,
which did just that, passed the House on a vote of 97-39. The Republicans
all voted no and the Democrats who voted no were Rep. Drew (D-Fairfield),
Rep. Fawcett (D-Fairfield), Rep. Johnston (D-North Groversdale), Rep.
Mazurek (D-Wolcott), Rep.Mioli (D-Westport), Rep. O’Connor (D-Clinton)
and Rep. Reeves (D-Wilton). The Senate then passed it on a vote of 22-12.
The only Democrat voting no was Sen. McDonald (D-Stamford). The
Governor vetoed this bill the same day she vetoed SB2101.
3. Governor’s March 1st Deficit Mitigation Package
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The Governor’s next mitigation package was released on March 1 st. It
included fund transfers such as: $12 million from Citizen’s Election Fund;
$5 million from the Community Investment Fund. It contained cuts of about
$81 million for FY10 and $120 million for ’11. Most of these cuts were
already included in her February deficit mitigation plan.
Reductions were made to both UCONN and CSUS debt service payments.
The reduction for CSUS was $1 million in 2010 and $2 million in 2011 and
for UCONN the reductions were $5 million in 2010 and $10 million in 2011.
There were also significant reductions proposed for state employees and
SEBAC members. She proposed to reduce the 100% worker’s compensation
benefit for certain state workers ($10 million), combine Lincoln and
Washington’s Birthday ($3.2 million) and reduce municipal aid by $45
million in FY11. She put forward a number of municipal mandate relief
proposals to offset this cut.
The Governor also included a hospital user fee similar to the Democrats’
December proposal for a savings of $64 million in FY11. The municipal
mandate relief proposals included: allowing the posting of public notices on
the internet; eliminate municipal requirement to store possessions of evicted
tenants; postpone in school suspension requirement; modify the raise the age
legislation; provide municipal pension reform; and, require a 2/3 vote on any
new unfunded mandates.
4. Democrats’ March 26th Deficit Mitigation Plan
We were told that the Senate Democrats would adopt the Governor’s deficit
mitigation plan or something similar but that the House would not take it up
however at 2pm March 26th the Speaker and President Pro Tempore
announced they had reached an agreement on a mitigation package. They
decided that the Senate would go in at 6:30 p.m. that night and the House
would come in on Saturday to pass it. The Senate had still not gone in at
about midnight when the Governor, who was in Colorado, issued a press
release announcing she planned to veto the bill no one had yet voted on. At
11:58pm, the Senate went in (they had to go in by midnight since the special
session had been called for the 26th) and recessed. They went back in at
about 1 a.m. and took up SB353 to use as a vehicle to offer the Governor’s
mitigation plan as an amendment. The point was to show how little support
her plan had. That amendment (the Governor’s mitigation plan) died on a
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vote of 8-28. The eight who voted for it (all Republicans) were: Sens.
McKinney, Kissel, Boucher, Roraback, Kane, Guglielmo, Fasano and
Frantz. This was at about 3 a.m. Then they tabled that bill and took up the
emergency certified bill that included the Democrats’ deficit mitigation
proposal SB 492. The Republicans offered their mitigation plan as Senate
amendment ‘A’ which died on a party line vote. Then SB 492 passed on a
vote of 21-15; all the Republicans voted no along with Sen. Harris (D-West
Hartford), Sen. Slossberg (D-Milford) and Sen. Hartley (D-Waterbury). This
was at 5 a.m. The House never came in on that Saturday and never voted on
SB 492 allowing it to die. SB 492 would have made a number of human
services cuts including:
 CSUS debt service payment - $1 million in 2010
 CSUS debt service payment - $2 million in 2011
 UCONN debt service payment - $5 million in 2010
 UCONN debt service payment - $10 million in 2011
 Mental Health Services for Young Adults- $2,561,250
 Supportive housing- debt service of $1 million; services of $510,000
and $264,000 for RAPS were delayed until 2011 since the projects
will not be up before 2011)
 Husky Outreach was suspended-$176,613
 Align HUSKY B co-pays with state employees-$40,000 (’10) and
$250,000 (’11)
 Suspend Coverage of most over the counter drugs for Medicaid$550,000 (’10) $3,300,000 (’11) –except for insulin or insulin
syringes
 Suspend Attorney fees for Getting SAGA clients on SSI- $50,000
(’10) and $200,000 (’11)
 Suspend Elderly Housing Support Grant- $200,000 each year
 Restructured Safe Harbor Respite-$95,000 in’11
 Reduced subsidies for Charter Oak-$300,000 in ‘10
 Reduced the funds for Home CT down to $1 million-cutting $777,
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 Suspended Elderly Housing Support Grant- $200,000 each year
 Cut $5 million out of the Community Investment Act
 Transferred to the general fund from constituent units’ reserve
accounts-UConn- $3 Million in ’10 and $5 Million in ’11; CSU-$3
million was transferred in ‘10 and $5million in’11
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The new revenue in the bill included:
 The repeal of last year’s reduction in the estate tax-$5,900,00 in’10
and $70,300,00 in ‘11
 The hospital fee. This is in order to get matching federal DSH funds.
There is an offsetting increase in rates but some hospitals lose money
and some gain under this plan-$94,295,000
 Some increases DMV fines and reduced the hunting and Fishing fees
that were increased in last year’s budget- the net revenue increase is
$167,000 in ‘11
Few other interesting provisions of the bill were: (The provisions in bold
passed either in the final DMP or the FY11 budget)
 It required insurance policy to cover services covered in school
based health centers. –In budget.
 They increased some of the fines for certain motor vehicle and
other violations and repealed the hunting and fishing fee increases
from last session.-In final DMP and ’11 budget.
 The bill also adopted savings for the medical necessity definition
change-$800,000 (’10) $1,800,000 (“11) but adopted the changed
definition approved by the Medical Necessity Committee, ably cochaired by Alicia Woodsby of NAMI. The final version of the bill
also preserved the Medical Necessity Committee to monitor the
implementation of that change.- savings included in final DMP
plan and ’11 Budget
 It also included savings from moving the SAGA population into
Medicaid under the new National Health Care bill-$10, 600,000
(’10) and $38,500,000 (‘11) was included in the final DMP and the
’11 budget.
 They also moved all of the funds left in the rainy day fund to
FY’10-$262,747,172. Also in final DMP
 The bill included a study of the future of Riverview HospitalDMP
 Required the Medicaid providers to charge the state the lowest rate
they give to any other provider
 It suspended all longevity pay for non-union employees and requires
them to take an additional furlough day in ’10 and ’11
 Eliminated all deputy commissioners
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Transferred funds from a variety of accounts including $6 million
from the Citizen Election Fund and $5 million from the Tobacco
Fund.
 Required DSS to amend the State Medicaid plan to cover
tuberculosis for everyone eligible under federal law.-In DMP
5. Governor’s April 1st Deficit Mitigation Plan
The Governor then offered another mitigation plan on April 1st. It included
cuts from the Democrats’ March 26th DMP; things that appeared in both the
Governor’s budget and the Appropriations Budget (just suggesting that these
provisions be implemented in ’10 instead of waiting until ’11); some cuts
from her 3/1 deficit mitigation package and $12 million of additional cuts.
She included almost $70 million in fund sweeps. This proposal included
$100 million from deferred payment to the state employee retirement
system; the federal stimulus clawback change of $44 million for ’10 and $34
million for ’11. The Governor’s new plan adopted a lot of the revisions to
her earlier DMPs that were in SB 492. She did not include the more
controversial pieces of SB 492 such as the elimination of deputy
commissioners, elimination of longevity pay for non-union state employees,
hospital fee (though it was in her March 1st DMP). This set the stage for a
final compromise DMP.
6. The Deficit Mitigation Proposal That Passed.
HB5545- AN ACT CONCERNING DEFICIT MITIGATION FOR
THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2010. Passed P.A. 10-3. Signed
by the Governor on April 14th.
This is the DMP that was passed and signed by the Governor. In the end, the
Democrats accepted many of the Governor’s proposed cuts from her April 1
DMP. This plan included the fiscal year 2010 recissions already made and
the SEBAC negotiated proposed savings. While there were significant cuts,
this plan prevented cuts that the Governor had included in most of her
proposals such as adult dental and co-pays for Medicaid. There were areas
where cuts were made to programs that were proposed by the Governor but
this plan reduced the level of those cuts.
This bill includes provisions that:
 CSUS overall reduction of $632,242 including a $50,000
absorbtion of the Bridges Program.
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 CSUS debt cervice payment reduction of $1 million in 2010 and
$2 million in 2011 as in previous proposals
 Reduce culture and tourism line item grants by 5%- $570,781
 Reduced Funding for Home CT-left $1 million in this program.
 Delay HIV Waiver
 Eliminated Services for Children with AIDS
 DMHAS reduction in funding for pharmacy by $2.5 million
 Align HUSKY B Co-pays with State employee plans - $26,000 in ’10
and $250,000 in ‘11
 Restricted new eyeglasses to one pair a year for adults under
Medicaid-DMP
 Eliminate coverage of most over the counter drugs-$320,000 in ’10
and $3.3 million in ‘11
 Medical necessity definition change-$800,000 (’10) $1,800,000 (“11)
 Eliminate vision and non-emergency transportation under SAGA $550,000
 Eliminate payment for SSI Attorney $200,000 in ’11- the State will
pay fees for cases that had already been accepted by attorneys.
 Postpone funding for supportive housing including debt service,
DMHAS and DSS funding-$1,774,000. These funds could not be
expended until 2011 anyway.
 Lapse $1 million of funding for Operation Fuel; this left $1 million for
Operation Fuel
 Cut over $6 million from DCF by among other cuts; restructuring of
therapeutic child care purchasing, reducing juvenile outreach,
tracking, etc., restructuring safe homes and closing 1 therapeutic
group homes
 Cut voluntary services at DDS by $1.6 million to reflect caseload
decreases
 Redirect Birth to Three incentives-$251,000
 Reduce non-Sheff interdistrict cooperative funding- $3 million
 Lapse Funding for mental health alternative to incarceration Center
$175,000
 Eliminated corrections ombudsman-$200,000 in ‘11
 Reduced inmate medical services-$2 million and transfer $4 million
from UConn balance for these services
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As stated above, there were fund sweeps of about $53 million in ’10 and $33
million in ’11 including: $10 million from citizens’ election fund in ’11 after
the election (the Governor proposed the cut come in’10) and $5 million in
’10 from the Community Investment Act. It included money from the CSU
reserve fund of $1 million in ’10 and $2 million in ’11 and the UConn fund
of $5 million in ’10 and $10 million in ’11. They also took $15 million from
the Banking Fund for ’10 and $11.56 million in ’11.
The bill also:
 Required insurance policy to cover services covered in school based
health centers.
 Funded the foreclosure mediation program out of the Banking Fund
for the FY11-$3,349,982.
 Increased some of the fines for certain motor vehicle and other
violations and repealed the hunting and fishing fee increases from last
session
 Adopted savings for the medical necessity definition change-$800,000
(’10) $1,800,000 (‘11) but adopted the changed definition approved
by the Medical Necessity Committee, ably co-chaired by Alicia
Woodsby of NAMI. The final version of the bill also preserved the
Medical Necessity Committee to monitor the implementation of that
change.
 Included savings from moving the SAGA population into Medicaid
under the new National Health Care bill-$10, 600,000 (’10) and
$38,500,000 (’11)
 Moved funds in the rainy day fund to ‘10-$238,774,880
 Required a study on the future of Riverview Hospital
HB 5545 passed the House on a vote of 147-1 with Rep. Johnston (D-North
Groversdale) voting no and the Senate on a unanimous vote.
B. THE 2011 BUDGET
The session began with the Governor’s budget. It was not a big surprise
since it included many of the same items that had appeared in her mitigation
plan from November including the SEBAC cuts and the carryover from
2010 to 2011 of the CSUS reduction of $632,242. The surprise was what she
didn’t propose a host of new cuts. The Governor’s appropriations proposal
was different from her June budget in a number of ways. She added back
some funds in a number of line items many of which she had eliminated all
together in her June budget. Some of those changes included:
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 Adding funds for the Legislative Commissions
 Adding funds for Earmarks for Culture and Tourism Institutions
including Discovery Museum.
 Funded PILOTS (Payment In Lieu of Taxes)for state moderate
housing
 Put some money in for the CT Fair Housing Center
The Appropriations Committee’s budget was a bigger surprise since it really
didn’t make many cuts to human service programs and added back a lot of
the things the Governor had eliminated from her budget for FY’11. The
Governor’s budget did not include funding for: (The Appropriations
Committee added back all of these cuts):
 Supportive Housing
 UConn Health Center Merger
 Corrections Ombudsman
 SAGA vision and non-emergency transportation
 HUSKY monitoring
 Immigrants Health Care
 SSI Attorney fees
 Non-emergency Dental for Adults
 Alternative to Incarceration for people with mental illness
 Raise the Age
The other differences between her proposed ’11 budget and Appropriations
plan are the Governor (Appropriations restored all of these cuts as well.):
 Reduced funding for Jobs First by 75%
 Merged Child Advocate into the AG’s office
 Cut CHRO by approximately $1.6 million
 Cut Health Centers by about $1.7 million
 Changes the definition of medical necessity
 Increase premiums for HUSKY B
 Capped enrollment for state funded CT Home Care for the Elderly
 Included mental health drugs on the preferred drug list
 Discontinued coverage of non-formulary drugs under Medicare Part D
 Suspend implementation of Medical Interpreters
 Transferred Commission on Deaf and Hearing to DSS
 Aged, Blind and Disabled under ASO model
 Require co-pays for Medicaid
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 Eliminated increases for Sheff
 Reduce funding for Family Resource centers, after School Programs
 Eliminated more than $13 million for special education (same as
Appropriations)
 Reduced the block grant for higher education constituent units (a
bigger reduction than in the Appropriation Plan)
 Restored funds that democrats had taken out of the budget to reflect
prison closures
 Closed High Meadows
HB 5018- AN ACT MAKING ADJUSTMENTS TO STATE
EXPENDITURES FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2011.
Died.
This was the Appropriations Budget. It passed the Appropriations
Committee on a vote of 29-25 with 10 Democrats voting against it. They
were Sens. Duff, Slossberg, Maynard and Hartley and Reps. Lewis,
Heinrich, Reynolds, Roy, Esty and Schofield. The bill went to the House
where it died. The final budget was adopted on an emergency certified bill
SB 494.
It was not clear that the Democrats expected to adopt revisions to the ’11
budget. It was thought they might simply pass a deficit mitigation plan that
made some changes to the “11 budget and hope the deficit didn’t get too bad
before the election or when they returned for the 2011 session. But after the
deficit mitigation plan passed, the Governor and Republicans started to
attack the Democratic leadership for not addressing the budget deficit for
’11. A few meetings between the Governor and the Democratic leadership
paved the way for a compromise and work began on a budget compromise in
the week before the end of session. There were negotiations going on around
approval of the Governor’s judicial nominations and the Democrats made it
clear unless there was a budget deal the Judges would not get approved.
Negotiations continued right to the last minutes of the session.
On the last day of the session there was a fight going on all day about the
approval of Governor Rell’s judges and the budget. The Republicans refused
to allow the budget to pass unless the Judges were approved. The Democrats
made the Governor include language related to Judicial funding and judicial
review process in the budget at the last minute and make a public statement
about appointing a Judge from a racial or ethnic minority in the near future
16
before they would begin the approval of the Judges. The House voted on the
Judges only after that amendment to the budget passed the Senate. And the
House Republicans fillibustered the budget until all the Judges passed the
Senate. The House debated the budget starting after 10pm and the
Republicans talked until the Senate passed the Judges at about 11:20pm.
SB 494- AN ACT MAKING ADJUSTMENTS TO STATE
EXPENDITURES FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2011.
Passed. Signed by the Governor on May 7th.
The budget passed the Senate on a vote of 19-16 with Sens. DeFronzo,
Meyer, Hartley and Maynard voting no. It passed the House on a vote of 9357 with 19 Democrats voting no. The roll call is below:
The following is the roll call vote:
Y
Y
N
Y
N
Y
ABERCROMBIE Y
HEINRICH
Y
ROBLES
N
GIBBONS
ALDARONDO
HENNESSY
Y
ROJAS
N
GIEGLER
ARESIMOWICZ Y
Y
HEWETT
Y
ROLDAN
N
GIULIANO
AYALA
Y
HOLDERWINFIELD
Y
ROY
N
HAMZY
BACKER
Y
HORNISH
Y
RYAN, K.
N
HETHERINGTON
HURLBURT
Y
SANTIAGO
N
HOVEY
Y
JANOWSKI
Y
SAYERS
N
HOYDICK
BARTLETT
Y
JARMOC
SCHOFIELD
N
HWANG
BERGER
Y
SERRA
N
KLARIDES
SHAPIRO
N
LABRIOLA
BARAM
X BARRY
Y
N
N
JOHNSON, S.
N
Y
Y
BOUKUS
N
JOHNSTON,
S.T.
Y
BUTLER
N
JUTILA
Y
SHARKEY
N
LEGEYT
Y
BYE
Y
KEHOE
Y
SPALLONE
N
MILLER, L.
Y
CANDELARIA,
J.
Y
LAMBERT
Y
STAPLES
N
MINER
Y
CARUSO
Y
LARSON
TABORSAK
N
NOUJAIM
Y
CLEMONS
Y
LAWLOR
Y
TALLARITA
N
O'NEILL
Y
CONROY
Y
LEONE
Y
TERCYAK
N
PERILLO
Y
CONWAY
LESSER
Y
THOMPSON
N
PISCOPO
Y
COOK
Y
TONG
N
REBIMBAS
DARGAN
Y
Y
N
Y
N
Y
N
Y
N
DAVIS
N
N
LEWIS
N
N
LYDDY
Y
URBAN
N
RIGBY
MAZUREK
Y
VILLANO
N
ROWE
DILLON
Y
MCCRORY
Y
WALKER
N
SAWYER
DREW
Y
MEGNA
Y
WIDLITZ
N
SCRIBNER
ESPOSITO
Y
MERRILL
Y
WILLIS
N
STRIPP
MIKUTEL
Y
WRIGHT, C.
N
WILLIAMS
MILLER, P.
Y
WRIGHT, E.
N
WOOD
ESTY
FAWCETT
N
Y
17
Y
FLEISCHMANN Y
MIOLI
Y
FLEXER
Y
MORIN
Y
FONTANA
Y
Y
FOX
N
Y
ZALASKI
MORRIS
N
MOUKAWSHER
N
ALBERTS
FRITZ
Y
MUSHINSKY
N
AMAN, W.
Y
GENGA
Y
NAFIS
N
BACCHIOCHI
Y
GENTILE
Y
NARDELLO
N
CAFERO
Y
GERAGOSIAN
Y
NICASTRO
N
CAMILLO
Y
GIANNAROS
Y
O'BRIEN
N
CANDELORA, Y
V.
ALTOBELLO
(DEP)
Y
GONZALEZ
Y
OLSON
N
CARSON
Y
GODFREY (DEP)
Y
GRAZIANI
Y
PERONE
N
CHAPIN
Y
KIRKLEY-BEY
(DEP)
Y
GREEN, K.
Y
REED
N
COUTU
Y
MCCLUSKEY
(DEP)
Y
GROGINS
N
REEVES
N
D'AMELIO
Y
O'CONNOR
(DEP)
Y
GUERRERA
N
REYNOLDS
N
FLOREN
Y
ORANGE (DEP)
Y
HAMM
RITTER
N
FREY
Y
O'ROURKE
(DEP)
Y
Y
DONOVAN
(SPKR)
The majority of cuts in the budget were the rollout of Governor’s rescissions
and SEBAC cuts in ’10 into ‘11. There were also cuts that were in the deficit
mitigation plan that had passed. The most significant cut was a reduction
of $8 million from CSUS reserve funds for 2010 which totals $10 million
in 2011. Again there are a number of fund transfers for FY’11 including $4
million from the Workers Compensation Fund; $5 million from the
Community Investment Act; $8 million from CSU ‘s reserve funds; and $5
million from the Citizen Election Fund (not to be transferred until after the
election; this is a decrease from the $10 million cut in the DMP).
Other cuts in the budget include:
 $10 million from Corrections from population downward trend
 $4,565,000 from Corrections which is used to set up several new
criminal justice initiatives including one in DMHAS for housing
assistance and mental health services and employment assistance in
the Department of Labor.
 DCF cuts included reductions in: Intensive safety training ($1
million); parent aide funding ($1 million) ;safe home capacity ($1
million); Therapeutic Group Home Capacity ($2,752,840); and,
Board and Care (Adoption- $2.5 million)and (Foster Care- $1 million)
Again there were unspecified cuts for:
18




Outside consultant contracts- $95 million;
Unallocated Lapses-$87,780,000 million
Personal Services Reductions- $14 million
OE-$35 million.
The budget also:
 Increased the Housing and Homeless line by $2.96 million, $450,000
of that was for RAPS for supportive housing
 Moved Children of Incarcerated Parents program from DOC to
Judicial
 Transferred Education Transportation funding to Special Education
funding to protect IDEA federal funds by meeting the MOE.
The language in the budget:
 Allows DSS to convert the HUSKY program to an ASO model.
 Gave the Governor the ability to appoint a third Chair to the Medical
Necessity Committee
 Prevented Over a $1 million of funds for the HOME CT program
from lapsing
 Provided $101,837 for the legislature for the purpose of redistricting.
(Some thing we need to keep in mind as it relates to the election and
next year)
 Reduce the new cost sharing for the state funded Home Care Program
for Elders from 15% to 6%.
 Increased the monthly premiums for HUSKY B recipients
 Eliminates Medicaid payment for most over the counter drugs does
not apply to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program
 Limits Medicaid recipients to one pair of eyeglasses a year
 Delayed the Establishment of a Department of Aging
 Provide $1 million for a program for homeless youth
 Allows the Judicial Department and the Legislature to submit their
own budget numbers and allows the Governor to reduce these
branches of government’s budgets unless the Appropriations
Committee rejects such a reduction by a 2/3 vote.
 Provide 50 RAPS for supportive housing for people with psychiatric
disabilities who are frequent users of state services
 Set up a task force to study of making the Capitol paperless
 Makes extensive changes to the CON (certificate of need)process
 Eliminates the Correction Ombudsman
19
C. REVENUE
Despite the hard work of the Better Choices Coalition to promote tax
reform; it was not good session for new revenue. The headline in the
Courant on the day after the session was No New Taxes. There was no vote
on combined reporting and the Revenue Commission died in the Senate
without a vote. There was talk that it was going to be brought up last night
and Sen. McKinney was going around trying to raise concerns about
privacy. He even spoke to us about whether ACLU had concerns about the
bill. But in the end it was never bought up for a discussion. They either ran
out of time or never were planning to vote on it. It was especially
disappointing that they did not repeal the estate tax cut. There were simply
not enough votes to override her promised veto.
During the budget and deficit mitigation fight the only source of new
revenue included in any of the proposals was the estate tax cut and a hospital
tax which was essentially a budgeting trick to bring in more federal revenue.
The Finance Committee did propose a tax reform pieces. That included
combined reporting.
SB 485- AN ACT CONCERNING TAX FAIRNESS. Died.
This bill would have required any company that is (1) a member of a
corporate group of related companies meeting certain criteria and (2) subject
to the Connecticut corporation tax (a “taxable member”), to determine its
Connecticut corporation tax liability based on the net income or capital base
of the entire group. Under the bill, a company must use this method of
computing tax liability if it is part of a corporate group engaged in a “unitary
business,” as defined in the bill. The bill thereby eliminates deductions and
other adjustments for intercompany transactions between the group's
members. This is the so-called “combined reporting” legislation.
The bill passed the Finance Committee on a party line vote of 40-15. We had
done a vote count of the Senate and it was clear there were enough votes to
pass the legislation but less clear there would have been the votes to override
an almost certain veto. In the end it was never brought up for a vote in the
Senate.
HB 5534- AN ACT ESTABLISHING A REVENUE
ACCOUNTABILITY COMMISSION. Died
20
This bill would have established a 19-member Revenue Accountability
Commission to review the adequacy, equity, balance, simplicity, economic
competitiveness, effectiveness, and efficiency of the state's revenue structure
and recommend improvements. It required the Office of Fiscal Analysis
(OFA) to staff the commission and allowed the Department of Revenue
Services (DRS) commissioner to disclose tax returns or return information to
OFA so that office could convert the data for the commission's purposes into
a form that does not permit individual taxpayers to be identified. The
commission, within statutory limits on disclosing individual tax information,
would have publicly reported aggregated and assimilated tax data.
