CT House Floor Session — 2026-05-06

Top of the morning. How's everybody doing today?

Closing day, May 6th, 2026.

Alright. You guys are in a good mood.

So before you take on a posture of prayer, I would love for you to just look around for a moment at one another. And maybe even just share a word of gratitude, like, thank you.

Excellent. Alright.

It is great. It is amazing for you to share with one another words of gratitude. And let us be in that spirit of prayer. Gracious and faithful God, on this final day of the legislative session, we come before you with full hearts, carrying the weight of months of work, the burdens we have borne, and the hopes we have held. You have seen every late night and every early morning, every difficult decision, every moment of conviction and compromise. You have been present, oh god, in the chambers, in the conversations, in the tension, and in the small quiet victories. And so today, we pause to say goodbye, well. With gratitude for the work that has been done, for relationships strengthened sn/rr 4 and lessons learned. With humility for what remains unfinished, and for the ways we have fallen short of the good we sought to do. Teach us to release this season with grace, not clinging to what could have been, but trusting that no faithful effort is ever wasted in your sight. As we step away from this work for a time, grant us rest for weary minds and bodies. Peace for spirits stretched thin, and renewal for the days ahead. And when we question whether it mattered, remind us of your enduring promise that service offered with sincerity, justice sought with courage, and love practiced in the public square is never ever in vain. So send us forth from this place with your blessing, carrying both the weight and the wonder of this calling, and may we hear in ways both quiet and clear. Well done, good and faithful servants. Amen.

Alright. I think we're going to do it. We'll do announcements now and then we'll have plenty of time. So there'll be different phases of announcements. So save your special ones if you want, sn/rr 6 and we'll start with Representative Mastrofrancesco of the 80. You have the last number in Quito. You have the floor, Madam.

Yes. You may proceed, Madam.

Hang on. One second. One second. [gavel] I know it's an exciting day, and I know we have a lot of guests, but the representative is trying to, have us honor someone who served her town with great distinction. If we could just keep the voices down, please. Thank you.

Absolutely. sn/rr 8

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise for an introduction.

sn/rr 9 Mr. Speaker, today, I have with me Doctor Celeste Johnson, and it is her 80th birthday. But before we wish her a happy birthday, I just wanted to give a little bit of an introduction. Doctor Johnson is a Trailblazing educator, leader, and woman of deep faith in Hartford's North End. She has partnered with the city to lead youth initiatives that have strengthened families and expanded opportunities. She also served as the first lady of Urban Hope Refuge Church on Barber Street in Hartford's, 5th District and is the mother of Pastor AJ Johnson, the current pastor of the church and also the deputy chaplain of this assembly. I would like the assembly to join me in wishing her a very happy 80th birthday today, on our last day.

Good morning, Mr. Speaker. Happy CNA DA. I rise for an introduction.

The two gentlemen sitting in the well of the house need no introduction. But, Russ Morin, my predecessor, who also served on our board of Ed, on our town council, and is mayor of Wethersfield is here. And our current mayor, Ken Lesser, is here. So I'd love us all to give him a great round of applause. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, just rise for a quick announcement.

Mr. Speaker, I just really want to thank you, our Majority Leader, our Minority Leader, all of the floor management team and the staff. Because I have to tell you, Mr. Speaker, in my eight years of being here as a legislator and the years before that, about 10 years as a staffer, this has been one of the smoothest sessions working together to get things done for the people of Connecticut. sn/rr 12 I think you've got us home every single session night before midnight, or at least we gabbled out and people had time to get home safely. But not just getting home early, we really just did such amazing things and wouldn't have happened without the leadership of this chamber on both sides of the aisle. So wholeheartedly, thank you, from our families and from us, for everything you all do. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise for the purpose of an introduction. sn/rr 13

Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker. As we leave here today, we are all thinking about all the people we're grateful for. And I would like to introduce two of the wonderful and amazing interns that I was able to work with this year who were such an important part of the public health team. We have Antonia Kambolis, who is graduating from Trinity this year, and Emily Goins, who is graduating from the Yale School of Public Health. And Emily is ironically headed back to Seattle, which is where I came to Connecticut from outside Seattle. Emily's going to be joining, Seattle Children's. And I would like to say thank you to the two of them for the amazing work that they've done, and thank you to every intern and everyone who supports us in the work we do here in the chamber. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

And you brought coach Smith, so I know it's important.

Yeah. Is Keyon here? He's late? Should we wait for him? Should we skip Representative Garibay? Give him a second to get here? No? Alright. We'll go ahead. Go ahead, Representative Garibay. The chairman of the Aging Committee, you have the floor Madam.

sn/rr 17 Thank you, Representative Garibay, and thanks to everybody from Windsor for being here. Congratulations on all your successes. It is quite the accomplishment to win the way you win. And for those of us who know Coach Smith and his family, you have a real legend in your chamber today. And so if you get a chance to say hi and congratulate him, I recommend you do that. Representative Dathan of the 142nd. You have the floor Madam..

You may proceed, Madam Chair.

Well said. Thank you, Representative Dathan. Looks like we got a few more. Representative Courpas of the 149th, I hope your drive wasn't too much this morning, Madam. sn/rr 19

Mr. Speaker, I rise for a point of personal privilege.

The state and the town of Greenwich lost a great person in the death of William Cameron, earlier this winter. Bill Cameron is a 12th generation resident of the town of Greenwich. He attended Greenwich High School, graduated in 1959. sn/rr 20 He then served in the US Navy and upon his return completed his education at UConn. After that, Bill served for 40 years as a mechanical foreman at Metro North. But more than all of these things, Bill was a true renaissance man. He served as the shellfish commissioner to the town of Greenwich. He was a painter who has two of his navy ships, displayed in the US Naval Museum in Buffalo, New York. He was an avid historian who contributed many finds to the Greenwich Historical Society, and he was an avid fisherman. Bill kept a journal of every fishing trip he'd ever been on. So if you ever fished with Bill, your name, and what you caught, and the date on which you caught it, is preserved in a journal for all of time. Please join me in a moment of silence in recognizing this true giant and loss to our state. May his memory be eternal.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise for a point of personal privilege.

I know, I was surprised to see you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I will note, we are going to have a, sometime today dedicated to the retirements. So, for folks who may be arriving late, we'll get a chance to recognize them in sn/rr 25 a little bit as well. Representative Iris Sanchez of the 25th from New Britain. It's wonderful to see you this morning, Madam. How are you? REP. SÀNCHEZ (25TH): Good morning, Mr. Speaker. I rise for a point of personal privilege.

One of the hardest things to do in this chamber is to come in, in the event year, late into the even year of the session. Actually, Representative Exum also came in pretty late, but I think it was an odd year. But I would only say that you've got up to speed quickly. It's been a pleasure to work with you, and we look forward to seeing you back next year and continued growth. So thank you, Representative Sánchez. Representative Biggins, and I'm noticing your suit. It's very pink. I forgot to wear pink. [00:24:58 crosstalk] It's just fatigue.

It's not intentional. This is kind of close. sn/rr 27

I'm here with my daughter, Kathleen, who, late to the party decided to get introduced. So I would like to ask everyone to give a round of applause for my daughter, Kathleen. [00:25:16 - clapping]

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for that last minute. I do appreciate it. I rise for a point of personal privilege. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to acknowledge my friend who just finally walked into the room. We're always moving around. We're saying our goodbyes. And even though Milford is only a population of 50,000 plus, I'm sure we'll see each other around. But I just want to say a huge thank you to my friend and our colleague, Frank Smith. He's not returning. I don't know if he's listening over there, but I have been around with Frank in various areas of politics in Milford for about 25 years now. I will miss him. I will miss, his guidance and talking about various things with him that impact our community. So thank you and, God bless you, Frank Smith.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You sound like an auctioneer. A great talent--.

Great talent you have. I was sitting here thinking I wasn't going to speak, but I think it's really important that today we recognize our families and our friends at home who have tolerated these early mornings, late nights. We all carry things around that nobody might know about that's going on at home, but we have this amazing, I call it wonderful dysfunctional but deeply caring family. And from my heart to all of you, I'm grateful for that, and I'm just grateful for my family. sn/rr 30 And my youngest is taking her AP physics exam this morning, so good luck, Murielle. And thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise for a personal point of privilege, please.

sn/rr 31 I stand here with Representative Nicole Klarides-Ditria and would love to introduce you to Graydon. In Region 16, about a month and a half or two months ago, some of the students from our school district were on a school bus and were T-boned by a drunk driver. And two young ladies were really extremely in critical condition. Graydon is a EMR, and, he was so brave and courageous. He jumped out of the bus and took care of these young girls until everybody else arrived and took care of his high school friends. So, we're really grateful for young men and women that do these kinds of things, especially when something like this happens that's very, nerve wracking, scary. And for him to have the courage to do what he did is pretty incredible. So would y'all please help me welcome him, his mom, his dad, and his stepdad to the chamber today.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise for a point of personal privilege and announcement.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise because in recognition of it being the last day of session, I wanted to make sure that our COVID class will be joining together in the well for a photo at 11am, to make sure that our dear colleague, Rep. Exum is here. So COVID class, the best class there could ever be at 11am, in the well of the house for our photo. Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker.

Favorable reports senate bills and senate joint resolutions.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good morning. I move we waive the reading of the senate favorable reports and the bills and the resolutions be tabled for the Calendar pursuant to house rule 11- g.

sn/rr 34 And the daily Calendar.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Briefly, if I may, two announcements.

One, my son is graduating from Providence College, my youngest, next weekend. Missed a lot of his events but, he's the twenty fifth of my uncles, cousins, and siblings, along with myself, to graduate from Providence College. So for the, sake of my son, if we give him a round of applause for being the 25th, I'd appreciate it.

25. Uncles, cousins, siblings.

I'm working on it.

Keep Representative Zullo under control down there. I don't want a lot of noise coming from that caucus room. We're going to go into caucus too. I don't know who wants to bring us into that. Representative Johnson, Rojas. Yeah.

Alright. We'll be, recess, and we'll be in caucuses. Let's try to get back out here for 11:15 ish. That sound good? Alright.

sn/rr 37 Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today for an announcement.

I'd like to give a big shout out to all the nurses today on Nurse Day here in the chamber. I know the nurse have been very kind to us in the past and shout out to firefighters, so now it's our turn. And a special thank you to my wife who is not here, but is also a nurse. So congratulations to all the nurses. Let's give him a big round of applause. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

sn/rr 38 Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker. For purposes of an announcement

Thank you. I'm here with Representative Zupkus, and our good friend who is ambassador for Best Buddies, Margo Meley. Please give her a warm welcome. She's been here, working and volunteering, doing various things, and she's been a great proponent for people who have disabilities. So please give her a great welcome.

sn/rr 39 Page 40, Calendar 555, Substitute for Senate Bill Number 362. An act concerning revisions to statutes relating to municipal property tax assessment. Favorable report of planning and development.

Good morning, Mr. Speaker, and happy CNA DA. This morning, I move for acceptance of the joint favorable, report and passage of the bill.

sn/rr 40 Thank you so much. In a quick summary, this bill seeks to make some changes to current municipal property tax assessments. It's coming to us from both the tax assessors and OPM. It includes reevaluation procedures and appeal timelines. And I would just point out that there's a very specific language change that our municipalities and our taxpayers have asked for, that we are going back to treating the assessed 20 year old vehicles at no more than $500. Unfortunately, they were overvalued, when we switched to MSRP, so we just wanted to make sure to make this correction so that more taxpayer group dollars are going back into their pockets. Through you, Mr. Speaker, I move adoption.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And yes, this is just generally the assessor's bill. They're asking for some fixes in the tax sn/rr 41 calculations, but I am, certainly happy that they did the change to the older vehicle taxes. So this is a good bill that I'll pass. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The house of representatives is voting by roll, members to the chamber. The house of representatives is voting by roll, members to the chamber.

Total number voting 139 Necessary for passage 70 Those voting Yea 139 Those voting Nay 0 Absent, not voting 12

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I move for suspension of our rules for immediate consideration of Calendar 580. sn/rr 43

House Calendar 580, Substitute for Senate Bill Number 477 as Amended by Senate "A", LCO 6140 and Senate "B", 6173. An act concerning the failure to file for certain grand list exemptions and a municipal option to abate delinquent property taxes on certain parcels of land. Favorable report of finance.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's nice to see January 28th represented so well up there on the dais today.

Mr. Speaker, I move for acceptance of the Joint Committee’s Favorable Report and passage of the bill as amended by Senate Amendment Schedule "A", LCO 6140 and "B", LCO 6173 in concurrence with the senate.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, they say that every great painter needs an eraser. Apparently, every great legislature needs a bill that comes along towards the end of Section and says, it's okay. We can fix it. sn/rr 45 And that, Mr. Speaker, is what the bill in front of us does today. The errors, that we are correcting were made by humans, hardworking, occasionally over caffeinated, working with stiff deadlines, sometimes little sleep. And as the title suggests, we are helping out those who failed to file by giving them a little extra time. We are correcting statutory references, adding missing definitions, removing duplicate Sections, adding fail safe language, correcting the name of a regional organization, and honoring a very special Connecticut bird. I urge my colleagues to support this measure, not because it's glamorous. There will not likely be a press conference on this cleanup bill, But because, it is an important effort to make sure our laws are coherent, and so when that future lawyer 10 years from now wants to look at them, they can make sense. So with that, Mr. Speaker, I urge passage.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good morning, and great to see you up there.

Mr. Speaker, I rise with just a few brief questions, to the proponent of the bill, through you.

sn/rr 47 Mr. Speaker, before I ask my questions, I just want to say that this is a fairly large document, and I do realize that a good majority of this document are, as the good chair said, a number of fixes to our budget adjustment. So, with that, I will take her at her word and those that worked, to craft this document. And I realize that sometimes, as Representative Horn said, our staff works, into late hours and there are issues with the underlying bill and we need to come back and fix some of them. That's part of our job. We do understand that. And for that, I am grateful that there are some fixes, and they are bipartisan fixes. There's issues, in here from both caucuses that I am pleased that were addressing. For that, I will say thank you. And through you, Mr. Speaker, a question regarding, delaying the revaluation for the City of Hartford. If the good chair could just explain a little bit, about that Section and why we are doing it, for just Hartford? Through you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thanks, to the ranking member for all his good work, and that of his caucus and our caucus in addressing some of these issues today. The Hartford revaluation issue is fairly straightforward. It just merely delays the reval. by a year to give Hartford, the opportunity to take stock of the pretty dramatic changes in pricing and taxation that are happening. Through you, Mr. Speaker.

And thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the good chair for her response to that. I will only add briefly that we all know up here that revaluation hits the taxpayers the hardest in our local municipalities, something that we have tried to address this year with our injection of more monies to our towns and cities. sn/rr 49 And I know that just in my town, property taxes have risen some 30%, since the pandemic. And while I'm glad that, you know, we're thankful, that we're honoring this for the City of Hartford, I would like to see more work around reevaluation in the future because it does disproportionately impact those many people that are on fixed incomes, or struggling or below the poverty line, that own homes in our individual district. So again, I thank the good chair for her answer, but we need to do a lot more work in this building on revaluation and the issues surrounding it. Through you, Mr. Speaker, if the good chair could just, another question, explain, Section, 13, regarding the salary increases in the judicial branch and whether or not those were included in the original document and what they entail? Through you.

sn/rr 50 Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the good gentleman for his question. And it's good to see you guys up there on our last day. This is great. Yes. On the Section for the judges, we did not have all of the judges that were listed for receiving the increase, and this just adds that and shores up all the names to make sure that all of them are incorporated in that. Through you, Mr. Speaker.

And thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the good chair of the Appropriations Committee for the explanation. My final question is, surrounding the hospital tax fix. I know that we have had a multitude of conversations in this building over the past several months regarding the hospital tax. There's been stakeholders meetings, meeting after meeting. It seems like, leadership on both sides of the aisle have negotiated sn/rr 51 this. Through you, Mr. Speaker, to the good chair. I believe this would be a finance. Could the good chair just explain, if there are any major changes here, if both sides have been consulted, and will this impact our hospitals in any way? Through you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And again, thanks to the ranking member for again, finding the most complicated part of the bill. But it's also very important, so I'm glad to be able to draw attention to it. No. The changes in here are minor changes, and I'll just summarize. They occur in several different Sections. There are hospital tax fixes in Sections 18 through 20, that makes minor changes to include the children's hospital in the statute, and moves a trigger to make sure as we mentioned when we debated the underlying budget, sn/rr 52 the hospital tax proposal, that was in it has to be approved by the federal government, by CMS. And we wanted to make sure we had language in here, that would protect us or make sure what was going to be in place, should that not pass muster for some reason. And so this includes that fail safe language to make sure what plan is in place should it not, be approved by the federal government. We've also corrected in Sections 28, sorry, 26 through 28. Correcting internal, statutory references. And in Section 33, it enables that the good Finance Revenue and Bonding Committee will be the recipient of a report. Through you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the good chair for her very detailed response to a very complicated issue that we've been dealing with here, in this building for the past several months. sn/rr 53 So, with that, that concludes my questions for, this particular bill. But I just will make some closing remarks that, this bill is extensive. I am thankful for the changes that have been made that were, I think, needed. And I do realize, as I said in my opening remarks, that any piece of legislation that we pass in this building, oftentimes is not perfect and we need to do some cleanups. So I'm glad that this is before us, and thank you to the chairs of the Finance Committee and the Appropriations Committee for answering my questions. I will continue to listen to the debate and hopefully this will be the final bill that we need to deal with, so we can finally take our budget adjustment and move forward with it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

sn/rr 54 Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just a couple of questions for the good chair of appropriations.

