Committees of the Connecticut General Assembly

The Select Committee on Aging members shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. In addition, the chairpersons and ranking members of the Committees on Human Services and Public Health shall be ex officio members of the committee, but without the right to vote on this committee, and shall be given written notice of all meetings of the committee. Said committee may conduct public hearings, may issue reports of its findings and may originate and report any bill it deems necessary concerning senior citizens. Any bill favorably reported by said committee shall be referred to the appropriate joint standing committee.

The Appropriations Committee is one of the joint standing committees of the Connecticut General Assembly. It is composed of 58 members: 13 Senators and 45 Representatives.

The committee has cognizance of all matters relating to appropriations and the budgets of state agencies. Other issues under the committee’s jurisdiction include matters relating to state employees’ salaries, benefits and retirement, teachers’ retirement and veterans’ pensions and collective bargaining agreements and arbitration awards for all state employees.

The Banks Committee has cognizance of all matters relating to banks, savings banks, bank and trust companies, savings and loan associations, credit unions, the supervision of the sale of securities, fraternal benefit societies and all legislation dealing with secured and unsecured lending.

The Children’s Committee members are appointed by the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. In addition, the chairpersons and ranking members of the committees on education, human services, public health and judiciary shall be ex officio members of the committee, but without the right to vote on this committee, and shall be given written notice of all meetings of the committee. Said committee may conduct public hearings, may issue reports of its findings and may originate and report any bill it deems necessary concerning children. Any bill favorably reported by said committee shall be referred to the appropriate joint standing committee.

The Commerce Committee has cognizance of all matters relating to the Department of Economic and Community Development, the Connecticut Development Authority and Connecticut Innovations, Incorporated.

The Education Committee has cognizance of all matters relating to the Department of Education; local and regional boards of education and the substantive law of collective bargaining covering teachers and professional employees of such boards; vocational rehabilitation; the Commission on the Arts; and libraries, museums and historical and cultural associations.

The Energy and Technology Committee has cognizance of all matters relating to the Department of Public Utility Control and energy planning and activities.

The Environment Committee has cognizance of all matters relating to the Department of Environmental Protection, including conservation, recreation, pollution control, fisheries and game, state parks and forests, water resources and flood and erosion control; and all matters relating to the Department of Agriculture, including farming, dairy products and domestic animals.

The Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee, members of which shall be the Majority Leader of the Senate or his designee, the Minority Leader of the Senate or his designee, and four members of the Senate three of whom shall be appointed by the President Pro Tempore and one of whom shall be appointed by the Minority Leader, and the Majority Leader of the House or his designee, the Minority Leader of the House or his designee, and fifteen members of the House, nine of whom shall be appointed by the Speaker and six of whom shall be appointed by the Minority Leader. All executive and legislative nominations requiring action of either or both Houses, except judicial nominations and nominations of workers’ compensation commissioners, shall be referred to this committee.

The Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee is one of the joint committees of the Connecticut General Assembly. It is comprised of 56 members; 12 Senate and 44 House.

The Finance Committee has jurisdiction over all matters relating to finance, revenue, capital bonding, fees and taxation. The committee also has cognizance over employer contributions for unemployment compensation and all matters relating to the Department of Revenue Services and the revenue aspects of the Division of Special Revenue.

The General Law Committee has cognizance of all matters relating to fair trade and sales practices, consumer protection, occupational licensing and mobile homes; and all matters dealing with alcoholic beverages.

The Government Administration and Elections Committee has cognizance of all matters relating to the Department of Administrative Services, including purchasing and central collections, but excluding personnel and labor relations; all matters relating to the Department of Public Works; all matters relating to state government organization and reorganization, structures and procedures; all matters relating to leasing, construction, maintenance, purchase and sale of state property and facilities and all bills authorizing the conveyance of real property, or any interest therein, by the state shall be referred to said committee; the Freedom of Information Commission and the Ethics Commission; state and federal relations; interstate compacts; compacts between the state and Indian tribes; constitutional amendments, including any proposed constitutional amendments favorably reported by any other committee, which proposed amendments shall be referred to said committee; and all matters relating to elections and election laws.

The Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee has cognizance of all matters relating to public and independent colleges and universities, the Department of Higher Education including private occupational schools, the Board of Governors of Higher Education, post-secondary education and job training institutions and programs, apprenticeship training programs, adult job training programs offered to the public by any state agency or funded in whole or in part by the state, and the Office of Workforce Competitiveness.

The Housing Committee has cognizance of all matters relating to housing and housing programs.

The Human Services Committee has cognizance of all matters relating to the Department of Social Services and the Department of Children and Families, including institutions under their jurisdiction; the Office of Child Day Care; the Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities; the Commission on the Deaf and the Hearing Impaired; and the Board of Education and Services for the Blind.

The Insurance and Real Estate Committee has cognizance of all matters relating to insurance law and real estate law.

Recognizing the need to provide educational opportunities not typically available to students in the traditional academic setting, the Connecticut General Assembly has established an internship program to acquaint students with both the formal and informal aspects of the legislative process.

Accordingly, the program seeks to encourage a high level of personal interaction between legislators and interns, who serve as aides to their assigned legislators. A major objective of the program is to prepare interns to perform the necessary support services desired by the legislators for whom they are working; i.e. bill analysis and tracking, spot and in-depth research, drafting of news releases and speeches, liaison work, constituent casework, etc.