The commission would have submitted reports to the Finance, Revenue and
Bonding Committee by January 1, 2011 and January 1, 2012. The first report
would have included the commission's recommended options for tax,
exemption, rate, and tax base changes necessary to raise revenue to balance
the state budget. The second report would have contained the commission's
findings and recommendations, including recommendations for a more
permanent and sustainable source of ongoing reviews of the state's revenue
structure. The commission would have been terminated after submitting its
final report or on January 1, 2012, whichever is later. The Finance
Committee also reported out a Commission to look at Connecticut Taxes.
The bill passed the Finance Committee on a party line vote of 40-15. The
House amended it to (1) increase the commission's membership from 17 to
19 by adding two gubernatorial appointees; (2) require OFA to serve as the
commission's administrative staff; (3) eliminate a provision allowing DRS to
disclose tax returns and return information directly to the commission and
instead allowed DRS to disclose the information to OFA so that office may
convert it for the commission's purposes into a form that does not identify
individual taxpayers; (4) delays the deadline for the commission's initial
report by one month from December 1, 2010 to January 1, 2011; (5)
advances the deadline for the commission's first meeting from September 1
to July 1, 2010; (6) requires the commission to appoint the additional three
members it must jointly appoint within 15 days after holding its first
meeting.
Then the House passed it on a vote of 106-37 which was a party line vote
except Rep. Johnston (D-North Groversdale) voted no. The Senate never
took the bill up.
The only new tax legislation to pass was:
21
SB 1- AN ACT CONCERNING THE PRESERVATION AND
CREATION OF JOBS IN CONNECTICUT. Passed. Vetoed by
Governor.
This bill would have imposed an 8.97% tax in lieu of regular state income
tax on certain bonuses of $500,000 or more paid or awarded to Connecticut
taxpayers by companies that received direct funding from the federal
Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) or certain of their affiliates. It also
exempted certain businesses with annual net incomes of $50,000 or less
from the $250 business entity tax for two years. The bill passed the Finance
Committee on a vote of 31-17. It was a party line vote except Rep. Leone
(D- Stamford) and Sen. McDonald (D-Stamford) voted no.
The bill was amended in the Senate by expanding the TARP bonuses subject
to the higher tax to cover those of at least $500,000 rather than $ 1 million
and eliminates the requirement that a TARP recipient be a company that
received TARP fund on or after October 3, 2008 (the date the TARP law
was enacted). It makes a business entity eligible for the business entity tax
exemption only if it has an employee, member, or partner who is paid to
work at last 35 hours a week, not just one that works that much. Finally, it
eliminates the loans and loan guarantee program for businesses with fewer
than 50 employees and the $20 million bond authorization to fund it.
The Senate then passed the bill on a vote of 21-14 which was a party line
vote except Sen. McDonald (D-Stamford) and Sen. Duff (D-Norwalk) voted
no. The House took the bill up on the last day and passed the bill on a vote
of 89-16. The roll call is below:
The following is the roll call vote:
Y
ABERCROMBIE Y
HEINRICH
Y
ALDARONDO
ROBLES
N
GIBBONS
HENNESSY
ROJAS
N
GIEGLER
Y
ARESIMOWICZ Y
HEWETT
Y
ROLDAN
N
GIULIANO
Y
AYALA
Y
HOLDERWINFIELD
Y
ROY
N
HAMZY
Y
HORNISH
Y
RYAN, K.
N
HETHERINGTON
BARAM
Y
HURLBURT
Y
SANTIAGO
X HOVEY
N
BARRY
Y
JANOWSKI
Y
SAYERS
X HOYDICK
N
BARTLETT
Y
JARMOC
Y
BERGER
Y
JOHNSON, S.
Y
BOUKUS
Y
BUTLER
X BACKER
Y
Y
N
Y
Y
N
N
Y
JOHNSTON,
S.T.
JUTILA
N
Y
SCHOFIELD
N
HWANG
SERRA
N
KLARIDES
SHAPIRO
N
LABRIOLA
SHARKEY
N
LEGEYT
22
Y
BYE
Y
CANDELARIA,
J.
X CARUSO
Y
CLEMONS
Y
CONROY
N
N
KEHOE
Y
SPALLONE
N
MILLER, L.
Y
LAMBERT
Y
STAPLES
N
MINER
Y
LARSON
Y
TABORSAK
Y
LAWLOR
Y
TALLARITA
N
O'NEILL
LEONE
Y
TERCYAK
N
PERILLO
Y
THOMPSON
N
PISCOPO
TONG
N
REBIMBAS
N
RIGBY
N
X NOUJAIM
CONWAY
Y
LESSER
COOK
Y
LEWIS
X DARGAN
Y
LYDDY
Y
URBAN
Y
DAVIS
Y
MAZUREK
Y
VILLANO
Y
DILLON
Y
MCCRORY
Y
WALKER
N
SAWYER
Y
DREW
Y
WIDLITZ
N
SCRIBNER
Y
ESPOSITO
Y
MERRILL
Y
WILLIS
N
STRIPP
ESTY
Y
MIKUTEL
Y
WRIGHT, C.
N
WILLIAMS
N
MILLER, P.
Y
WRIGHT, E.
N
WOOD
N
MIOLI
Y
ZALASKI
Y
N
Y
X MEGNA
FAWCETT
X FLEISCHMANN
Y
FLEXER
Y
FONTANA
N
Y
N
X ROWE
MORIN
N
MORRIS
FOX
Y
MOUKAWSHER
N
ALBERTS
X FRITZ
Y
MUSHINSKY
N
AMAN, W.
Y
DONOVAN
(SPKR)
Y
GENGA
Y
NAFIS
N
BACCHIOCHI
Y
GENTILE
Y
NARDELLO
N
CAFERO
Y
GERAGOSIAN
Y
NICASTRO
N
CAMILLO
Y
GIANNAROS
Y
O'BRIEN
N
CANDELORA,
V.
Y
GONZALEZ
Y
OLSON
N
CARSON
Y
GODFREY (DEP)
Y
GRAZIANI
PERONE
N
CHAPIN
Y
KIRKLEY-BEY
(DEP)
Y
GREEN, K.
REED
N
COUTU
Y
MCCLUSKEY
(DEP)
Y
GROGINS
X D'AMELIO
Y
O'CONNOR
(DEP)
Y
GUERRERA
X FLOREN
Y
ORANGE (DEP)
Y
HAMM
FREY
Y
O'ROURKE
(DEP)
N
Y
N
REEVES
X REYNOLDS
Y
RITTER
N
N
ALTOBELLO
(DEP)
The Governor is expected to veto the bill.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage and applicable to tax years starting on or
after January 1, 2010.
23
HB 5163- AN ACT REQUIRING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A
SEARCHABLE DATABASE FOR STATE EXPENDITURES. Passed.
Awaiting Governor’s Signature
The bill requires the Office of Fiscal Analysis (OFA) to establish and
maintain a searchable database for certain expenditures by July 1, 2011. It
also requires OFA to report quarterly to the Appropriations Committee on
the database, including any recommendations for improvements or
operations of the database, by November 1, 2010. Lastly, the bill requires
the Auditors of Public Accounts to review procedures and security used to
develop the databases and report.
Effective Date: Upon passage
D. BONDING
SB25 - AN ACT AUTHORIZING AND ADJUSTING BONDS OF THE
STATE FOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS AND OTHER
PURPOSES. Passed. Awaiting Governor’s Signature.
This bill was introduced by Sen. McKinney (R-Southport) and Rep. Cafero
(R-Norwalk) and co-sponsored by fifteen legislators. It cancels $ 480.6
million in general obligation (GO) bond authorizations. The authorizations
are for state and local capital projects and state grants and loans, including to
municipalities and nonprofit entities. The bill authorizes up to $ 58.6
million in new state GO bonds. It divides the money into three pools for
specified projects in Bridgeport, Hartford, and New Haven as designated by
the State Bond Commission. All but two of the specified projects currently
have separate bond authorizations. The bill cancels all or part of these
separate authorizations. The bill also: 1. authorizes an additional $ 40
million in Clean Water revenue bonds, increasing the FY 11 authorization
from $ 80 million to $ 120 million; 2. authorizes $ 7.325 million in special
tax obligation (STO) bonds for transportation-related projects; 3. shifts $ 5
million in GO bond authorizations between two projects in the
Connecticut State University System (CSUS) 2020 plan; and 4. earmarks
funds from several existing authorizations for specific projects.
The shift of $5 million in general obligation bonds for “2020” is from
land acquisition to telecommunications and will now allow CSUS to
improve telecommunications with VoIP. The bill also cancels the
24
$250,000 previously authorized and never approved for a feasibility
study for a CSUS Bridgeport campus.
The bill was referred to the Joint Committee on Finance, Revenue and
Bonding. A public hearing was held and there was no testimony given.
The Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee proposed substitute
language which made adjustments to the clean water fund revenue bond. By
a unanimous vote, the bill was passed to the Senate. Sen. Daily (DWestbrook) and Sen. DeFronzo (D-New Britain) offered Senate Amendment
‘A’ that adds the STO authorizations; the reallocation of the CSUS
authorization; the Urban Act, Department of Public Health, housing
development and rehabilitation earmarks; and the language changes in
authorizations for the Department of Information Technology's data center
and for the grant to Danbury to acquire the Terre Haute property. It also
adds, deletes, and adjusts items in the list of GO bond cancellations. The
Senate passed Senate Amendment ‘A’ by a voice vote. They passed the bill
amended by Senate Amendment ‘A’ by a unanimous vote. The House
passed Senate Amendment ‘A’ and passed the bill as amended by Senate
Amendment ‘A’ by a unanimous vote in concurrence with the Senate.
Effective Date: July 1, 2010
SB443 - AN ACT CONCERNING THE CANCELLATION OF
UNISSUED BOND FUND AUTHORIZATIONS. Passed. Awaiting
Governor’s Signature
This bill was introduced by the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee
and co-sponsored by eleven legislators. It would have allowed the state
treasurer to close out inactive bond funds, this bill updated bond
authorizations originally adopted between 1967 and 1986 to reflect actual
project allocations. The changes would have reduced net authorizations by $
9.22 million. The six CSUS projects closed out were authorized from 1969
through 1986 and relate only to completed or previously cancelled projects
and range in amount from eighty cents to a quarter of a million.
Testifying in support of the bill at the public hearing were Howard G.
Rifkin, Deputy Treasurer of the State of Connecticut; and Bonnie Stewart,
CBIA. Testifying in opposition were April Capone Almon, Mayor of the
Town of East Haven; and The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities.
25
The Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee passed the bill by a
unanimous vote. Both the Senate and the House passed the bill by
unanimous votes.
Effective Date: Upon passage
HB5026 - AN ACT CONCERNING A REALLOCATION OF FUNDS
WITHIN THE CSUS 2020 INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENT
PROGRAM. Died.
This bill was introduced by the Higher Education and Employment
Advancement Committee. It would have shifted $5 million in general
obligation bond authorizations between two projects enumerated in Phase I
of the Connecticut State University System (CSUS) 2020 plan, a systemwide capital improvement program. It would have done so by increasing the
authorization for telecommunications infrastructure upgrades by $5 million
and reducing the authorization for land and property acquisition by the same
amount. This shift allowed CSUS to undertake additional information
technology projects, such as a Voice over Internet Protocol communications
system. By law, certain revisions to the CSUS 2020 plan require (1) the
formal approval of the CSUS Board of Trustees and (2) subsequent
enactment of a public or special act. These revisions are (1) the addition or
deletion of a project or (2) an increase or decrease in the original project cost
by an amount equal to 10% or more for projects estimated to cost less than
$1 million or 5% or more for projects estimated to cost more than $ 1
million, as long as the change in cost is not due to a change in the cost of
material (CGS § 10a-91d(c)).
Testifying in support of the bill at the public hearing were David G. Carter,
Chancellor, CT State University System; and James LoMonaco, President,
SUOAF/AFSCME Local 2835. The Higher Education and Employment
Advancement Committee passed the bill by a unanimous vote. The Higher
Education Committee sent the bill to the Finance, Revenue and Bonding
Committee. The Finance Committee passed the bill by a unanimous vote
and it was sent to the House. The bill died in the House with no action taken
but was considered for the budget.
26
III. Resolutions
SR10 - RESOLUTION PROPOSING APPROVAL OF STIPULATED
AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT AND
THE STATE VOCATIONAL FEDERATION OF TEACHERS,
LOCAL 4200A, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS, AFLCIO AND THE STATE BARGAINING AGENT COALITION. Passed.
This resolution was introduced by Sen. Williams (D-Brooklyn) and it was
referred to the Joint Committee on Appropriations. The stipulated
agreement allows three state employees to continue their membership in the
Teachers' Retirement System (TRS). These three individuals were in TRS
eligible positions in the State Department of Education which were
eliminated when the Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) program was
suspended as part of the Governor's November deficit mitigation plan. Due
to provisions of the SEBAC 2009 agreement, these employees were offered
and accepted positions (at an increased salary) in other state agencies that
were not TRS eligible. According to the stipulated agreement, the parties
maintain all their rights and retirement benefits as governed by the TRS.
The Appropriations Committee passed the resolution by a vote of 7 to 3 and
the no votes were Sen. Caligiuri (R-Waterbury), Sen. Frantz (R-Riverside),
and Sen. Kane (R-Watertown). The resolution was sent to the Senate where
it passed with no action taken which meant that after 30 days from
submission the agreement goes into effect.
HR6 - RESOLUTION PROPOSING APPROVAL OF STIPULATED
AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT AND
THE STATE VOCATIONAL FEDERATION OF TEACHERS,
LOCAL 4200A, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS, AFLCIO AND THE STATE BARGAINING AGENT COALITION. Passed.
This resolution was introduced by Rep. Donovan (D-Meriden). It stipulated
that the agreement between the State of Connecticut and the State
Vocational Federation of Teachers, Local 4200A, American Federation of
Teachers, AFL-CIO and the State Bargaining Agent Coalition, signed by the
parties on February 26, 2010, and submitted to this assembly for approval on
March 3, 2010 is approved. The resolution was referred to the
27
Appropriations Committee. The Appropriations Committee passed the
resolution by a vote of 32 to 9. Following is the roll call vote:
Voting
Yea
Nay
Abstain
32
9
0
TOTALS
41
yea nay abstain absent
Rep. Geragosian, J. 025
Rep. Bartlett, J. 002
Rep. Heinrich, D. 101
Rep. Roldan, K. 004
Rep. Miner, C. 066
Rep. Backer, T. 121
Rep. Camillo, F. 151
Rep. Candelaria, J. 095
Rep. Clemons, C. 124
Rep. Dillon, P. 092
Rep. Esty, E. 103
Rep. Fawcett, K. 133
Rep. Fleischmann, A. 018
Rep. Genga, H. 010
Rep. Gonzalez, M. 003
Rep. Hamm, G. 034
Rep. Hetherington, J. 125
Rep. Hewett, E. 039
Rep. Holder-Winfield, G.
094
Rep. Hovey, D. 112
Rep. Hwang, T. 134
Rep. Kirkley-Bey, M. 005
Rep. Lewis, J. 008
Rep. McCrory, D. 007
Rep. Miller, P. 145
Rep. Nafis, S. 027
Rep. O'Neill, A. 069
Rep. Orange, L. 048
Rep. Perillo, J. 113
Absent and Not
Voting
4
Voice Vote
yea nay abstain absent
Rep. Rebimbas, R. 070
Rep. Reynolds, T. 042
Rep. Ritter, E. 038
Rep. Roy, R. 119
Rep. Ryan, K. 139
Rep. Santiago, E. 130
Rep. Sawyer, P. 055
Rep. Schofield, L. 016
Rep. Stripp, J. 135
Rep. Tercyak, P. 026
Rep. Thompson, J. 013
Rep. Urban, D. 043
Rep. Villano, P. 091
Rep. Walker, T. 093
Rep. Willis, R. 064
Rep. Wood, T. 141
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
The Appropriations Committee sent the resolution to the House where it
passed with no action taken but having surpassed the thiry session days
required on the calendar for automatic approval.
28
HR10 / HR11 - RESOLUTION PROPOSING APPROVAL OF AN
ARBITRATION AWARD BETWEEN THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
OF COMMUNITY-TECHNICAL COLLEGES AND THE
CONGRESS OF CONNECTICUT COMMUNITY COLLEGES
CONCERNING DISTANCE LEARNING. Passed.
This resolution was introduced by Rep. Donovan (D-Meriden). The
arbitration award between the Board of Trustees of Community-Technical
Colleges and the Congress of Connecticut Community Colleges concerning
distance learning, issued by the arbitrator on April 23, 2010, filed with the
clerks of the House of Representatives and the Senate on April 26, 2010, and
submitted for approval. The resolution was referred to the Appropriations
Committee where no action was taken. The award was later emergency
certified as HR11 and approved by the House in a roll call vote of 148 to 0
(with 3 absent). The Senate emergency certified its counterpart as SR17 and
it was placed on the consent calendar and approved.
SR16 / SR17 - RESOLUTION PROPOSING APPROVAL OF AN
ARBITRATION AWARD BETWEEN THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
OF COMMUNITY-TECHNICAL COLLEGES AND THE
CONGRESS OF CONNECTICUT COMMUNITY COLLEGES
CONCERNING DISTANCE LEARNING. Passed.
This resolution was introduced by Sen. Williams (D-Brooklyn). It would
have approved the arbitration award between the Board of Trustees of
Community-Technical Colleges and the Congress of Connecticut
Community Colleges concerning distance learning, issued by the arbitrator
on April 23, 2010, filed with the clerks of the House of Representatives and
the Senate on April 26, 2010. The Senate reconsidered the resolution as
SR17 and it passed on consent. See above.
SR3 - RESOLUTION CONFIRMING THE NOMINATION OF
MICHAEL A. CARON OF DANIELSON TO BE A MEMBER OF
THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES FOR THE CONNECTICUT STATE
UNIVERSITY SYSTEM. Passed Senate.
This resolution was the nomination by the Governor of Michael A. Caron of
Danielson to be a member of the Board of Trustees for the Connecticut State
University System to a term ending June 30, 2011 succeeding Lawrence D.
McHugh. It was only necessary to have this nomination approved by the
29
Senate before it was forwarded to the CSUS Board of Trustees. It passed the
Senate unanimously.
IV. BILLS
A. LABOR
SB2 - AN ACT RESTRICTING LONGEVITY PAYMENTS FOR
CERTAIN STATE EMPLOYEES. Died.
This bill was introduced by Sen. Prague (D-Columbia) and Sen. Fonfara (DHartford). It would have prohibited longevity payments for a period of two
years to any state employee who: (1) has managerial duties, (2) is not
included in a collective bargaining unit, and (3) earns in excess of one
hundred thousand dollars per year. The bill was referred to the Joint
Committee on Appropriations where it died without being raised.
SB63 - AN ACT MANDATING EMPLOYERS PROVIDE PAID SICK
LEAVE TO EMPLOYEES. Died.
This bill, a major goal of the the State’s labor movement in previous years,
was introduced by the Labor and Public Employees Committee and cosponsored by Rep. Johnson (D-Windham), Sen. Handley (D-Manchester),
Rep. Megna (D-New Haven), Sen. Coleman (D-Bloomfield), Rep. Larson
(D-East Hartford), and Rep. Santiago (D-Bridgeport). We had concerns
about the bill because it exempted adjunct faculty but it was clear from
the outset that the bill was not going to be seriously considered in a
session with enormous fiscal constraints and political challenges. We
spoke to both of the Chairs and to members of the Committee to express the
concerns of AAUP. Everyone involved with the bill expressed an interest in
working with us to correct the bill if it were to move forward or be seriously
considered. Everyone we spoke with reiterated that the bill was not moving
forward this session.
It would have required all employers with 50 or more employees in the state
to provide their employees with paid sick leave that accrues at a rate of one
hour for each 40 hours worked. Current law does not require employers to
30
provide sick leave, whether paid or unpaid. Employees are eligible for the
benefit once they work 520 hours for an employer and accrue sick leave
from the first day of work. The bill limited the use of accrued sick leave to
40 hours a year. The leave could have been used for an employee's or the
employee's child's illness or injury, treatment of a physical or mental illness
or injury, diagnosis, and preventive medical care. An employee could also
use it for reasons related to family violence or sexual assault. Exempted
from the bill's provisions were (1) day or temporary workers and (2) certain
state college or university employees, including part-time or adjunct faculty
members.
The bill banned employers from taking retaliatory or discriminatory action
against an employee because the employee requests or uses paid sick leave
as provided by the bill. It allowed complaints to be filed with the labor
commissioner, who must administer the law within available appropriations.
Employers who violated the bill were liable to the Labor Department for a
civil penalty of $600 for each violation. The commissioner may have
awarded appropriate relief, including rehiring or payment of back wages.
Parties may have appealed the commissioner's decision to Superior Court.
The bill specified that it does not preempt the terms of any union contract
that is effective before January 1, 2011 or diminish any rights provided to
any employee under a union contract. It required employers to provide
notice to covered employees of the bill's provisions and all employees'
rights. The commissioner may develop related regulations requiring
employers to provide additional means of notifying employees.
Testifying in support of the bill at the public hearing were Natasha Pierre,
JD, MSW; Permanent Commission on the Status of Women; City of San
Francisco, Department of Administrative Services; Lindsay Farrell, Working
Families Party; Lori Pelletier, CT AFL-CIO; Scott MacDonald, Attorney;
Anna Doroghazi, CT Sexual Assault Crisis Services, Inc.; Dr. Kevin Miller,
Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR); United Auto Workers
(UAW); Sharon Palmer, AFT Connecticut; Brian Anderson, AFSCME
Council 4; Dan Malloy, Former Mayor, City of Stamford; Maggie Adair,
Connecticut Association of Human Services; Marcia Bok, National
Association of Social Workers; Michael Winterfield, Working Families
Party; Jillian Gilchrist, NARAL; Amy Miller, Program Director, CWEALF;
and forty one others. Testifying in opposition were Representative Themis
Klarides; Representative Vincent Candelora; Representative Michael
Alberts; Representative Rosa Rebimbas; Council of Small Towns (COST);
31
Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM); Connecticut Business and
Industry Association (CBIA); National Federation of Independent Business
(NFIB); Metro Hartford Alliance; nine Chambers of Commerce; and one
hundred and twelve other business and trade organizations.
The Labor and Public Employees Committee passed the bill by a vote of 6 to
4 along party lines with the exception of Rep. Hewett (D-New London)
voting no. The Labor Committee sent the bill to the Senate. The Senate
referred the bill to the Appropriations Committee. The Appropriations
Committee attempted to pass two amendments to the bill but they both
failed. The Appropriations Committee passed the bill by a vote of 28 to 18.