Thank you. I was wondering if you could please give us a little detail behind Section 12, which is in relation to the state education resource council, and what the study is that they're going to be doing? Sir, through you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank the general lady, for this question. I assume that you're talking about the resource council, SERC. Is that correct? Through you, Mr. Speaker. sn/rr 55

That is correct, Sir. Thank you.

Yes. Through you, Mr. Speaker, that basically is just separating out and creating an individual line item, for that item for SERC. Through you, Mr. Speaker.

sn/rr 56 Thank you, Sir. And then, in section 21 regarding the auditors to retain $200,000 of their unspent funding, I was wondering if the lovely chair can please elaborate on why they need to keep $200,000 as a carry forward, Sir? Through you.

Through you, Mr. Speaker, we believe that they lapsed some of that because they didn't have the funding early enough, so we're allowing them to carry forward that, in order for them to complete what they're tasked with. Through you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Sir. And then, in Section 40 with the optometrist parity, is this going to be something that is taken out of the sn/rr 57 existing expectation of increase in Medicaid funding, Sir? Through you.

Through you, Mr. Speaker. Let me just make sure we're talking about, Section 40? Through you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes. Yes, Sir. That is correct.

Through you, Mr. Speaker, it is basically just giving both of them, the optometrist and the ophthalmologist, identical abilities to deduct from Medicaid for the services that they are rendering. Through you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Sir. And then in Section 54, regarding Bridgeport and the MBR, I was wondering if you could just clarify what we're doing in that Section? Sir, through you.

sn/rr 59 Yes. Through you, Mr. Speaker, this allows Bridgeport to exempt their one time municipal funding from the MBR if one is not enough. They have the ability to draw down, but not beyond what their budget is, what we have allowed of them. Through you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Sir. I'm sorry. Just going through these very harried notes that I have here. One second. In Section 56, could you please just clarify the eligibility of the students that are participating in the finish line scholarship program? Sir, through you.

sn/rr 60 If you could give me a moment, I'll pull it up because we have it in the document and I don't have all the details. Just one second. Through you, Mr. Speaker, during the fall of semester 2025 or spring semester 2026, and any semester thereafter, enrollees as a full time, part time student for the fall semester '26. Those are the people that will be eligible for this. Through you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Sir. The next question that I have, I think, would probably be for, Representative Blumenthal, but I don't see him in the chamber, Sir.

sn/rr 61 It is in regard to the fix for, I believe it was 5001.

Representative Walker.

Representative Nuccio, I believe, Representative Blumenthal is entering the chamber now. Can you repeat your question?

Representative Blumenthal.

Representative Nuccio.

Representative Blumenthal.

Representative Nuccio.

Representative Blumenthal.

Representative Nuccio.

Representative Blumenthal.

Representative Nuccio.

Representative Blumenthal.

Representative Nuccio.

You may proceed.

Representative--.

Sure. In Section 53, we're talking about the Northeast Region workforce board. I was wondering if the good chair could just elaborate a little bit on what we're doing in that Section there? Sir, through you.

Yes. Through you, Mr. Speaker. Thank the gentle lady for that question. The Section 53 is about the youth employment program. As sn/rr 70 the good lady knows that, we updated the formula that is used for the workforce investment for the youth employment. And as we did that, we had to change the data that we used because we were using data that was quite old. Because of that, it changed some of the amounts that were there, and the Northeast section of Connecticut I mean, yeah, Northeast Region ended up losing money. So we're asking to hold them whole until we can redo the formula a little bit better, so that they don't end up losing more money so that we balance it out, through you. I'm sorry. It's Northwest. Sorry. Not Northeast.

Thank you, Sir. My notes said Northeast.

Representative Walker.

Representative Nuccio.

I'm just in the way. sn/rr 72

Representative Walker.

Section 80.

Sure. Section 80, I was wondering if she could just explain what we're doing in that Section there. Sir, through you.

Okay. Through you, Mr. Speaker, to the gentle lady. Yes. What we're doing is we're allowing Hartford to use part of their money that they've been allocated up to $5,000,000 funding of the current fiscal year to close some potential deficits that they have in their budget. They will not be able to get more than what they're allocated. It's just a drawdown on what is allocated in the current budget. Through you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Sir.

Thank you, Sir. The last question I have is in Section 501, regarding the, law enforcement training that's happening in conjunction with DESP and Southern Connecticut, State University. I was wondering if the good chair could just explain a little bit about what's happening in that Section. Sir, through you.

Yes. Through you, Mr. Speaker. This is funding that had been set up last year for a program that was going to be designed and developed with Southern Connecticut State University and the Department of Emergency Services. And some of the money had gotten into the DESP account, and we had to move it back over to Southern. So it's shoring up the balance to make sure that the social work program is paid for. Through you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's all the questions that I have today.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon.

Mr. Speaker, I have a few comments and a few questions.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We're here looking at a 105 Section Bill, 117 pages. I just heard that this is a cleanup bill, just fixes. When we got this bill, read through it, I have some sn/rr 77 questions to the good proponent. So if it's a cleanup bill, we're just fixing things. What is Section 49? Through you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Section 49, that is a transfer of, when MIRA dissolved, a fund was set up by OPM, off budget non- lapsing fund, for the purposes of operating and finishing the cleanup for the transfer stations. I fully believe that, that money was fully intended, to be-- , has been used since the creation of the fund for the operation of the Torrington Transfer Station, which we recently voted to transfer, convey from, DIS, which currently owns it, to the Northwest the public municipal agency, the Northwest Resource Recovery Authority, and this transfers $500,000 from that account set up by OPM to the NRRA. Through you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's what I thought it was. And I just have a few comments. Back in, February 27, DAS sent letters out to the municipalities stating that there were no monies. They couldn't subsidize the tipping fees anymore. I took that as the mirror [01:13:35 distillation?] fund was gone. So if there was money, maybe we should have all gotten together and talked, extended it for a year, so that we could get a solid plan together and move this project forward. This isn't a fix. This is an add. This wasn't in any other bill. Mr. Speaker, there's no MOU signed for this group. The board members haven't even been voted in. There's only three there. The mirror resolution account is supposedly empty. I'm not too sure where this money comes from. I understand that it was spoken on the floor the other day when the conveyance came out. I think the exact words, absolutely. The state will not be required to fund anything for this project. sn/rr 79 That was said here. Now we got $500,000. I just want to be careful. We're putting something forward. We're doing something that's seriously unbaked. Hasn't even made it to the kitchen, but now we're putting money towards it. No MOU, no contract, and the current hauler, that's in the Torrington system is going to be booted out and another one's coming in, per conversations. We got to get our act together. This is a fix it bill. Not really. We're adding things. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have no questions for the chairs of the probes or, Finance Committee. And this is no comment about them. They're great people. I like them and respect them very much. sn/rr 80 But, they got what was handed to them from the senate. So they have to deal with it. This is just a comment on what we're seeing here this morning. I walked in, see Senate Bill 477 on the board, you know, on our little board there. That we're going to be taking that up. And I thought, oh. That's the bill we always get from Finance Committee. No problem. It's a bunch of towns. I've been in this bill before. I had a business in my town that just goofed up on his taxes, asked me if he could get a break. And this bill does that, just that. What it was supposed to do, set up a break for people that needed one during the year. We set up a little tax break for him, give them time to file correctly. It's done every year. In fact, this was a real short year for it. I think there was only 5 Sections to this bill. Six pages long. So I didn't think too much of it. So I pulled the bill up on the screen and all of a sudden it went from six pages to a 117 pages, 5 Sections to 105 sections. And, just first thing in the morning, I'm over there looking for the ranking members and, you know, what the heck is this all sn/rr 81 about? And it's troubling. I have no--, this session has been pretty good. This session has been very good. The best session, I think, ever with schedule in the house. So my compliments, in absentia, to the speaker of the house, he's been very, very humane with his scheduling. The best one ever in 38 years I've been here. And so, the year's been going good, but I think we've been a little remiss in, and if I may be so naïve, in a bill comes out of committee, that should be, and I guess I'm being a little simplistic here, but that should be the product. The bill's been vetted in committee, public hearing, debate, all kinds of lawyers looking over it. And that should be the product. That should be the final product. And we vote on it. If it's not right, if there's a need to fix it, get it next term. The wheels of governments, turn slowly and they should turn slowly. We shouldn't be adding volumes of bills in our blue books every year. We shouldn't be adding new volumes every year. It should be a few bills every year. And, so just wait till next year. But these are these are fixes, and it's bipartisan fixes. sn/rr 82 There's a few of our ass I see in this bill. So that happens, but it's just not right. This is almost like a mini implementer. You have to go through the Sections and you're seeing all of a sudden bills on, judges salaries, election law, railroads, airports, all kinds of stuff in this bill. And it shouldn't be like that. I guess that's the one bad thing. The one comment I have on this session is, that these strike all's, that all of a sudden have all these, different, pile on, just all these different Sections. So that's my one concern about the bill. And, I think it's valid. There's a lot of discussions I'm hearing on the side about, exactly what, my god, what does this thing do? What's section 89? That kind of thing. So, just to comment on the bill and the process, this year. And I thank you for your time. I thank the chamber for its time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Good afternoon, Mr. Speaker. Great to see you up there today.

sn/rr 85 Thank you, representative. Will you remark further on the bills amended? Representative Fishbein of the 90th. You have the floor, Sir.

You may proceed.

Representative Horn.

Representative Fishbein.

Representative Horn.

Representative Fishbein. sn/rr 87

Representative Walker.

Representative Fishbein. sn/rr 88

Representative Walker.

Representative Fishbein.

Representative Walker.

Representative Fishbein. sn/rr 90

Representative Walker.

Representative Fishbein.

Representative Walker.

Representative Fishbein.

sn/rr 92 Representative Walker.

Representative Fishbein, do you mind, clarifying, your question, please?

Representative Walker.

Representative Fishbein.

Representative Walker.

Representative Fishbein.

Representative, if you wouldn't mind, you're going to--. [gavel] If we could please quiet down in the chamber. We're having trouble, the chairs are having trouble hearing the questions. Representative Fishbein.

Representative Walker.

Through you, Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is correct. Population is one of the three that we use in the formula. Through you, Mr. Speaker.

sn/rr 96 Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And what are the other two? Through you, Mr. Speaker.

Through you, Mr. Speaker, grand list and income.

I didn't--, I heard grand list, I think it was, and I didn't hear the other portion.

Income. Through you, Mr. Speaker. Income.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And how does income, affect the calculation for these towns? Through you, Mr. Speaker.

Through you, Mr. Speaker, could the gentleman stretch that question out a little bit? Answer or the question I don't understand.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, we know that there's three components. There's the grand list.

And there's population. The question is, how does income affect the calculation? If you have a richer community, do you get sn/rr 99 more money? Do you have a poorer community, do you get more money? How does income affect the calculation? Through you, Mr. Speaker.

We are looking it up.

Representative Fishbein.

Representative Walker.

Representative Fishbein.

Representative Walker.

Representative Fishbein.

Representative Walker. sn/rr 102

Representative Fishbein.

sn/rr 103 Representative Walker.

Representative Fishbein.

Representative Horn.

Representative Fishbein.

Representative Horn.

Representative Fishbein.

Representative Horn.

Representative Fishbein.

Thank you, representative. Will you remark further on the bill as amended? Representative Courpas of the 149th, you have the floor.

Representative Horn, do you mind taking the question?

Representative Courpas.

sn/rr 111 Representative Horn.

Representative Courpas.

Thank you, representative. Will you remark further on the bill as amended? Representative O'Dea of the 125th, you have the floor.

You can proceed.

I believe the finance chair is prepared to take the question.

Will the finance chair please prepare herself? Would you care to remark?

Yes, you may.

Representative O'Dea.

Representative Horn.

Representative O'Dea.

Thank you, representative. Will you remark further on the bill as amended? Representative Howard of the 43rd. You have the floor.

sn/rr 120 Representative Horn.

Representative Howard.

Thank you, Representative. Will you remark further on this bill as amended? Representative Marra, you have the floor.

Please proceed.

Representative Steinberg.

sn/rr 131 Representative Marra.

Representative Steinberg.

Representative Marra. sn/rr 132

Representative Steinberg.

Representative Marra.

Representative Steinberg.

Representative Marra.

Thank you, Representative. Representative Steinberg.

Thank you, Representative. Representative Comey of the 102nd District, you have the floor.

I believe it's the Finance Chair. sn/rr 137

sn/rr 138 Representative Horn.

Representative Comey.

Representative Horn.

Chamber will stand at ease. Chamber will come back to order. (gavel) Representative Horn.

Representative Comey.

Thank you, Representative. Will you remark further on the bills? It's going to be the second time. Representative O'Dea of the 125th, you have the floor.

You may proceed. sn/rr 142

Representative Horn.

Representative O'Dea.

Representative Horn.

Representative O'Dea.

Representative Horn.

Representative O'Dea.

Thank you, Representative. Will you remark further on the bill as amended? Will you remark further on the bill as amended? If not, will staff and guests come to the well of the House? Members, please take your seats. The machine will be open.

Have all members voted? Have all members voted? Will the members please check the board to determine if your voter is property cast? If all members have voted, the machine will be locked and the clerk will take a tally. The clerk will please announce the tally.

The bill passes in concurrence with the Senate.

Are there any announcements or introductions? Any announcements or introductions? Representative Berger-Girvalo of the 111th, you have the floor, ma'am. sn/rr 147

Please proceed.

A huge warm welcome to your son. We're glad to have you here. Thank you for sharing your mom with us. Are there any announcements or introductions? Representative Farrar of the 20th, you have the floor.

Please proceed.

sn/rr 150 Hold on one second. Hold on one second, Representative. (gavel) Please take your conversations outside. Have some respect. Representative Farrar.

Congratulations on wonderful careers here in the House, and we wish you well in your next chapter. Are there any further sn/rr 151 announcements or introductions? Representative Johnson of the 143rd, the great city of Norwalk, you have the floor.

Please proceed.

sn/rr 152 Welcome to our chamber. Congratulations. Any announcements or introductions? From the great town of Stratford, Representative Shake, you have the floor.

You may proceed.

Are there any announcements or introduction? The chamber will stand at ease.

Any announcements or introductions? We are waiting for a couple of the retirees. Any announcements or introductions? Okay. We'll stand at ease till everybody's here. There's always a taker. The Chairman of the Veterans Committee from the 57, Representative Foster, what do you got?

Well said. Representative Lemar, the Chairman of the General Law Committee.

You going to have to take it to tomorrow. (gavel) (applause) She actually said I want to gavel them all out. I said go ahead. That's what she said. I couldn't stop her. All right. Any more announcements or introductions? I think we're still waiting for a few people, so stand at ease. Deputy Speaker's item.

It's a great fact. I did not know that. No? Chairman Stafstrom.

He's always welcome. He knows that. All right. Any announcements or introductions? If not, we'll stand at ease. The Chairman of the Education Committee from Fairfield. I believe Southport is part of that Fairfield. Yes. Of the 132, Representative Leeper. sn/rr 157

To wish Laura Stefon, the liaison to SDE, who is sitting out here day and night and always eager to get an answer, be helpful, help move things along, a very, very happy birthday. So, I hope everyone who sees Laura outside will wish her a happy birthday. (applause) Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

sn/rr 158 Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker. I rise for a point of personal privilege.

Thank you, Representative. Representative Butler of the 72nd from Waterbury. You have the floor, sir.

sn/rr 161 Mr. Speaker, today we were visited by former State Representative Russ Morin, who was in the class that I came in, 2007. And he served for a long time and when he left, it left me as the sole survivor of a class of 19 incoming state representatives. So, I just want to say it's a privilege when I take the class photo of 2007. It's just going to be me. (applause) Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wanted to share with you all something that I wrote as a reflection before I came to the General Assembly. We all know how I got here. We lost State Representative 'Q' Williams and my community called on me to run and I'm here, but I didn't want to come here and I have to be honest about that. sn/rr 162 This was something very different than what my life was used to, but there were people, my community, my family who knew I was the right person. And when I kept telling Carrissa, Q's wife that I was questioning this, she said, "I need you to talk to Tammy." So, I didn't realize this but after I talked to Tammy the first time, I wrote a reflection and I just want to just share a few things that I wrote. I'm going to skip past the I'm terrified and I was breaking out in hives. So, I'll go straight to today, Carrissa introduced me to Tammy. Tammy was warm, gentle, welcoming and she sounds just like my aunties. She is the kind of person that makes you feel safe and seen and she is doing wonderful work around children's behavioral health and that makes me feel excited. As a social worker, you don't find many people who get it and Tammy gets it. So, since I've been here, Tammy and I have been very close and she has got me through some very trying times here. There were times that people would see me here in this building and just start crying. That was really hard for me. So, I would go in my office and cry. Tammy was my rock through that. And shortly after, I tried to be a rock for her through the things that she went through. We got so much closer through the sn/rr 163 trials that we experienced. And, Tammy, I just want to say that the work that you have done and everything you have contributed to the state of Connecticut, it will never be forgotten. I will make sure that it's never forgotten. All of your colleagues here will make sure that it's never forgotten. We love you, and we are going to miss you dearly. Now, I know that you will still be getting on my phone calls and I will still answer all of yours and we will still stay connected. But I just want you to know I know you care so much about this work and that is your one worry that it will be forgotten and I'm promising you here that it will not be. Thank you. (applause)

sn/rr 164 I'm sorry. (applause) Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. (applause)

And we can't get to where we are without someone to lead us. And your leadership abilities have succeeded what we all have thought they would from the day one that you took over. Everybody comes to you. You take on a burden for everybody. And we just really wanted to show you that you're important to us, and how much we appreciate you. So, thank you for who you are and what you do. sn/rr 165

And now we'll get back to regular scheduled programming.