The Joint Committee on Judiciary has cognizance of all matters relating to courts, judicial procedures, criminal law, probate courts, probation, parole, wills, estates, adoption, divorce, bankruptcy, escheat, law libraries, deeds, mortgages, conveyancing, preservation of land records and other public documents, the law of business organizations, uniform laws, validations, authorizations to sue and to appeal, claims against the state, all judicial nominations, all nominations of workers’ compensation commissioners, and all matters relating to the Judicial Department, the Department of Correction and to the commission on Human Rights and Opportunities; all bills carrying civil penalties which exceed the sum of, or which may exceed in the aggregate, five thousand dollars; and all bills carrying criminal penalties, other than infractions, favorably reported by any other committee shall be referred to said committee, provided the committee’s consideration shall be limited to the criminal penalties established in such bills and shall not extend to their substantive provisions or purpose.

The Labor and Public Employees Committee has cognizance of all matters relating to workers’ compensation, unemployment compensation, conditions of employment, hours of labor, minimum wages, industrial safety, occupational health and safety, labor unions and labor disputes; all matters relating to the Department of Labor; and all matters relating to conditions of employment of state and municipal employees and the substantive law of state and municipal employees’ collective bargaining.

The Joint Committee on Legislative Management conducts the business affairs of the General Assembly. Said committee shall consist of nineteen members of the House who shall be the Speaker, the Deputy Speakers, the Majority Leader, three members appointed by the Majority Leader, four members appointed by the Speaker, the Minority Leader and two Deputy Minority Leaders designated by the Minority Leader of the House and four members designated by the Minority Leader of the House, thirteen members of the Senate who shall be the President Pro Tempore, Majority Leader, a Deputy Majority Leader designated by the Majority Leader, and five members of the Senate designated by the President Pro Tempore, the Minority Leader, an Assistant Minority Leader designated by the Minority Leader and three members of the Senate designated by the Minority Leader. In matters of legislative operations, it shall include the legislative commissioners and the clerks of each House ex officio.

The Joint Committee shall be chaired by the President Pro Tempore and the Speaker. A majority of the membership shall constitute a quorum and all actions shall require the affirmative vote of a majority. At any meeting, if a committee member present of either House requests, a vote of the majority of the members present of each House shall be required for approval of a question. It shall be responsible for the operation of the General Assembly, coordination and supervision of committee work, improvement of legislative operations and deciding on matters of organization, procedures, facilities and working conditions of the General Assembly and compensation of employees of the legislative branch. All bills and resolutions relating to such matters shall be referred to said committee. The committee shall also have cognizance of legislative task forces and studies.

The Planning and Development Committee has cognizance of all matters relating to local governments, housing, urban renewal, fire, sewer and metropolitan districts, home rule and planning and zoning; regional planning and development activities and the State Plan of Conservation and Development, and economic development programs impacting local governments.

The Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee was established by statute in 1972 to strengthen the General Assembly’s capacity for legislative oversight. By law, the twelve-member committee is equally bipartisan and bicameral. The President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the House, and the Senate and House Minority Leaders each appoint three members to the committee.

With no specific subject matter boundaries, the committee’s primary charge is to examine “state government programs and their administration to ascertain whether such programs are effective, continue to serve their intended purposes, are conducted in an efficient and effective manner, or require modification or elimination.” It may raise and report out bills related to these examinations.

Further, an agency subject to a program review must take necessary corrective action if the review cites inadequate operating or administrative system controls or procedures, inaccuracies, waste, extravagance, unauthorized or unintended activities or programs, or other deficiencies.

In addition, the committee is authorized to conduct investigations on “any matter” when required by a joint resolution of the General Assembly or, when the legislature is not in session, by a joint standing committee, or at its own initiative, subject to the approval of the Joint Committee on Legislative Management.

The Public Health Committee is one of the joint standing committees of the Connecticut General Assembly. It has cognizance of all programs and matters relating to the Department of Public Health; the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and the Department of Developmental Services; the Office of Health Care Access; and all other matters relating to health, including emergency medical services, all licensing boards within the Department of Public Health, nursing homes, pure food and drugs, and controlled substances, including the treatment of substance abuse.

The Public Safety and Security Committee has cognizance of all matters relating to homeland security, the Department of Public Safety, including state police, state organized task force on crime, municipal police training, fire marshals, the fire safety code and the state building code, civil preparedness and legalized gambling, and military and veterans’ affairs, except veterans’ pensions.

While the Legislative Regulation Review Committee has been in existence since 1972, it was a November 24, 1982 amendment to the State’s Constitution which provided the authority for the General Assembly to adopt the current structure of the committee.

It is the responsibility of the Legislative Regulation Review Committee to review regulations proposed by state agencies and approve them before regulations are implemented. This position was adopted since all regulation have the force of law, and it is important that regulations do not contravene the legislative intent, or conflict with current state or federal laws, or state or federal constitutions.

This joint bipartisan committee is made up of 14 members: 6 senators and 8 representatives divided equally by party. In keeping with the bipartisan nature of the committee the chairmanship of the committee changes every two years. Pairing either a Senate Democrat and a House Republican or a Senate Republican and a House Democrat as co-chairs.

The Transportation Committee has cognizance of all matters relating to the Department of Transportation, including highways and bridges, navigation, aeronautics, mass transit and railroads; and to the State Traffic Commission and the Department of Motor Vehicles.

The Veterans’ Affairs Committee members shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. In addition, the chairpersons and ranking members of the committee on public safety and security shall be ex-officio members of the committee, but without the right to vote on this committee, and shall be given written notice of all meetings of the committee. Said committee may conduct public hearings, may issue reports of its findings and may originate and report any bill it deems necessary concerning military and veterans affairs, except veterans’ pensions. Any bill favorably reported by said committee shall be referred to the appropriate joint standing committee.