Following is the roll call vote:
Voting
Yea
Nay
Abstain
28
18
0
TOTALS
46
yea nay abstain absent
Sen. Harp, T. S10
Rep. Geragosian, J. 025
Sen. Hartley, J. S15
Rep. Bartlett, J. 002
Rep. Heinrich, D. 101
Rep. Roldan, K. 004
Sen. Debicella, D. S21
Rep. Miner, C. 066
Rep. Backer, T. 121
Sen. Caligiuri, S. S16
Rep. Camillo, F. 151
Rep. Candelaria, J. 095
Rep. Clemons, C. 124
Rep. Dillon, P. 092
Sen. Duff, B. S25
Rep. Esty, E. 103
Rep. Fawcett, K. 133
Rep. Fleischmann, A. 018
Sen. Frantz, L. S36
Rep. Genga, H. 010
Sen. Gomes, E. S23
Rep. Gonzalez, M. 003
Rep. Hamm, G. 034
Sen. Handley, M. S04
Sen. Harris, J. S05
Absent and Not
Voting
12
Voice Vote
yea nay abstain absent
Rep. Hwang, T. 134
Sen. Kane, R. S32
Rep. Kirkley-Bey, M. 005
Rep. Lewis, J. 008
Sen. Maynard, A. S18
Rep. McCrory, D. 007
Rep. Miller, P. 145
Rep. Nafis, S. 027
Rep. O'Neill, A. 069
Rep. Orange, L. 048
Rep. Perillo, J. 113
Sen. Prague, E. S19
Rep. Rebimbas, R. 070
Rep. Reynolds, T. 042
Rep. Ritter, E. 038
Rep. Roy, R. 119
Rep. Ryan, K. 139
Rep. Santiago, E. 130
Rep. Sawyer, P. 055
Rep. Schofield, L. 016
Sen. Slossberg, G. S14
Rep. Stripp, J. 135
Rep. Tercyak, P. 026
Rep. Thompson, J. 013
Rep. Urban, D. 043
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
32
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Rep. Hetherington, J. 125
Rep. Hewett, E. 039
Rep. Holder-Winfield, G. X
094
Rep. Hovey, D. 112
Rep. Villano, P. 091
Rep. Walker, T. 093
X
X
X
X
X
Rep. Willis, R. 064
Rep. Wood, T. 141
X
X
The bill died in the Senate with no further action when it was clear that the
votes did not exist to pass it, because of the lack of time needed for an
extensive debate, the Governor’s opposition and also because of the
concerns expressed by us and others about flaws in the bill. We did not
attempt to have amendments drawn up to the bill since it was clear that the
bill was not going to be passed this year. Labor lobbyists and legislators
expressed an interest in working with us to resolve our concerns in the
future.
SB65 – AN ACT CONCERNING UNEMPLOYMENT
COMPENSATION EXTENDED BENEFITS. Passed. Awaiting
Governor’s Signature
This bill was introduced by the Labor and Public Employees Committee and
co-sponsored by twenty legislators. It conforms state unemployment
compensation law to federal law regarding extended benefits paid by
employers that are allowed to reimburse the unemployment compensation
fund rather than regularly pay unemployment taxes. Under federal and state
law, the following employers are allowed to reimburse the fund for benefits
paid to their former employees collecting unemployment: the state,
municipalities, and Native American tribes. The bill codifier federal
requirement that these employers pay 100% of the cost of any extended
benefits. (Extended benefits are benefits granted beyond the standard 26week period and any additional benefits the federal government granted and
pays for.)
Testifying in support of the bill at the public hearing were Linda Agnew,
Acting Commissioner, Department of Labor; Kia F. Murrell, CBIA; and
Andy Markowski, NFIB. The Labor and Public Employees Committee
passed the bill by a unanimous vote. Both the Senate and the House also
passed the bill by unanimous votes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage
33
SB79 - AN ACT CONCERNING AGENCY CONSOLIDATION AND
THE OUTSOURCING OF GOVERNMENT SERVICES. Died.
This bill was introduced by Sen. McKinney (R-Southport), Sen. Fasano (RNorth Haven), and Sen. Roraback (R-Goshen). It would have consolidated:
(1) The Departments of Public Health, Developmental Services, Children
and Families, Mental Health and Addiction Services and Social Services into
the Department of Human Services; (2) the Departments of Motor Vehicles
and Transportation; (3) the Departments of Public Works and Administrative
Services; (4) the Labor Department and the Department of Economic and
Community Development; (5) the Departments of Higher Education and
Education; and (6) the six legislative commissions into the Commission on
the Status of Protected Citizens. It also would have outsourced government
services, including noncommercial customer service operations of the
Department of Motor Vehicles, the maintenance of state parks and direct
care services within the newly created Department of Human Services. The
bill was referred to the Joint Committee on Government Administration and
Elections where it died without being raised.
SB242 - AN ACT CONCERNING THE RETENTION OF JOBS IN
CONNECTICUT. Died.
This bill was introduced by the Labor and Public Employees Committee and
co-sponsored by Rep. Aresimowicz (D-Berlin). It would have made three
separate changes to government contracting laws to limit a contractor's
ability to perform work or provide services outside the United States. 1. It
required privatization contracts of at least $100,000 with the state or its
political subdivisions other than municipalities to (a) prohibit the contractor
from originating or providing the services at a location outside the U. S. and
(b) make non-compliance a material breach that voids the contract and
requires the contractor to pay certain damages. 2. It required contracts with
the state or a quasi-public agency to prohibit the contractor from (a) using a
subcontractor or others at a site outside the U. S. or (b) transferring work or
services outside the U. S. It provided an exception if the contract's purpose is
work or services in connection with a proceeding or event occurring outside
the U. S. or the work is not available in the U. S. 3. When awarding
contracts, the law requires state agencies to give preference to goods made
and services originating in Connecticut if they are equal in all other respects
to those made, or originating from, outside the state. The bill added a ban on
contracts for services that originate or are performed outside the U. S., but it
34
seems to have modified the in-state preference rather than create a broader
restriction. The bill also required certain employers with at least 100
employees who propose removing 25% or more of the establishment's
employees or work outside of the state to give at least six months written
notice to affected employees and the Labor and Economic and Community
Development commissioners.
AFSCME Council 4 testified in support of the bill at the public hearing.
Testifying in opposition to the bill were Connecticut Department of
Information Technology and Jesmin Basanti, CBIA. The Labor and Public
Employees Committee passed the bill by a vote of 7 to 3 along party lines.
The Labor Committee sent the bill to the Senate. The Senate referred the
bill to the Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee passed the bill by
a vote of 24 to 16. Following is the roll call vote:
Voting
Yea
Nay
Abstain
24
16
0
TOTALS
40
yea nay abstain absent
Sen. McDonald, A. S27
Rep. Lawlor, M. 099
Sen. Handley, M. S04
Rep. Fox, G. 146
Sen. Kissel, J. S07
Rep. O'Neill, A. 069
Rep. Aman, W. 014
Rep. Baram, D. 015
Rep. Barry, R. 012
Rep. Berger, J. 073
Rep. Clemons, C. 124
Sen. Coleman, E. S02
Rep. Conway, M. 061
Rep. Coutu, C. 047
Rep. Dillon, P. 092
Sen. Doyle, P. S09
Rep. Fritz, M. 090
Rep. Godfrey, B. 110
Sen. Gomes, E. S23
Rep. Gonzalez, M. 003
Rep. Green, K. 001
Rep. Hamm, G. 034
Rep. Hamzy, W. 078
Absent and Not
Voting
4
Voice Vote
yea nay abstain absent
Rep. Labriola, D. 131
Sen. McLachlan, M. S24
Sen. Meyer, E. S12
Rep. Morris, B. 140
Rep. Olson, M. 046
Rep. Reeves, P. 143
Rep. Roldan, K. 004
Sen. Roraback, A. S30
Rep. Rowe, T. 123
Rep. Serra, J. 033
Rep. Spallone, J. 036
Rep. Taborsak, J. 109
Rep. Tong, W. 147
Rep. Walker, T. 093
Rep. Wright, E. 041
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
35
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Rep. Hetherington, J. 125
X
Rep. Hewett, E. 039
Rep. Holder-Winfield, G. X
094
Rep. Hovey, D. 112
X
Rep. Hurlburt, B. 053
Rep. Klarides, T. 114
X
X
X
The Senate then referred the bill to the Government Administration and
Elections Committee. GA&E passed the bill by a vote of 7 to 6. Following
is the roll call vote:
Voting
Yea
Nay
Abstain
7
6
0
TOTALS
13
Absent and Not
Voting
2
yea nay abstain absent
Sen. Slossberg, G. S14
Rep. Spallone, J. 036
Sen. Meyer, E. S12
Rep. Aresimowicz, J. 030
Sen. McLachlan, M. S24
Rep. Hetherington, J. 125
Rep. Drew, T. 132
Rep. Fleischmann, A. 018
Rep. Floren, L. 149
Rep. Grogins, A. 129
Rep. Labriola, D. 131
Rep. Lawlor, M. 099
Rep. Miller, P. 145
Rep. O'Brien, T. 024
Rep. Reeves, P. 143
Voice Vote
yea nay abstain absent
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
The bill died in the Senate with no further action.
SB330 - AN ACT CONCERNING STUDENT EMPLOYEES AND
WORKFORCE COMPETITIVENESS. Passed. Awaiting Governor’s
Signature
This bill was introduced by the Higher Education and Employment
Advancement Committee and co-sponsored by eight legislators. It exempts
student employees at public institutions of higher education from certain
36
provisions of the State Code of Ethics. The exemptions apply to students
whose employment is derived from their status as students at those
institutions but not to regular employees at a college or university who take
classes on a part-time basis. With several exceptions, the law prohibits
public officials, candidates for public office, and state employees from
accepting gifts (generally anything of value over $10) from lobbyists. It also
prohibits public officials and state employees from accepting gifts from
people doing, or seeking to do, business with their agency; people engaged
in activities regulated by their agency; or prequalified state contractors. The
law also prohibits these people from giving gifts to public officials and
employees. The bill creates an additional gift exception to allow student
employees to receive travel expenses, lodging, food, beverage, and other
benefits customarily provided by a prospective employer in connection with
bona fide employment discussions. It also exempts these student employees
from waiting one year after leaving state employment before (1)
representing, for compensation, anyone besides themselves before their
former office and (2) accepting employment with a party to a (a) contract or
agreement with the state valued at $ 50,000 or more or (b) written agreement
for an automatic payroll deduction for a product or service if the student
participated substantially in or supervised the negotiation of the award.
Additionally, the bill exempts student employees from provisions of the
ethics code concerning prohibited activities, disclosure of confidential
information, and conflicts of interest. The exemption is only valid if the
student's institution has (1) adopted written policies and procedures
concerning student employees and conflicts of interest, and (2) the policies
and procedures have been approved by the Citizens Ethics Advisory Board.
The bill requires institutions to submit their policies and procedures to the
board triennially and any significant revisions within 30 days of their
adoption.
Testifying in support of the bill at the public hearing were David Carter,
Chancellor, Connecticut State University System; and Nancy H. Bull, ViceProvost for Academic Administration, University of Connecticut. The State
of Connecticut, Office of State Ethics submitted written testimony that it
opposes any broad or wholesale exemption of a group or class of individuals
from the jurisdiction of the Code of Ethics, as such an approach ultimately
leads to the weakening of the law and its effectiveness.
The Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee passed
the bill by a unanimous vote. The Higher Education Committee sent the bill
37
to the Senate. The Senate referred the bill to the Government
Administration and Elections Committee. GA&E passed the bill by a vote
of 11 to 2 and the no votes were Sen. Meyer (D-Guilford) and Sen.
McLachlan (R-Danbury). The Senate then referred the bill to the Labor and
Public Employees Committee. The Labor Committee passed the bill by a
unanimous vote. The Senate passed the bill by a unanimous vote on consent
calendar. In the House, Rep. Willis (D-Lakeville) offered House
Amendment ‘A’ that replaced the original bill which exempted student
employees from the state code of ethics definition of a state employee, and
thus from the entire code. It also changed the effective date from July 1,
2010 to October 1, 2010. The House adopted House Amendment ‘A’ and
passed the bill as amended by a vote of 147 to 1 and the no vote was Rep.
Johnston (D-North Grosvenordale). The Senate adopted House Amendment
‘A’ and passed the bill as amended by a unanimous vote in concurrence with
the House.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2010
SB356 - AN ACT CONCERNING MONTHLY REPORTS ON
PERSONNEL STATUS FOR STATE AGENCIES. Died.
This bill was introduced by the Appropriations Committee. It would have
provided the Office of Fiscal Analysis with state agency personnel data,
including the positions that are vacated and filled each month. The
committee held a public hearing. The Appropriations Committee voted to
merge the contents of this bill into SB0359 by a vote of 40 to 15 along party
lines.
SB467 - AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE LEAN GOVERNMENT
STEERING COMMITTEE. Died.
This bill was introduced by the Government Administration and Elections
Committee. It would have established a lean government steering
committee, with members from the banking industry, service sector,
manufacturing sector, healthcare industry, and a collective bargaining unit to
be appointed within 30 days of the effective date. It outlined that the
Secretary of OPM would have served as chairperson, and a report would
have been submitted within 60 days of the effective date to share the
committee's findings and recommendations.
38
Robert Torrani, Director, Manufacturing & Supply Chain Initiative,
Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, Inc, testified in support of the
bill at the public hearing “because a steering committee for Connecticut's
lean government transformation should be comprised of an executive level
steering committee that would plan the initial roll-out, periodically monitor
progress, manage internal & external communications, access return-on
investment, and direct & plan migration.”
The Government Administration and Elections Committee passed the bill by
a unanimous vote. GA&E sent the bill to the Senate. The Senate referred
the bill to the Commerce Committee. The Commerce Committee also
passed the bill by a unanimous vote. The bill died in the Senate with no
further action.
SB469 - AN ACT CONCERNING THE COMMISSION ON
ENHANCING AGENCY OUTCOMES. Died.
This bill was introduced by the Government Administration and Elections
Committee. It would have required the Commission on Enhancing Agency
Outcomes to submit an additional report on state government efficiency and
accountability to the Government Administration and Elections Committee
by December 31, 2011. There was no testimony given at the public hearing.
The Government Administration and Elections Committee passed the bill by
a unanimous vote. GA&E sent the bill to the Senate. The Senate referred
the bill to the Appropriations Committee where they passed it by a
unanimous vote also. The bill died in the Senate with no further action.
HB5058 – AN ACT CONCERNING THE RIGHT TO ORGANIZE
FOR CERTAIN STATE EMPLOYEES. Died.
This bill was introduced by the Labor and Public Employees Committee. It
would have permited more state employees to join unions by providing
collective bargaining rights to state managers and certain State Capitol
Police employees. It also created the title “bureau head,” exempted bureau
heads from collective bargaining, and limited how many of these positions
can be in a department or agency.
Testifying in support of the bill at the public hearing were Robert Shea,
AMECSS; Brian Anderson, Council 4 AFSCME; and Lori Pelletier, AFL39
CIO. Sandra Fae Brown-Brewton, Office of Policy and Management
testified in opposition to the bill. The Office of Policy and Management
opposed the bill because it endows certain managerial employees with the
right to collectively bargain, and it gives the legislature the status of
employer under the State Employees Relations Act for the purposes of
negotiating with a single group of its employees—the capitol police.
The Labor and Public Employees Committee passed the bill by a vote of 9 to
1 and the no vote was Rep. Aman (R-South Windsor). The Labor
Committee sent the bill to the House. The House referred the bill to the
Appropriations Committee. Appropriations passed the bill by a vote of 24 to
21. Following is the roll call vote:
Voting
Yea
Nay
Abstain
24
21
0
TOTALS
45
yea nay abstain absent
Sen. Harp, T. S10
Rep. Geragosian, J. 025
Sen. Hartley, J. S15
Rep. Bartlett, J. 002
Rep. Heinrich, D. 101
Rep. Roldan, K. 004
Sen. Debicella, D. S21
Rep. Miner, C. 066
Rep. Backer, T. 121
Sen. Caligiuri, S. S16
Rep. Camillo, F. 151
Rep. Candelaria, J. 095
Rep. Clemons, C. 124
Rep. Dillon, P. 092
Sen. Duff, B. S25
Rep. Esty, E. 103
Rep. Fawcett, K. 133
Rep. Fleischmann, A. 018
Sen. Frantz, L. S36
Rep. Genga, H. 010
Sen. Gomes, E. S23
Rep. Gonzalez, M. 003
Rep. Hamm, G. 034
Sen. Handley, M. S04
Sen. Harris, J. S05
Absent and Not
Voting
13
Voice Vote
yea nay abstain absent
Rep. Hwang, T. 134
Sen. Kane, R. S32
Rep. Kirkley-Bey, M. 005
Rep. Lewis, J. 008
Sen. Maynard, A. S18
Rep. McCrory, D. 007
Rep. Miller, P. 145
Rep. Nafis, S. 027
Rep. O'Neill, A. 069
Rep. Orange, L. 048
Rep. Perillo, J. 113
Sen. Prague, E. S19
Rep. Rebimbas, R. 070
Rep. Reynolds, T. 042
Rep. Ritter, E. 038
Rep. Roy, R. 119
Rep. Ryan, K. 139
Rep. Santiago, E. 130
Rep. Sawyer, P. 055
Rep. Schofield, L. 016
Sen. Slossberg, G. S14
Rep. Stripp, J. 135
Rep. Tercyak, P. 026
Rep. Thompson, J. 013
Rep. Urban, D. 043
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
40
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Rep. Hetherington, J. 125
X
Rep. Hewett, E. 039
Rep. Holder-Winfield, G. X
094
Rep. Hovey, D. 112
X
Rep. Villano, P. 091
Rep. Walker, T. 093
X
Rep. Willis, R. 064
X
Rep. Wood, T. 141
X
X
X
The bill died in the House with no further action.
HB5062 - AN ACT CONCERNING COLLECTIVE BARGAINING,
PENSIONS AND HEALTH CARE. Died.
This bill was introduced by the Labor and Public Employees Committee and
co-sponsored by Rep. Genga (D-East Hartford). It would have required the
Labor Commissioner to report on the status of collective bargaining,
pensions, and health care in the state. The Labor Committee held a public
hearing and then the bill died with no further action.
HB5089 - AN ACT CONCERNING THE PRIVATIZATION OF A
PORTION OF THE STATE'S SOCIAL SERVICE PROGRAMS. Died.
The bill was introduced by Rep. Hwang (R-Fairfield) and Rep. Rowe (RTrumbull). It would have transfered the administration of twenty per cent of
all social service programs from the Department of Social Services, the
Department of Developmental Services and any other state agency currently
providing social services to qualified private, community-based providers
not later than July 1, 2011, without any reduction in services. The bill was
referred to the Joint Committee on Human Services where the bill died
without being raised.
HB5204 - AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS
OF THE JOINT ENFORCEMENT COMMISSION ON EMPLOYEE
MISCLASSIFICATION. Passed. Signed by Governor May 5, 2010
This bill was introduced by the Labor and Public Employees Committee and
co-sponsored by ten legislators. By law, any employer who misrepresents
either the number of its employees or casts them as independent contractors
to defraud or deceive an insurance company in order to pay lower workers'
compensation insurance is (1) guilty of a class D felony and (2) subject to a
stop work order. Under the bill, the same penalty applies if the employer
defrauds or deceives the state in the same way. The bill also increases the
penalty for this violation by specifying that each day of the violation
41
constitutes a separate offense. Violators are liable to the Labor Department
for a $ 300 civil penalty. The bill specifies that any employer who is fully
insured for workers' compensation and fails to pay the required state
assessments for (1) the administration of the Workers' Compensation
Commission and (2) the administration and payment fund of the Second
Injury Fund is guilty of a class D felony and subject to a stop work order. By
law, a self-insured employer who fails to make the same assessments is
already subject to these penalties.
Testifying in support of the bill at the public hearing were Attorney General
Richard Blumenthal; Chief State's Attorney Kevin T. Kane, Division of
Criminal Justice; Glenn Marshall, New England Carpenters Local 210; and
Nate Brown, International Union of Operating Engineers.
The Labor and Public Employees Committee passed the bill by a unanimous
vote. The Labor Committee passed the bill to the House. The House
referred the bill to the Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee
passed it by a unanimous vote. In the House, Rep. Ryan (D-Oakdale)
offered House Amendment ‘A’ that specifies that each day of defrauding or
deceiving the state regarding misrepresentation for workers' compensation
purposes constitutes a separate offense but the separate offense provision
does not apply to other offenses, in state wage, employment regulation,
personnel files, or other workers compensation law. The House adopted
House Amendment ‘A’ and passed the bill as amended by a unanimous vote.
The Senate adopted House Amendment ‘A’ and passed the bill as amended
by a unanimous vote in concurrence with the House. The Governor signed
the bill into law on May 5, 2010.
Effective Date: October 1, 2010
HB5206- AN ACT PROVIDING AN INDIVIDUAL THE RIGHT TO
BRING A DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICE ACTION IN SUPERIOR
COURT RATHER THAN THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
AND OPPORTUNITIES. Died.
This bill was introduced by the Labor and Public Employees Committee. It
would have allowed a person claiming to be aggrieved by an alleged
discriminatory practice to file a complaint with the superior court rather than
with the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.
42
The Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association testified in support of the bill at
the public hearing. Testifying in opposition were the Commission on
Human Rights and Opportunities; AFSCME Council 4; AFSCME Local
2663; CBIA; and Greater Hartford Legal Aid (GHLA).
The Labor and Public Employees Committee proposed substitute language
that allowed a complainant or his/her attorney to request a release of
jurisdiction from the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities after
a complaint is filed. The Labor Committee passed the substitute bill by a
vote of 7 to 3 along party lines. The Labor Committee sent the bill to the
Judiciary Committee where it died with no action.
HB5207- AN ACT CONCERNING CRIMINAL BACKGROUND
CHECKS FOR PROSPECTIVE STATE EMPLOYEES. Passed.
Awaiting Governor’s Signature.
This bill was introduced by the Labor Committee and was co-sponsored by
11 legislators. It prohibits certain covered state employers from asking
about a prospective employee's past convictions until the person is deemed
otherwise qualified for the position. The prohibition does not apply if a
statute specifically disqualifies someone from a position due to a prior
conviction.
The public hearing for the bill faced very interesting arguments in support
and opposition from both the public and state agencies. Testifying in
support of the bill were Alexis N. Highsmith, GHLA; Nadine Nevins, CLS;
Ellen Small, CABHN; David Schultz; Jennifer Garrison; rJo Winch,
Hartford City Council; Jacqueline Caron, Connecticut Pardon Team, Inc.;
Barbara Fair; Rev. Anne H. Higgins; Emily Sheehan, RISE; Audrey
Richards; James D. Butler III and Marc Mauer, The Sentencing Project.
Chief State’s Attorney Kevin Kane, Linda Yelmini of OPM and Robert
Brothers Jr. of CHRO all testified in opposition to the bill. Brothers stated,
“Waiting until an offer is made only to find out that the applicant is
disqualified because of a criminal record is cruel to the person this bill seeks
to protect.” Yelmini of OPM added, “The types of offers of employment
that could be made include Department of Children and Families could offer
employment to a convicted child molester.”
The Labor Committee approved by a vote of 7-3 along party lines to
favorably refer the bill to the Government Administrations and Elections
43
Committee. The GA&E Committee debated the measure during its meeting
and left members very conflicted about the potential impact it could have on
the state. The bill narrowly passed the GA&E Committee by a vote of 8-7.
The following is the roll call vote for this bill:
Voting
Yea
Nay
Abstain
8
7
0
TOTALS
15
yea nay abstain absent
Sen. Slossberg, G. S14
Rep. Spallone, J. 036
Sen. Meyer, E. S12
Rep. Aresimowicz, J. 030
Sen. McLachlan, M. S24
Rep. Hetherington, J. 125
Rep. Drew, T. 132
Rep. Fleischmann, A. 018
Rep. Floren, L. 149
Rep. Grogins, A. 129
Rep. Labriola, D. 131
Rep. Lawlor, M. 099
Rep. Miller, P. 145
Rep. O'Brien, T. 024
Rep. Reeves, P. 143
Absent and Not
Voting
0
Voice Vote
yea nay abstain absent
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
The bill was sent to the House but initially seemed to have little chance of
passing without an amendment. House leadership, along with Labor
Committee chairs and ranking members, decided on a compromise for the
bill. Rep. Ryan (D-Oakdale) offer an amendment, LCO 3678, that changed
the bill by prohibiting an inquiry until the person is deemed qualified rather
than until the person is deemed qualified and made an initial offer,
eliminating provisions on when an agency must consider certain factors
before denying state employment or a credential based on a prior conviction
and applying to any inquiry about past convictions and not just inquiring
through a consumer report. The amendment was adopted by voice vote and
unanimously passed the House. The Senate also adopted the House
amendment and unanimously passed the bill on its consent calendar. The
bill is currently awaiting a public act number and signature by the Governor.
Effective Date: October 1, 2010
44
HB5219- AN ACT EXTENDING STATE CONTINUATION OF
HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE. Passed. Awaiting Governor’s
Signature.
This Act extends the period for which certain people and their dependents
may continue group health insurance under the state's “mini-COBRA” law
from 18 to 30 months. To qualify for the continued coverage, the person
must have experienced a specified qualifying event, including a layoff,
reduced hours, leave of absence, or termination of employment for other
than death or gross misconduct.