We're seeing that can happen to you on election night is you lose the race. And the worst thing that could happen to you on election night is you actually win the race. It's been a real pleasure serving in this chamber. This is a chamber where I got to sn/rr 167 represent where I grew up, and it's been a really special opportunity to work on policies and to solve problems for people that I've known my entire life and to give back to my hometown and the city that I'm raising my family in. I really just am so grateful for the friendships that I have built, that we built together in the last four years that I've been here. I'm grateful for the mentorship that I've gotten in this chamber from so many colleagues, both on the Democratic side and the Republican side of the aisle. And, hopefully, you know, I'll be back in a different capacity, and I can't wait to kill 100 bills next year. See you.

sn/rr 168 I truly believe that policy change and culture change go hand in hand. It has been the honor of a lifetime to get to work for the people of West Hartford up here at the State Capitol and push for changes that can make a meaningful difference in their lives. It's also been wonderful to get to know each and every one of you and work on so many important issues for the people of Connecticut. I wish everyone well and look forward to seeing you in my next endeavor.

It's been the honor of my life serving alongside of you for the last eight years. When I was first selected in 2018, I was so grateful to the residents of Norwalk and New Canaan who put their faith and trust in me to become their next state representative. And during that last eight years, I have learned so much about our sn/rr 169 state, how lucky we are to be living in such a beautiful part of the world, but also about how many corners I have learned about in the last eight years, meeting people from communities that I had never visited, learning about those communities, about what's important and what's needed for those to thrive and survive. I've enjoyed learning a lot about our state budget process, and I've learned a lot about our social services and what we do to protect our neediest residents. But most of all, I honored the truth friendships that I have made with you over the years and I will take those with me and I look forward to keeping up with folks and hearing about what's going on in our state assembly. Thank you so much for this opportunity, and I treasure our friendship.

It is with very strong mix of emotions but certainly in great sense of affection and great gratitude to all the people at the Connecticut General Assembly, all the new friends I have made. Probably the one thing that most impressed me during my six year tenure here in Hartford is the fact that despite all of the acrimony and all the dissension and all the polarization seems to come through all of our various media into our homes every night, onto our computers, even though our convictions are strong, our respect for one another across party lines and weaving our own conferences has always been one of mutual respect and kindness and sympathy. And when you're making public policy and you're making laws for your fellow citizens, you have a very heightened sense of responsibility to do what's best for as many people as possible, to try to serve your conscience as well as your community, and to try to make the best of every day that you're here. Being a State Representative for my town in Milford is one of the greatest honors sn/rr 171 I have ever received, and every moment of my time here in Hartford will be with you for the rest of my life.

You know what it's like when you need to make a hard decision and you know the right decision and you're comfortable with your choice, but it's still hard to walk away. That's how I am feeling. sn/rr 172 I have loved serving my community and serving in this beautiful place. It has been incredibly special to me. And I'm so grateful to the Speaker for entrusting me to do this transformational legislation around children's behavioral health, which has become just such a big part of my legislative career and my life. And he entrusted me with that very early on in this process. And I got to do some really cool stuff like redistricting and some work with disabilities and now really my whole platform around Coronary Calcium Scans and heart health. But in order to get through all of the different challenges, especially the loss of my husband, it took a team. And I have a beautiful Appropriations family that has supported me. And I have to say, Jason Knight, I don't know what I would have done without you. And I'm so grateful for my delegation from Eleni to Jimmy and Bobby, Derek Slap, of course, along with Kate and Jillian. I am so grateful for them. I just think that they're wonderful and we've become dear friends. And then Corey and Toni and all of the Appropriation's family, you've been there. You're incredible in the work that you do, but following the work. This state is a better place because of it. I thank all of you so much for all you've done, for the support. Keep on keeping on. sn/rr 173 Connecticut is a very special place and serving in this amazing building has been the honor of a lifetime. Take care and God bless. Oh, and the VPRC and Desmond, and I should stop naming people because this is what happens, but so thankful for all of you.

Today, I just found out that my colleague from 1980, Marty Looney, is also retiring. And I think, Marty and I have the same advice for our colleagues, which is know what you want, know where you want to go, but be willing to settle for a partial victory. And the next year you go back and you try to get some more. So, sn/rr 174 that's really what we've been doing is being persistent over the years and trying to keep on good relations with everybody.

sn/rr 175 Okay. So, if any of the folks who are retiring want to add anything else, we'll turn it over to say good bye. Representative Ackert of the 8th, you have the floor, sir.

This will likely be the last day I can hold this mic. And it's an incredible chamber. So, if I could say a few words, the job as a legislator is about policy and more importantly, it's about people. It started for me when a couple of people said I should run for the 8th house seat and they were Gary Berner and Penny Bacchiochi. sn/rr 176 It started for me when then it's the people that you have to win over to get you elected to get you into this room. It took me a couple of tries. Those same people we proudly serve and are there for them when they reach out to us as a constituent. It's the staff. Without them, we could never do this job so well. Thank you, staff. (applause) It's the people out in the lobby, the great advocates and the lobbyists who provide us with this information to make informed decisions even if we don't know we needed it. Thank you. The people that we serve in our state departments that we work with to better serve the people of Connecticut. There's our colleagues up in the get voting on our bills today. Then there are all of you. The ones I so proudly get to sit in this amazing chamber and do the people's work. But before all of this happens, there's our families. The people that allow us to be away from them, they are the ones supporting us when the things get a little tough and celebrate with us when we do some good work. Mr. Speaker, whether I'm near or far, all the people will be in my thoughts and in my heart. God bless you all. I love you all. (applause) sn/rr 177

Through you, Mr. Speaker, I rise for personal point of privilege, and I know that we all know for various reasons why we come into this space. So, that's not what I want to focus on today. I want to focus on the fact that I've been living a very parallel life. When I came into this building through a special election in 2019, my life was a very different place than it is today. And so many of you who have been close to me or around me have been a part of that journey. But what I want to focus on is what you all did for me on the other side that sustained and allowed me to even stand here today. The first thing that happened was when we were in Colorado, and I had a loved one with the eating disorder that we were managing. We were running again, but it was during COVID. So, thankfully, no one knew I was in Colorado, and I had no opponent. And it kept me really focused. And Jason and I had a call, Jason sn/rr 178 Rojas, and he asked if I was interested in being a deputy Majority Leader, and I remember being really surprised by that because I wasn't sure how I was going to navigate that time, and it gave me something to focus on. And then, in coming back and sharing with Speaker Ritter all that was taking place, first he called me one day and he says, "You're not going to say no to this." And he asked if I wanted to do the redistricting, which he explained to me that you only get to do this once every 10 years. You're getting to do something really special. I thought, really? I didn't even know how I was getting through the days, but once again, it gave me something to focus on as we were trying to navigate this journey with our son. Then Speaker Ritter said, "Tammy, I'd like us to do a bill together. It's going to be our 5001 for children's behavior health, and I'd like you to lead it." He didn't know it was going to be 73 sections. He just let me at it. So, but it changed my life. It was so incredibly important to the children of the state and the parents and the providers, but it was cathartic for me. It allowed me to share a journey that I wouldn't wish upon anyone, and every section for me represented sn/rr 179 saving a child, helping a family. And it was grace, and it was being seen in presence, and the support of the people around me was incredible. Making so many amazing relationships, like family, I'm so grateful for it because as we move through with, we thought 2023 was tough and it was when we lost 'Q', and then for me personally, the unimaginable happened on October 1st, 2023 when my husband died and no one could see that coming. There was nothing that prepared us for this. And this body, so many people here, held me. Eleni, I will never forget. Eleni went to Baltimore and literally got the car my husband was driving there and brought it home. And Corey, and Kai, and Toni. Toni just encouraged me to come back here as she stood at my sink washing dishes. And you all flocked into my home, and my space, and my office, and your email, and your texts. And we came up, and together we did this Coronary Calcium Scan work. It gave me hope. The children's behavioral health work, it gave me hope, and it brought me back into this place. For two years, I couldn't walk into here. But today, I stand here because of the beautiful support that I've been given, and I call it grace. sn/rr 180 So, I was told to take my time to make a determination about whether or not to run, and I know I'm not the same person that I was when I came in here. But I still believe that I can start a foundation, and really teach other people about Coronary Calcium Scans. And I believe I can continue to help in different ways around children's behavioral health. And I believe that we can make things better together. We've worked across the aisle, and we're humans. The things that people have said to me on both sides of the aisle were unbelievable as I go out and go around. And I thank you for your belief, for your support. I thank you. I can't thank you enough for it all. I walk away feeling confident about my decision, very sad and so grateful for this experience. God bless you all. (applause)

sn/rr 181 Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I don't think of this as a retirement. It's kind of funny people saying, "Oh, enjoy retirement." I mean, I'm 41 years old. So, but in 2013, you know, my life was just kind of flat. And I got a call from a woman named Marilyn Giuliano who saw me in this chamber, remembered and know. And out of the blue, she said, "I'm retiring. Would you like to run for my seat?" And I was not that involved in politics. You know, I grew up in Old Saybrook. My family lived in Westbrook. So, I knew the area very well and I thought I mean, as a kid and throughout my life I loved politics. I used to dress up as presidents for Halloween. One year I went as Newt Gingrich when, I think, I was in sixth grade. What sixth grader does that? But, so I thought, all right. I'm going to do it. This is going to be life changing. So, I ran. I had to go through a primary. I went through a general election. I knocked down about 6,000 doors, and I won. And I remember that opening day when we were getting sworn in, and just the look on my mom's face at how proud she was of me. And, I mean, this has really been the honor of a lifetime. The people that have believed in me in this chamber, Themis Klarides, made me Transportation ranking member in my second term. sn/rr 182 And she believed in me to do that, and I loved it. And I hope we don't bring tolls up, because I think this might be my last time at the mic. And I got to learn a lot on that committee with Representative Guerrera. A lot of bipartisanship. And that was always a focal point of my legislative career was to try to work together, try to do what I believed was right, whether or not it was in line with my party. And I always have tried to do that from the beginning until now, and how my colleagues have talked about, you know, life happens. There are life changes that happen, and you know, I've certainly had my ups and downs over the last 12 years just like everybody else, and I think that's one thing that I wish that people understood about us more. Yes. We are elected officials. Yes. You know, we sign up for this, but we're still people, and things happen. And, you know, there are some people in this chamber who have been, I mean, really like family to me. Representative McGorty, Representative Vail, Representative Pavalock-D'Amato, my big sister Representative Carpino, Mr. Speaker, you've been wonderful. My leader, who also believed in me, and was actually my mentor when I first got elected. You have no idea how much you mean to sn/rr 183 me. And more than anyone, and I hope she's watching, is my legislative aide, Maureen, who I don't know if I could have done this without her. She' s not just an aide, she's there. I always say she's a psychologist. I bounce ideas off of her. She has just been so wonderful to me throughout the time I've had her as a legislative aide. And, you know, I really want to thank everyone in this chamber who I've served with and maybe people are watching who I served with in the past, because, you know, you all signed up for something that you believe in something. It's not easy. And I just will be forever grateful to not only the people in this chamber, but my family. My new family. I'm getting married in a month. And of course, the people who I've had the honor of representing in Lyme, Old Lyme, Westbrook, and of course, my amazing wonderful hometown of Old Saybrook. Thank you all so much. (applause)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be brief because at 31 years old, you don't get to say much when you retire. I will never forget the first time I told Matt Ritter I wanted this job. He looked at me and he said, "Young man, you got to go out. You got to knock 5,000 doors. You got to convince about 10,000 people that you are the right person to do this job." And like many others in this chamber, I did just that. And I won by a 114 votes. And I thought for a long time that that was the biggest thing I'd ever do. I thought that was the smallest margin I'd ever went by in my life, until about eight weeks ago. I've been living for the last 56 days in a place where visiting hours don't apply. And nighttime drives up and down Interstate 91 for a little girl who was born at one pound 14 ounces. And I just want to say from the bottom of my heart, the grace that I have received from sn/rr 185 people in this chamber transcends anything that I've ever known in my life. When I was elected to this chamber, I was 27 years old. I was not a parent. I didn't understand the magnitude that you carry when you are a parent. And I came of age in a way that very few people get to come of age in in this chamber. And I realized that you need two things to do this job. You got to be tough. You got to be really tough. You got to endure the late nights. You got to have the hard conversations. But there's this tenderness that this job requires too. A tenderness to reach people in ways that you never thought was possible, and what a privilege it is to reach people in those ways in this chamber. Over the last four years, especially in the last eight weeks, thank you. You know who you are in this chamber for that grace. To Matt, to Jason, to Vin, thank you for showing us here in Connecticut that there is a different way and that that way is possible and that starts with you guys and it carries down to us. To Hilda, Mike, Liz, Steve, my delegation members, my mentors in this chamber, thank you for believing in me, for having my back. sn/rr 186 And thank you to the people of my hometown, the 83rd District for believing in me and giving a kid from Berlin a chance. This has been a wonderful experience. It has been the honor of my life to do this job. God bless this chamber. Thank you. (applause)

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you everybody for this great honor to serve in this chamber. It's one of the greatest fulfillments of my ambitions in my life to serve my community and the neighbors who I have known so long and loved so long. I'm going to mention something that my son would probably find a bit uncomfortable and I believe he's up in the gallery right now. And it was the first time we're talking about our own Mary Mushinsky, President Pro Tem, Looney, and the years that they've served. The first time I ever walked into this room, I was a 17- year-old state government student from Milford, Connecticut. And sn/rr 187 I remember was driven for one full week up to the Capitol Building to witness the state government process and get a better understanding of our responsibilities as citizens and as good caretakers of the institutions of government. I came up with one of our Representatives Representative named Jerry Stevens, who was Minority Leader at the time. And I swear that the placard that's on the Minority Leader's desk is that same placard that was there in 1972 when I sat next to Jerry Stevens. Jerry Stevens was a man of unparalleled integrity, regarded very highly by everybody of every political persuasion. He died far too young, but was a credit to this institution and to all the people in our town that had aspirations to public service as a fulfilling and invaluable contribution that they can make. This was back in the days before there was a legislative office building, and we would literally have all of the offices here, and people would flick their extinguished cigarettes on the floor. It looked quite different than it is now. But yet, when I walked into this room almost 50 years later, I remember becoming overwhelmed by the magnitude of and the grandeur of this democratic institution and all that it means to the people of our state and sn/rr 188 to the people that did know and support and work with them on both sides of the aisle. I think of that and I walked into the room today when my colleague and friend of many years, Kathy Kennedy, was mentioning my retirement from this chamber and how much I realized that this is not a political thing at heart. It transcends that and is the very service that we provide to our constituents, to our friends and neighbors that makes this such a unique experience and something for which I'll be forever and eternally grateful. I mentioned my son, because Chris is known to many of you. He works up here quite a bit and I would encounter people when I first arrived here six years ago and they would say, "You're who? Smith?" I say, "I'm Frank Smith." "Oh, do you happen to know Chris Smith?" "Well, yes I do as a matter of fact." "Well, to talk to him, he can -- I don't think he can help me too much here, but see he knows a lot of things and he's somebody that you should cultivate his knowledge of this body and what it all means and where the bathrooms are?" Chris, I don't know if any of you here have children, but you must know what it's like when people come up to you and they congratulate you on your child and tell you what a great person, sn/rr 189 what an esteemed person he is. He's a man of integrity, intelligence, and high self-appreciation and being able to express those things that are sometimes not expressible. But he's somebody that -- When you're told that your child is somebody who they all admire, you feel a greater satisfaction than it was said to you yourself. Chris, this was something that we kind of stumbled into. I was involved in local government down in Milford. And when the opportunity came to run for this seat, I thought well, this would be an interesting thing we could discuss. We would have a common experience and it has been an unparalleled experience to work with him. Chris, I love you, I respect you. I also want to mention the rest of my family who were also born to be sometimes the burdens of responsibilities outside the home. My wife Diane, my other children Hillary and Brett, and some of you have seen my grandchildren who have all, well, three of the five have been up here, to participate and witness the legislative process. I hope that one or more of them might find some fulfillment in seeking that same type of position maybe indeed one day running for this chamber. I want to thank all of the people in this room who have shown me as all public servants have their sn/rr 190 responsibilities, but most of all their willingness to help, their willingness to talk to you, their willingness to try to solve problems that has inspired and given me the greatest satisfaction that I've ever known in my career. I want to thank the leadership, Jason, our speaker, and all the other members of the committees in which I've served. And thank you so much for this very wonderful and important distinction. I will cherish it forever and thank you so much for all you've meant to me over the past six years. Thank you. (applause)