The Act's extended coverage provision applies to people who are already
continuing coverage due to those qualifying events and people who elect to
do so on and after the bill's passage. By law, unchanged by the Act, spouses
and dependents who are continuing coverage for any other reason (e.g.,
death of employee or divorce) are permitted to continue coverage for the
period set forth under federal COBRA (i.e., 36 months).
The Act requires each insurer and health care center (i.e., HMO) that has
issued a group health insurance policy subject to the continuation
requirements, in conjunction with their group policyholders, to provide
notice of the extended coverage period to affected people within 60 days of
the bill's passage. Group policyholders include those with fewer than 20
employees.
The Act also makes technical and conforming changes.
Effective Date: Upon Passage
HB5234 - AN ACT PREVENTING A LABOR ORGANIZATION
FROM WAIVING AN EMPLOYEE'S RIGHT TO BRING A CIVIL
ACTION FOR A CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATION AGAINST AN
EMPLOYER. Died.
This bill was introduced by the Labor and Public Employees Committee. It
would have prevented labor organizations from bargaining away the rights
of an employee to bring a civil action for an employer's violation of said
employee's civil rights. The Labor and Public Employees Committee held a
public hearing and then the bill died with no further action.
HB5285 - AN ACT CONCERNING STATE EMPLOYEES AND
VIOLENCE AND BULLYING IN THE WORKPLACE. Died.
45
This bill was introduced by the Labor and Public Employees Committee. It
would have required the Department of Administrative Services to report the
number of complaints of bullying or abusive conduct in the state workforce
to the General Assembly.
Testifying in support of the bill at the public hearing were Commission on
Human Rights and Opportunities; Dr. Katherine Hermes, Connecticut
Coordinator, Workplace Bullying Institute; Linda Coollick, Counselor,
Technical High School System, Department of Education; and AFL-CIO.
The Department of Administrative Services testified in opposition to the bill.
The Labor and Public Employees Committee passed the bill by a unanimous
vote. The Labor Committee sent the bill to the Government Administration
and Elections Committee where it died with no action.
HB5195 - AN ACT CONCERNING THE REHIRING OF RETIRED
STATE EMPLOYEES. Died.
This bill was introduced by the Labor and Public Employees Committee and
co-sponsored by Rep. Gonzalez (D-Hartford). It would have limited the
duration and number of times a retired state employee may be rehired by the
state in order to ensure jobs are available to new prospective employees.
The Labor Committee held a public hearing and then the bill died with no
further action.
HB5202 - AN ACT CONCERNING TELECOMMUTING OPTIONS
FOR STATE EMPLOYEES. Passed. Awaiting Governor’s Signature
This bill was introduced by the Labor and Public Employees Committee and
co-sponsored by thirty six legislators. It requires, instead of allows, the
Department of Administrative Services (DAS) commissioner to develop and
implement guidelines, in cooperation with state employee unions,
authorizing state employee telecommuting and work-at-home programs.
This must be done within available appropriations. Under the bill, a
telecommuting or work-at-home assignment must meet the programs'
guidelines. It eliminates the requirement that such an assignment must be
determined to be cost effective. The guidelines and the determination of
whether a position is appropriate for telecommuting are not subject to
collective bargaining, under the bill.
46
Testifying in support of the bill at the public hearing were Honorable Nancy
Wyman, State Comptroller; Julia Evans Starr, Commission on Aging;
Permanent Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW); Representative
Themis Klarides, 114th District; AFT Connecticut; and Service Employees
International Union (SEIU). Linda Yelmini, Office of Labor Relations,
OPM, testified in opposition to the bill.
The Labor and Public Employees Committee passed the bill by a unanimous
vote. The Labor Committee sent the bill to the Government Administration
and Elections Committee. GA&E also passed the bill by a unanimous vote.
It was sent to the House. Rep. McCluskey (D-West Hartford) offered House
Amendment ‘A’ that changes when a telecommuting assignment can be
terminated from “upon” to “as required by” agency needs. The House
adopted House Amendment ‘A’ and passed the bill as amended by a
unanimous vote. The Senate adopted House Amendment ‘A’ and passed the
bill as amended by a unanimous vote in concurrence with the House.
Effective Date: July 1, 2010
HB5203 - AN ACT CONCERNING STATE SERVICE RETIREMENT
CREDIT AND TEACHERS' RETIREMENT CREDIT. Died.
This bill was introduced by the Labor and Public Employees Committee and
co-sponsored by Rep. Willis (D-Lakeville), Sen. Prague (D-Columbia), and
Sen. Roraback (R-Goshen). It would have allowed certain individuals who
retired based upon a material error in their retirement benefit statements to
be compensated for said error or return to their previous employment
position.
Testifying in support of the bill at a public hearing were Senator Andrew
Roraback; Dr. Kathleen Fitzgibbons; Connecticut Education Association;
and Mark DeCaprio, Department of Environmental Protection. Nancy
Wyman, State Comptroller, testified in opposition to the bill.
The Labor and Public Employees Committee proposed substitute language
that provided hazardous duty retirement credit to the Director and Assistant
Director of DEP's Hazardous Materials Unit. The committee passed the
substitute bill by a unanimous vote. The Labor Committee sent the bill to
the Appropriations Committee. The bill failed in the Appropriations
Committee by a vote of 24 to 26. Below is the roll call vote:
47
Voting
Yea
Nay
Abstain
24
26
0
TOTALS
50
Absent and Not
Voting
8
yea nay abstain absent
Sen. Harp, T. S10
Rep. Geragosian, J. 025
Sen. Hartley, J. S15
Rep. Bartlett, J. 002
Rep. Heinrich, D. 101
Rep. Roldan, K. 004
Sen. Debicella, D. S21
Rep. Miner, C. 066
Rep. Backer, T. 121
Sen. Caligiuri, S. S16
Rep. Camillo, F. 151
Rep. Candelaria, J. 095
Rep. Clemons, C. 124
Rep. Dillon, P. 092
Sen. Duff, B. S25
Rep. Esty, E. 103
Rep. Fawcett, K. 133
Rep. Fleischmann, A. 018
Sen. Frantz, L. S36
Rep. Genga, H. 010
Sen. Gomes, E. S23
Rep. Gonzalez, M. 003
Rep. Hamm, G. 034
Sen. Handley, M. S04
Sen. Harris, J. S05
Rep. Hetherington, J. 125
Rep. Hewett, E. 039
Rep. Holder-Winfield, G.
094
Rep. Hovey, D. 112
Voice Vote
yea nay abstain absent
Rep. Hwang, T. 134
Sen. Kane, R. S32
Rep. Kirkley-Bey, M. 005
Rep. Lewis, J. 008
Sen. Maynard, A. S18
Rep. McCrory, D. 007
Rep. Miller, P. 145
Rep. Nafis, S. 027
Rep. O'Neill, A. 069
Rep. Orange, L. 048
Rep. Perillo, J. 113
Sen. Prague, E. S19
Rep. Rebimbas, R. 070
Rep. Reynolds, T. 042
Rep. Ritter, E. 038
Rep. Roy, R. 119
Rep. Ryan, K. 139
Rep. Santiago, E. 130
Rep. Sawyer, P. 055
Rep. Schofield, L. 016
Sen. Slossberg, G. S14
Rep. Stripp, J. 135
Rep. Tercyak, P. 026
Rep. Thompson, J. 013
Rep. Urban, D. 043
Rep. Villano, P. 091
Rep. Walker, T. 093
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Rep. Willis, R. 064
Rep. Wood, T. 141
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
HB5330 - AN ACT CONCERNING CONNECTICUT'S ECONOMIC
FUTURE. Died.
This bill was introduced by the Labor and Public Employees Committee. It
would have established the Connecticut Economic Future Council to take
48
state employee pension funds and to identify state bond allotments to fund
state job creation. The Labor Committee held a public hearing and then the
bill died with no further action.
HB5471- AN ACT CONCERNING INDEPENDENT
EXPENDITURES. Passed. AwaitingGovernor’sSignature.
This bill was introduced by the Government Administration and Election
Committee and was co-sponsored by ten legislators. It seeks to provide that
independent expenditures made by an entity are properly disclosed and
ensure that such expenditures are properly attributed to the entity making the
expenditure. The bill removes a requirement that groups of two or more
individuals register as a political committee (known as a PAC) upon
receiving any funds or making or incurring any expenditures to promote or
oppose a candidate, political party, or referendum question. Instead, it
requires them to register upon receiving or raising $ 1,000. By removing the
prohibition, it codifies state law to the recent U. S. Supreme Court decision
in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.
Testifying in support of the bill included Albert P. Lenge, State Elections
Enforcement Commission; Karen Hobert Flynn, Common Cause and
Christine Horrigan, League of Women Voters. No opposition was identified
during the public hearing.
Substitute language on the bill was provided by the Chairs of the GA&E
Committee to redefine the term “agent” in the statutes. The bill
unanimously passed the committee and was sent to the House. Rep.
Spallone (D-Essex) offered an amendment, LCO 4761, that adds to the
rebuttable presumption campaign-related consultant or creative services
expenditures, requires electronic filing for independent expenditure reports
and changes their deadlines, expands attribution requirements for 501(c) and
527 organizations, requires “express advocacy” expenditures to be reported
in advance of a primary, and makes technical corrections. The amendment
was adopted by roll call vote 137-3 with nay votes recorded by Rep. O’Brien
(D-New Britain), Rep. Kirkley-Bey (D-Hartford) and Rep. Labriola (RNaugatuck). The bill unanimously passed as amended and was sent to the
Senate. The Senate adopted the amendment by voice vote and the bill
passed, in concurrence with the House, on its consent calendar. The bill is
awaiting Public Act and the Governor’s signature.
49
B. HIGHER EDUCATION
SB43 - AN ACT CONCERNING REVISIONS TO THE HIGHER
EDUCATION STATUTES. Died.
This bill was introduced by the Higher Education and Employment
Advancement Committee. It would have required public and independent
colleges and universities, beginning January 1, 2012, to submit an annual
report to the Department of Higher Education (DHE) on the transfer to each
institution of any credits earned at another institution. The report must have
been in a manner the DHE commissioner prescribes.
There was no testimony given at the committee’s public hearing. The
Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee passed the bill
by a unanimnous vote. The Higher Education Committee sent the bill to the
Senate. The Senate passed the bill by a unanimous vote. The bill died in the
House with no action taken.
SB45 - AN ACT CONCERNING HIGHER EDUCATION
REMEDIATION PROGRAMS. Died.
This bill was introduced by the Higher Education and Employment
Advancement Committee. It would have required a study of issues
concerning remediation programs offered by the public institutions of higher
education.
Testifying in support of the bill at the public hearing were David G. Carter,
Chancellor, Connecticut State University System; Marc S. Herzog,
Chancellor, Connecticut Community Colleges; Alice Pritchard, Executive
Director, CWELF; and Jude Carroll, Director, CT KIDS COUNT Project,
CAHS.
The Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee proposed
substitute language that added the formation of a task force. Chancellor
Herzog had recommended this in his testimony at the public hearing. The
Higher Education Committee passed the substitute bill by a unanimous vote.
The bill was sent to the Senate where they referred it to the Education
Committee. The Education Committee also passed the bill by a unanimous
50
vote. The Senate passed the bill by a unanimous vote on consent calendar.
The bill died in the House with no action taken.
SB57 - AN ACT CONCERNING EDUCATION LOANS. Died.
This bill was introduced by the Banks Committee. It would have placed
restrictions on the authority of the Connecticut Higher Education
Supplemental Loan Authority (CHESLA) to initiate collections actions
against a student who defaults on a CHESLA student loan while enrolled in
a higher education institution. For two years, from October 1, 2010 until
October 1, 2012, CHESLA cannot initiate a collection action against a
student who (1) has cured a default on a CHESLA loan or (2) is in default on
a CHESLA loan, but is making reasonable efforts (as determined by
CHESLA) to cure that default in a timely manner.
Attorney Joshua Cohen testified in support of the bill at the public hearing.
Testifying in opposition to the bill were Secretary Robert Genuario, Office
of Policy and Management, and Gloria Ragosta, CHESLA.
The Banks Committee passed the bill by a vote of 16 to 1 and the no vote
was Rep. Schofield (D-Simsbury). The Banks Committee sent the bill to the
Senate. The Senate referred the bill to the Higher Education and
Employment Advancement Committee. The Higher Education Committee
passed the bill by a vote of 13 to 2 and the no votes were Rep. Willis (DLakeville) and Rep. Alberts (R-Woodstock). The bill died in the Senate
with no further action.
SB136 - AN ACT ESTABLISHING A STUDY COMMITTEE TO
REVIEW THE DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION'S
PROCESS OF REVIEWING AND APPROVING ACADEMIC
PROGRAMS. Died.
This bill was introduced by the Higher Education and Employment
Advancement Committee. It would have established a committee to study
the Department of Higher Education's process for reviewing and approving
academic programs proposed or offered by institutions of higher education
and determine whether to streamline the process.
Testifying in support of the bill were State Representative Lawrence F.
Cafero, Jr.; Judith B. Greiman, Connecticut Conference of Independent
51
Colleges; Walter Harrison, President, University of Hartford; The
MetroHartford Alliance; and Neil Albert Salonen, President, University of
Bridgeport and Chair, Board of Directors Connecticut Conference of
Independent Colleges. Testifying in opposition to the bill were Michael P
Meotti, Commissioner of Higher Education; Peter Nicholls, Provost and
Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, UConn University; and
John A. Raus, DMD.
The Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee passed
the bill by a vote of 16 to 3 and the no votes were Sen. Handley (DManchester), Rep. Candelaria (D-New Haven), and Rep. Flexer (DDanielson). The Higher Education Committee sent the bill to the Senate.
The Senate moved the bill to the foot of the calendar where it died with no
further action.
SB215 - AN ACT CONCERNING VETERAN TUITION WAIVERS.
Passed. Awaiting Governor’s Signature
This bill was introduced by the Select Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and
co-sponsored by fifty nine legislators. It specifies that for purposes of the
veterans' tuition waiver, which the law requires UConn, the
Connecticut State University (CSU) system, and regional communitytechnical colleges (CTC) to give to eligible veterans, “service in time of
war” does not include time spent attending a military service academy.
The bill requires that, within 30 days of its passage, the institutions'
boards review current and prospective students' eligibility for the
waiver to ensure compliance.
Testifying in support of the bill at the public hearing were Dr. Linda
Schwartz, State Department of Veterans Affairs, Commissioner; Gary E
Waterhouse, 3rd District VFW, legislative chair and judge advocate for the
3rd district Veterans of Foreign Wars; Rusty Meek, Past State Commander
for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Department of Connecticut; and Heather
L Sander, United States Navy veteran and intern at the Connecticut
Commission on Aging. Testifying in opposition was Lisa Giles, former
Coast Guard Academy cadet.
The Select Committee on Veterans’ Affairs passed the bill by a unanimous
vote. The bill was sent to the Higher Education and Employment
52
Advancement Committee. The Higher Education Committee passed the bill
by a unanimous vote. Higher Education then sent the bill to the Senate. In
the Senate, Sen. Maynard (D-Stonington) offered Senate Amendment ‘A’
that eliminates the original bill's specification that “service in time of war”
does not include time spent in training, (2) adds the compliance review
requirement, and (3) changes the effective date from July 1, 2010 to upon
passage. The Senate adopted Senate Amendment ‘A’ and passed the bill as
amended by a unanimous vote. The House adopted Senate Amendment ‘A’
and passed the bill as amended by a unanimous vote in concurrence with the
Senate.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage
SB266 - AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF
THE PROGRAM REVIEW AND INVESTIGATIONS COMMITTEE
CONCERNING TRANSFERRING ADULT EDUCATION
PROGRAMS TO THE COMMUNITY-TECHNICAL COLLEGE
SYSTEM. Died.
This bill was introduced by the Program Review and Investigations
Committee and co-sponsored by Rep. Mushinsky (D-Wallingford). It would
have implemented certain legislative recommendations from the Program
Review Committee's recently completed study entitled Alignment of
Postsecondary Education and Employment, approved by the committee on
December 17, 2009. (See also SB 268, sHB 5164, and sHB 5349.) The
study examined whether a formal alignment mechanism exists in
Connecticut to match the production of skilled graduates from the state's
higher education institutions with the current and projected workforce needs
of the state's employers. The study also included an examination of the
technical high schools. The intent of this bill was to study the viability of
transferring the adult education programs administered by the technical high
school system to the community college system to better promote career
ladders for adults. Specifically, this bill required the Connecticut
Community College System to examine the feasibility of transferring six
adult education programs, including the now-defunct licensed practical nurse
(LPN) program, from the Connecticut Technical High School system to the
community college system. The study must have included an assessment of
the cost of such transfer, the number of employees that would be impacted
by such a transfer, and at which community colleges the programs could be
offered.
53
Testifying in support of the bill at the public hearing were The Connecticut
Association for Adult and Continuing Education; Connecticut Association
for Human Services; and Connecticut Women's Education and Legal Fund
(CWEALF). Testifying in opposition to the bill were an individual from the
Connecticut AFL-CIO and an individual that was the former LPN
Department Head at Bullard Havens Technical High School. The
commissioner of the state Department of Education provided testimony
stating that although the department does not oppose the concept of a
transfer, it cautioned that such a transfer would likely result in very little cost
saving for the state.
The Program Review and Investigations Committee proposed substitute
language that clarified that the study would only examine the transfer of
only those adult education programs that are administered by the
Connecticut Technical High School system. The Program Review and
Investigations Committee passed the substitute bill by a unanimous vote.
PR&I sent the bill to the Senate. The Senate referred the bill to the Higher
Education and Employment Committee. Higher Education passed the bill
by a vote of 12 to 3 and the no votes were Rep. Willis (D-Lakeville), Rep.
Sawyer (R-Bolton), and Rep. Flexer (D-Danielson). The Senate then
referred the bill to the Education Committee where they passed it by a
unanimous vote. The bill then died in the Senate with no further action.
SB268 - AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF
THE PROGRAM REVIEW AND INVESTIGATIONS COMMITTEE
ESTABLISHING A PILOT PROGRAM TO REWARD
INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION THAT ARE MEETING
ESTABLISHED GOALS. Died.
This bill was introduced by the Program Review and Investigations
Committee and co-sponsored by Rep. Mushinsky (D-Wallingford). It would
have required the commissioner of higher education to establish a pilot
program to financially reward public institutions of higher education for
meeting certain goals to the satisfaction of the Higher Education
Coordinating Council. The rewards were to be allocated from existing
resources at the discretion of the commissioner. By law, the goals these
institutions must have met include: 1. enhancing student learning and
promoting academic excellence, 2. working with elementary and secondary
schools to improve teaching and learning at all levels, 3. ensuring access to
and affordability of higher education, 4. promoting economic development
54
in Connecticut, 5. responding to society's problems and needs, and 6.
ensuring efficient use of resources. The Higher Education Coordinating
Council is responsible for developing accountability measures to assess
institutions' achievement of these goals.
Testifying in support of the bill at the public hearing were The Department
of Higher Education; The Connecticut State University System; and The
Connecticut Association for Human Services. The provost of the University
of Connecticut submitted written testimony and requested that the committee
expand an existing grant program administered by DHE, called the
Education and Health Initiatives program, rather than create an additional
one.
The Program Review and Investigations Committee passed the bill by a
unanimous vote. PR&I sent the bill to the Senate. The Senate referred the
bill to the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee
where it died.
SB329 - AN ACT CONCERNING STUDENT TUITION AT PUBLIC
INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION. Died.
This bill was introduced by the Higher Education and Employment
Advancement Committee and co-sponsored by Sen. Colapietro (D-Bristol).
It would have required the boards of trustees of UConn, the Connecticut
State University System, and the community-technical colleges to
immediately notify the Higher Education Committee in writing whenever
they publish a meeting agenda that includes a vote to increase, decrease, or
maintain tuition. By law, the boards of trustees are responsible for
establishing tuition levels in the state's public colleges and universities. The
board of CSUS already provides notification. The bill was seen as a vehicle
to express dissatisfaction with UCONN President Hogan.
Testifying in support of the bill at the public hearing were Peter Nicholls,
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs; David Carter,
Chancellor of the Connecticut State University System; University of
Connecticut University; Mr. Jason Ortiz, President of the UConn American
Civil Liberties Union; and Mr. Taylor McGloin, UConn Undergraduate
Student Government Senator and Student Veteran.
55
The Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee passed
the bill by a vote of 14 to 6 along party lines with the exception of Rep.
Hurlburt (D-Tolland) voting no. Higher Education Committee sent the bill
to the Senate. The bill died in the Senate with no action taken however
throughout the session the bill was used as an irritant to UCONN and others.
SB378 - AN ACT CONCERNING THE TEACHER EDUCATION
AND MENTORING PROGRAM. Died.
This bill was introduced by the Education Committee. It would have
provided a renewal fee waiver to those teachers holding an initial educator
certificate, but who cannot apply for a provisional educator certificate
because they have not completed the requisite beginning educator program;
provided a fee adjustment to those teachers who already renewed their initial
educator certificate because they could not apply for a provisional educator
certificate because they have not completed the requisite beginning educator
program; and included health teachers as among the list of teachers who
should complete the teacher education and mentoring program in full.
Testifying in support of the bill at the public hearing were Mary Loftus
Levine, Director of Policy, Connecticut Education Association (CEA); and
Sharon Palmer, President, AFT Connecticut.
The Education Committee passed the bill by a unanimous vote. It was then
sent to the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee where it died with no
further action.
SB401 - AN ACT CONCERNING AN INITIATIVE TO INCREASE
AND IMPROVE THE STATE'S HEALTH CARE WORKFORCE.
Died.
This bill was introduced by the Public Health Committee. It would have
required the Department of Public Health (DPH) to implement a
comprehensive initiative to increase and improve the state's health care
workforce. By January 1, 2012, DPH would have had to report on this
initiative to various committees of the General Assembly.
Testifying in support of the bill at the public hearing were David Carter,
Chancellor, Connecticut State University System; Mag Morelli, President,
Connecticut Association of Not-for-profit providers For the Aging
56
(CANPFA); Dr. Adam Silverman, Chief of the Division of Internal
Medicine, UCONN Health Center; and Dr. Lawrence Singer, Connecticut
State Dental Association; Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA).
Testifying in opposition to the bill were Meg Hooper, Branch Chief,
Department of Public Health (DPH); and Alice Pritchard, Executive
Director, Connecticut Women's Education and Legal Fund (CWEALF).
The Public Health Committee passed the bill by a unanimous vote. The
Public Health Committee sent the bill to the Senate. The Senate moved the
bill to the foot of the calendar where it died with no further action.
HB5024 - AN ACT CONCERNING AN EDUCATION DOCTORAL
DEGREE PROGRAM IN NURSING EDUCATION. Passed. Signed by
Governor May 5, 2010
This bill was introduced by the Higher Education and Employment
Advancement Committee and co-sponsored by forty eight legislators. It was
a major goal of the CSUS. We worked to remind legislators of the need
for nurses and the role that the increased faculty in this area could play
in job creation and support for existing CSUS programs. We discussed
the cost benefit analysis of investing in this program where jobs were
virtually guaranteed well into the future. We reminded legislators of the
connections that regional healthcare facilities already had with
programs at various constituent units. The CSUS Administration made it
very clear and worked hard to demonstrate that this program was necessary
and a priority. It specifically authorizes the Connecticut State University
System (CSUS) to award doctoral degrees in nursing education. It expands
the CSUS's degree-granting authority, which currently includes doctoral
degrees in education; masters degrees and other graduate study in education;
and liberal arts and career programs at the bachelors, masters, and sixth year
level. This bill was heavily lobbied and will result in increased faculty
positions. There was opposition from UCONN where there is a doctoral
degree program in nursing with a different focus. CSUS is attempting to
create a program to fill the significant need in Connecticut for skilled nurses
and nursing instructors.
Testifying in support of the bill at the public hearing were David F. Walsh,
CSU-AAUP President; David G. Carter, Chancellor, Connecticut State
University System; Cheryl J. Norton, Ed. D., FACSM, Southern Connecticut
57
State University; Dr. Cesarina Thompson, Southern Connecticut State
University, Aide to the Dean, School of Graduate Studies; James W.
Schmotter, Ph. D, President of Western Connecticut State University; Dr
Linda Rinker, Provost Western Connecticut State University; Representative
Elizabeth B. Ritter; Representative Jason W. Bartlett; Marna P. Borgstrom,
President and Chief Executive Officer of Yale-New Haven Hospital; Sue
Fitzsimmons, PhD, RN, Senior Vice President for Patient Service of YaleNew Haven Hospital; Marcia Proto, Co-Executive Director for the
Connecticut League for Nursing; Connecticut Hospital Association; Mary
Jane Williams, RN, PhD, Chair of the Government Relations Committee for
Connecticut Nurses Association; James LoMonaco, President,
SUOAF/AFSCME Local 2836; Moreen Donahue, DNP, RN Sr. Vice
President, Patient Care Services & Chief Nurse Executive, Danbury
Hospital; Patricia Bouffard, RN, D.N. Sc, Chair of the Connecticut Board of
Examiners for Nursing and Dean of Academic Affairs at Northwestern
Connecticut Community College; Christopher M. O'Connor, FACHE,
President and CEO, St. Raphael Healthcare System and Hospital of Saint
Raphael and Joanne Ottman, RN, MSN, Academic Division Director for
Allied Health and Nursing at Naugatuck Valley Community College.
Michael Meotti, Commissioner for the Department of Higher Education,
neither supports the bill nor, opposes the bill because “the nature of the role
that this legislation has entrusted the board of governors and the Department
of Higher Education in a matter such as this. In addition, the need of this
program is in question until analyzed by his agency and processed through
mandated channels, and questioned the strain this may put on existing state
university programs.”
By a unanimous vote the bill passed the Higher Education and Employment
Committee. The bill went to the Public Health Committee. Also by a
unanimous vote the bill passed the Public Health Committee. It then went to
the House. The House referred the bill to the Appropriations Committee.
By a unanimous vote the bill passed the Appropriations Committee. In the
House, Rep. Willis (D-Lakeville) offered House Amendment ‘A’ that made
the bill effective upon passage. The House adopted House Amendment ‘A’
and passed the bill as amended by a unanimous vote. The Senate adopted
House Amendment ‘A’ and passed the bill as amended by a unanimous vote
in concurrence with the House. The Governor signed the bill into law on
May 5, 2010.
Effective Date: Upon passage
58
HB5025 - AN ACT CONCERNING A GREEN TECHNOLOGY, LIFE
SCIENCE AND HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY JOBS
LOAN FORGIVENESS PROGRAM. Died.
This bill was introduced by Rep. Cafero (R-Norwalk) and Sen. McKinney
(R-Southport). It would have established a green technology, life science,
and health information technology loan forgiveness program for Connecticut
residents. The program, to be administered by the Department of Higher
Education, provided loan reimbursements for Connecticut residents who
enter green technology, life science, and health information technology
fields after graduating from a higher education institution in Connecticut.
The bill also allowed the Board of Governors of Higher Education to adopt
necessary regulations for the program. To be eligible for reimbursement
under the program, a person must have (1) earned a bachelor's or associate's
degree on or after July 1, 2010 relating to green technology, life science, or
health information technology and (2) worked in the state for at least two
years in one of these fields. Under the bill, a person's annual loan
reimbursement would have been the lesser of $2,500 or 5% of the amount of
his or her federal and state educational loans. The maximum number of
years for reimbursement would have been four for bachelor's degree
recipients and two for associate's degree recipients. The maximum total
reimbursement for anyone was $10,000.
The bill was referred to the Joint Committee on Higher Education and
Employment Advancement. Testifying in support of the bill at the public
hearing were M. Jodi Rell, Governor of Connecticut; the Connecticut
Department of Higher Education; Michael J. Cicchetti, Deputy Secretary,
Office of Policy & Management; Joan McDonald, Commissioner,
Department of Economic and Community Development; Connecticut
Hospital Association; Dr. Louise Feroe, Connecticut State University
System; and Peter Nichols, Provost, UConn. Testifying in opposition were
Christopher Phelps, Program Director, Environment Connecticut; Jessie
Stratton, Director of Governmental Relations, Environment Northeast; Dave
Leishman, President, Northeast Energy Efficiency Counsel, Connecticut
Chapter; Patrick Mcdonald, Director of Conservation & Load Management,
United Illumination Company; and Richard A. Soderman, CL&P and
Yankee Gas Company.
The Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee passed
the bill by a unanimous vote. The bill was sent to the House. The House
59
referred the bill to the Appropriations Committee where it died with no
action taken.
HB5027 - AN ACT CONCERNING THE UNIVERSITY OF
CONNECTICUT HEALTH CENTER'S FACILITIES PLAN. Passed.
Awaiting Governor’s Signature
This bill was introduced by the Higher Education and Employment
Advancement Committee and co-sponsored by twenty five legislators. It
was the major policy objective of the University of Connecticut. Several
opponents argued that it was the wrong time for the State to undergo such an
expensive project given the faultering economy and the State’s diminished
resources. Others argued that UCONN should switch to “The Harvard
Model’ in which a university doesn’t operate a hospital of its own but rather
works within cooperative agreements with existing hospitals and health
facilities. This system is used in other jurisdictions including its namesake.
When the University first appeared in front of the Higher Education
Committee President Hogan and others were unable to give even basic
information like a timeframe for the project. Legislators were concerned
about the certainty of the figures they were being given and of the total cost
and length of the project. Other hospitals in the State questioned the need for
the facility in the overall health plan for the State. Labor unions were
extremely concerned about the loss of jobs at the facility.
The bill, with certain conditions, provides funding for (1) the construction of
a new bed tower and renovations of academic, clinical, and research space at
UConn's John Dempsey Hospital (JDH) and (2) the development of regional
health network initiatives. It also establishes provisions for transferring,
from JDH to Connecticut Children's Medical Center (CCMC), licensure and
control of 40 neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) beds. The total cost of the
project is $ 362 million. The bill authorizes the issuance of $ 237 million in
new state bonds to fund the project, of which $ 207 million will be issued
under the UConn 2000 infrastructure improvement program. It also
reallocates $ 25 million in existing UConn 2000 funds to pay for planning
and design costs of the new JDH bed tower and requires a contribution of $
100 million in federal, private, or other nonstate money. The bill prohibits
the $ 237 million in new bonds from being issued and construction of the
bed tower from commencing until the $ 100 million is received. It
establishes June 30, 2015 as the deadline for receiving the $ 100 million.
60
The bill also confers the benefits of an enterprise zone to certain businesses
in Hartford, Farmington, New Britain, and Bristol, and it requires UConn to
report biennially on the progress of the health network initiative and the JDH
construction and renovation.
Testifying in support of the bill at the public hearing were M. Jodi Rell,
Governor, State of Connecticut; Michael J. Hogan, President, University of
Connecticut; Dr. Gerald Burrow, Chair, Uconn Health Center Board Of
Directors; Sanford Cloud, Vice Chair, Uconn Health Center Board Of
Directors; Joan McDonald, Commissioner, DECD; Richard H. Strauss,
Executive Director, CT Academy of Science & Engineering; Charles
Cosgrove, Patient; Bruce E. Gould, MD, FACP, Associate Dean/ Medical
Director, St. Francis/UConn Primary Care Center, Burgdorf Health Center;
Thomas S. Finn, Patient, Vice President, Hunter's Tax District; Andrea
Gross, Fourth Year Medical Student, University of Connecticut School of
Medicine; Martin Gavin, President/CEO CT Children's Medical Center;
Monty MacNeil, Dean, School of Dental Medicine, UConn; Elliot Joseph,
President/CEO Hartford Hospital & Hartford Healthcare; Dr. Biree
Andermariam, Oncologist, Faculty Member, UConn Health Center; Larry
Tanner, President/CEO of Central CT Health Alliance; Kiki Nissen, M.D.,
Associate Professor, Associate Dean, Graduate Medical Education; Denis
Lafreniere, M.D., Professor of Surgery, Interim Chair, Division Chief of
Otolaryngology; Dr. Bruce Liang, Director Pat & Jim Calhoon Cardiology
Center, Uconn; Adam Silverman, Chief of The Division Of General Internal
Medicine, Pres. of John Dempsey Medical & Dental Staff; Dr. Peter
Albertson, Chief Of Urology, John Dempsey Hospital; Dr. Tim O'Brien,
Surgeon, Uconn Residency Program; Christopher Dadlez, President/CEO St.
Francis Hospital & Medical Center; Kurt Barwis, President/CEO, Bristol
Hospital; Paige Armstrong, Third Year Medical Student, UConn; Irene
Engle, Patient; Deborah Chernoff, Communications Director, New England
Health Care Employees Union, Dist. 1199; Dr. Marc Lalande, Director,
Professor, Chair, Dept. of Genetics & Developmental Biology, UConn Stem
Cell Institute; Permanent Commission on The Status of Women; and Dr.
Carolyn Runowicz, Gyn Oncologist, Director, Carole & Ray Neag
Comprehensive Cancer Center, UConn Health Center. Testifying in
opposition to the bill were William J. Boucher, President, Connecticut Police
& Fire Union; and Jean Morningstar, President, University Health
Professionals Union.
61
The Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee passed
the bill by a vote of 16 to 4 and the no votes were Sen. Musto (D-Trumbull),
Sen. Debicella (R-Shelton), Rep. Dillon (D-New Haven), and Rep. Noujaim
(R-Waterbury). The Higher Education and Employment Advancement
Committee sent the bill to the House. The House referred the bill to the
Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee. Finance passed the bill by a
unanimous vote. In the House, House Amendment ‘A’ was offered that
replaces the original bill (File 209), which required the Department of
Higher Education to study issues concerning the UCHC facilities plan. The
House adopted House Amendment ‘A’ and passed the bill as amended by a
vote of 109 to 34. The following is the roll call vote:
Y
ABERCROMBIE
Y
ALDARONDO
Y
ARESIMOWICZ
Y
HEINRICH
Y
ROBLES
Y
GIBBONS
HENNESSY
Y
ROJAS
Y
GIEGLER
Y
HEWETT
Y
ROLDAN
AYALA
Y
HOLDER-WINFIELD
Y
ROY
BACKER
Y
HORNISH
Y
RYAN, K.
Y
BARAM
Y
HURLBURT
Y
SANTIAGO
X HOVEY
Y
BARRY
Y
JANOWSKI
Y
SAYERS
X HOYDICK
Y
BARTLETT
JARMOC
Y
SCHOFIELD
N
HWANG
Y
BERGER
JOHNSON, S.
Y
SERRA
N
KLARIDES
Y
BOUKUS
JOHNSTON, S.T.
Y
SHAPIRO
N
LABRIOLA
Y
BUTLER
Y
JUTILA
Y
SHARKEY
Y
BYE
Y
KEHOE
Y
SPALLONE
N
MILLER, L.
Y
CANDELARIA, J.
LAMBERT
Y
STAPLES
N
MINER
Y
LARSON
Y
TABORSAK
N
NOUJAIM
CLEMONS
Y
LAWLOR
N
CONROY
Y
LEONE
Y
TERCYAK
N
PERILLO
N
CONWAY
Y
LESSER
Y
THOMPSON
N
PISCOPO
COOK
Y
LEWIS
Y
TONG
N
REBIMBAS
X DARGAN
Y
LYDDY
Y
URBAN
N
DAVIS
Y
MAZUREK
Y
VILLANO
N
DILLON
X MCCRORY
Y
WALKER
Y
SAWYER
Y
DREW
X MEGNA
Y
WIDLITZ
Y
SCRIBNER
Y
ESPOSITO
Y
WILLIS
N
X CARUSO
Y
Y
Y
N
N
Y
N
N
Y
MERRILL
N
62
TALLARITA
N
Y
GIULIANO
HAMZY
N
Y
HETHERINGTON
LEGEYT
Y
O'NEILL
Y
RIGBY
N
N
ROWE
STRIPP
N
ESTY
N
MIKUTEL
Y
WRIGHT, C.
Y
WILLIAMS
Y
WOOD
Y
DONOVAN (SPKR)
Y
FAWCETT
Y
MILLER, P.
Y
WRIGHT, E.
Y
FLEISCHMANN
Y
MIOLI
Y
ZALASKI
Y
FLEXER
Y
MORIN
Y
FONTANA
Y
MORRIS
Y
FOX
MOUKAWSHER
Y
ALBERTS
Y
AMAN, W.
N
N
FRITZ
Y
MUSHINSKY
GENGA
Y
NAFIS
GENTILE
Y
NARDELLO
Y
GERAGOSIAN
Y
NICASTRO
Y
GIANNAROS
Y
O'BRIEN
Y
CANDELORA, V.
Y
ALTOBELLO (DEP)
Y
GONZALEZ
Y
OLSON
Y
CARSON
Y
GODFREY (DEP)
Y
GRAZIANI
Y
PERONE
CHAPIN
Y
KIRKLEY-BEY (DEP)
Y
GREEN, K.
Y
REED
X COUTU
Y
MCCLUSKEY (DEP)
GROGINS
Y
REEVES
Y
O'CONNOR (DEP)
X FLOREN
Y
ORANGE (DEP)
FREY
Y
O'ROURKE (DEP)
Y
N
N
Y
GUERRERA
Y
HAMM
N
Y
N
Y
CAFERO
N
N
N
REYNOLDS
RITTER
BACCHIOCHI
Y
CAMILLO
D'AMELIO
The Senate adopted House Amendment ‘A’. Sen. Debicella (R-Shelton)
offered Senate Amendment ‘A’ that would have eliminated the authorization
of $207 million in General Obligation (GO) bonds and removed the General
Fund cost of $315.7 million in principal and interest payments over 20 years.
The Senate rejected Senate Amendment ‘A’ by a vote of 9 to 23. The
following is the roll call vote:
Y
A
N 1
JOHN W. FONFARA
N 19 EDITH G. PRAGUE
N 2
ERIC D. COLEMAN
N 20 ANDREA STILLMAN
N 3
GARY D. LEBEAU
N 4
MARY ANN HANDLEY
N 5
JONATHAN HARRIS
N 6
DONALD J. DEFRONZO
7
JOHN A. KISSEL
8
KEVIN WITKOS
N 9
PAUL DOYLE
Y
21 DAN DEBICELLA
N 22 ANTHONY J. MUSTO
A
23 EDWIN A. GOMES
Y
24 MICHAEL A. MCLACHLAN
N 25 BOB DUFF
Y
A
63
26 TONI BOUCHER
27 ANDREW J. MCDONALD
N 10 TONI N. HARP
A
Y
N 11 MARTIN M. LOONEY
N 29 DONALD E. WILLIAMS, JR.
N 12 EDWARD MEYER
N 30 ANDREW W. RORABACK
N 13 THOMAS P. GAFFEY
N 31 THOMAS A. COLAPIETRO
14 GAYLE SLOSSBERG
Y
N 15 JOAN V. HARTLEY
Y
28 JOHN MCKINNEY
32 ROBERT J. KANE
N 33 EILEEN M. DAILY
16 SAM CALIGIURI
Y
N 17 JOSEPH J. CRISCO, JR.
34 LEONARD FASANO
N 35 ANTHONY GUGLIELMO
N 18 ANDREW MAYNARD
Y
36 L. SCOTT FRANTZ
Sen. McKinney (R-Southport) then offered Senate Amendment ‘B’ that
specified that the $25 million in UConn 2000 bond funds that are intended to
be spent on planning and design for the new patient tower may only be spent
if: 1) the required federal, private or non-state $100 million had been
received in full; and 2) the State bond Commission allocated the funds for
the UConn health network initiatives. The Senate rejected Senate
Amendment ‘B’ by a vote of 12 to 22 along party lines. Sen. McKinney (RSouthport) then offered Senate Amendment ‘C’ that reduced the amount of
General Obligation (GO) bonds authorized for the UConn Health Center
project by $53.5 million and increased the amount of non-state money
required for the project by $53.5 million. The Senate rejected Senate
Amendment ‘C’ by a vote of 9 to 25. The following is the roll call vote:
A
N 1
JOHN W. FONFARA
N 19 EDITH G. PRAGUE
N 2
ERIC D. COLEMAN
N 20 ANDREA STILLMAN
3
Y
GARY D. LEBEAU
Y
21 DAN DEBICELLA
N 4
MARY ANN HANDLEY
N 22 ANTHONY J. MUSTO
N 5
JONATHAN HARRIS
N 23 EDWIN A. GOMES
N 6
DONALD J. DEFRONZO
7
JOHN A. KISSEL
N 8
KEVIN WITKOS
N 9
PAUL DOYLE
Y
24 MICHAEL A. MCLACHLAN
N 25 BOB DUFF
Y
26 TONI BOUCHER
N 27 ANDREW J. MCDONALD
N 10 TONI N. HARP
Y
28 JOHN MCKINNEY
N 11 MARTIN M. LOONEY
N 29 DONALD E. WILLIAMS, JR.
N 12 EDWARD MEYER
N 30 ANDREW W. RORABACK
64
N 13 THOMAS P. GAFFEY
A
N 31 THOMAS A. COLAPIETRO
14 GAYLE SLOSSBERG
Y
N 15 JOAN V. HARTLEY
Y
32 ROBERT J. KANE
N 33 EILEEN M. DAILY
16 SAM CALIGIURI
Y
N 17 JOSEPH J. CRISCO, JR.
34 LEONARD FASANO
N 35 ANTHONY GUGLIELMO
N 18 ANDREW MAYNARD
Y
36 L. SCOTT FRANTZ
The Senate passed the bill as amended by House Amendment ‘A’ by a vote
of 28 to 7 in concurrence with the House. The following is the roll call vote:
Y
1
JOHN W. FONFARA
Y
19 EDITH G. PRAGUE
Y
2
ERIC D. COLEMAN
Y
20 ANDREA STILLMAN
Y
3
GARY D. LEBEAU
Y
4
MARY ANN HANDLEY
Y
22 ANTHONY J. MUSTO
Y
5
JONATHAN HARRIS
Y
23 EDWIN A. GOMES
Y
6
DONALD J. DEFRONZO
N 21 DAN DEBICELLA
N 24 MICHAEL A. MCLACHLAN
N 7
JOHN A. KISSEL
Y
25 BOB DUFF
Y
8
KEVIN WITKOS
Y
26 TONI BOUCHER
Y
9
PAUL DOYLE
Y
27 ANDREW J. MCDONALD
Y
10 TONI N. HARP
Y
11 MARTIN M. LOONEY
Y
29 DONALD E. WILLIAMS, JR.
Y
12 EDWARD MEYER
Y
30 ANDREW W. RORABACK
Y
13 THOMAS P. GAFFEY
Y
31 THOMAS A. COLAPIETRO
A
N 28 JOHN MCKINNEY
14 GAYLE SLOSSBERG
Y
15 JOAN V. HARTLEY
Y
16 SAM CALIGIURI
Y
17 JOSEPH J. CRISCO, JR.
Y
18 ANDREW MAYNARD
N 32 ROBERT J. KANE
Y
33 EILEEN M. DAILY
N 34 LEONARD FASANO
Y
35 ANTHONY GUGLIELMO
N 36 L. SCOTT FRANTZ
Effective Date: Upon passage, except for the section on enterprise zones,
which is effective July 1, 2010.
HB5028 - AN ACT CONCERNING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE
CREATIVE ECONOMY. Passed. Awaiting Governor’s Signature
65
This bill was introduced by the Higher Education and Employment
Advancement Committee and co-sponsored by nineteen legislators. It
establishes a 22-member task force to study the creative economy in the
state and, for five years beginning by February 1, 2011, annually report its
findings and recommendations. The Task Force includes an appointment
for CSUS. It also requires the Department of Economic and Community
Development (DECD) to identify and analyze “creative clusters” in both its
annual report and the state's economic strategic plan, which is submitted
every five years. Lastly, it specifies that representatives from creative
clusters are to make recommendations for certain curricular changes in the
state's vocational-technical (V-T) schools and the community-technical
colleges (CTC).
Testifying in support of the bill at the public hearing were Mr. Michael P
Meotti, Commissioner of Higher Education; David Fay, President and CEO,
The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts; Gail Coppage, State Director
of Workforce Development, Connecticut Community Colleges; Michael J.
Morand, Associate Vice President for New Haven and State Affairs, Yale
University; Susan Talbott, Director and CEO, Wadsworth Athenaeum
Museum of Art; Dr. Sheila Garvey, Dr Mark Kuss, Mr Larry Tomascak, Dr.
Joseph Alan Ullian of Southern Connecticut State University; and James W
Schmotter, President of Western Connecticut State University.
The Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee proposed
substitute language that define terms, establish a task force, require the
Commissioner of Economic and Community Development to submit a
report to the Governor and General Assembly. It also added that the Office
of Workforce Competitiveness, the Labor Commissioner, the
Commissioners of Economic and Community Development, Education and
Social Services, the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management and
the Chancellor of the regional community-technical colleges, in consultation
with the superintendent of the vocational-technical school system and one
member of industry representing each of the economic and creative clusters
identified by the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development
pursuant to section 32-1m, as amended by this act, shall (1) review, evaluate
and, as necessary, recommend improvements for certification and degree
programs offered by the vocational-technical school system and the
community-technical college system to ensure that such programs meet the
employment needs of business and industry, and (2) develop strategies to
strengthen the linkage between skill standards for education and training and
66
the employment needs of business and industry. The Higher Education and
Employment Advancement Committee passed the substitute bill by a
unanimous vote.
The Higher Education Committee sent the bill to the House. The House
referred the bill to the Commerce Committee. Commerce recommended
amending the language to add commerce committee chairs & ranking
members to task force and add to the list of task force duties (a) inventory
existing cultural & creative institutions. (b) explore how to expand cultural
& creative economy in the state to produce more jobs. The Commerce
Committee passed the bill by a vote of 14 to 4 and the no votes were Rep.
Alberts (R-Woodstock), Rep. Noujaim (R-Waterbury), Rep. Stripp (RWeston), and Rep. Williams (R-Watertown).
In the House, Rep. Willis (D-Lakeville) offered House Amendment ‘A’ that
restated the definition of “creative cluster,” added a duty to the task force,
changed the criteria for the member appointed by the labor commissioner,
and removed a provision allowing legislators to serve on it. The House
adopted House Amendment ‘A’. Rep. Willis then offered House
Amendment ‘B’ that required DECD to use existing funds for its task force
responsibilities. The House adopted House Amendment ‘B’. The House
passed the bill as amended by House Amendment ‘A’ and ‘B’ by a
unanimous vote. The Senate adopted House Amendments ‘A’ and ‘B’ and
passed the bill as amended by a unanimous vote in concurrence with the
House.
Effective Date: October 1, 2010, except the formation of the task force is
effective upon passage.
HB5126 - AN ACT ESTABLISHING A CHEMICAL INNOVATIONS
INSTITUTE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT. Passed.
Awaiting Governor’s Signature
This bill was introduced by the Environment Committee and co-sponsored
by forty five legislators. It creates a Chemical Innovations Institute within
the University of Connecticut Health Center (UCHC) and specifies the
composition of its board of directors. The institute must (1) foster green job
growth and safer workplaces through clean technology and green chemistry
and (2) assist businesses, state agencies, and nonprofit organizations seeking
67
to use alternatives to harmful chemicals. The institute and UCHC must also
seek administrative funding from federal entities. Both may seek funding
from nongovernmental foundations, including health access foundations,
private citizens, corporations, and governmental entities. The bill does not
require UCHC to develop, implement, and promote the institute if there is, in
aggregate, insufficient federal, state, and private funding to pay for the initial
and continuing expenses of the institute.
Testifying in support of the bill at the public hearing were Dawn MaysHardy, American Lung Association; Pamela Puchalski, ConnectiCOSH;
Ann Berman, Environmental Concerns Coalition; Joyce Acebo~Raguskus,
Environmental Concerns Coalition; Grace Hvasta-Petrarca; Martha Kelly,
Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice; Loyola Welsh, CEUI,
SEIU Local 511; Gretchen Raffa, Planned Parenthood of Southern New
England; Cato Laurencin, Vice President of Health Affairs, UConn School
of Medicine; Martin Mador, Connecticut Sierra Club; Anne Hulick,
Connecticut Nurses' Association; Chris Phelps, Environment Connecticut;
Thomas Swarr, Sustainability by Design, LLC; Tim Morse, Ph.D., UConn
Health Center; Andrew May, resident of Hartford; Jennifer Hatch,
ConnPIRG; Lisa Ryan-Boyle, resident of Darien; Laura Anderson, resident
of Wethersfield; Carolyn Wysocki, President of Ecological Health
Organization, Inc; Toby Cone, executive board member of the Children's
Environmental Health Center at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York; Susan
Bysiewicz, Connecticut Secretary of State; Sarah Uhl, Clean Water Action;
Erika Correa, The Learning Disabilities Association of Connecticut; Sue
Harkness, Conversations for a Green Connecticut; Moses Boone, resident of
New Haven; Renee Centore-Kelly, resident of Enfield; Alison Barria,
student at Fairfield University School of Nursing; State Representative
Lonnie Reed, Branford; Carolyn Stearns, resident of Mansfield; Phil
Sherwood, CCAG; Andrea Cohen Kiener, Interreligious Eco-Justice
Network; Dr. Mark Mitchell, CT Coalition for Environmental Justice; and
Daniel Csuka, Connecticut Public Health Association. Eric Brown,
Connecticut Business and Industry Association, testified in opposition to the
bill.