I'm so sorry. It's living in The UK for as long as I did, and my husband, if I said process at home, he'd be like, "What?" So, Mr. Speaker, I rise for a point of personal privilege, not to debate a bill, not to talk about government oversight, but to say sn/rr 191 thank you. Our attorney general Tong told me in 2018 after I first announced for this seat that I needed to knock 6,000 doors, and he told the wrong person because I was like, "Okay. Check. I will do that." And I did, and I won. And where apparently on the night of the election, they were like, "Where's the 142nd?" You know? Didn't even know, because we hadn't held the seat before. So, that was always exciting. But I love legislating. But most of all, I've learned so much, and I want to thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like Representative Exum, you gave me the opportunity to run 5001 in 2023. And that bill was ameliorating the wait list for folks with IDD and making sure that they had everything that they needed to make their lives better, whether it's housing day programming, or whatever. And I thought this was just going to be very easy to do because it was a bill that was the speaker's priority. It was probably going to get everything we want. Well, not so. And the reason I love this bill is because I think you gave me the gift of learning how to understand how to make true, long lasting, powerful policy, that it is a matter of sitting down, collaborating with folks, whether they are lobbyists, whether they're advocates, sn/rr 192 whether they're other people within the house staff, on the policy side, whether, you know, it was our partners, and I look at my friend, the good ranking member of Human Services that endeavored this with me. But I realized at that moment that Connecticut isn't the land of steady habits. It's the land of incremental change, and we are here making sure that we move policy in the right direction, getting that change that is sustainable and long lasting for Connecticut residents. And if we can take care of some of the neediest residents in that time, I think we've done a good thing. And so, I want to thank you for giving me that gift because I learned so much. And I've brought that lens to the other work that I've done within Appropriations, Government Oversight, and even Regulation Review. And so, I just wanted to say thank you for this. This has been an honor of a lifetime. I did say thank you to all the sort of nonpartisan staff, partisan staff. You've done an amazing job to make sure that this building does run well. To our Majority Leader, you've been a great role model, a great leader, helping educate me on things that maybe are not sort of natural as part of my district or what's going on, and I really sn/rr 193 love that gift. It's really been a pleasure. So, with that, I know people are looking at their watches and thinking their bills are dying, so I'm going to stop talking. But I do hope I get a hug from everyone in the chamber at some stage today. So, thank you so much, and I honor this for the rest of my life. (applause)

How'd that happen? I just pushed my button. I wasn't going to speak because I didn't want to, and then Matt came in, who's my press guy, and he's like, "You have to speak." So, one of the things that I was thinking of as well, I was listening to everybody. First of all, one of the things I thought of was Representative D'Agostino, how eloquent he was when he did his speech. And I was like, there's no way in hell I'm going to be able to be this good. But what I will say is, one thing I thought of sn/rr 194 was years and years and years and years and years and years and years ago, one of my first jobs, I actually went on an interview and I really didn't know what the job was, to be honest. And after I met with the manager, I met with the owner of the company. And the owner of the company had a clear bet with the guy, the manager saying, "She's not going to do this job. She can't do it." And with that, I said, "I'm going to do this job." And my first day of the job, I still didn't know what the job was actually, what it was all about. But it turned out that I was going to be a headhunter. And a headhunter just finds people jobs or finds people for companies that are looking for somebody to fill in. But I have to tell you folks, headhunters have nothing on legislators. Because I didn't know anything about this job either when somebody said, "Could you run for my seat because I want to run for Senate?" So, there I did. I said, "Well, let me think about it." She goes, "Okay. Tell me tomorrow morning by 8:00." I'm like, "Holy. So, I'm up all night long," just like I was last night thinking about whether or not I could actually do this. And I have to say that it's been an amazing ride. It's been an incredible journey with all of you and all of the people that sn/rr 195 preceded you here. For the past eight years, it's really been an amazing, amazing journey, and I appreciate everything. I appreciate every one of you. Thank you to everybody, and I'm going to keep it short. Take care, everybody. (applause)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It has truly been an honor serving in this chamber with you all for the last eight years. Some of you know, some of you don't, that I've actually worked in this building though for 20. I started off as a legislative aide and committee clerk here in the '06-'07 session, and then went on to be an advocate for years in this building lobbying the legislature until I decided I couldn't wait anymore and ran in 2018. And so, I'd like to thank all the advocates for your tireless work, for your commitment to the people you care about, and the issues you champion, and for every single day coming and trying to sn/rr 196 educate us so we can make informed decisions on behalf of the people of Connecticut. And I also want to say what a pleasure it has been to get to meet so many different people from across the state. I think for me, that's one of the huge unexpected perks of this job, is getting to meet people I never would have ever gotten to meet had I not served as a legislator. And I will take that with me forever, getting to know you and learn from you and understand different perspectives and experiences. And so, to my West Hartford delegation, love you all so much. Thank you. To the Democratic women who keep me laughing when things are a little intense around here, you know who you are. Thank you. To the Human Services Committee for trusting in me, to the Speaker for allowing me to have that role. It's been an honor, and I wish everyone the best. Thank you. (applause)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can tell you I did not expect to be here. I'm actually trained as a biologist, and I never thought I'd be anywhere near the government. But I was working here as a public interest lobbyist for CCAG, and I still treasure most of the lobbyists and I work with them regularly because I used to be a lobbyist and I know what it's like to try to get people's attention. So, I always talk to them. And one day I noticed my own legislator was injured and he could not do his job. And I could see it from the gallery. And I said, "Damn it. I'm going to run for that seat." It just popped into my head like the light bulb went off. And it was an impulsive idea and I got discouraged from doing it by CCAG. But I did. I ran for office and came up here as a when I was first running I was 29 years old and single, as was Martin Looney. And we both came up here as single people. And then I met my spouse out in the hallway because he was a journalist for the Associated Press, Martin Waters. You may not believe this, but there used to be lots of journalists here. The place was full of them. And this was before the internet killed off journalism. sn/rr 198 But, there were a lot of them here and I met Marty here. Because I was here more often than I was home, it was inevitable. And I did have two children here, Martin and Edward Waters. And they are adults now, full adults. And they spend a lot of time up here as young people. But as Martin Looney has said, 46 years really went by in a flash. It seems like it was compressed. And I know Terry Bertinison when she was here. She told me that -- I think she was here for 16 years and she had put pins in her curtains and intending to hem the curtains. And then 16 years later when she retired, the pins were still in the curtains. And that's sort of what it's like to work here because everything else gets forgotten. I will go back to my nonprofit and work outdoors, which will make me happy, and my family. I think it's going to be well, first, I want to thank my Wallingford constituents who kept sending me back and it has been such an honor to represent them. Really a wonderful honor. Never expected it. And also, my aide, Barry Hubbard, and my press aide, Jessica Ciparelli, and Mr. Speaker, and the Majority Leader who have -- When I got in difficulty, you guys would give me an idea to get out of it. And you're always supportive. Very, very helpful. I sn/rr 199 think it's going to be very quiet to leave 150 other people and go back to my quiet life at home. That'll be a big challenge. But I know that if I get a flat in any of your towns, I can call you up and someone will help me out. I know that. And if you get a flat in Wallingford, you can call me up, and I will come and help you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (applause)

More than usual. I wasn't planning to speak. This is not my kind of moment, but I don't want to leave the impression that I'm feeling ungrateful or I won't miss you all. I've tried to cultivate the image of a curmudgeon for several years, but I don't know what's really working. You know, if you want to see me get misty, just show me an old tearjerker movie and you'll see the real me. sn/rr 200 I came here without an agenda, really not knowing much more than to aim for the Gold Dome and then figure it out from there because, frankly, there's not much I can do here for my town. My job was to protect my town from Hartford. I know some of you have sympathy for that kind of thing. I never expected the path that it would take. I never expected that by hearing a speech from a Yale professor that I'd get interested in energy policy. I certainly didn't expect to be involved with two straight years of 24-hour hearings on vaccine bills and 16 hours on the floor. But interestingly, the things that I remember most is when I caused trouble around here. You know, lighting the fire that led to the 2017 rebellion on the budget. Having not once but twice had both the Speaker and Majority Leader in my face saying that I had to retract an amendment I just had passed because it wasn't supposed to happen that way. Nobody gets to do that once. I got to do it twice. So, I guess my message for everybody would be, dare to be a troublemaker. We have a lot of systemic issues in this state, and we're not unique in that sense. But we can't keep talking about some of this stuff. We all have to be troublemakers at some point. So, that's my legacy sn/rr 201 for you. And just to follow-up on what Mary said, don't forget about us. Call a retired legislator tomorrow and the next day. You know, we'd like to hear from you. We might even have some sage advice that might help you with decisions. But we're all still thinking about you even if we're not here. So, let's make sure it's a two way street. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (applause)

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I rise for a point of personal privilege.

Thank you, sir. And I'm asking my colleague, Representative Fishbein, to join me. I did promise Representative Fishbein that I wouldn't cry, but you all know me, and I'm not quite sure I'm going to be able to keep that promise. Representative Mushinsky has been in this chamber for 46 years. She's a leader for children, a champion for working moms, not just on policy, but in modeling what that success looks like. But mostly, she's an environmental policy leader for clean water, clean sn/rr 203 air, and even the bottle bill since '78. And she literally is the reason I look to her for every single environmental policy when it goes on the board. I literally ask myself, what would Mary do? WWMD. As the delegation from Wallingford, we had the privilege of having another Mary, Mary Fritz. Representative Fishbein was instrumental in getting a school named after Mary Fritz. And so now, I want you to know Representative Mushinsky, that Fishbein and I have been working together with Mayor Cervoni, and we now would like to announce that a place of your choosing in the town of Wallingford, a green space, a space hopefully near the fish ladder, somewhere that would really honor your environmental policy. Representative Mushinsky, we are going to name a spot in Wallingford that embodies all of the environmental policy that you've put forward. Your tireless work on that environmental policy will be named after you. You will be involved in the place. You will have say in where you choose to have your name forever lived. But for 46 years, you have made such an indelible mark on environmental policy in the state of Connecticut. That is only fitting madam that now your name will adorn the places that we sn/rr 204 enjoy because of you. Thank you, Representative Mushinsky. (applause)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise for a point of personal privilege.

Thank you. I'd like to actually congratulate and wish all of my colleagues on this side of the aisle, a happy retirement and wish you well in your future endeavors. And I'd also like to thank the members from the other side of the aisle, because whether people in here want to acknowledge it or not, sometimes it takes the combined input from everyone to make a good bill better. sn/rr 205 I did say sometimes. It's okay. And I also want to again wish a happy birthday to my Gemini twin that's in the chamber today. Wish you happy birthday. We share the same birthday, May 23rd. I wish you a happy birthday coming up. And the media folks in here actually interviewed people and they said, "Use one word to describe her." And immediately it came to me, inspirational. Tammy Exum, you are inspirational. And I will close with Mary Mushinsky. Mary, you are the gold standard of environmental anything. But what people in here may not realize is, on the Finance Committee, you have offered up so many positive proposals that could put this state in a better financial setting, footing, and I have witnessed that over the years. So, let that not be lost to everybody what your input on the Finance Committee was. And finally, I will say for all the committee Chairs in here, you will actually put bills in front of us for us to actually support and for any given bill after reading it, I'm on board. Okay. I could do that for individual bills here and there. But I would tell you that for Mary Mushinsky, wherever her environmental vote was, it didn't matter. I was following her. Thank you for your leadership. (applause) sn/rr 206

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise for a point of personal privilege. I just wanted to give my shout out. It's not in the chamber anymore, but to Representative Smith from Milford. It has been really awesome to get to know him over these last two years in our delegation. I actually got to meet Frank in 2022 when I was working on Governor Lamont's re-election campaign and as an organizer. And I was calling around to people, and he answered the phone and was like, "Hey. I'm actually the State Representative." And I was like, "Do you want to knock a couple doors?" And I got to go out and knock with him in the wonderful beach, Laurel Beach in Milford. We're going to miss him up here. I don't think he's going to be going anywhere around town. He is a fixture there, so give my love to him and then we'll see him around Milford. Thank you, Representative Smith. And thank you, Mr. Speaker. (applause) sn/rr 207

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise for appointed personal privilege.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a dedicated public servant.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a dedicated public servant, a steady hand in the halls of this capital, and a dear friend and colleague, Dawn Marzic, as she begins her well-deserved retirement. For years, Dawn has been an indispensable part of the Connecticut General Assembly as a senior constituent engagement coordinator with unmatched professionalism and grace. While our debates on the floor can sometimes grow loud, Dawn's work and commitment to the legislators she's assisted was quite the engine that kept the legislative process moving forward. But more than her technical skill, it is Dawn's character that we celebrate today. She has been described by her colleagues as incredibly patient, extremely helpful, and a go-to for all things legislative. Whether it was answering the phone at all hours to guide a member through a difficult session or mentorship of newer staff, Dawn's commitment to this institution never wavered. In the legislative world, we often say that the staff is the glue that holds everything together. Dawn's been that glue for sn/rr 209 many of us. She retires leaving behind a legacy of institutional knowledge and reputation for kindness that has brightened these halls for decades. On the behalf of myself, Rep. Dillon, and Rep. Genga, we want to thank Dawn for her tireless service to the people of our state. We wish you nothing but joy, peace, and fulfillment in this next chapter of your life. Thank you, Dawn and congratulations. (applause)

Speaker. I'm speaking to a point of personal privilege.

I simply want to express gratitude for the extraordinary service for Dawn Marzic, not only to our caucus and our state, but sn/rr 210 to myself. It's easy for us to say that we are human, but sometimes we forget that our staff is human too. In the years that we have worked together, Dawn has lost her mother, her husband. She has worked with her children. She is now, as we speak, and she's transitioning out, after being incredibly patient and thoughtful with all of us, doing foster care for animals, which is not that different probably from what she's doing with us. I simply want to thank you and honor you, Dawn, for everything that you have done for us. (applause)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise for a point of personal privilege.

I'd like to recognize Representative Henry Genga for his 20 years of dedicated service to this chamber and to the people in his district. During my first term as a freshman legislator, Henry and I quickly became friends serving together on the Public Safety Committee. We bonded in the caucus room laughing about our shared Italian heritage and growing up in big families. And I quickly came to rely on him, not just for answering my many questions, but also for his candid insights and the humor that he has during these long session days. Henry has a depth of experience and knows how to navigate this legislative process. It's always with a steady hand and a clear sense of purpose. Some people lead loudly, but others possess a quiet strength. They may not always be the most noticeable voice in the room, but they are the ones who consistently get things done. Mr. Speaker, in the horse show world, that's called a Steady Eddie. The kind of horse you can always count on, the kind of horse that will take care of you, and the kind of horse that's worth sn/rr 212 their weight in gold. That's Henry. Henry, your presence here will truly be missed by me and everybody else in the chamber. Thank you for your service, your mentorship, and your friendship. I wish you all the best in the next chapter of your life. And congratulations, my friend. (applause)

Mr. Speaker, somehow, I didn't get the memo. I've just been really busy recently that Dawn Marzic was retiring. I wish I had known that before today, but I'm so glad that I found that out, and that she is in the room. Mr. Speaker, 25 years ago, I was an intern here for the first time in this chamber with the former House Speaker, Jim Amann. Dawn was in the interview room. And Dawn actually asked me some really hard questions. But somehow, passed me through and decided to accept me to be an intern with House Democrats. And on the 5th Floor, when I was working with Lou Mangini, Dawn was up sn/rr 213 there running the floor, and really got to develop a relationship with her. And then I came back a couple years, and I was a staff member. And Dawn was just an incredible mentor, so supportive to me as a staff member. Eventually, we sat right outside each other’s desk and retired one year where it was holiday contest, and Dawn dressed me up as Mrs. Claus. And I think we won. Our wing of House Democrats won that contest. And then becoming a legislator here, just surreal then being able to continue working with Dawn, my desk being right outside, my office right outside of where Dawn is, and anything I've needed for the last 25 years that I've been part of House Democrat, Dawn Marzic has been there. I wish her the sincerest congratulations. Like Mary Mushinsky, this building won't be the same without her. But we've learned a lot from everything that she's taught us, and we'll try to continue on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (applause)

On Page 20, Calendar 330, substitute for H.B. No. 5521, AN ACT CONCERNING STERILE CULTIVARS. Favorable Report of Environment.

Good afternoon, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move for acceptance of the Joint Committee's Favorable Report and passage of the bill.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the clerk is in possession of an amendment LCO 6188. I move the clerk call the amendment, then I'd be granted leave of the Chamber to summarize.

House Amendment Schedule "A", LCO No. 6188, offered by Representative Parker.

sn/rr 216 Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'll give a quick overview of this bill, and would welcome a conversation with our good ranking member on the Environment Committee to get into further details if there's interest. The bill starts looking at the concept of what we call sterile cultivars. The idea is that there are invasive species that we have worked hard to try to keep out of our environment, and yet there is a possibility that they could be made sterile so that they could not grow out into the wild in a way that would take over and align with their in initial invasiveness. And so what we're trying to do in this section is learn more about that. Can we really trust that the sterile cultivars that are being developed can safely be welcomed into our environment? So in section 1, we ask for Ag Station to submit a report back to us on that exact question. In subsection 2, we're dealing with permitting, specifically related to something that we did in this legislature a couple of years ago, the idea of beneficially reclaimed materials. So, specifically, we're thinking about dredging. When materials are dredged up from under the water, it might not be always the purest material that's there, but this is a material sn/rr 217 that needs to go somewhere, and sometimes could be used beneficially should the quality of the material be reasonable. So, we laid out a pilot program for the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to determine where that could be utilized. What this bill simply does is refine the timing for how applicants would get permits under that pilot program. Not changing anything about any fewer requirements needed to be hit, simply just the timeline for when an application could be proposed. And then the bill has actually some policy related to housing. Some of this Chamber might have seen that, and I would welcome the feedback of one of my colleagues too if we want to get into those sections. With that, Mr. Speaker, I move adoption of the amendment. Thank you.

Against, nay? The ayes have it. (gavel) The amendment is adopted. Will you remark further on the bill as amended? The good ranking member, Representative Callahan, you have the floor, sir.

Representative Parker, please prepare yourself.

Will you remark further on the bill as amended? Comments on the bill as amended? If not, will staff and guests please come to the well -- Sorry. That was just quite out of my peripheral vision there. Representative Dubitsky, you have the floor, sir. sn/rr 220

No. We want to hear from you today.