The Environment Commmittee passed the bill by a vote of 26 to 2 and the
no votes were Rep. Moukawsher (D-Groton) and Rep. Piscopo (RThomaston). The Environment Committee sent the bill to the House. The
House referred the bill to the Higher Education and Employment
Advancement Committee. Higher Education passed it by a unanimous vote.
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The House then referred the bill to the Appropriations Committee.
Appropriations passed the bill by a vote of 42 to 5 and the no votes were
Rep. Miner (R-Litchfield), Sen. Caligiuri (R-Waterbury), Sen. Frantz (RRiverside), Rep. Kirkley-Bey (D-Hartford), and Rep. O’Neill. In the House,
Rep. Roy (D-Milford) offered House Amendment ‘A’ that eliminates the
provision prohibiting the institute from lobbying. The House adopted House
Amendment ‘A’ and passed the bill as amended by a vote of 140 to 1 and
the no vote was Rep. Piscopo (R-Thomaston). The Senate adopted House
Amendment ‘A’ and passed the bill as amended by a unanimous vote in
concurrence with the House.
Effective Date: Upon passage
HB5164 - AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATION
OF THE PROGRAM REVIEW AND INVESTIGATIONS
COMMITTEE CONCERNING THE ALIGNMENT OF
POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT IN THE
GREEN INDUSTRY. Passed. Awaiting Governor’s Signature
This bill was introduced by the Program Review and Investigations
Committee and co-sponsored by nine legislators. It requires higher
education institutions in Connecticut to publicize green technology
initiatives in higher education and to collaborate in furthering these
initiatives. The bill requires the Department of Higher Education (DHE), in
consultation with the Department of Education, to develop annually and
publish on its website (1) a list of every green jobs course and academic
program in a public higher education institution or a regional vocationaltechnical school in the state and (2) an inventory of green jobs-related
equipment in these schools. Additionally, the bill requires the CommunityTechnical Colleges Board of Trustees (CTC) to have uniformly named green
jobs academic programs in the CTC. The bill also requires institutions to
share equipment and to hold meetings to explore possible ways to
collaborate on green initiatives, and it requires public higher education
institutions to support efforts to develop career ladders in the green
technology industry.
Testifying in support of the bill at the public hearing were the Department of
Higher Education; Connecticut State University System; University of
Connecticut; State of CT Employment and Training Commission (CETC);
CT Business and Industry Association (CBIA); Sierra Club CT Chapter; CT
69
Association for Human Services (CAHS); CT Women's Education and
Legal Fund (CWEALF); and Independent Electrical Contractors of New
England (IEC).
The Program Review and Investigations Committee proposed substitute
language that required the annual list of green courses, certificates, degrees
and equipment to be publicized on the DHE web site. The PR&I Committee
passed the substitute bill by a unanimous vote. The bill was sent to the
House. The House referred it to the Higher Education and Employment
Advancement Committee and then to the Education Committee. Both
committees passed the bill by unanimous votes. In the House, Rep.
Mushinsky (D-Wallingford) offered House Amendment ‘A’ that defined
“green technology” and “green job” and made technical changes. The
House adopted House Amendment ‘A’ and passed the bill as amended by a
unanimous vote. The Senate adopted House Amendment ‘A’ and passed the
bill as amended by a unanimous vote in concurrence with the House.
Effective Date: October 1, 2010
HB 5286 - AN ACT CONCERNING LICENSURE OF MASTER AND
CLINICAL SOCIAL WORKERS. Passed. Vetoed by Governor.
The licensure bill ended up passing with a week to go in the session. The bill
as it passed creates basic functions of the Department of Public Health
licensure for master social workers through a number of revisions. It
establishes licensure requirements and sets fees for initial licenses and
renewals, defines the practice of a master social worker, allows for licensure
by endorsement or licensure without examination in certain cases, provides
for one-time temporary permits to practice, allows independent practice for a
limited time, specifies activities certain master social workers can do, and
establishes continuing education requirements.
The one issue that brought expressions of concern from Department of
Administrative Services (DAS) and Office of Policy and Management
(OPM) was the exemption of state employees who provide clinical social
work from the new license requirement. NASW/CT decided to remove the
state exemption. DAS indicated with this change they would not be
testifying on the bill at all.
Licensed professional counselors had expressed concern that they were not
listed among the groups who could supervise master level social workers
when they offer a mental health diagnosis. There was some confusion last
70
year about whether or not these health care professionals could make a
diagnosis and therefore would be appropriate to supervise in this capacity.
Further investigation confirmed they are able to make such a diagnosis.
They actually added diagnosis to their scope of practice in the Public Health
Revisions Bill, SB 428 which passed this session. It was agreed to add
Licensed Professional Counselors to the people who can supervise master
level social workers when they offer a mental health diagnosis.
The last change was to remove registered nurses from the definition of
professional supervision however, it left in Advanced Practice Registered
Nurses. It was felt that registered nurses were not appropriate supervisors for
a mental health professional providing clinical social work services.
Sen. Kane (R- Stratford) who had filibustered the bill on the final night of
the last session, killing the bill so there were similar concerns. He had been
appointed to the Public Health Committee for the first time. It was clear that
there were plenty of votes to pass the bill and the bill was raised at the third
meeting of the Public Health Committee. A public hearing was held.
Testifying in support of the bill’s underlying concept of multi-licensure were
Stephen A. Karp, NASW; Professor George Appleby, Southern Connecticut
State University; Professor Lirio K. Negroni, UCONN School of Social
Work, Paula Crombie, Dept. of Social Work Yale-New Haven Hospital;
Sarah Petela, MSW student and Guay Chatfield, LCSW. Wendy Furniss of
DPH submitted testimony on the bill and stated, “The current proposal
requires the DPH to implement a licensing program if funds are available.
DPH will not be able to implement the program unless additional funds are
provided. DPH also requests few technical changes to the bill. LCSW
Susan McKinley was the only person/organization to submit testimony in
opposition to the bill stating, “The bill relaxes previously established
professional standards. It allows a new MSW (Master of Social Work) to
provide clinical work simply because of an exam.”
The Chairs of the Public Health Committee provided substitute language for
the bill which made a few technical changes DPH had suggested. The
language was adopted by the committee and the bill passed by a vote of 28-2
with nay votes cast by Sen. Debicella (R-Shelton) and Sen. Kane (RWatertown). The bill went to the House. We talked to Rep. Nafis (DNewington) and Rep. McCluskey (D)- West Hartford) who are both on the
screening committee and ask them if the bill needed to go to Appropriations
and to please call the bill early so we could avoid it being on the Senate
calendar on the last day again.
71
The bill was sent to Appropriations which approved the bill on a vote of 510. Sen. Kane who is on the committee was absent that day but Sen. Debicella
voted for the bill this time.
The bill was sent back to the House. Opponents were still calling legislators
including the Speaker and New Britain legislators asking them to oppose the
legislation. The Speaker supported the bill passing without any amendments.
The bill passed the House by a vote of 143-6 with the no votes cast by Rep.
Green (D-Hartford), Rep. Kirkley-Bey (D-Hartford), Rep. Gonzalez (DHartford), Rep. Fritz (D-Yalesville), Rep. Johnston (D-North Groversdale)
and Rep. Hetherington (R-New Canaan).
The bill was sent to the Senate. The bill passed the Senate, in concurrence
with the house, by a vote of 34-1 with the sole no vote casted by Sen.
DeFronzo. The effective date was to be October 1, 2010. The bill was
assigned Public Act 10-38 and was vetoed by the Governor.
HB5349 - AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS
OF THE PROGRAM REVIEW AND INVESTIGATIONS
COMMITTEE CONCERNING A STRATEGIC PLAN AND
COORDINATION FOR ALIGNMENT OF POSTSECONDARY
EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT. Died.
This bill was introduced by the Program Review and Investigations
Committee and co-sponsored by seven legislators. It would have required
the Office of Workforce Competitiveness (OWC) to identify workforce
shortages and made recommendations concerning career pathways and skills
needed to address these shortages. It required the state's constituent units of
higher education to report on how their existing and proposed academic
programs, including career pathways, address these shortages, and for the
higher education commissioner to submit a consolidated report to the
legislature containing this information. The bill also required the Department
of Education (DOE) to electronically distribute information on teacher
shortage areas to all higher education institutions that offer teacher
preparation programs. Regarding accountability, the bill required (1) the
state's constituent units of higher education to include results-based
accountability measures in their annual accountability reports and (2) the
Higher Education Coordinating Council to review the measures every five
years to determine whether any measures need to be revised or eliminated.
Lastly, the bill restated the goals of the state system of higher education.
72
Testifying in support of the bill at the public hearing were The Department
of Higher Education; Office of the Provost from the University of
Connecticut; Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges; Connecticut
Women's Education and Legal Fund; and the Connecticut Association of
Human Services.
The Program Review and Investigations Committee proposed substitute
language that addressed the recommendations of the testimony at the public
hearing. It required a progress report be submitted by the board on progress
made in developing the plan, extended the date in which the completed plan
must be submitted, and extended the date when the first biennially report
must be submitted on the plan's implementation status. It also kept seven
existing goals that the board must promote in developing higher education
policy and transfered three additional goals from another section of the
statute. The Program Review and Investigations Committee passed the
substitute bill by a unanimous vote. The PR&I Committee sent the bill to
the House.
The House referred the bill to the Higher Education and Employment
Advancement Committee and then the Education Committee. Both
committees passed the bill by unanimous votes. In the House, Rep. Willis
(D-Lakeville) and Rep. Mushinsky (D-Wallingford) offered House
Amendment ‘A’ that removed provisions that had repealed a blue ribbon
commission and transferred its responsibility for developing a strategic
master plan to the Board of Governors of Higher Education (BOG). It also
added reporting requirements for the state's constituent units of higher
education to identify how they are addressing workforce shortages. The
House adopted House Amendment ‘A’ and passed the bill as amended by a
unanimous vote. The bill died in the Senate with no action.
HB 5350- AN ACT CONCERNING LICENSURE AND
CERTIFICATION CREDITS FOR MILITARY TRAINING. Passed.
Awaiting Governor’s Signature.
This bill requires state agencies or boards that issue licenses or certificates
requiring professional training, schooling, or apprenticeship to provide
credits or exemption requirements toward licensure or certification for
applicants who received applicable training, schooling, or experience while
serving in the armed forces. It prohibits the agencies from requiring
applicants to repeat any substantively similar training or schooling required
73
for licensure or certification. The bill requires that credits or exemptions
granted towards licenses or certificates awarded by the state's higher
education constituent units be granted in a manner consistent with (1)
guidelines established by the American Council on Education, (2) the
institutions' transfer credit policies, and (3) federal regulations (38 CFR §§
21. 4253 and 21. 4254).
The bill defines the “armed forces” as the U. S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps,
Coast Guard, and Air Force and reserve components, including the
Connecticut National Guard and state militia.
*House Amendment “A” adds the terms under which credits or exemptions
must be granted for credentials from higher education institutions.
Effective Date: October 1, 2010
HB5367 - AN ACT CONCERNING VETERAN TUITION WAIVERS.
Died.
This bill was introduced by the Higher Education and Employment
Advancement Committee and co-sponsored by Rep. Flexer (D-Danielson).
It would have clarified the definition of "service in time of war" for purposes
of the tuition waivers offered to veterans. The Higher Education and
Employment Advancement Committee held a public hearing and then the
bill died with no further action.
HB5368 - AN ACT CONCERNING NO WORKER LEFT BEHIND.
Died.
This bill was introduced by the Higher Education and Employment
Advancement Committee and co-sponsored by Rep. Miller (R-Stratford) and
Sen. Looney (D-New Haven). It would have required the boards of trustees
of UConn, the Connecticut State University System (CSUS), and the
community college system to waive up to $5,000 of tuition per year, for up
to two years, for eligible individuals who enroll, by July 1, 2012, in a degree
or occupational certificate program in (1) high demand fields, (2) emerging
industries, or (3) entrepreneurship programs. The bill did not define these
fields, industries, or programs; but specified that regional workforce
development boards must have helped eligible individuals identify the high
demand fields, emerging industries, and entrepreneurship programs in their
region. To be eligible for a tuition waiver, an individual must have (1) been
a Connecticut resident; (2) been unemployed, have received a termination
74
notice, or have a gross family income of no more than $40,000; (3) been at
least eighteen years old and have graduated from high school before July 1,
2008; and (4) not have been enrolled as a full-time student at a higher
education institution before July 1, 2010. Individuals who did not earn a
degree or certificate within four years must have repayed the waived tuition.
The bill also added the tuition waivers for these programs to the category of
tuition waivers for which the boards of trustees of UConn, the CSUS, and
the community college system are reimbursed through an appropriation. By
law, the boards of trustees are reimbursed for the amount by which certain
statutorily-mandated tuition waivers exceed a specific percentage of tuition
revenue. This percentage is 2.5% for UConn and the CSUS and 5% for the
community college system. The boards of trustees must have requested an
appropriation for this purpose based on an estimate of tuition revenue loss
using tuition rates for the fiscal year in which the appropriation would have
applied.
Testifying in support of the bill at the public hearing were Representative
Denise Merrill; Senator Martin M Looney; Connecticut Department of
Higher Education; Marc S. Herzog, Chancellor for Connecticut Community
Colleges; Representative Chris Perone; Jude Carroll, Director, Connecticut
KIDS COUNT Project of the Connecticut Association for Human Services;
Lori J Pelletier, Secretary Treasurer, Connecticut AFL-CIO; Jesmin K
Basanti, Staff Attorney, CBIA; John Harrity, Director of GrowJobsCT;
Frank Kuchinski, Poulsen Hybrid LLC; John Meyers, Consultant; Dr. Alice
Pritchard, Executive Director, Connecticut Women's Education and Legal
Fund, Campaign for a Working Connecticut; and Roger Reynolds, Senior
Attorney, CT Fund for the Environment. David G. Carter, Chancellor of the
Connecticut State University System stated that he understands the difficult
economic conditions people are currently struggling with but has significant
concerns regarding how much money this program would require yet may be
blunted by other need-based assistance.
The Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee passed
the bill by a unanimous vote and sent it to the House. The bill died in the
House with no action taken.
HB 5435 - AN ACT CONCERNING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF
THE MAJORITY LEADERS’ JOB GROWTH ROUNDTABLE.
Passed. Awaiting Governor’s Signature.
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This Act authorizes programs and policies for establishing or expanding
businesses and creating jobs. It authorizes tax credits for investing in new
and expanding businesses and pre seed capital for those developing new
concepts. It also phases out existing Insurance Reinvestment Act tax credit
program, which authorizes credits for investing only in insurance businesses,
and replaces it a new version authorizing similar credits for insurers
investing in many different types of businesses. The Act authorizes
financial and technical assistance for established businesses. Specifically, it
authorizes loans and lines of credit for small businesses and funds them
under an existing bond authorization. It also authorizes, tax credits for those
hiring new employees, including those with disabilities. And it provides
technical assistance for all businesses seeking foreign markets for their
goods and services. Further, the Act directs the Community-Technical
Colleges to develop training programs preparing unemployed people meet
job needs. It also creates a council to continuously identify and assess the
state's strategic business clusters and recommend policies addressing their
needs. It also provides authorizes bonds for the existing mortgage crisis job
training program. The Act authorizes financial incentives and technical
assistance for businesses developing alternative energy technologies and
Connecticut students seeking jobs in those and other technology fields. The
Act establishes a task force to boost government efficiency and eliminate
waste. The Act sunsets the tax credits for (1) donating computers to public
and private schools (CGS § 10-228b), (2) constructing new facilities housing
financial institutions (CGS § 12-217u), and (3) paying Small Business
Administration guaranty fees (CGS § 12-217cc). It repeals these credits
upon passage for income years beginning on or after January 1, 2014.
*House Amendment “A” replaces the original version of the bill, but retains
many of its elements. It retains provisions authorizing pre seed funding,
angel credits, the waste reduction task force, and expands MAA assistance.
It also substitutes a similar version of an investment tax credit.
The amendment drops the original bill's provisions: 1. placing an angel
investor on Connecticut Innovation, Inc.s' board of directors, 2. authorizing
matching funds for federal Small Business Innovation Research grants, 3.
requiring CII to market Connecticut as a place of innovation, placing the
DECD commissioner on two energy policy advisory boards, 4. using school
construction grants to make energy improvements, 5. extending the existing
job creation tax credits to S corporations and partnerships, 6. shutting down
completely the Insurance Reinvestment Act tax credits, and 7. repealing
several existing tax credits.
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*House Amendment “B” requires existing insurance reinvestment act funds
to meet investment targets before investors can claim credits and makes
other minor and technical changes.
Effective Dates: Various Dates
HB5498- AN ACT CONCERNING STATE CONTRACTS FOR
MICRO BUSINESSES, UTILITY DEPOSITS FOR CONNECTICUT
BUSINESSES AND THE CREATION OF A SMALL BUSINESS
RECOVERY PROGRAM. Passed. Awaiting Governor’s Signature.
This bill provides several forms of assistance to smaller businesses. It
requires Public Works Department (DPW) selection panels to consider
whether a business has annual gross revenues under $3 million in deciding
which consultants are pre-qualified to work on projects; prohibits a utility
company, other than a telephone company, from requiring nonresidential
customers to pay a deposit greater than the amount the company charges for
1.5 months of service; requires the Public Utility Control Department
(DPUC) to study utilities' use of service deposits from nonresidential
customers; permits the Transportation Department (DOT) to set aside
contracts or portions of contracts for very small businesses; opens
participation in the microloan program to regional revolving loan funds, and
allows the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD)
commissioner to North American Industrial Classification Code designations
in place of those in the older Standard Industrial Classification Code when
issuing eligibility certificates for tax credits and exemptions and grants
under the Job Incentive Grant and Urban, Enterprise Zone, and Industrial
Site Reinvestment programs.
Effective Date: July 1, 2010, except for the provisions related to utilities,
the microloan program, and the North American Industrial Classification
Code, which take effect on passage.
HB 5500- AN ACT CONCERNING THE OFFICE OF SMALL
BUSINESS AFFAIRS AND ESTABLISHING THE SMALL
BUSINESS ADVISORY BOARD. Passed. Awaiting Governor’s
Signature.
This bill requires the Department of Economic and Community
Development (DECD) commissioner to appoint and convene a Small
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Business Advisory Board to advise the department about resources available
to small businesses. At a minimum, the board must include seven members:
the DECD commissioner and representatives of a manufacturing and
business association, a chamber of commerce, an economic development
entity, the Connecticut Economic Resource Center, and Connecticut Center
for Advanced Technology, Inc. The board members each serve five-year
terms. They must meet by December 31, 2010 and at least annually after
that.
The bill also expands the duties of DECD's Small Business Affairs Office,
which currently include running a small business development center and
administering any business management program the commissioner
establishes. The bill additionally requires the office to: 1. provide a single
contact point for small businesses seeking financial and technical assistance
from state and quasi-public agencies, 2. coordinate all state small business
revolving loan funds, and 3. establish an informational webpage listing all
small business resources with appropriate links. The office must establish
the webpage with the commissioner's cooperation and within available
appropriations. It must also post the resources and links in a conspicuous
place on DECD's website and update the information quarterly.
Beginning February 1, 2011, the bill requires the office to summarize all
available small business programs and activities and include the summary in
DECD's comprehensive annual report.
Lastly, the bill makes a technical correction to the law specifying the Small
Business Affairs Office's duties.
Current law assumes that DECD runs the Small Business Development
Center program and requires the office to administer it. In practice, the
federal Small Business Administration administers the program, which funds
regional centers that provide comprehensive technical assistance to new and
existing small businesses. The program currently funds five centers in
Connecticut, including one housed in DECD.
The bill changes the statute to reflect this arrangement by specifying that the
office must administer at least one regional center housed within DECD. It
also requires the office to coordinate with the center's director the flow of
information within the program.
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Effective Date: Upon passage, except for the provision establishing the
advisory board, which is effective July 1, 2010.
HB5513 - AN ACT CONCERNING INVESTIGATION OF
DUPLICATION IN STATE GOVERNMENT. Died.
This bill was introduced by the Government Administration and Elections
Committee. It would have substituted the gender-neutral noun in the statute
on the governor's investigative authority. There was no testimony give at
the committee’s public hearing.
The Government Administration and Elections Committee passed the bill
by a unanimous vote and sent it to the House. The bill died in the House
with no action taken.
C. SECONDARY EDUCATION REFORM
HB5425 - AN ACT CONCERNING SPECIAL EDUCATION. Passed.
Awaiting Governor’s Signature.
The bill was introduced by the Education Committee and co-sponsored by
thirty three legislators. We talked to all the members of the Education
Committee before and after the public hearing to ensure that there were
enough votes to pass the legislation.
The Office of Legislative Research’s description of the bill that passed was:
“Starting July 1, 2012, the bill requires school districts to use only behavior
analysts licensed or certified in accordance with its requirements to provide
applied behavior analysis for students with autism spectrum disorders who
require the services (1) according to a special education individualized
education program (IEP) or (2) under an educational plan established under
section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The bill also
establishes standards for people who may provide applied behavioral
analysis services if the education commissioner finds there are not enough
licensed or certified personnel available. The bill also revamps the Advisory
Council for Special Education by: 1. reducing its statutorily specified
79
membership from 37 to 30 and updating those members' qualifications; 2.
requiring appointees to reflect the ethnic and racial diversity and types of
disabilities found in the state; 3. requiring the terms of all current council
members to expire on June 30, 2010; 4. requiring that, for terms starting July
1, 2010, the appointees of the commissioners of education, developmental
services, and children and families serve initial terms of three years and
thereafter serve the same two-year terms as the other appointees.”
Unfortunately the bill as it was introduced by the Education Committee
included a section that changed the burden of proof in special education
hearings. All of the people who supported section 2 of the bill opposed the
change in burden of proof so we had to be clear our message was please
support section 2 and oppose section 3 of HB 5425. According to the report
of Education Committee, testifying at the public hearing or submitting
testimony in support of our section of the bill were Richard Blumenthal,
Attorney General, State of Connecticut; Mark K. McQuillan, Commissioner
of Education; Robyn Kaplan-Cho, Connecticut Education Association
(CEA); Elizabeth C. Nulty, MS, BCBA, Secretary, CT Association for
Behavior Analysis; Steve Eversole, Ed.D., BCBA-D; Jill E. Castellani, M.S.,
BCBA; Jennifer L. McCormick, M.S., ED, BCBA; Julie Swanson, Durham,
CT; Shannon Knall, Connecticut Advocacy Chair, Autism Speaks; and many
others. The Committee also received a lot of letters in support. Testifying in
opposition to parts of the bill especially the part about burden of proof and a
few of these people expressed concerns about our section were Brenda J.
Sullivan, Chair, Connecticut State Advisory Council on Special Education;
James D. McGaughey, Executive Director, Office of Protection and
Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities; Dr. Reginald Mayo, Superintendent
of New Haven Public Schools; Miriam Morales-Taylor, Assistant
Superintendent for Learning Support Services, Hartford Public Schools;
Joan McNulty, MS, CCC-S, Mary-Ellen Johnson, President, Connecticut
Occupational Therapy Association (ConnOTA); CT Speech-LanguageHearing Association (CSHA); Kachina Walsh-Weaver, Connecicut
Conference of Municipalities (CCM); Christina D. Ghio, Esq. Windsor, CT;
Christopher Lent, Columbia, CT; Andrea Cancellieri, Greenwich, CT; and
others.
The Education Committee proposed substitute language that removed two
sections that many of those who testified in opposition to the bill were
opposed to- section 3 which shifted the burden of proof in a special
education hearing from the school district to the party requesting the special
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education hearing and section 4: a special education funding change. The
Education Committee passed the substitute bill by a unanimous vote. The
Education Committee sent the bill to the House.
OFA agreed to make the case that the liability incurred by a municipality
when they hire unqualified people to provide services for their children
would offset any cost of hiring qualified people.
The Legislative Commissioner’s Office put new proposed language into an
amendment.
The House referred the bill to the Appropriations Committee. The
Appropriations Committee passed the bill by a vote of 48 to 1 and the no
vote was Rep. Perillo (R-Shelton). Though the Chair of a committee usually
brings out a bill from that committee Rep. Fleischmann allowed Rep.
Abercrombie to bring this bill out. She offered House Amendment Schedule
‘A’ that (1) specified that a teacher or paraprofessional may implement the
behavior analysis services under the supervision of a licensed or certified
person; (2) increased the revised membership of the Special Education
Advisory Council from 29 to 30 by adding an additional, nonvoting
legislator member appointed by the House speaker; and (3) made technical
changes. The House adopted House Amendment Schedule ‘A’ by a vote of
113 to 28. The following is the roll call vote:
Y
ABERCROMBIE
Y
HEINRICH
Y
ALDARONDO
Y
HENNESSY
Y
ARESIMOWICZ
Y
AYALA
X BACKER
X HEWETT
Y
ROBLES
X ROJAS
Y
ROLDAN
N
GIBBONS
N
GIEGLER
Y
GIULIANO
Y
HOLDER-WINFIELD
Y
ROY
N
HAMZY
Y
HORNISH
Y
RYAN, K.
N
HETHERINGTON
Y
BARAM
Y
HURLBURT
Y
SANTIAGO
N
HOVEY
Y
BARRY
Y
JANOWSKI
Y
SAYERS
N
HOYDICK
Y
BARTLETT
Y
JARMOC
Y
SCHOFIELD
Y
BERGER
Y
JOHNSON, S.
Y
SERRA
N
KLARIDES
Y
BOUKUS
Y
JOHNSTON, S.T.
Y
SHAPIRO
N
LABRIOLA
Y
BUTLER
Y
JUTILA
Y
SHARKEY
N
LEGEYT
Y
BYE
X KEHOE
Y
SPALLONE
N
MILLER, L.
Y
CANDELARIA, J.
N
MINER
Y
LAMBERT
X STAPLES
81
Y
HWANG
X CARUSO
Y
LARSON
Y
TABORSAK
N
NOUJAIM
Y
CLEMONS
Y
LAWLOR
Y
TALLARITA
N
O'NEILL
Y
CONROY
Y
LEONE
Y
TERCYAK
N
PERILLO
Y
CONWAY
Y
LESSER
Y
THOMPSON
N
PISCOPO
Y
COOK
Y
LEWIS
Y
TONG
N
REBIMBAS
Y
DARGAN
Y
LYDDY
Y
URBAN
Y
DAVIS
Y
MAZUREK
Y
VILLANO
N
ROWE
Y
DILLON
Y
MCCRORY
Y
WALKER
N
SAWYER
Y
DREW
Y
MEGNA
Y
WIDLITZ
N
SCRIBNER
Y
ESPOSITO
X MERRILL
Y
WILLIS
N
STRIPP
Y
ESTY
Y
MIKUTEL
Y
WRIGHT, C.
Y
FAWCETT
Y
MILLER, P.
Y
WRIGHT, E.
Y
FLEISCHMANN
Y
MIOLI
Y
ZALASKI
Y
FLEXER
Y
MORIN
Y
FONTANA
Y
MORRIS
Y
FOX
Y
ALBERTS
Y
FRITZ
Y
MUSHINSKY
Y
GENGA
Y
NAFIS
Y
BACCHIOCHI
Y
GENTILE
Y
NARDELLO
Y
CAFERO
Y
GERAGOSIAN
Y
NICASTRO
N
CAMILLO
Y
GIANNAROS
Y
O'BRIEN
N
CANDELORA, V.
Y
GONZALEZ
Y
OLSON
Y
GRAZIANI
Y
PERONE
GREEN, K.
Y
REED
Y
GROGINS
Y
Y
GUERRERA
Y
HAMM
N
Y
RIGBY
X WILLIAMS
Y
WOOD
Y
DONOVAN (SPKR)
Y
ALTOBELLO (DEP)
Y
GODFREY (DEP)
CHAPIN
Y
KIRKLEY-BEY (DEP)
N
COUTU
Y
MCCLUSKEY (DEP)
REEVES
N
D'AMELIO
Y
O'CONNOR (DEP)
Y
REYNOLDS
N
FLOREN
Y
ORANGE (DEP)
Y
RITTER
N
FREY
Y
O'ROURKE (DEP)
X MOUKAWSHER
N
AMAN, W.
X CARSON
Y
The House passed the bill as amended by House Amendment Schedule ‘A’
by a vote of 126 to 14. The following is the roll call vote:
82
Y
ABERCROMBIE
Y
HEINRICH
Y
ALDARONDO
Y
HENNESSY
Y
ARESIMOWICZ
Y
AYALA
X BACKER
X HEWETT
Y
ROBLES
X ROJAS
Y
ROLDAN
Y
HOLDER-WINFIELD
Y
ROY
Y
HORNISH
Y
RYAN, K.
Y
GIBBONS
Y
GIEGLER
Y
GIULIANO
N
Y
HAMZY
HETHERINGTON
Y
BARAM
Y
HURLBURT
Y
SANTIAGO
N
HOVEY
Y
BARRY
Y
JANOWSKI
Y
SAYERS
N
HOYDICK
Y
BARTLETT
Y
JARMOC
Y
SCHOFIELD
Y
HWANG
Y
BERGER
Y
JOHNSON, S.
Y
SERRA
Y
KLARIDES
Y
BOUKUS
Y
JOHNSTON, S.T.
Y
SHAPIRO
Y
LABRIOLA
Y
BUTLER
Y
JUTILA
Y
SHARKEY
Y
LEGEYT
Y
BYE
X KEHOE
Y
SPALLONE
Y
CANDELARIA, J.
X CARUSO
X STAPLES
N
MILLER, L.
N
MINER
Y
LAMBERT
Y
LARSON
Y
TABORSAK
Y
NOUJAIM
Y
O'NEILL
Y
CLEMONS
Y
LAWLOR
Y
TALLARITA
Y
CONROY
Y
LEONE
Y
TERCYAK
N
PERILLO
Y
CONWAY
Y
LESSER
Y
THOMPSON
N
PISCOPO
Y
COOK
Y
LEWIS
Y
TONG
Y
DARGAN
Y
LYDDY
Y
URBAN
Y
DAVIS
Y
MAZUREK
Y
VILLANO
Y
DILLON
Y
MCCRORY
Y
WALKER
Y
DREW
Y
MEGNA
Y
WIDLITZ
Y
ESPOSITO
X MERRILL
Y
WILLIS
Y
ESTY
Y
MIKUTEL
Y
WRIGHT, C.
Y
FAWCETT
Y
MILLER, P.
Y
WRIGHT, E.
Y
FLEISCHMANN
Y
MIOLI
Y
ZALASKI
Y
FLEXER
Y
MORIN
Y
FONTANA
Y
MORRIS
Y
FOX
X MOUKAWSHER
Y
ALBERTS
Y
FRITZ
Y
MUSHINSKY
Y
AMAN, W.
Y
GENGA
Y
NAFIS
Y
BACCHIOCHI
Y
GENTILE
Y
NARDELLO
Y
CAFERO
83
Y
REBIMBAS
X RIGBY
N
Y
SAWYER
N
Y
ROWE
SCRIBNER
STRIPP
X WILLIAMS
Y
WOOD
Y
DONOVAN (SPKR)
Y
GERAGOSIAN
Y
NICASTRO
N
CAMILLO
Y
GIANNAROS
Y
O'BRIEN
N
CANDELORA, V.
Y
GONZALEZ
Y
OLSON
Y
GRAZIANI
Y
PERONE
Y
GREEN, K.
Y
REED
Y
GROGINS
Y
REEVES
Y
GUERRERA
Y
REYNOLDS
Y
HAMM
Y
RITTER
Y
ALTOBELLO (DEP)
Y
GODFREY (DEP)
CHAPIN
Y
KIRKLEY-BEY (DEP)
N
COUTU
Y
MCCLUSKEY (DEP)
N
D'AMELIO
Y
O'CONNOR (DEP)
FLOREN
Y
ORANGE (DEP)
FREY
Y
O'ROURKE (DEP)
X CARSON
Y
Y
N
It got to the last day of the Session and the bill had to be voted on by
midnight. Finally at about 11:50 pm the consent calendar was called and 51
bills were put on the calendar including HB 5425.The Senate passed the bill
as amended by House Amendment Schedule ‘A’ as the clock struck
midnight. We are waiting a public act number and the Governor to sign the
bill.
Effective Date: Upon passage for the changes in the advisory council and
July 1, 2010 for the applied behavior analysis provisions.
SB438- AN ACT CONCERNING CHARTER SCHOOLS. Passed.
Awaiting Governor’s Signature.
This bill ended up becoming the major school reform bill. It combined
SDE’s school reform proposals with the negotiated pieces of the
Achievement Now bill. This bill effects the school readiness programs
currently being operated and expanded by CSUS. It also makes changes
to teacher certification requirements that may effect CSUS.
The House had passed Achievement Now bill, HB5491- AN ACT
CONCERNING CERTAIN SCHOOL DISTRICT REFORMS TO
REDUCE THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP IN CONNECTICUT and was
refusing to vote on the school reform bill, HB5165- AN ACT
CONCERNING HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
until the Senate took up the Achievement Now bill. The compromise was the
Senate took this bill up which was now essentially HB 5491 or school
reform and added the language from HB5165, the achievement now bill, and
send it to the House. Needless to say these bills were the subject of hours of
negotiations between interested parties. The Black and Puerto Rican caucus
84
wanted the Achievement Now bill; others including the teacher unions had
serious concerns about the bill. It was not until right before the school
reform bill was to be voted on in the Senate did we begin to see drafts that
included all the provisions. It expanded the entities eligible for state funding
to provide professional development services, technical assistance, and
evaluation activities to local and regional boards of education, state charter
schools, vocational-technical schools, school readiness providers, and other
educational entities, as the education commissioner determines. These grants
to provide such services had been reserved for only RESCs. We worked
with the lobbyist for the RESCs to find out where this language had
originated and whether this was something that was negotiable but in the
end, this bill had so many parts the Chairs were not willing to talk about
changes at this point.
This bill was introduced by the Education Committee and co-sponsored by
twenty three legislators. In its original form, this bill aimed to remove fiscal
restrictions that limit the State Board of Education's ability to grant charters
to local and state charter schools; to eliminate the enrollment cap of eightyfive students per grade for state charter schools that have demonstrated a
record of achievement; to extend the Commissioner of Education's authority
to provide grants to state charter schools for capital expenses; and to
increase the per pupil grant to districts receiving open choice program
students.
This bill effects the school readiness programs currently being operated
and expanded by CSUS. It also makes changes to teacher certification
requirements that may effect CSUS.
In its final form, it makes numerous changes to state education laws
including: 1. setting higher standards to receive a high school diploma,
including increasing the minimum credits necessary to graduate from 20 to
25, starting with the graduating class of 2018; 2. requiring the State
Department of Education (SDE) to provide grants, within available
appropriations, beginning in FY 13 to assist school districts with the new
standards; 3. giving the State Board of Education (SBE) the power, without
first seeking legislative approval, to reconstitute a local or regional board of
education that, after being designated as a low-achieving district, fails for
two consecutive years to make adequate progress; 4. requiring (a) the SBE to
develop, by July 1, 2013, guidelines for teacher evaluations that include
student academic growth and (b) local district evaluations to be consistent
85
with the guidelines; 5. requiring the SDE to expand the public school
information system, by July 1, 2013, to track and report to school boards
data on performance growth by students, teachers, schools, and school
districts; and 6. giving school authorities explicit authority to consider a
student's previous disciplinary problems when deciding whether an out-ofschool suspension is warranted, as long as the school previously attempted
to address the problems by means other than an out-of-school suspension or
an expulsion.
The bill makes a number of changes to charter schools laws including: 1.
eliminating a requirement that, when SBE issues charters for state and local
charter schools, it does so only within available appropriations; 2. requiring
SBE to waive enrollment limits for charter schools whose students show a
record of achievement, if the school applies for a waiver; 3. making the
charter school facility grant program permanent; 4. requiring teachers first
employed by a charter school on or after July 1, 2010 to participate in the
Teachers' Retirement System; and 5. requiring SBE to regulate charter
management organizations and their relationships to charter schools.
Regarding certification for administrators and superintendents, the bill: 1.
requires SDE to review and approve proposals for school administrator
alternate route to certification (ARC) programs according to criteria the bill
specifies and any other criteria the department requires, and 2. gives the
education commissioner additional criteria to waive the requirement that a
school superintendent hold a superintendent certificate issued by the SBE, if
a waiver is requested by the superintendent's employing board of education
and the applicant has three years of experience in, and holds a certificate
from, another state.
The bill permits the school board of a priority school district to convert an
existing school or establish a new school as an “innovation school” through
agreements with the teacher and administrator unions at the school for the
purpose of improving school performance and student achievement. By law,
the education commissioner must identify low-achieving schools for
reconstitution. The bill adds innovation schools to the specific reconstitution
models the commissioner may choose for such schools. The bill allows
teachers and administrators who had tenure in another school district in
Connecticut or out-of-state and who take a job in a priority school district to
attain tenure in the new district in half the usual time, i. e. , after working 10
months rather than 20 months in the priority school district. It allows retired
86
teachers to teach any subject, not just a shortage subject, in a priority school
district for up to two consecutive years at full salary without loss of pension
benefits.
The bill expands the entities eligible for state funding to provide professional
development services, technical assistance, and evaluation activities to local
and regional boards of education, state charter schools, vocational-technical
schools, school readiness providers, and other educational entities, as the
education commissioner determines. The bill requires school boards with
low-achieving schools to create school governance councils made up mostly
of students' parents or guardians. The councils are empowered to, among
other things, advise the principal on the school budget before it is submitted
to the superintendent, interview candidates to fill principal vacancies, and
vote to reconstitute low-achieving schools using models included in the bill.
A council must indicate which reorganization model it prefers from a list of
three choices in the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, two choices
in state law, and any other choice to be developed later under NCLB. The
bill provides a process for the choice to be considered at a hearing and later
the local board of education must accept it or choose an alternative. When
the council and the local board make different choices, the education
commissioner must pick one to implement.
It also: 1. requires the State Department of Education (SDE) to report
periodically to the Education Committee on the progress of the reconstituted
schools and school governance councils; 2. transfers the Parent Trust Fund
from the Department of Social Services (DSS) to the SDE, allows the fund
to receive state money, and requires the education commissioner, rather than
DSS, to use the fund to improve parental involvement; 3. requires districts
with a dropout rate of 8% or higher to provide on-line credit recovery
courses; 4. requires school districts to hold two, rather than one, parentteacher conferences a year; 5. establishes an achievement gap task force; and
6. requires high schools to offer courses for which an advanced placement
exam is available.
Testifying in support of the original bill at the public hearing were ; Bruce
Douglas, Capitol Region Education Council (CREC) (specifically on the
increase in the grants to receiving districts in the Open Choice Program);
Mark McQuillan, Commissioner of Education; CABE- CT Association of
Boards of Education; Joseph J. Cirasuolo Ed.D., Executive Director, CT
Assoc. of School SuperintendentsLiz Dupont-Diehl, Sheff Movement; Cal
87
Hemingway, Chair, Granby Board of Education; Evelyn Richardson, parent;
Peggy Roell, Chair, Avon Board of Education; Martha Stone, Executive
Director, Center for Children's Advocacy; and Lydia Tedone, Vice Chair,
Simsbury Board of Education. Testifying in opposition were Stephen
Cassano, Executive Director, CT Coalition for Justice in Education Funding;
and Wendy Lecker, President, Parent Teacher Council, Stamford, CT.
The Education Committee offered substitute language to the bill that: 1.
removed 85 students per class limit for high achieving state charter schools;
required the State Board of Education to waive the 250 student school limit
on high achieving charter schools; 2. for FY 2010 and each FY afterwards,
the State Dept. of Education, must establish, within available bond
authorizations, a grant program to assist state charter schools in financing
school building projects, school building improvements, and repayment of
debt incurred for building projects. Current law created the program for FY
08 and FY 09; 3. increased the annual School Choice grant to the receiving
board of education for up to $3000 for each out of district student who
attends school in the receiving district; current law provides $2,500 dollars
and also increased the amount of nonlapsing funds that can be used for
supplemental grants from $500,000 to $750,000; 4. prohibited the Education
Commissioner from waiving certification requirements for charter schools
after July 1, 2010. The Education Committee passed the substitute bill by a
unanimous vote. The Education Committee sent the bill to the
Appropriations Committee. Appropriations passed the bill by a unanimous
vote and sent the bill to the Senate.
In the Senate, Sen. Gaffey (D-Meriden) offered Senate Amendment ‘A’ that
deleted the underlying bill and replaced it with all new provisions plus the
pieces of the bill that (1) eliminatined a requirement that, when SBE issues
charters for state and local charter schools, it do so only within available
appropriations; (2) required SBE to waive enrollment limits for charter
schools whose students show a record of achievement, if the school applies
for a waiver; and (3) made the charter school facility grant program
permanent.
High School Credit Requirements and End-of-Year Exams
Under the bill, students must earn more credits and pass five end-of-year
examinations to graduate. It raises, from 20 to 25, the number of credits
88
required to graduate, changes course requirements, and requires the SDE to
provide grants to school districts to implement the changes from FY 11 to
FY 18, inclusive. The new requirements apply to the graduating high school
class of 2018.
The current and proposed high school graduation requirements are shown in
Tables 1 and 2 below.
Table 1: Current Minimum Graduation Requirements
Subject Area
English
Mathematics
Social Studies
Required Credits
4
3
3
(including a half
credit in civics and
American
Government)
2
1
Science
Arts or Vocational
Education
Physical Education
1
Table 2: Proposed Minimum Graduation Requirements – Starting with
Class of 2018
Subject Area
Required Credits
Humanities – 9 credits
English
4, including composition
Social Studies
3, including 1 credit in
American history and a
half credit in civics and
American Government
Fine Arts
1
89
Humanities Elective
1
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics – 8 credits
Mathematics
4, including algebra I,
geometry, and either
algebra II or probability
and statistics
Science
3, including 1 in life
science, 1 in physical
science, and 1 in a
science, technology,
engineering, and math
elective
Career and Life Skills – 3. 5 credits
Physical Education
1
Comprehensive health education
0. 5
Career and life skills electives, such as
2
career and technical education, English
as a second language, community
service, personal finance, public
speaking, and nutrition and physical
activity
Other – 3 credits
World Languages (see below)
2
Senior demonstration project
1
The bill specifies that a world language course successfully completed in
grade six, seven, or eight or online can count towards the high school
graduation requirement. Current law already allows world language classes
taken through a private nonprofit provider to count toward the graduation
requirements. The bill requires these classes to be completed successfully,
but does not define “successful. ”
The bill requires students, starting with the class of 2018, to pass end-of-year
exams for the following courses in order to graduate: (1) algebra I, (2)
geometry, (3) biology, (4) American history, and (5) 10th grade English. The
bill requires SDE, by July 1, 2012, to begin development or approval of the
90
end-of-year exams the bill requires. The exams must be developed or
approved by July 1, 2014.
The Senate adopted Senate Amendment ‘A’ on a voice vote.
Five Republican Senators offered Senate Amendment ‘B’ that would have
required a more extensive state-wide public school information system than
is required in the bill and required it to be in place by July 1, 2012. The
amendment required the Department of Education to:
1) Link high school student performance data to postsecondary
school performance data to provide information about public school
student performance in post-secondary education;
(2) Connect the state-wide public school information system with the
data systems of public and independent institutions of higher
education in the state;
(3) Assign unique identifiers to all public school educators for
purposes of monitoring student performance in preschool, elementary
and secondary schools;
(4) Assign unique identifiers to each educator preparation program
and attach such unique identifier to the unique identifier for a public
school educator who has completed such educator preparation
program; and
(5) Collect student transcript information, such as information
regarding courses completed and grades received.
The Senate rejected Senate Amendment ‘B’ by a vote of 10 to 25 along
party lines, except Sen. Kissel (R-Enfield), who voted against the
amendment.
The Senate passed the bill as amended by Senate Amendment ‘A’ by a vote
of 32 to 3 and the no votes were Sen. Kissel (R-Enfield), Sen. Caligiuri (RWaterbury), and Sen. Guglielmo (R-Stafford Springs).
In the House, the bill was presented by Rep. Fleischmann (D-West
Hartford), Chair of the Education Committee. The House adopted Senate
91
Amendment ‘A’ by a vote of 101 to 47, in concurrence with the Senate.
The following is the roll call vote:
X ABERCROMBIE
Y
HEINRICH
Y
ROBLES
N
GIBBONS
Y
ALDARONDO
Y
HENNESSY
Y
ROJAS
N
GIEGLER
Y
ARESIMOWICZ
Y
HEWETT
Y
ROLDAN
N
GIULIANO
Y
AYALA
HOLDER-WINFIELD
Y
ROY
N
HAMZY
Y
HORNISH
Y
RYAN, K.
N
HETHERINGTON
X BACKER
N
Y
BARAM
Y
HURLBURT
Y
SANTIAGO
N
HOVEY
Y
BARRY
Y
JANOWSKI
Y
SAYERS
N
HOYDICK
Y
BARTLETT
Y
JARMOC
Y
SCHOFIELD
Y
BERGER
Y
JOHNSON, S.
Y
SERRA
N
KLARIDES
Y
BOUKUS
JOHNSTON, S.T.
Y
SHAPIRO
N
LABRIOLA
Y
BUTLER
Y
JUTILA
Y
SHARKEY
N
LEGEYT
Y
BYE
Y
KEHOE
Y
SPALLONE
N
MILLER, L.
Y
CANDELARIA, J.
Y
LAMBERT
Y
STAPLES
N
MINER
Y
CARUSO
Y
LARSON
Y
TABORSAK
N
NOUJAIM
Y
CLEMONS
Y
LAWLOR
Y
TALLARITA
N
O'NEILL
Y
CONROY
Y
LEONE
Y
TERCYAK
N
PERILLO
Y
CONWAY
Y
LESSER
Y
THOMPSON
N
PISCOPO
Y
COOK
Y
LEWIS
Y
TONG
N
REBIMBAS
Y
DARGAN
Y
LYDDY
Y
URBAN
N
RIGBY
Y
DAVIS
Y
MAZUREK
Y
VILLANO
N
ROWE
Y
DILLON
Y
MCCRORY
WALKER
N
SAWYER
Y
DREW
Y
MEGNA
Y
WIDLITZ
N
SCRIBNER
ESPOSITO
Y
MERRILL
Y
WILLIS
N
STRIPP
MIKUTEL
Y
WRIGHT, C.
N
WILLIAMS
N
WOOD
N
N
Y
ESTY
Y
FAWCETT
Y
MILLER, P.
Y
WRIGHT, E.
Y
FLEISCHMANN
Y
MIOLI
Y
ZALASKI
Y
FLEXER
Y
MORIN
Y
FONTANA
Y
FOX
Y
MOUKAWSHER
N
ALBERTS
FRITZ
Y
MUSHINSKY
N
AMAN, W.
N
N
N
N
Y
HWANG
MORRIS
92
Y
DONOVAN (SPKR)
Y
GENGA
N
X NAFIS
N
BACCHIOCHI
GENTILE
Y
NARDELLO
N
CAFERO
Y
GERAGOSIAN
Y
NICASTRO
N
CAMILLO
Y
GIANNAROS
Y
O'BRIEN
N
CANDELORA, V.
Y
ALTOBELLO (DEP)
GONZALEZ
Y
OLSON
N
CARSON
Y
GODFREY (DEP)
GRAZIANI
Y
PERONE
N
CHAPIN
GREEN, K.