Thank you, Representative. Coming in just under the bill. Representative Barry. Oh, that was an accident. Okay. Well, seeing that's the case, will you remark further on the bill as amended? Will you remark further on the bill as amended? If not, will staff and guests please come to the well of the House? Will the Members please take your seats? The machine will be open. sn/rr 222

Have all the Members voted? Have all the Members voted? If all the Members have voted, the machine will be locked and tallied. And, Mr. Clerk, kindly announce the tally.

Bill as amended is passed. (gavel) Representative Dominique Johnson? I'm sorry. Representative Rojas, I didn't see you.

Without objection, so ordered. Are there any announcements or introductions? Thank you. Let me do one first. We are honored to have the Comptroller of the State of Connecticut and a former member of the House of Representative, Sean Scanlon, with us. Representative Fishbein.

sn/rr 224 Just a minute, sir. I know we're all excited. I certainly am, but a little quiet, please. Representative Fishbein.

Welcome. I have great respect for people who serve on the town council because I did, too. Welcome. Representative Lanoue. If I could get a little clearance here so I can see Representative Lanoue.

Good afternoon, sir.

Announcement or introduction, sir?

Please hold on. Representative Lanoue, so we can hear you.

And we join your son, mom. The distinguished Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Representative Stafstrom, I think you have an announcement.

sn/rr 227 Thank you, sir. And save me a chair, please. Are there any other announcements? Are there any other introductions? If so, we will return to the call of the Calendar. Mr. Clerk, Calendar 234.

The distinguished Chairman of the Commerce Committee in a moment. We do have some business to conduct, so thank you. Representative Meskers.

Question is on acceptance and passage. Will you explain the bill please, sir?

Thank you, Representative. Will you remark further on the bill? Representative Aniskovich, you have the floor.

You may proceed.

Representative Aniskovich.

Thank you, Representative. Will you remark further on the bill? Will you remark further on the bill? If not, will staff and guests please come to the well of the House? The machines will be open.

sn/rr 232 Have all the Members voted? Have all the Members voted? Have all the Members voted? Will the Members please check the board to determine if your vote is properly cast? If all the Members have voted, the machine will be locked, and the clerk will take a tally. Clerk will please announce the tally.

The bill passes. (gavel) Representative Rojas, the good Majority Leader. sn/rr 233

Without objection, so ordered. (gavel) Representative Bumgardner from the 41st, you have the floor, sir.

Representative, please proceed.

Welcome, Joe. Always great to see you, de la Cruz. The Chamber will stand at ease. The Chamber will come back to order. Will the clerk please call Calendar No. 484?

Representative Meskers, you have the floor. sn/rr 235

Mr. Speaker, I move for acceptance of the Joint Committee's Favorable Report and passage of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, S.B. 305 establishes a working group that will create recommendations to help us better to market our state, and sn/rr 236 grow our tourism sector. In 2024, Connecticut spent $4.5 million on tourism and saw $17 billion of economic impact. I think we've heard from various representatives, I believe the good representatives from the Stonington and Groton area, about the need to invest in tourism. This bill seeks to organize our thoughts, collect information, and make serious suggestions about animating our tourism effort in the state. I move adoption.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you again to the good Chair of Commerce for this explanation on this piece of legislation. And, again, I concur. It's a great concept that we put together the right people at the table so they can have a vibrant discussion about what is in the best interest of our state moving forward. I think it's a great bill, and move adoption. Thank you.

The House of Representatives is voting by roll, Members to the Chamber. The House of Representatives is voting by roll, Members to the Chamber.

S.B. 305: Total number voting 150 Necessary for Passage 76 sn/rr 238 Those voting Yea 150 Those voting Nay 0 Absent and not voting 1

Page 38, Calendar 543, S.B. No. 484, AN ACT CONCERNING DISTRACTED DRIVING AND THE SAFE OPERATION OF A MOTOR VEHICLE IN A HIGHWAY WORK ZONE. As amended by Senate Amendment Schedule "A", LCO No. 4908, Favorable Report of Joint Standing Committee on Judiciary.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move acceptance of the Joint Committee's Favorable Report and passage of the bill, in concurrence with the Senate.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This bill comes to us from our Department of Transportation. There are meaningful provisions in here to cut down on the amount of distracted driving that happens here in the state of Connecticut. It makes it a per se reckless driving violation to drive in a highway work zone while engaged in activity prohibited under the state's distracted driving law. It also adds video converters to the list of devices that are considered mobile electronic devices. And a video converter is a mechanism through which you can stream a video on your phone in full view for an individual driving the car. We're seeing more and sn/rr 240 more of these just in the cultural zeitgeist, but we're also seeing unfortunately more and more of these on our roads, making driving conditions more unsafe for commuters across the state. There is also an expansion of the definition of use to include playing a video on a mobile electronic device that is in the driver's full view. This is a really important bill for my city. We've unfortunately had a really tragic situation where one of our own, a DOT worker, was tragically killed on the highway last year. We are continually trying to do more to increase roadway safety in our part of the state. This bill accomplishes that and is a step in the right direction on that front. I urge my colleagues to support it.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. speaker, one quick question for the proponent. sn/rr 241

Representative Fazzino, do you care to respond?

sn/rr 242 We'll have the Ranking Member of Public Safety repeat the question.

Thank you. Gentleman from the 123rd, Representative Rutigliano.

sn/rr 244 Representative Fazzino.

Thank you. That's all I had, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate it.

The House of Representatives is voting by roll, Members of the Chamber. The House of Representatives is voting by roll, Members of the Chamber.

S.B. 484 as amended by Senate, in concurrence with the Senate: Total number voting 150 Necessary for Passage 76 Those voting Yea 150 Those voting Nay 0 Absent and not voting 1

sn/rr 246 Page 35, Calendar 518, substitute for S.B. No. 335, AN ACT CONCERNING UTILITY CHARGES FOR RESIDENTIAL DWELLING UNITS. Favorable Report on Housing.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move for acceptance of the Joint Committee's Favorable Report and passage of the bill, in concurrence with the Senate.

Mr. Speaker, this is a pretty straightforward bill. It is actually a reflection of a change that we have in our utility sn/rr 247 statute 16-262e(c). And what it does is it ensures that if you own a home or a building, and you have utility meters, that each person who has a distinct unit or floor is given a separate meter so that it can be separately charged, meaning that you can't do what are called RUBS, which is Ratio Utility Billing, which what it does is it ensures that if you are using your certain part of those utilities in a house, let's say the 1st floor is using 60%, the 2nd floor is using 40%, you are charged accordingly rather than splitting it between the two, not based on their usage. I urge passage.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Appreciate you calling on me today on sine die. Yes, this is what I would call a fairly straightforward bill. It's literally, basically, two lines of changes in existing statute. We're literally looking at lines 24 through 26 of this bill, but has a lot more ramifications than what we think just sn/rr 248 only three lines would be. We talk a lot about in this Chamber and out in the media about affordability. And one of my issues is we talk about it, then we come into these Chambers, and we don't follow-up on those comments and passage of things that we really want to do to actually do affordability. Because what's going to happen in this scenario? We had this discussion in the Housing Committee, but what's going to happen in this scenario? When a landlord can't pass on these charges to these individuals, they're going to raise the rent. And they're going to say, you can't now have, as part of your lease, a way to say, hey, we think you spent $100 on electricity. We're going to charge $100. That's not going to be allowed anymore. What's going to be allowed is, hey, we're going to include your utilities, and we're going to charge you a lot more because we don't know how much utilities you're actually going to use, so we're going to charge you more. And not just charge you more, as a resident now, you're going to be like, I don't care if the air conditioning stays on while I'm at work. I don't care if the heat stays on with the window open while I'm at work. Why? Because I'm not paying anymore. I sn/rr 249 already know how much I'm paying. And by doing that, environmental, electric usage, all goes bad. It all goes bad. We need to make sure when we actually are doing these bills, we're thinking about affordability. I understand the concept of the bill is to make sure that these folks are not getting overcharged for maybe utilities that they weren't using. I understand that, but they're going to still get overcharged, and overcharged probably with a premium, because what's going to happen is they're going to go and say, when they sign that lease, they're going to get a lease that includes utilities, and they're going to charge them more. And, like I said, a premium for it. The word affordability is not going to leave this Chamber, it's not going to leave the state of Connecticut for a long time, but we need to start acting now on stopping the added affordability issues that we have, and this bill is going do that, unfortunately. So I do have a few questions, through you, Mr. Speaker, if I may.

What number of units would this bill affect? Is it one? Is it 100? Is it 1,000? Through you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would say this wouldn't affect any. It is the status quo. Right now, it's in the utility statutes. As I said, 16-262e(c). And it has also been upheld in the Supreme Court here in the state of Connecticut. Through you.

Yes, there's a Supreme Court ruling that happened where they found that this is not proper. So, what happens is, and I want to sn/rr 251 explain why this might be an issue because I was actually having some conversation with some of the legislators about this specific issue, people saying this doesn't really happen much. But what happens is there's some older houses, older duplexes or triplexes that might be out there that are decades, decades old. They might not have been set up originally to have one individual unit per meter. It might not been set up that way originally. For that to be fixed, it's going to be very expensive for that landlord to do. And who ultimately is going to pay for that? That cost is going to get passed on, just like property taxes, and these utilities will ultimately get passed on to the residents. That is what's going to happen, thus making it even more unaffordable. There are many issues that could potentially pop up. We have buildings that are probably in the '50s and '60s that were built, that was pre-asbestos. You start opening these buildings up and getting the electric set up properly with these meters, you're going to open up more problems. Who's paying for that? Landlord will, 100%, have to pay for it. But then who ultimately gets down the hill? Stuff runs downhill, and it's going to go to the residents, and thus making sn/rr 252 it more unaffordable. That is a fact. That's what's going to happen. We know it. And I think from an environmental part, like I said too, it's just going to open up the air. Like, the residents don't care about the heat, don't care about the air, because they're not paying that bill anymore. They're not taking that responsibility. Like, I got to be careful with that. So, electric usage will go up, and the landlords will protect against that, unquestionably. Through you, Mr. Speaker, sorry to get you back up. But through you, Mr. Speaker, how many units, do we have a number of how many units in the state of Connecticut don't have a meter, that are rented, that this would affect, don't have a meter per the specific unit that would affect based on this bill? Through, Mr. Speaker.

sn/rr 253 Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm not sure if we've actually calculated how many units are affected where there's one unit for multiple. I don't have that information, unfortunately, Mr. Speaker. Through you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I couldn't find the number either. So I was wondering if the good chair had that. Because a lot of times, we pass bills in here that are helping maybe five units. I would say with this, maybe bill's not worth the time. But the idea is that from what I've heard, a lot of these older buildings this is an issue for. Now, I was just trying to get a net number, round number of what we could get. We don't have that number, but I'm sure a lot of these older units are existing that way without these specific units for that. Through you, Mr. Speaker, what would happen if you're renting a room out of your own house, you have a roommate. sn/rr 254 You own the house you have a roommate that's there. Through you, Mr. Speaker, how does that work in terms of would that be affected according to this bill for that lease that they would have for someone renting a bedroom out of their house? Through you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That would not be affected by this bill. Specific rooms are not technically units in terms of the statutes that we're looking at today. Through you.

So, just to be clear, we're only talking the unit or potentially the units if it's a floor or whatever might be in a sn/rr 255 building or whatever. That's the only thing that'd be affected through this bill that we're seeing today? Through you, Mr. Speaker.

That is correct. Through you, Mr. Speaker.

Does this also affect, Mr. Speaker, through you, for things like water? Through you.

Through you, Mr. Speaker, anything that can be considered a utility that you can be charged for.

Okay. So, using that terminology, we have gas, potentially, if the house has gas. We have electricity. We have water. We have refuse garbage, potentially. I don't know. I guess, maybe. Through you, Mr. Speaker, does garbage refuse consider a utility? Through you.

sn/rr 257 Through you, Mr. Speaker, the first three examples are perfect examples. Garbage is not metered, so it wouldn't be counted in this. Through you.

Thank you for that clarity. So, yes, we're talking gas, water, and electric, as potentially things that we get billed for monthly that currently, right now, we don't 100% know what portion of that. So, I'm going to run through a scenario in my mind, what I've been thinking about the last couple days when I hear this bill might be getting called. And let's say you have a duplex. I want to try to do the math easy so I ever can understand it from a math standpoint, what this could do for residents and for lack of affordability, potentially, to residents renting in the state of Connecticut. You have a duplex that has a monthly charge of $400 a month for electricity. Just making up. That's on average throughout the year. sn/rr 258 Right now, if they only have a meter, one meter for the entire duplex, they could just say, hey, each of you are going to get $200. That's what they could do. This bill will outlaw that practice. You cannot do that anymore. You would just have to, in that scenario, either two things you would have to do. Well, three things, I guess. Number one, you could just eat the charge as a landlord. Don't worry about it, you're not paying electric anymore, I'm just going to eat that. We know that's not going to happen. Secondly, you could go through the building permits and all the stuff that it would cost to have it to go to install more meters. In this scenario, if you had one meter for the entire building, you need to split up and do one meter in each. So you'd have a master meter and then owner meter, and then you have the two in the individual units. I don't know, but probably thousands of dollars’ worth of cost to get that done. And opening up any walls, especially older units, you start opening up walls, you don't know what you're going to find in there. You got to go through the permitting process. And then you also have people in the building, literally renting from you right now that if you need to make this change, sn/rr 259 you will need to make the change with potentially residents in there that could cause disruption. And if you're a small person who don't have a ton of different units, you can't necessarily move them out into a different unit. You have to live with them being there while this construction is happening. Through you, Mr. Speaker, when would this change have to take effect for folks to have to be able to no lease after what date would have to happen for them to follow along with this bill? Through you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is current law, as I have said a few times. But in terms of it being in the housing statutes, that would be on October 1st of 2026. Through you.

So I guess there's a little bit of window for it to -- well, yes, current law, as we talked about, the Supreme Court had ruled already on this. But there's current leases right now that might already have that in there about utilities and a way to split up. There's going to have to be adjustments made to those. So there has to be some grace period to make those adjustments to that either existing lease or come up with a new lease at that point so that we can come to ability to not be breaking the law, breaking statutes that landlords have already, and what they understand. Obviously, laws change, Supreme Court does make decisions that people have to live by, and we have to go accordingly, but they would have to make that change at some point with the residents, with their tenants. But going back to that, when we had the two units and we had $400, let's say, on average for the year electricity, they would split up $200 each and say, okay. But maybe one person travels a lot. They're not there very often. They'll go and travel and leave their air conditioning on low levels, so it's not running high, it's not using up a lot of electricity, lights aren't on. But the other one used a lot. There is no way to determine that, and I understand that. That is a sn/rr 261 problem, because if I'm the person who's living there, why do I have to pay $200 when my neighbor is doing all kinds of crazy stuff over there? Mining Bitcoin? I don't know what the heck they're doing, but they're doing a lot of stuff, and they're having to pay the same amount I do. Why? I get that. That's fair. So, the result's going to be, going back to the ideas what you can do, is number one, you can just eat it. They're not going to do that. Number two, you can go ahead and make the changes that we talked about. It could be thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars, and ultimately, opening up the house to make it even more changes and having issues with your tenant, because you're going to have to do that while they're living there. Or third, which is probably going to happen the most, the third one, and that's going to be you're going to rent and lease with utilities included. And then at that point, the landlord gets to make that decision. They get to make the decision on what that cost can be. Now, we know, we just said it was $400 average, right, the last year they looked at it for the entire two units, the whole building. They do $200, $200. sn/rr 262 Well, now, if I'm the landlord, and anyone's a landlord, do you just do $400, $200 to each? Well, you got to look at electricity, you got to look at gas, and you got to look at water, you got to look at all three of them. But let's say they all add up to $400. Now you got to take into account that, no offense, but these residents don't care whatsoever how much our usage is. It's out the window. It's gone. Why do they care? Because they're not paying for it. They're already paying $200 or whatever that number is going to be. So what's going to happen is these landers are not going to go ahead and take a risk. They're not going to risk the idea that they're going to have to pay and eat some. If it's $500 that month and they charge $200 to one, $200 to another, they're going to eat that $100 that month. They're not going to want to do that. So, what they're going to do, they're going to charge a premium. They are going to charge more money that they're going to now make it less affordable for those same residents that we're trying to make more affordable. That's what we're talking about all the time, affordable housing. And is that big, bad landlords? Not really. They don't know because they can't go back and charge after the fact. sn/rr 263 It's not like, oh, it's $500 this month. Oh, let me go back to the residence and say, hey, you owe me another $100, $50. They can't do that anymore. So you're stuck having to go and eat that cost, and now you're stuck for at least for a year. It's not like you go the next month and say, I'm going to change the lease and do that. No. No. You're stuck for a year. So, they will charge more, and they will give themselves a cushion, and it's going to be way more of a premium than if they just had it themselves. And I get it. I get it. It's not necessarily fair for that person who maybe only use a little bit of water, and the other one's using a lot of water, using a lot of electricity, using less electricity. But we have to be a better way than just jacking up the prices on these residents who are screaming for affordability in the state of Connecticut. That's why, while it is a straightforward bill, I do agree with that, there has to be other ways of thinking about it. And to be honest, I don't love studies, because a lot of times studies, they do something, they get thrown on the wall and in a binder, and no one ever looks at it again. But I would love a study on this one. sn/rr 264 So, I've had some conversation with landlords, and I've actually had a couple conversations with some staff on the HRO, in the House Republican Office, who do rent, and asked them, what would be a good solution? And I heard all different kind of answers from both sides, because it's not straightforward. And I agree it's not fair to charge them money that they maybe not are getting charged or usage-wise. So, the idea is this is a perfect way, let's figure this out. Now that's not opportunity today. We're on sine die. It's 4:30. We got seven and a half hours to go. That's not going to happen today, but that's what should have happened, because it's not a straightforward answer. This isn't a straightforward answer, what's in the bill. What currently is happening in the environment right now, out there in the market, isn't the best answer either. We have to find a better one. Through you, Mr. Speaker, I do have a couple more questions. Are there any funds allocated for landlords if they want to make that change for, let's say they have no meters for individual, let's say they have a three-unit building to where they have one meter to make three different meters? Is there any funding available for them to help offset those costs so they don't have sn/rr 265 to necessarily always pass on to the resident? Through you, Mr. Speaker

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm going to take the scenic route with my answer real quick and just speak about the fact that this bill, in particular, it's supposed to be punitive on these older homes. We're mostly trying to address new builds. Right? Making sure that they don't implement what are called RUBS, Ratio Utility Billing Systems. Because I understand what the good ranking member is talking about when we talk about putting utilities as part of the rent. It does make the rent higher, but the difference between somebody getting a $200 charge on each floor is different when you're talking about their overuse of the electricity as a whole, as opposed to being as part of a ratio utility billing system, where maybe it's split 50/50 between the floors, but the people on sn/rr 266 the 2nd floor are using $25, $275 worth of electricity, and the person downstairs keeps their lights off, right, they go to bed pretty early. They don't run the television that often. Maybe they don't use their computer as much, and their bill is about $125. Now you're telling them that they have to eat a charge as a family of $150 a month, because they decided to split them down the middle, regardless of anybody's electricity use. Now, I think that that's totally fine to build into the rent if you're talking about some of these older builds, because you got to figure out a way to do it without costing the property owner thousands of dollars. But for these folks that want to build new, that want to put up these buildings, I think it's important that we have this in our statutes. And the reason why we took it from utility statutes, which it will remain in, and put it in the housing statutes is that when you write a lease forevermore, you will be able to see this, because I don't think people look at the utility statutes in writing a lease. They do look at the housing statutes. And we just want to make sure that they're following current law and putting it in there. So, through you, Mr. Speaker, I think to get to the question, there are no subsidies, but we do not sn/rr 267 discourage folks from building into the rent if they need to. Through you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you for the clarity on that. And I agree with a lot of what the good chairman just said, a lot. And that's where the dilemma is on this bill, is the current system might not be great. What we've landed on is not great. What is in the middle? What is the right way? I don't want to pass another bill that is going to put us in the same spot of not being good for residents. And that's what we're doing. This is like a quick thinking about solving it, but it's not solving anything. Through you, Mr. Speaker, is there a date -- and the good chairman just mentioned about it doesn't want to penalize the older buildings. Is there a date of a building built that is "grandfathered" in through this, or is it every single unit that's out there in the universe in Connecticut? Through you, Mr. Speaker. sn/rr 268

No, Mr. Speaker. It's been in the utility statutes for decades, and I just want to clarify, this does not require that anybody put in a second meter if they do charge into the rent. It just make sure that if you do have meter electricity, that you don't divide that full electricity cost as it comes in per month amongst residents. Through you.

Thank you for that. Yes, I do agree with that. It's not in the bill to mandate it. There's no mandate here in terms of putting that meter in. But, again, this is where I talk about study or a plan. Like, this is where we have more conversations and not be sn/rr 269 doing this at 4:30 on sine die. There is more conversation that needs to be had. And I don't want to hear, oh, we'll pass this, we'll figure it out later. No, I don't want to hear that. I really don't. I want to hear, let's solve the problem that the people are having. This bill doesn't do that. It doesn't solve the problem. It really doesn't, because they are going to overcharged still. A lot of them feel they're getting overcharged now because they're using less electricity than maybe their neighbors. They're going to get overcharged here because that's what they're going to have to do to cover the cost. Because somebody come in there new, a new renter, and say, oh, I don't even watch TV. I don't even watch TV. I don't have Internet. I don't have a computer. I barely have a refrigerator running. I'm not going to use any electricity. That's not going to be a difference, like, hey, no, the utilities cost X amount of dollars, that's what's going to cost if you want the place or not. They don't care if you use a lot or a little because that's what the cost is going to be. Because then you come in there and you say you use a little, but, yes, you're not using a lot, there's no recourse for the landlord. sn/rr 270 The landlord is going to have to eat the cost if it goes over that level. It is a risky proposition for landlords to go ahead and rent include utilities because of that exact reason. You don't know about usage. You can go by the history and look back at it and understand that yes, it does average $400, and I'm just keeping using this random number, $400, but that doesn't necessarily mean that's what it's going to be every month. I think one solve could be maybe grandfathering something past 1975. I don't know. Pick a date where that could be the problem. But again, that doesn't necessarily solve the problem that the proponent of the bill wants to do in terms of getting that done, because those units are older units, we'll still have the same problem. And I get that. But I do agree that moving forward, knowing this would be a bill, if this is in law, if this is in statute, that we will know that when they build new housing, new units, we undoubtedly will have one meter per unit. There's no question. That would be almost a requirement for them to get that because of this situation. And I'm sure probably a vast majority of the recently built units that we built around the state of Connecticut, probably a vast majority of them are already built with meters in each sn/rr 271 individual unit. I'm sure of that. But we're talking about this unknown number of units that are out there, probably mostly old housing, duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, whatever, that don't have it. And that's what we're trying to do. And those are the ones that are older buildings. They already have a lot of infrastructure problems. Their wiring probably isn't great. It's not recently built. You probably don't have great insulation in the walls to help with the heating and the air conditioning. So, when you do that, you're just going to keep driving those prices up. So, what's going to happen is these buildings, the one we're talking about, are the ones that have probably the most sensitivity to these electric, gas, and potentially water bills, because of their age and their wear and tear. I rent a place up in Cape Cod. I have a place there my family goes to, and I rented out some. And I could tell you what, I rent out by the week, but I don't include utilities. I eat that cost. And I know how high that cost is. And I will tell you, they still beat the crap out of that house. These residents who do it, they live in it. They don't just live in it, they don't care. They don't care because it's not their house. When you live in your home, you're going to be careful when sn/rr 272 you're moving something around so you don't ding up a wall. Right? You don't want to dent a wall, scratch it up, have the hole in the wall, or now you're going to repaint it. You're a little bit more careful moving around. You're a little more careful with that thermostat. Even when we're going to the caucus rooms, there's conversations all the time about who wants it 68 degrees, who wants it 70 degrees. Right? All the time, because that temperature is important. But here's the point, if somebody wants it to be 66 degrees and they want the air condition cranking and windows open, they could do that too now. They don't care because it's not their reliability. It's not their responsibility to pay that. They already have it locked in. And because of that, next time will happen is the cost will go up. We see, for the most part, these electric rates keep going up. Our electric bills keep going up. So, today, it might be $400. What's it going to be 11 months from now? At the end of the lease, what's it going to be? Through you, Mr. Speaker, a question about this going to Fair Rent Commissions. In this scenario, a resident who now has a new lease that's going to have utilities included. Would they be able sn/rr 273 to take that to Fair Rent Commission and fight that? Through you, Mr. Speaker.

Through you, Mr. Speaker. Theoretically, they could, but assuming that we passed this today, I don't think they would fare very well in front of the Fair Rent Commission. Through you.

I would hope so, because I would assume buttoned up landlord would take these utility bills from gas, water, and electric, and bring it there and say, hey, look, this is how I'm going to inch, but I'm worried that if we did this average of $400, and again, we're going back to this random number, $400, and there's two units sn/rr 274 that you're going to show them, the Fair Rent Commission, hey, this is how I came up to the increase, and the increase is $200 because of electric, $50 because of water, and $25 because of gas. Because look at the bills, and I split it up, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. That's how we did it. And then, of course, then you have that number, and you're like, but I have to give myself a cushion because I do worry that that is going to happen today, but what's it going to be six months from now? What's it going to be a year from now when the residents don't really care about usage of the electricity and stuff? They're just going to run the water or whatever. So, when that happens and they give themselves a cushion, will the Fair Rent Commission say, no, you can't have a cushion. The electric bill is $400 a month on average. It should be $200 and $200, period, that's it, plus electric, and that's it. That's all you get. Fair Rent Commission could do that because that's all the proof that they have to be able to justify that increase, and that's what the Fair Rent Commission is going to do. They are going to ask you to justify why you're increasing that rent. And I worry they're going to be rejected a lot more than maybe the good chairman thinks because of that, because sn/rr 275 they're going to have to do the cushion. Without the cushion, I agree. I think that you could justify and say this, but they're going to have to build in a cushion. It's going to have to happen because, again, I think that's going to go up. I also worry about you have subleases or different pieces that go in of, like, how and who is actually responsible for the individual rents? How are we going to get to the right people paying for it the right way? Because, again, we're going to go back to the same thing. Any normal landlord is not going to allow anybody to do say, hey, I'm not going to use a lot, so charge me less. You could try to negotiate that as a resident. 100%, you could try to do that. I would say they're not going to be apt to do that because, again, they're not going to be at big risk on the back end of losing something out. And then in reality, if you are true and you're actually correct that you don't use it a lot, what's going to happen is you are going to be overcharged. You're going to be charged at $200 electric and $50 in gas and $25 in water, and you're going to be charged, and you might be using half of that. But you know what? That's what he has to do to pass those charges on, and you're going to get screwed out of that sn/rr 276 extra money. Very similar to what potentially is happening right now. So, again, this bill doesn't solve any of the issues that we're trying to solve. I don't even know if it's a feel-good bill. A lot of times we pass these feel-good bills in here. I don't love that, but this isn't going to feel good. It's not solving anything. This actually will make it worse, I believe. I can't go back to my district. Campaign season's coming. I can't go back to my district and talk to people about affordability and say, hey, this is a bill that justifiably is going to raise your rents by a lot than maybe what they should. And I get it. The technology is not there for the meter. That stinks. Maybe they have to go find a place that has a meter so they can only pay -- maybe the market will dictate that. The market might start dictating, hey, if you have a meter, I want to go to your place, because I know I'm only charged for what I use. It's kind of like cable bill. Cable is another utility. And if some houses have HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, all the paystations, right, they have to pay a lot bigger bill. They might have faster Internet speed. And when they do that, they have to pay more. But if somebody just wants to sn/rr 277 bare bones, I'm cutting the cord, and I want to save as much money as I can, they can do that, but in a lot of these scenarios, they could control that. They control the cable cost. They cannot control this part. They control how much affordability they're going to pay. They're going to control how much they pay for that one utility. But in this scenario, they can't control that. So maybe they will start looking at, hey, do you have a meter? Is it a newer building? And then that's going to put pressure on the older buildings to have to upgrade, because they're not renting, and they're not being looked at anymore because there's this hurdle of, we don't want to pay this obscene amount of money for utilities. If we do that, those older units will be at a huge disadvantage. Let's just say that. A huge disadvantage. They're going to be forced to either go get a meter or potentially have months where there's not being rented. I can't go back to my district and tell them about the affordability issue because I know this is going to be more dollars. Through you, Mr. Speaker, I was talking about cable and Internet as a utility. Would that be utility that potentially is causing the same issue with sn/rr 278 this bill as electric, gas, and water that we previously discussed? Through you, Mr. Speaker.

Through you, Mr. Speaker. Cable and Internet are not metered utilities, they would not count as part of this. Through you.

So they would not count because they could potentially get their own cable and their name and Internet through their cells when they go and sign up? Through you, Mr. Speaker.

Through you, Mr. Speaker, that is correct. And on top of that, they could do the same with their utilities, but only if they have separate meters. Through you.

Yes. And that gives a control to the resident with utility of cable and Internet. They have that control because they can go pick and choose. If they want the fastest Internet, they get the fastest Internet. If you're a gamer, like some of these folks here, they're gamers, this guy's a gamer, you need faster speed. And that's justifiable, because you have that choice, and you're going to make that decision. But the neighbor shouldn't have to have that faster speed and pay that more money for that. So, in that scenario, cable, sn/rr 280 Internet, individual choices by the individual residents in the individual units will allow them to make that decision to either make it more affordable or less affordable based on their needs for that. This bill does not do that for gas, water, and electric. It doesn't do it, unfortunately. It's going to just be a bigger charge for them than they currently see, and I worry for that from an affordability standpoint. What would happen, Mr. Speaker, through you -- Strike that. I won't ask that question. I just want to finish. I'm going to finish because I know we have a lot of folks that still want to talk on this, and I do want to give them a chance to talk and go through it all. Affordability is a word we use, and I want to make sure that we're clear on that. And I have not heard anything yet in the debate in Housing Committee when this came through, but also as we talk today how this is going to fix that for their individual residents. That we talk about doing more affordable housing, we pass bills all the time about affordable housing here, and this is not making it more affordable. So, that being said, I don't know how I could justify supporting this bill when we are literally taking the task to the sn/rr 281 residents, saying, you're going to have to pay more for utilities because there's going to have to be a cushion built in. Mr. Speaker, I'm going to be a no on this. I encourage a lot of folks keep listening to this debate because I think you're going to realize more reasons why we should be a no. We have some options of maybe changing this bill that we're going to hear in a couple minutes, and I hope those folks listen to those changes and hopefully see if that's something they'd be enticed to do, and maybe look at ways that we could fix this that might look at a way that actually make this more affordable for the residents. So, thank you for allowing me to speak, and I appreciate, on the final day of session today.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just a couple of comments, if I may.

Thank you. We've all been there before, ladies and gentlemen. We've gone out to eat. Right? And we've had a friend sitting next to us. They order the porterhouse, medium rare, a couple of nice sides, and you get a salad. And the bill comes, and they go, let's split it. And you're just scratching your head saying, this isn't college calculus. This just doesn't feel right. Well, that's what a lot of renters feel like across the state of Connecticut right now in this situation. This is a rare occasion where I'm standing up and saying that I disagree a little bit with my ranking member, and I look at it simply from an equity perspective. Because while I joke about it, that's kind of how people feel. Okay? And this is an attempt to try to get at that, an attempt to try to fix that. Is it perfect? Absolutely not. Are there areas where it probably will need to be refined if we pass it? Absolutely. But do I think we need to do something to make sure that it's a little more fair so we stop running into those porterhouse versus salad sn/rr 283 scenarios for renters? Absolutely. I voiced that concern when we were before the Housing Committee. I do think this is a step in the right direction. I think you're going to hear plenty of reasons why it will get complicated, why there will be issues. But I think if we want to try to help renters, I'm looking at this from a renter's perspective, it's one way we can. So, I'm standing up to support it. I will probably be in the minority on this side of the aisle doing that, but I really think it's a good faith attempt to do that. And I want to put my voice behind it. So thank you, everybody.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this bill, and I appreciate the good Ranking Member of Housing in his comments. Also, appreciate my colleague from the 99th in his comments. Rather than a porterhouse and a salad, if you didn't sn/rr 284 have the ability to split the bill equally to go line by line down that receipt, one way is splitting it down the middle. But the other way would be to each throw $100 on the table and try to estimate what that bill is going to be at the end of your meal. Because if we take away the ability to meter these individually, this isn't fair. What you end up doing is the restaurant, both parties are going to putting $100 bill on the table and walking away. So there are three options that we have when people are renting. You have individual meters, which is, I think, everybody in this room would agree is the gold standard. The most ideal way to do it would be to have individual meters. Probably the least desirable way is going to be including the heat, hot water, other utilities baked into the rent, whereby the landlord has to estimate his or her costs ahead of usage to make sure that they cover their costs ahead of what the tenant might use. The middle ground is Ratio Utility Based System, which is a hedge, and it actually costs less for the tenant than if they're paying the utilities baked into the rent. We have a million and a half housing units in Connecticut. 1,000 of those are single- family homes. Over 300,000 of the housing units in Connecticut are sn/rr 285 made up of exactly the type property that is going to be affected the most by this legislation. A quarter of the housing stock that we have in Connecticut is going to be potentially affected by this legislation. These are the older homes, the homes that were built in the 1920s, '40s, 1960s, maybe as a single-family residence, maybe as a two-family. And that single-family residence, they split it down the middle, they rented out half of the house, but what they didn't do was split the utilities. And so, if they took a two-family, turned it into a four- family, or one-family, turned it into a two-family or multifamily, they may share those electricity costs. But what the Ratio Utility Based System allows the landlord to do is split those costs, either by square footage, number of tenants. There's a number of ways it can be split. But I'll tell you, it always comes out to the advantage of the tenant versus having the utilities baked in to the rent. Because the tenants do not pay for the common areas. So, those outside lights, the hallways, they're generally not subject to the square footage that is used by the tenant. The landlord absorbs those. sn/rr 286 So, using this system, we're taking a tool away from the landlord and we're passing an unneeded cost on a quarter of our housing stock. And these are some of the most affordable. Representative Scott pointed out, he talked about affordable. We talk about affordable. I must have heard it 2,000 times this session, affordability, affordability. These types of homes, these are not your luxury new apartments that we're building, that we're seeing going up with all the amenities. These don't have the dog wash stations. These don't have the Amazon delivery rooms. They don't have a pool, a gym, an exercise center, an entertainment center where they get the big screen, they can watch movies on Friday nights. They don't have a bar. These are some of the most basic cost-effective housing that we have for the residents of Connecticut. These are in cities and towns across. Glastonbury has them. New Britain has them. Wallingford has them. Every single town and city in Connecticut has this type of housing, and it's been in existence for decades, long before we were making these luxury apartments, which is great. Having all these amenities is a great thing for those who can afford $2,800, $3,800, $4,000 a month. But the housing that we're sn/rr 287 going to affect with this legislation are the housing that are going $1,100 a month, $1215, the lower end of the market. So, yes, this is not a perfect system, but it's better than having heat, hot water utilities built into the rent. So, the good Chair of Housing, I don't have a question for you, but I want to reference a couple of comments that he made. One is that there was a state Supreme Court decision that we would be codifying into law if we were to accept it. And I read that decision was from 2024 Northland v. PURA, right here. And I also read the statute 16-262e, echo. And I maintain in this room that the state Supreme Court was flawed in their decision, and I wish Northland would take this up to the United States Supreme Court because how this was interpreted, it was originally interpreted to have a -- there was a disagreement between Northland and PURA. And it was not about the tenants and the residents paying their bills. It was about how PURA can get paid if the landlord doesn't pay the utility bill. Under the system here where there's one electric or gas system coming into the house, if the landlord doesn't pay the rent, by law, the utility company can't shut off gas, electric to the tenant because they're not the responsible party. So, what this decision sn/rr 288 was aimed at doing was trying to encourage and trying to find a way to make those tenants responsible. The people who can least afford it, put them on the hook when the landlord doesn't pay. So, in my reading of this argument, of the ruling, the court overstepped tremendously on the small -- it was looking at a small issue and it applied a broad decision to a small issue. And that's how we got here. The owner or manager of a residential dwelling shall be liable for the cost of all utilities furnished by public service company, electric supplier, municipal utility, heating fuel dealer to the building, except when it's individually metered. That's what the law states. And so, these individual residents, when there's no individual utility billing, the utility can't shut the power off to the poor guy in Unit A because the landlord didn't pay the utility bill. So, this bill was designed to help UI and Eversource and whatever utility to the detriment of the residents and the building owner. And Northland proactively saw a ruling from PURA, and PURA ruled against Northland. So, Northland appealed it to the Superior Court, the Superior Court ruled with PURA. Northland appealed it to the Appellate Court, and for whatever reason, I am not an attorney, maybe an sn/rr 289 attorney will get up in this room and talk about this later, the Supreme Court grabbed it before it went to the Appellate Court, heard the case, and ruled in PURA's favor. I have no idea what went on in how that ruling came to be. But Lord knows PURA's had its fair share of troubles and issues over the past few years, enough to say where I would call into question credibility of some of the rulings. And so, this legislation that we're looking to pass is going to rely on a on a statute that I believe was misinterpreted. And so, we take one of the tools when we talk about affordability that allows for a landlord to provide a tenant with a reasonably priced home dwelling castle place to live at the end of the day, at the end of a hard day's work. And we're going to take that and we're going to give them two options. You create a very costly repair by tearing apart a building to install these utilities individually, which the house was not designed for that, or we're going to say that the tenant now has to pay that heat, hot water, electricity, whatever utility baked into the rent. So, the rent that's now $1,500 or $1,200, maybe $2,200 as the landlord hedges his or her bets, because they got to cover their mortgage and their bills at the end of the month. So, this was sn/rr 290 going to do nothing but potentially harm the tenant. As we've talked about since the beginning of session, some of my colleagues and I, what kind of a message does this send as a state who says we desperately need to provide housing? We want to build more housing units, we want more housing, we need more housing. The Senate passed a bill few days ago, the Golden Girls Bill, that was designed to take a single-family residents and allow people to rent out a room. I think Representative Scott touched on this. This does the exact opposite. This says, yes, you can rent out that room to a stranger, but now you have to tear your house apart and put in a meter, or you're going to have to build that and estimate into the rent, plus a margin of error, plus a margin for profitability. I do have a question for the Chair of Housing, because I do differ on this. I believe I'm going to paraphrase because this was earlier dialogue with the Ranking Member of Housing. How would this not cover a rented room in a residence? Through you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Because that room would be subleted, that room is not really a principal lease. And even if it was, you would be talking about the different floors in a house, or maybe the different parts, but it is not a separate unit upon itself being one room. Through you.