Y
REED
N
COUTU
Y
MCCLUSKEY (DEP)
Y
GROGINS
Y
REEVES
N
D'AMELIO
Y
O'CONNOR (DEP)
Y
GUERRERA
Y
REYNOLDS
N
FLOREN
Y
ORANGE (DEP)
Y
HAMM
Y
RITTER
N
FREY
Y
O'ROURKE (DEP)
N
Y
N
N
KIRKLEY-BEY (DEP)
Then, as a part of the orchestrated plan, House Amendment ‘A’ was offered
that was essentially the contents of HB 5491, the “Achievement Gap” bill
which had already passed the House on a unanimous vote. The amendment
(1) eliminated a requirement that the public school information system
collect data on the educational level of students' parents and (2) added
provisions concerning (a) school governance councils, (b) reports, (c) the
Parent Trust Fund, (d) on-line credit recovery courses, (e) parent-teacher
conferences, (f) the achievement gap task force, and (g) advanced placement
courses. After a few hours of contentious debate, House Amendment ‘A’
was adopted by a unanimous vote.
Then, several Republican representatives offered House Amendment
Schedule ‘B’ that created a tax credit for donations to certain scholarship
programs for nonpublic schools and reduced, by $500,000, the amount
appropriated in FY 11 to Legislative Management for other expenses to fund
the credits. The House rejected House Amendment Schedule ‘B’ by a vote
of 44 to 98. The following is the roll call vote:
X ABERCROMBIE
N
HEINRICH
N
ROBLES
Y
GIBBONS
N
ALDARONDO
N
HENNESSY
N
ROJAS
Y
GIEGLER
N
ARESIMOWICZ
N
HEWETT
N
ROLDAN
Y
GIULIANO
N
AYALA
N
HOLDER-WINFIELD
N
ROY
Y
HAMZY
N
HORNISH
N
RYAN, K.
Y
HETHERINGTON
X BACKER
N
BARAM
N
HURLBURT
N
SANTIAGO
Y
HOVEY
N
BARRY
N
JANOWSKI
N
SAYERS
Y
HOYDICK
93
N
BARTLETT
X BERGER
X BOUKUS
N
JARMOC
N
SCHOFIELD
Y
HWANG
N
JOHNSON, S.
N
SERRA
Y
KLARIDES
JOHNSTON, S.T.
N
SHAPIRO
Y
LABRIOLA
Y
N
BUTLER
N
JUTILA
N
SHARKEY
Y
LEGEYT
N
BYE
N
KEHOE
N
SPALLONE
Y
MILLER, L.
N
CANDELARIA, J.
LAMBERT
N
STAPLES
Y
MINER
N
CARUSO
N
LARSON
N
TABORSAK
Y
NOUJAIM
N
CLEMONS
N
LAWLOR
N
TALLARITA
Y
O'NEILL
N
CONROY
N
LEONE
N
TERCYAK
Y
PERILLO
N
CONWAY
N
LESSER
N
THOMPSON
Y
PISCOPO
N
COOK
N
LEWIS
N
TONG
Y
REBIMBAS
N
DARGAN
N
LYDDY
N
URBAN
Y
RIGBY
N
DAVIS
N
MAZUREK
N
VILLANO
Y
ROWE
N
DILLON
N
MCCRORY
N
WALKER
Y
SAWYER
N
DREW
N
MEGNA
N
WIDLITZ
Y
SCRIBNER
N
ESPOSITO
N
MERRILL
N
WILLIS
Y
STRIPP
N
ESTY
X MIKUTEL
N
WRIGHT, C.
Y
WILLIAMS
N
FAWCETT
MILLER, P.
N
WRIGHT, E.
Y
WOOD
N
FLEISCHMANN
MIOLI
N
ZALASKI
N
FLEXER
N
MORIN
N
FONTANA
N
MORRIS
N
FOX
N
MOUKAWSHER
Y
ALBERTS
MUSHINSKY
Y
AMAN, W.
Y
FRITZ
Y
N
Y
Y
N
GENGA
N
NAFIS
Y
BACCHIOCHI
N
GENTILE
N
NARDELLO
Y
CAFERO
N
GERAGOSIAN
NICASTRO
Y
CAMILLO
N
O'BRIEN
Y
CANDELORA, V.
GONZALEZ
N
OLSON
Y
CARSON
GRAZIANI
N
PERONE
Y
CHAPIN
N
GREEN, K.
N
REED
Y
COUTU
N
GROGINS
N
REEVES
Y
D'AMELIO
N
REYNOLDS
X GIANNAROS
N
Y
X GUERRERA
Y
X FLOREN
94
N
DONOVAN (SPKR)
N
ALTOBELLO (DEP)
X GODFREY (DEP)
N
Y
KIRKLEY-BEY (DEP)
MCCLUSKEY (DEP)
N
O'CONNOR (DEP)
N
ORANGE (DEP)
N
HAMM
N
RITTER
Y
FREY
N
O'ROURKE (DEP)
The House passed the bill as amended by Senate Amendment ‘A’ and House
Amendment ‘A’ by a vote of 106 to 38. The following is the roll call vote:
X ABERCROMBIE
Y
HEINRICH
Y
ROBLES
N
GIBBONS
Y
ALDARONDO
Y
HENNESSY
Y
ROJAS
N
GIEGLER
Y
ARESIMOWICZ
Y
HEWETT
Y
ROLDAN
N
GIULIANO
Y
AYALA
Y
HOLDER-WINFIELD
Y
ROY
N
HAMZY
Y
HORNISH
Y
RYAN, K.
N
HETHERINGTON
X BACKER
Y
BARAM
Y
HURLBURT
Y
SANTIAGO
N
HOVEY
Y
BARRY
Y
JANOWSKI
Y
SAYERS
N
HOYDICK
Y
BARTLETT
Y
JARMOC
Y
SCHOFIELD
Y
BERGER
Y
JOHNSON, S.
Y
SERRA
N
KLARIDES
JOHNSTON, S.T.
Y
SHAPIRO
N
LABRIOLA
X BOUKUS
N
Y
HWANG
Y
BUTLER
Y
JUTILA
Y
SHARKEY
N
LEGEYT
Y
BYE
Y
KEHOE
Y
SPALLONE
N
MILLER, L.
Y
CANDELARIA, J.
Y
LAMBERT
Y
STAPLES
Y
CARUSO
Y
LARSON
Y
TABORSAK
N
NOUJAIM
Y
CLEMONS
Y
LAWLOR
Y
TALLARITA
N
O'NEILL
Y
CONROY
Y
LEONE
Y
TERCYAK
N
PERILLO
Y
CONWAY
Y
LESSER
Y
THOMPSON
N
PISCOPO
Y
COOK
Y
LEWIS
Y
TONG
N
REBIMBAS
Y
DARGAN
Y
LYDDY
Y
URBAN
N
RIGBY
Y
DAVIS
Y
MAZUREK
Y
VILLANO
N
ROWE
Y
DILLON
Y
MCCRORY
Y
WALKER
N
SAWYER
Y
DREW
Y
MEGNA
Y
WIDLITZ
N
SCRIBNER
Y
ESPOSITO
Y
MERRILL
Y
WILLIS
N
STRIPP
Y
ESTY
X MIKUTEL
Y
WRIGHT, C.
N
WILLIAMS
Y
FAWCETT
Y
MILLER, P.
Y
WRIGHT, E.
N
WOOD
Y
FLEISCHMANN
Y
MIOLI
Y
ZALASKI
95
Y
MINER
Y
FLEXER
Y
MORIN
Y
FONTANA
Y
MORRIS
Y
FOX
Y
MOUKAWSHER
N
ALBERTS
FRITZ
Y
MUSHINSKY
N
AMAN, W.
GENGA
Y
NAFIS
N
BACCHIOCHI
GENTILE
Y
NARDELLO
N
CAFERO
Y
GERAGOSIAN
Y
NICASTRO
N
CAMILLO
Y
GIANNAROS
Y
O'BRIEN
N
CANDELORA, V.
Y
GONZALEZ
Y
OLSON
N
CARSON
Y
GRAZIANI
Y
PERONE
N
CHAPIN
Y
GREEN, K.
Y
REED
N
COUTU
Y
MCCLUSKEY (DEP)
Y
GROGINS
Y
REEVES
N
D'AMELIO
Y
O'CONNOR (DEP)
X GUERRERA
Y
REYNOLDS
X FLOREN
Y
ORANGE (DEP)
HAMM
Y
RITTER
FREY
Y
O'ROURKE (DEP)
N
Y
N
Y
N
Y
DONOVAN (SPKR)
Y
ALTOBELLO (DEP)
X GODFREY (DEP)
N
KIRKLEY-BEY (DEP)
Then, the bill went back to the Senate because House B had not been
adopted yet by that chamber. The Senate adopted House Amendment
Schedule ‘A’ and passed the bill as amended by Senate Amendment
Schedule ‘A’ and House Amendment Schedule ‘A’ by a vote of 31 to 4 in
concurrence with the House. The no votes were Sen. Kissel (R-Enfield),
Sen. McLachlan (R-Danbury), Sen. Caligiuri (R-Waterbury), and Sen.
Guglielmo (R-Stafford Springs). They passed it after about 5 minute of
debate on the last evening of the session.
Effective Date: July 1, 2010, except for the teachers' retirement and charter
school construction grant provisions, which are effective upon passage.
HB5491- AN ACT CONCERNING CERTAIN SCHOOL DISTRICT
REFORMS TO REDUCE THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP IN
CONNECTICUT. Died (This bill passed as part of SB 438 above).
The bill was introduced by the Education Committee and co-sponsored by
twenty two legislators. It would have required school boards with lowachieving schools to create school governance councils made up mostly of
students' parents or guardians. The councils would have been empowered to,
among other things, advise the principal on the school budget before it is
96
submitted to the superintendent, interview candidates to fill principal
vacancies, and vote to reconstitute low-achieving schools using models
included in the bill. A council must have indicated which reorganization
model it prefers from a list of three choices in the federal No Child Left
Behind (NCLB) law, two choices in state law, and any other choice to be
developed later under NCLB.
The bill provided a process for the choice to be considered at a hearing and
later the local board of education must accept it or choose an alternative.
When the council and the local board made different choices, the education
commissioner must pick one to implement. It also would have: 1. required
the State Department of Education (SDE) to report periodically to the
Education Committee on the progress of the reconstituted schools and
school governance councils; 2. transfered the Parent Trust Fund from the
Department of Social Services (DSS) to the SDE, allowed the fund to
receive state money, and required the education commissioner, rather than
DSS, to use the fund to improve parental involvement; 3. required districts
with a dropout rate of 8% or higher to provide on-line credit recovery
courses; 4. required school districts to hold two, rather than one, parentteacher conferences a year; 5. established an achievement gap task force;
and 6. required high schools to offer courses for which an advanced
placement exam is available.
Testifying in support of the bill at the public hearing were Milly Arciniegas,
President, Hartford Parent Organization Council; Jesmin Basanti, Staff
Attorney, CT Business and Industry Association, CBIA; Glenn Cassis,
Executive Director, African-American Affairs Commission; CT Voices for
Children; Bill Finch, Mayor, Bridgeport, CT; Dr. Margie Gillis, Senior
Scientist, Haskins Laboratory; Jennifer Harmon, ConnCAN; Linda Kosko,
Executive Director, Danbury Children First; Marc Magee, Chief Operating
Officer, ConnCAN; Werner Oyanadel, Acting Executive Director, Latino
and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission (LPRAC); Robin Puchala,
Chairperson, CT Parent Power; Michael Sharpe, CEO, Jumoke Academy;
Donna Thompson-Bennett, Parent, Bridgeport, CT; Marne Usher, President,
CT Parent Teacher Association; and Elaine Zimmerman, Executive Director,
Connecticut Commission on Children. Testifying in opposition were Mark
McQuillan, Commissioner of Education; Donna Aiello, Coordinator of Staff
Development, New Haven Public Schools; Anti-Parent Trigger Online
Petition; Jennifer Berigan, Lobbyist, AFT Connecticut; Connecticut
Association of Boards of Education (CABE); Stephen Cassano, Executive
97
Director, CT Coalition for Justice in Education Funding; Joseph Cirasuolo,
Executive Director, CT Association of Public School Superintendents
(CAPSS); John Carolla, Hamden, CT; Wendy Lecker, President, Parent
Teacher Council, Stamford, CT; Mary Loftus Levine, Director of Policy
and Professional Practice, CT Education Association (CEA); Sharon Palmer,
President, AFT Connecticut; Christine Pattee; David Sharron, Vice
President, Meriden Federation of Teachers; and Katherine Wilson, League
of Women Voters.
The Education Committee proposed substitute language that; 1. Established
governance councils for all low achieving schools. Governance councils will
consist of nine voting parent members, and non-voting student member. The
parent members will be elected by other student parents. The council may
also include up to four other voting members who are teachers, other school
personnel, or community leaders. 2. This council will be responsible for
analyzing school achievement and school needs, allocating funds for the
school, making recommendations for the appointment of school principals,
providing criteria for parental involvement in school affairs and responding
to the needs and concerns of parents. The council may also determine
whether to reorganize the school in one of five existing models or another
developed under No Child Left Behind. In addition, a parent petition may
also recommend that the school be reorganized according to one of these
models. 3. Removes the provisions for establishing a tax reimbursement
plan for teachers. 4. Establishes a Performance Evaluation Advisory
Council. The members of this council are selected by the Commissioner and
must assist the State Board of Education in developing model teacher
evaluation programs guidelines and a data collection and evaluation support
system. 5. Establishes credit recovery programs in districts whose dropout
rate exceeds 8% and 6. Moves from the date of the resident student count
from March 1st, to January 15th. The Education Committee passed the
substitute bill by a vote of 19 to 11. Following was the roll call vote:
Voting
Yea
Nay
Abstain
19
11
0
TOTALS
30
Absent and Not
Voting
2
yea nay abstain absent
Sen. Gaffey, T. S13
Rep. Fleischmann, A. 018 X
X
Rep. Bartlett, J. 002
X
Sen. Boucher, A. S26
Sen. Caligiuri, S. S16
Voice Vote
yea nay abstain absent
Rep. Reynolds, T. 042
Sen. Stillman, A. S20
Rep. Wood, T. 141
X
X
98
X
X
X
Rep. Conway, M. 061
Rep. Cook, M. 065
Rep. Davis, P. 117
Sen. Fonfara, J. S01
Rep. Genga, H. 010
Rep. Grogins, A. 129
Rep. Giuliano, M. 023
Rep. Hamm, G. 034
Rep. Heinrich, D. 101
Rep. Hornish, M. 062
Rep. Hwang, T. 134
Rep. Jarmoc, K. 059
Rep. Johnson, S. 049
Rep. Klarides, T. 114
Rep. Labriola, D. 131
Rep. LeGeyt, T. 017
Rep. Lesser, M. 100
Rep. Lewis, J. 008
Rep. Lyddy, C. 106
Rep. McCrory, D. 007
Sen. McDonald, A. S27
Rep. Mikutel, S. 045
Rep. Miller, P. 145
Rep. Nafis, S. 027
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
The Education Committee sent the bill to the Appropriations Committee.
Appropriations passed the bill by a vote of 46 to 9. Following is the roll call
vote:
Voting
Yea
Nay
Abstain
46
9
0
TOTALS
55
yea nay abstain absent
Sen. Harp, T. S10
Rep. Geragosian, J. 025
Sen. Hartley, J. S15
Rep. Bartlett, J. 002
Rep. Heinrich, D. 101
Rep. Roldan, K. 004
Sen. Debicella, D. S21
Rep. Miner, C. 066
Rep. Backer, T. 121
Absent and Not
Voting
3
Voice Vote
yea nay abstain absent
Rep. Hwang, T. 134
Sen. Kane, R. S32
Rep. Kirkley-Bey, M. 005
Rep. Lewis, J. 008
Sen. Maynard, A. S18
Rep. McCrory, D. 007
Rep. Miller, P. 145
Rep. Nafis, S. 027
Rep. O'Neill, A. 069
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
99
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Sen. Caligiuri, S. S16
Rep. Camillo, F. 151
Rep. Candelaria, J. 095
Rep. Clemons, C. 124
Rep. Dillon, P. 092
Sen. Duff, B. S25
Rep. Esty, E. 103
Rep. Fawcett, K. 133
Rep. Fleischmann, A. 018
Sen. Frantz, L. S36
Rep. Genga, H. 010
Sen. Gomes, E. S23
Rep. Gonzalez, M. 003
Rep. Hamm, G. 034
Sen. Handley, M. S04
Sen. Harris, J. S05
Rep. Hetherington, J. 125
Rep. Hewett, E. 039
Rep. Holder-Winfield, G.
094
Rep. Hovey, D. 112
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Rep. Orange, L. 048
Rep. Perillo, J. 113
Sen. Prague, E. S19
Rep. Rebimbas, R. 070
Rep. Reynolds, T. 042
Rep. Ritter, E. 038
Rep. Roy, R. 119
Rep. Ryan, K. 139
Rep. Santiago, E. 130
Rep. Sawyer, P. 055
Rep. Schofield, L. 016
Sen. Slossberg, G. S14
Rep. Stripp, J. 135
Rep. Tercyak, P. 026
Rep. Thompson, J. 013
Rep. Urban, D. 043
Rep. Villano, P. 091
Rep. Walker, T. 093
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Rep. Willis, R. 064
X
X
Rep. Wood, T. 141
X
The Appropriations Committee sent the bill to the House. Several
legislators offered House Amendment Schedule ‘A’ that (1) eliminates
provisions relating to (a) the parent petition as a means to reconstitute a
school, (b) innovation schools, (c) teacher evaluation, and (d) credit for
online course work; (2) changes the make up of the governance councils to
include more teachers and fewer parents; (3) makes changes to the
governance council duties and to steps in the reconstitution process; (4)
specifies that a school may not be reconstituted until the council has existed
for at least two years; (5) adds provisions requiring SDE to evaluate and
report on school governance councils, the reconstituted schools, and the
reconstitution models; and (6) transfers the Parent Trust Fund from DSS to
SDE and allows it to receive state money. The House adopted House
Amendment Schedule ‘A’ and passed the bill as amended by a unanimous
vote. The bill died in the Senate with no action but was incorporated into
SB 438.
100
HB 5489: AN ACT CONCERNING SECONDARY SCHOOL
REFORM. Died. (Passed as part of SB 438 see above)
This bill was introduced by the Education Committee and co-sponsored by
Rep. Mushinsky (D-Wallingford), Rep. Reynolds (D-Gales Ferry), Sen.
Gaffey (D-Meriden), and Rep. Lyddy (D-Newtown). It would have
increased high school graduation requirements contingent on the State
Department of Education (SDE) applying for and receiving federal funding
to support the changes. The new requirements started with the class of 2017,
but only if the federal funding covers the entire cost of implementing them
for the classes of 2017 and 2018. It required SDE, if it is able to secure the
federal funding, to provide grants to school districts, to implement the new
requirements starting in FY 12.
Testifying in support of the bill at the public hearing were Mark McQuillan,
Commissioner of Education; Representative Mary Mushinsky; Mary Loftus
Levine, from the Connecticut Education Association (CEA); Judith B.
Greiman, from the Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges
(CCIC); The Connecticut Association of Schools; Alice Pritchard, from the
Connecticut Women's Education and Legal Fund (CWEALF); Sadie
Davidson DeVore, an art teacher; Kim Yannon, from the Connecticut Music
Educators Association; Mary G. Williams; Susan Striker, from Greenwich
Public Schools; Barbara Skrebutenas; and many others. Testifying in
opposition were Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM); Deacon
David Reynolds, from the CT Catholic Public Affairs Conference; Patti
Fusco, from the West Haven Federation of Teachers; Peter Wolfgang, from
the Family Institute of Connecticut; Valerie Barbier, a student ant Trinity
College; James F. Farrell, from Meriden; Robert E. Muckle Sr., from
Waterbury; and Katherine Wilson, from the League of Women Voters.
The Education Committee passed the bill by a vote of 24 to 8. Following is
the roll call vote:
Voting
Yea
Nay
Abstain
24
8
0
TOTALS
32
Absent and Not
Voting
0
yea nay abstain absent
Sen. Gaffey, T. S13
Rep. Fleischmann, A. 018
Rep. Bartlett, J. 002
Sen. Boucher, A. S26
Sen. Caligiuri, S. S16
Voice Vote
yea nay abstain absent
Rep. Reynolds, T. 042
Sen. Stillman, A. S20
Rep. Wood, T. 141
X
X
X
X
X
101
X
X
X
Rep. Conway, M. 061
Rep. Cook, M. 065
Rep. Davis, P. 117
Sen. Fonfara, J. S01
Rep. Genga, H. 010
Rep. Grogins, A. 129
Rep. Giuliano, M. 023
Rep. Hamm, G. 034
Rep. Heinrich, D. 101
Rep. Hornish, M. 062
Rep. Hwang, T. 134
Rep. Jarmoc, K. 059
Rep. Johnson, S. 049
Rep. Klarides, T. 114
Rep. Labriola, D. 131
Rep. LeGeyt, T. 017
Rep. Lesser, M. 100
Rep. Lewis, J. 008
Rep. Lyddy, C. 106
Rep. McCrory, D. 007
Sen. McDonald, A. S27
Rep. Mikutel, S. 045
Rep. Miller, P. 145
Rep. Nafis, S. 027
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
The Education Committee sent the bill to the Appropriations Committee.
The Appropriations Committee passed the bill by a vote of 38 to 18, largely
along party lines except for the following Democrats who voted “No”: Sen.
Hartley (D-Waterbury) and Rep. Willis (D-Sharon).
The Appropriations Committee sent the bill to the House where it died with
no action taken.
SB441- AN ACT CONCERNING PARENTAL ENGAGEMENT IN
SCHOOLS. Died. (A version passed as part of SB 439 above)
This bill was introduced by the Education Committee and co-sponsored by
Rep. Lyddy (D-Newtown). The original bill was basically a vehicle for
language the Education Committee wanted to pass. It was simply a study of
education issues. The bill as it passed the Education Committee would have
required school districts with low-achieving schools to create parent-teacher
102
advisory councils (PTACs) at the school and district level to advise
principals and superintendents, respectively, on school and district budgets,
annual plans, and any other major policy. At the school level, the councils
would have participated in the hiring process of the school principal or other
administrators by conducting candidate interviews and reporting on them to
the superintendent and the board of education. Except for conducting and
reporting on interviews, the school level council would have been prohibited
from participating in or providing advice on other personnel decisions,
including the suspension or termination of personnel or other disciplinary
actions. The district wide councils are also prohibited from participating in
or providing advice on any personnel decisions, including the suspension or
termination of personnel or other disciplinary actions. The bill permitted
districts that are not on the low-achieving list to create school councils if
they choose.
There was no testimony given at the public hearing. The Education
Committee proposed substitute language that changed the title from “AN
ACT CONCERNING THE STUDY OF EDUCATION ISSUES” to the
current title. The content was changed to the description above. The
Education Committee passed the substitute bill by a unanimous vote. The
Education Committee sent the bill to the Appropriations Committee. The
Appropriations Committee also passed the bill by a unanimous vote. The
bill was sent to the Senate where it died with no action.
HB5165- AN ACT CONCERNING HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION
REQUIREMENTS. Died (passed as part of SB439 above).
This bill was introduced by the Program Review and Investigations (PR&I)
and co-sponsored by Rep. Mushinsky (D-Wallingford). It would have
implemented the recommendations of the Legislative Program Review and
Investigations committee concerning alignment of post-secondary education
and employment. The bill included the same curriculum reform proposal as
HB 5489, AAC Secondary School Reform.
The bill died In PR& I by a vote of 5 to 7 and the yes votes were Rep.
Mushinsky (D-Wallingford), Sen. DeFronzo (D-New Britain), Sen. Fonfara
(D-Hartford), Sen. Maynard (D-Stonington), and Rep. Urban (D-North
Stonington).
103
*It is important to note that the Program Review and Investigations
Committee is a Joint Committee, which means it has an even number of
Democrats and Republicans, and an even number of Senators and
Representatives. It does not reflect the partisan makeup of the General
Assembly – so a party line vote, which will lead to a tie, will kill a bill. In
this case, all Republicans present voted against the bill and picked up one
Democrat’s vote- Rep. Brendan Sharkey.
104