Well, Mr. Speaker, and to the good Chair of Housing, I disagree with -- the way you framed it may be accurate. But the bottom line is it is a separate living space. Somebody is going to come in and rent that Golden Girls room, which, by the way, can be permitted at the local level. Somebody's going to come in and rent that room. It's going to be their personal space, their private space, depending on how the lease is written up. sn/rr 292 And I would argue that every bit as much of a dwelling unit as if they had half the house to themselves with their own kitchen and separate bathroom. I'm not going to pose a question, but I would argue that that bedroom, that room that they're renting is going to have heat, they're going to have to have access to water, and sanitary living conditions, just as if it was a separate apartment unit. And in that scenario, that person renting the room has to pick up their share of the costs for that room. So, using the Ratio Utility Based System, if that room is 300 square feet, they're going to pay 300 square feet, that portion of the total home minus the common areas. So, I disagree with the chair. We don't have to go back and forth. It's a different way that we have interpreted this. But I look at a rental. Somebody's got a lease agreement to rent a room. That's no different or immaterially different than somebody renting a three-bedroom apartment with a kitchen and bathroom and garage or whatever. You think those of us who have kids, and I can think back to a younger version of myself when I was not responsible for the bills in my parents house. And I can sn/rr 293 certainly speak for my children who are not responsible for the bills, taking half-hour showers, right? Leaving the lights on. I can remember leaving the lights on. My grandfather would follow me around the house, turn off the lights. We've all been there. These are true stories. Every single one of us has a story like that. But that's what we do when we go to baking in the utilities into the rent. We discourage people from conserving because it's in the rent. I'm paying for my heat and hot water. There's no limit. I had friends who rented. I've worked in apartments. Some of them offer heat and hot water included. It's part of the advertising. And to God's honest truth, I was visiting a business in Hartford this January. I park my truck, I get out of my truck, shut the door, and I hear noise. It's cold, it's January. I hear music playing. I hear noise. I turn around, it's a multifamily apartment building, maybe 10 units on the second floor. Half of them had their windows open, with the curtains blowing out. It's 15 degrees outside, and the windows are open. I turned because I heard the music and heard the noise, and I can guarantee you that either those people hit the lottery or they have heat and sn/rr 294 hot water included in their rent, because they didn't give a darn whether the windows are open. Now, I know that we have a bunch of people in here, as I am environmentally conscious. I would hope that people would understand my argument when I say that that's wasteful, that the Ratio Utility Billing System discourages people from wasting their utilities because they're going to have to pay a portion of that. Ultimately, at the end of the month, the landlord's going to get the bill, going to divvy up that bill by the square footage or by the number of tenants, and there are a couple other examples of ways to break this up, and they're going to assign that on top of the rent to the units based on the amount of space that they occupy. So, that tenant knows that's coming, or should know. So, therefore, that discourages wastefulness and it encourages people to conserve. So, from an environmental standpoint, when we talk about passing environmental bills, the way we pass bills around here, this probably could have been stuffed in one. So, from a conservation standpoint, the options that were given, that were giving a landlord in this type of rental unit, it's really, we're putting them between a rock and a hard place. sn/rr 295 I want to get back to the style of home that typically is going to fall under this scenario. As I stated, these are how homes that were built 1800s, 1900s might have been a house that was built in 1980 as a single-family and was subdivided into different apartments. You know them in your communities. You drive by them. At one point, that was somebody's mansion, and now it's been converted into several apartments. Or was a family, the kids moved out. Mom and dad converted half the House to a two-family, and now that's how they're supplementing their income. Some of those older homes, especially those built before 1978, were subject to environmental issues. One of the great materials used in building construction back prior to 1978 was asbestos. Asbestos is a naturally occurring fibrous -- it's a rock with fibers, and it has an incredible heat resistant capabilities. They use them on brake pads, old ships, but it's deadly to humans. Okay? You get lung cancer, asbestosis mesothelioma, which is a lung cancer specific to asbestos. And in the homes, it was used in joint compound with the sheetrock, used in plaster, flooring. If you've got old linoleum looking nine inch by nine inch tiles, it's almost 100% guarantee those things are asbestos. The old boilers that they used in the sn/rr 296 '30s and '40s and '50s as a means of insulation, those were covered in a type of asbestos. Your wall insulation, your attic insulation, vermiculite was a form of asbestos, and those are throughout the house, all throughout these older homes. So, when somebody might say, jeez, how hard could it be to convert one of these? Just take one meter and turn it into two. Separate the utilities. How hard could that be? That becomes almost unaffordable. Let's just say the landlord says, I've got $500,000 to rip that whole house apart and install these utilities, take the lead water piping out of the house, to rewire the whole house, put new utilities. I'm going to deal with the asbestos, I'm going to deal with the lead, and I'm going to spend a half $500,000. Where does that resident go? They can't live there. These projects take six months to a year; permitting, contracting, working with DEEP, EPA, DPH, the Building Department. I'm talking a one-family, two-family residence that could be your cost to take care of all this. And now that resident's out on the street. So, it's not as simple. I heard this described as a simple fix. I would argue it's not a simple fix. sn/rr 297 On the face, just like we do so many things around here, on their face value, it's a simple. We got a simple problem, we're going to come up with a simple solution, but it's not simple. For every action we take, there's probably 100 different reactions down the line, 98 of which we didn't think of. So, I'm going to talk about the benefits of using this system. I made a few highlights. It encourages conservation about water and energy. We have the third highest electric cost in the country. So, encouraging people to heat and hot water included, windows open, if it's electric heat, they're consuming a ton of heat. Rep. Scott talked about the gamers. It aligns more closely with the actual usage based on the square footage or the number of residents. I would say this is more fair, other than it's certainly more fair than heat and hot water included. This is not a steak and salad decision. Ideally, yes, we all agree, and maybe we don't. The best solution would be individual meters, but that may not be an option for some of these residents. And if we're going to do this on top of what I argue is a flawed Supreme Court decision, we are codifying flawed logic, and further harming our housing community. sn/rr 298 The high usage customers under RUBS, Ratio Utility Based Systems, RUBS, would conceivably pay more. It's going to delay those costs and infrastructure investments. If we're really worried about the environment, if we're really worried about consumption, if we're really worried about residents and keeping things affordable, this is not the way to go. I do have a couple of questions for the good chairman of Housing.

Representative Felipe, would you care to repeat the answer? sn/rr 299

Representative Weir.

Representative Felipe again?

Representative Weir.

Representative Felipe. sn/rr 301

Representative Weir.

sn/rr 302 Repeat again, there, Representative Felipe.

Representative Weir.

I believe we've done that before, but would you want to try again, Representative Felipe?

Representative Weir.

Representative Felipe.

Representative Weir.

Clerk is in possession of LCO No. 5798, which will be designated House Amendment Schedule "A", Mr. Clerk.

The Representative has asked leave of the chamber to summarize. Without objection, Representative Weir.

The question is on adoption of House Amendment Schedule "A". Representative Felipe.

Thank you, sir. Who else would like to remark on this House amendment? Representative Fishbein? I've got a lot of people on the board on the bill as amended, so we're going to have to do this by waves. sn/rr 310

sn/rr 311 Thank you, sir. Anyone else on House "A"? Representative Howard.

Anyone else on House "A"? Representative Courpas.

Thank you, ma'am. Anyone else on House "A"? Now, staff and guests, please come to the well of the House. Members, take your seats. The machine will be open. sn/rr 314

Have all members voted? Please check the board to ensure that your vote has been properly cast. If all members have voted, the machine will be locked, and the Clerk will take a tally. Will the Clerk please announce the tally?

The amendment fails. (gavel) Do you care to remark further on the bill as amended? Do you care to remark further on the bill as amended? Representative Weir.

Will the Clerk please call LCO No. 5802, which will be designated House Amendment Schedule "B".

The Representative seek leave of the chamber to summarize the amendment. Is there any objection? Hearing none, Representative Weir, you have the floor, sir.

Question before the chamber is on adoption of House Amendment Schedule "B". Do you care to remark further? Representative Ackert, you have the four, sir.

Thank you, sir. Do you care to remark further? Representative Felipe.

Thank you, sir. Do you care to remark further? Care to remark further? Representative Howard.

Thank you, sir. Do you care to remark further? Care to remark further? If not, staff and guests, please come to the well of the House. Members, please take your seats or attend to the portal. The machine will be opened.

Have all members voted? Please check the board to ensure that your vote has been properly cast. If all members have voted, the machine will be locked, and the Clerk will take a tally. Would the Clerk please announce the tally?

The amendment fails. (gavel) Do you care to remark further on the bill as amended? Representative Weir.

Thank you, sir. Do you care to remark further? Care to remark further? Representative Polletta? No. Care to remark further? Care to remark further? If not, staff and guests, please come to the well of the House. Members, please take your seats. The machine will be opened.

Have all members voted? Please check the board to ensure that your vote has been properly cast. If all members have voted, the sn/rr 332 machine will be locked, and the Clerk will take a tally. Would the Clerk please announce the tally?

The bill passes in concurrence with the Senate. (gavel) Representative Johnson.

Nice to see you today.

Without objection, so ordered. (gavel) With the Clerk please call Calendar No. 569.

sn/rr 334 Representative Concepcion.

Good to see you.

Question before the chamber is on acceptance of Joint Committee's Favorable Report and adoption of the resolution. Representative Concepcion.

Representative Concepcion, if you want to pause for one second, please.

Representative Chafee.

Representative Concepcion, you may proceed.

The question is on adoption of the resolution. Representative Yaccarino.

Good evening, sir.

Care to remark further on the resolution before us? If not, is there any objection to a voice vote? Seeing none, I'll try your minds. Those in favor, signify by saying aye. (MEMBERS): Aye.

I move that we suspend our rules in order to bring up Calendar No. 569. I'm sorry, 570, please.

House Calendar 570, Senate Joint Resolution No. 63, RESOLUTION CONFIRMING THE NOMINATION OF EVERETT SMITH III OF GREENWICH TO BE A UTILITY COMMISSIONER OF THE PUBLIC UTILITIES REGULATORY AUTHORITY. Favorable Report of Executive and Legislative Nominations.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move acceptance of the Committee's Favorable Report and adoption of the resolution.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Smith received his BA from Vassar College and his MBA from University of Houston. After graduation, he joined Chemical Bank Energy and Minerals Group who was the lead bank for most investor-owned utilities in the US at the time. He then joined GE Capital to focus on financing for investor-owned utilities and unregulated private power facilities. In over his 46-year career focusing on utilities, he's worked across geographies including North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. His knowledge of the industry was evident, obviously, during our testimony. He was incredibly impressive. He really does sn/rr 341 truly understand the importance of PURA and what we're all looking for him up here to do. He would make an excellent addition to the committee. With that, Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption.

Yes, Mr. Speaker. I stand in support of Mr. Smith. Again, a wealth of experience, a wealth of knowledge in the renewable and the petroleum, and also in the finance part of the equation. The five members, four new members and the one last year, I think it's a good makeup for our PURA board. I'm looking forward to them working with all of us and working with our utilities and to moving us forward as a state. And I stand in strong support of somebody that's extremely qualified, Mr. Smith. Thank you.

Those opposed, nay. The ayes have it. Resolution is adopted (gavel) in concurrence with the Senate. Will the Clerk please call Calendar No. 502?

Representative Osborne. sn/rr 343

The question before this chamber is on acceptable of the Joint Committee's Favorable Report and passage of the bill in concurrence with the Senate. Representative Osborne.

Question is on adoption. Do you care to remark further? Representative Carney, you have the floor, sir.

Please proceed, sir.

Representative Osborne.

Representative Carney.

Do you care to remark further? Care to remark further? If not, staff and guests, please come to the well of the House. Members, please take your seats. The machine will be opened.

sn/rr 347 Have all members voted? Please check the board to ensure that your vote has been properly cast. If all members have voted, the machine will be locked, and the Clerk will take a tally. Would the Clerk please announce the tally?

Bill passes in concurrence with the Senate. (gavel) Will the Clerk please call Calendar No. 527?

Representative Gilchrest.

Good evening.

Question before the chamber is on acceptance of the Joint Committee's Favorable Report and passage of the bill as amended by Gilchrest, you have the floor, madam.

Question before the chamber is passage. Will you care to remark further? Representative Case.

Thank you, sir. Do you care to remark further? Representative Fishbein. sn/rr 351

Please proceed, sir.

Representative Gilchrest.

sn/rr 352 Representative Fishbein.

Representative Gilchrest.

Representative Fishbein.

Representative Gilchrest.

Representative Fishbein.

Representative Gilchrest.

Representative Fishbein.

sn/rr 355 Representative Gilchrest.

Representative Fishbein.

Representative Gilchrest.

Representative Fishbein.

Representative Gilchrest.

Representative Fishbein.

Representative Gilchrest.

Representative Fishbein.

Representative Gilchrest.

Representative Fishbein.

The chamber will stand at ease. Representative Fishbein, would you like to make a motion to refer it? sn/rr 360

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I withdraw the motion and yield back my time. Thank you.

Good evening, Mr. Speaker. How are you?

Good. Good. I move we pass this bill temporarily.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have the distinguished honor today to introduce one of our town councilors, our vice chair, Sam Carmody. He specializes on the council in education and downtown redevelopment. So, he's just checking out the action here and wanted to have the chamber greet him with applause. Sam Carmody. (applause)

On page 26, Calendar 404, House Bill No. 5565, AN ACT CONCERNING A STUDY OF THE CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LAWS OF THIS STATE. Favorable Report of Judiciary.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move for acceptance of Joint Committee's Favorable Report and passage of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, the Clerk has an amendment. It is --

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Clerk has an amendment. It's LCO 6225. I ask it be called, and I be granted leave to summarize.

sn/rr 364 House Amendment Schedule "A", LCO 6225, offered by Representative Stafstrom, Senator Winfield, Representative Fishbein, et al.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we've reached that point of the legislative session where it feels like Groundhog Day, and it's Groundhog Day all over again. The amendment before us is all really good stuff related to criminal law and criminal procedure, which this chamber all liked so much. Everybody here already voted for it, save for one section of the bill, which ran into a little bit of trouble upstairs. We're going to repass the bill without that one offending section and send it back up. I move adoption.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a question for the proponent in the form of a riddle.

What does the original legislation have in common with most legislators on the last day of session? Through you, Mr. Speaker.

sn/rr 366 I'm going to go with the longer they hang around, the more they start to stink.

Close but not right. Both of them apparently need to lose a little weight. With regard to the bill, it's going to lose a section. With regard to myself, I could use losing about 20 pounds. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of the amendment. I ask my colleagues to support as well.

Those opposed, nay. The ayes have it, the amendment is adopted. (gavel) Will you remark further on the bill as amended? Representative Mastrofrancesco.

Please proceed.

sn/rr 368 Representative Stafstrom.

Representative Mastrofrancesco.

Thank you. Care to remark further? If not, staff and guests, please come to the well of the House. Members, please take your seats or attend to your portals. The machine will be opened.

Have all the members voted? Have all members voted? Please check the board to ensure that your vote has been properly cast. If all members have voted, the machine will be locked, and the Clerk will take a tally. And the Clerk, please announce the tally.

The bill as amended passes. (gavel) Representative Rojas.

Without objection, so ordered. (gavel) Would the Clerk please call Calendar No. 562?

Representative Garibay, you have the floor, madam. sn/rr 371

Question before the chamber is on acceptance of the Joint Committee's Favorable Report and passage of the bill as amended by 5843. Representative Garibay, you have the floor, madam.

Question is on adoption. Will you remark further? Representative Bolinsky. sn/rr 372

The pleasure is all mine, sir.

Please proceed, sir.

Thank you, sir. Representative Garibay.

Representative Bolinsky.

Representative Garibay.

Representative Bolinsky.

Thank you, sir. Do you care to remark further? Representative Case.

Please proceed, sir.

Representative Garibay.

Representative Case.

sn/rr 378 Representative Garibay.

Representative Case.

Thank you, sir. Do you care to remark further? Do you care to remark further on the bill as amended? If not, staff and guests, please come to the well of the House. Members, please take your seats or attend to your portals. The machine will be opened.

Have all the members voted? If all the members have voted, the machine will be locked. And Mr. Clerk, kindly announce the tally. sn/rr 380

Bill as amended pass in concurrence. (gavel) Mr. Clerk, 527, please.

Thank you. Representative Gilchrest, we're back.

Question is on acceptance and passage. Would you like to explain the bill again, Representative Gilchrest?

Thank you, ma'am. Would you remark further? Are you ready for the question? No. Representative Case, I suspected as much.

Very good, sir. Thank you. Are you ready for the question? If so, the machine will be open.

Have all the members voted? If all the members have voted, the machine will be locked. And Mr. Clerk, kindly announce the tally. Wait. Hold on. And Mr. Clerk, will you kindly announce the tally?

Bill as amended has passed in concurrence. (gavel) Mr. Clerk, 564, please.

Distinguished chair of the Commerce Committee, Representative Meskers.

Question is on acceptance and passage of the Senate Bill as amended in concurrence. Representative Meskers, would you care to explain the bill, please?

sn/rr 386 Thank you, sir. Distinguished ranking member of the Commerce Committee. Representative Aniskovich.

If we could just clear. I don't want you to be disrupted anyway. Representative Aniskovich.

Thank you, sir. Will you remark further? If not, the machine will be open. sn/rr 387

Have all the members voted? Will the members please check the board to determine if your vote is properly cast? If all the members have voted, the machine will be locked, and the Clerk will take the tally. Will the Clerk please announce the tally?

The bill as amended passes in concurrence with the Senate. (gavel) Will the Clerk please call Calendar 317?

Representative Sanchez of the 24th, you have the floor, sir.

sn/rr 389 Question before the chamber is acceptance of the Joint Committee's Favorable Report and passage of the bill. Representative Sanchez, you have the floor.

Will the Clerk please call LCO 6216, which will be designated House Amendment Schedule "A"?

sn/rr 390 Representative seeks leave of the chamber to summarize the amendment. Hearing no objection, Representative Sanchez, you may proceed with the summarization.

The question before the chamber is adoption of House Amendment Schedule "A". Will you remark further on the amendment? Will you remark further on the amendment? Is there objection to a voice vote? Hearing none, I will try your minds. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. (MEMBERS): Aye. sn/rr 391

Good evening, Mr. Speaker. And this is one of several bills that passed with unanimous support out of the Labor Committee. So, appreciate the good chair of Labor for shepherding this home. And it's a good bill, ought to pass.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good evening. I rise in very strong support of this legislation. As I'm sure many of us are aware, AI is coming at us very fast and furious. Where artificial sn/rr 392 intelligence was in 2023 is not where it is today. It's moving very, very quickly. We have great tradesmen in our state. We've got great kids in our technical high schools. We want to make sure that the skills that they're acquiring to be our tradesmen of tomorrow, our electricians, our carpenters, our excavators, those that are going into the construction industry, have the tools in their toolbox to make sure they're successful. And what we don't know, we don't know. So, we want to make sure we get all the principals in the room for this task force, somebody from the technical school administration, our various trades peoples in the various trades, designers and engineers in artificial intelligence to make sure that our trades people will have the skills needed to be successful tomorrow where AI may be integrated, where they may have to know how to write code or do automated, estimating, or predictive maintenance. We want to make sure they have those skills. This task force is going to go a long way to help us get a lot of those answers. I stand in very strong support. I want to thank Chairman Sanchez as well as Co-Chair Kushner, ranking members Weir and Sampson, and the members of the Labor Committee for sn/rr 393 passing this unanimously. And I enthusiastically support the legislation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The House of Representatives is voting by roll, members to the chamber. The House of Representatives is voting by roll, members to the chamber.

House Bill 5897 as amended by House "A": Total number voting 150 Necessary for passage 76 Those voting Yea 150 Those voting Nay 0 Absent not voting 1

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise to make a motion that we immediately transmit all items requiring further consideration to the Senate.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise for the purpose of a Journal Notation.

I'd like to be noted for SB 87, my vote was a yes.

For the purpose of a Journal Notation. sn/rr 396

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like my vote to be recorded, for SB 87, as a yes.

Will the Clerk please call Calendar 139?

Representative Johnson, for what purpose do you rise?

So ordered. Will the Clerk please call Calendar 531?

sn/rr 398 Representative Leeper of the 132nd, what purpose -- Oh, that's it.

The question before the chamber is acceptance of the Joint Committee's Favorable Report and passage of the bill as amended by

Will you remark further on the bill as amended? Representative Zupkus of the 89th, you have the floor, ma'am.

Please proceed.

Representative Leeper.

Representative Zupkus.

Representative Leeper.

Representative Zupkus.

Representative Leeper.

Chamber will stand at ease. Representative Rojas. sn/rr 403

So ordered. The chamber will stand at ease. Well, the chamber will come back to order. The Clerks, please call Calendar 382.

Calendar 382. sn/rr 404

Representative Boyd of the 50th District, you have the floor, sir.

Question before the chamber is acceptance of the Joint Committee's Favorable Report in concurrence with the Senate. Representative Boyd, you have the floor, sir.

We remark further on the bill? Representative Howard of the 43rd, you have the floor, sir.

Thank you, Representative. Will you remark further on the bill? If not, will staff and guests please come to the well of the House? Members take your seats, head to the portals. The machine will be open.

Have all the members voted? Will the members please check the board to determine if your vote is properly cast? If all the members have voted, the machine will be locked, and the Clerk will take a tally. Will the Clerk please announce the tally?

The bill passes in concurrence with the Senate. (gavel) Representative Johnson.

Without objection, so ordered. (gavel) Will the Clerk please call Calendar 571?

Representative Boyd of the 50th, you have the floor, sir.

Question for the chamber's acceptance of the Joint Committee's Favorable Report and passage of the bill as amended by Boyd, you have the floor.

Thank you, Representative. Will you remark further on the bill as amended? Representative Howard of the 43rd.

Thank you, Representative. Will you remark further on the bill as amended? If not, will staff and guests please come to the well of the House? Members take your seats, head to your portals. The machine will be open.

Have all the members voted? Will the members please check the board to determine if your vote is properly cast? If all the sn/rr 412 members have voted, the machine will be locked. And the Clerk take the tally. The Clerk please announce the tally.

Bill passes in concurrence with the Senate. (gavel) Will the Clerk please call Calendar 545?

Representative Meskers of the 150th District.

Question before the chamber's acceptance of the Joint Committee's Favorable Report and passage of the bill in concurrence with the Senate. Representative Meskers, you have the floor.

Question for the chamber is adoption of the bill. Will you remark further on the bill before us? Representative Aniskovich of the 35th, you have the floor, sir.

sn/rr 415 Will you remark further on the bill before us? If not, will staff of guests please come to the well of the House. Members take your seats. The machine will be open.

Have all the members voted? Will the members please check the board to determine if your vote is properly cast? If all the members have voted, the machine will be locked, and the Clerk will take a tally. Will the Clerk please announce the tally?

The bill passes in concurrence with the Senate. (gavel) Will the Clerk please call Calendar 378?

Representative McCarthy Vahey of the 133rd, you have the floor, ma'am.

Question before the chamber is acceptance of the Joint Committee's Favorable Report and passage of the bill in concurrence with the Senate. Representative McCarthy Vahey, you have the floor.

Will you remark further on the bill before us? Representative Klarides-Ditria of the 105th, you have the floor, ma'am.

Please proceed.

sn/rr 419 Representative McCarthy Vahey.

Representative Klarides-Ditria.

Representative McCarthy Vahey.

Representative Klarides-Ditria.

sn/rr 421 Representative McCarthy Vahey.

Representative Klarides-Ditria.

Representative McCarthy Vahey.

Representative Klarides-Ditria.

Thank you, Representative. Will your remark further on the bill before us? Representative Rutigliano of the 123rd, you have the floor, sir.

Representative McCarthy Vahey.

sn/rr 425 Representative Rutigliano.

Representative McCarthy Vahey.

Representative Rutigliano.

Representative McCarthy Vahey.

Representative Rutigliano.

Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair, for that diligent answer and response. Representative Rutigliano.

Madam Chair.

Thank you. Representative Rutigliano.

Let's pause for a second.

See what happens. All right. Chamber will come back to order. Representative Yaccarino.

sn/rr 432 He's always ready. We're good. Representative McCarthy Vahey, you have a question coming your way.

Representative McCarthy Vahey.

I will. I did --

I'll do it really quick. So, will this be under a controlled setting with doctors and nurses there? They do it in John Hopkins University Medical Institution. They do it at other places. It does work not a 100% of time, probably about 80% of the time. So, through you, Mr. Speaker, will this be with a doctor to nurse? And the second part of question. How are you qualified to get into this program? Because you can't just say, "I need help." There's got to be some sort of qualification, through you, Mr. Speaker.

sn/rr 434 Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I thank the good Representative for repeating the question because, yes, indeed. That is actually one of the powers of the study is that it is done in a fully supervised setting with medical providers as you were describing. And the clinical qualifications, I actually don't have a specific list of the diagnoses, but these are the Yale Medical School psychiatry folks who actually both through the institutional review board and the clinical qualifications require that people meet those so certain diagnoses. But, yes, this is not a drug that is taken at home. This is a pilot that is done under supervision and with those providers present and also then able to provide talk therapy, which is a part of the process, through you, Mr. Speaker.

I appreciate that answer. You know, there are people that get addicted to drugs or alcohol or have mental health issues, and you sn/rr 435 could try going to institution, getting help, but sometimes it just doesn't work. And sometimes the last alternative is somebody doing this to maybe help them. And if it helps and it's under a controlled setting for our men and women that serve this military, our police, our fire, just innocent young men and women that somehow have a mental health issue or a drug issue or a substance issue. If this helps, and it's controlled, I think you have to support it. I was against the actual just freely giving it a couple years ago, but as long as it's under a controlled setting with a doctor and a nurse, I think it's worthwhile. So, I appreciate the time to the good ranking member and the good Chair and through you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

sn/rr 436 Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A few comments and a couple of questions, if I may.

Representative McCarthy Vahey.

Representative Carpino.

Representative.

Representative Carpino.

Representative McCarthy Vahey.

Representative Carpino.

Madam Chair.

Carpino. Representative Carpino.

Thank you. Representative Howard of the 43rd.

Say it again, sir. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Representative Rutigliano for the second time. Ranking member, General Law. Yeah.

Thank you, sir. Representative Kennedy of the 119th.

The Chair is ready.

Madam Chair.

Representative Kennedy. sn/rr 446

Thank you. Staff and guests come to the well of the House. Members take your seats. The machine will be open.

Have all the members voted? Again, as the hour turns later. Yeah. Take your time. Well, sort of contradictory statement, but as the hour turns later, we will have to close the board sooner. Have all the members voted? We're not quite at that hour, but you'll know when it comes. Have all the members voted? Have all members voted? We're missing one. We're missing one. Machine will be locked. And will the Clerk please take and announce the tally? sn/rr 447

The bill passes in concurrence to the Senate. (gavel) Okay. Just before we get to the next bill and we call it, as many of you know, the two longest serving legislators in the history of the state of Connecticut are retiring this year at the same time. Last night, we had the honor and unique pleasure of welcoming Senate President Looney down here. And we also have Representative Mushinsky from Wallingford, who we've heard from earlier today, who is retiring. And, if anybody ever ties or breaks that record, then we'll give you the sn/rr 448 same treatment. Okay? So, keep plugging away. We did some history like we did with Senate President Looney, and we went back to the state library. We actually found the first time that Representative Mushinsky ever talked on the floor of the House. Now back then, it was rare for younger members, and I mean younger in terms of experience, to speak. Those rules have changed quite a bit. But back then, it was very rare. So, believe it or not, she probably only spoke a few times. But what was interesting is the first bill she spoke on, you can't make this up. Sometimes the world collides in a way that is uniquely special, and it makes you go, it's out of a Disney movie. It's got to be scripted. There's no way. We did not know this when we did the research. The first bill that Representative Mushinsky ever spoke on was the bottle bill. (applause) It wasn't a budget and it wasn't pet shops. It was the bottle bill. And so, to introduce -- And then of all ironies in this Disney movie, you find out that we actually have a bill left that came from the upper chamber that might just fit the bill for something similar. So, Representative Mushinsky is going to come up and do our next bill for us. And we have a plaque of what she said, and I sn/rr 449 won't read it because it just basically says that we're working on the bottle bill. But she's going to do our next bill with the Chairman of the Environment Committee. Ladies and gentlemen, Deputy Speaker Mary Mushinsky. (applause). The Majority Leader.

Without objection, so ordered. (gavel) Okay. You have the account.

House calendar 579. Substitute for Senate Bill No. 457 as amended by Senate Amendment Schedule "A", LCO 4410 and "B" 5239. sn/rr 450 AN ACT CONCERNING THE STATE'S BOTTLE BILL. Favorable Report of Environment.

Good evening, Madam Speaker. It is very good to see you up there.

Madam Speaker, I move for acceptance of the Joint Committee's Favorable Report and passage of the bill as amended by the Senate in concurrence with the Senate.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, this is a pretty straightforward bill. It increases the deposit to $10 per bottle and has them all be deposited in the city of Wallingford. I move adoption. Oh, we dream. We dream, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, it is actually quite straightforward bill. A lot of folks have worked on this issue. As you'll remember, we worked hard to get an E-Cert done earlier on. We brought a bunch of ideas forward through the committee, and this is the one that made it to the finish line. This is ensuring that folks cannot participate in what we call transshipment, where bottles are purchased out of state, sold in state, getting around the system, something that we got to stop. And we continue our efforts through this. Madam Speaker, I move adoption. sn/rr 452

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I just want to clarify a couple of things through you to the good Chair. So, this increases the penalties for these trans shipments as well, through you, Madam Speaker.

Through you, Madam Speaker, yes. Through you.

Representative Parker.

Thank you. This is another --

Thank you. I apologize. Through you, so it's another step to try and get a handle on the fraud going on. And after all the meetings and all the years trying to do this, hopefully, we can get a fix so the fraud ends and we stop hurting our Connecticut sn/rr 454 businesses. So, I am in favor of this, and let's hope it moves forward quickly. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. And, you know, as members of minority do this all the time, and I wanted to do it one time, and I figured I'd do it before you left. But I've always wanted to do this. Good bill ought to pass.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bill before us. Madam Speaker, a few comments. sn/rr 455

Thank you Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the Chamber had a tradition of doing this more frequently in the past where speakers would get up on their last day. And we talk about a bill important to them and we deliver more sermon about the individual than the bill itself. And if you don't mind, I'll do this in the formal setting, but in a more old school sort of way. Madam Speaker, to the good Chair of the committee. Mr. Chair, did you know that the great Speaker has spent decades embodying the best traditions of public service? She is principled, persistent, and deeply rooted in her community. Her career has been defined not by headlines or theatrics, but by tireless advocacy, environmental stewardship, and an unwavering commitment to the people she serves. Whether fighting for conservation, consumer protection, public health, or government accountability, the great Speaker has consistently sn/rr 456 brought thoughtfulness, integrity, and independence to public life. She's shown great effective leadership that's built on preparation, the countless hours, the amount of research, the time she spends reading and developing bills as best reflected by her office back at the LOB where, you probably have five, six decades worth of information at your fingertips.

I don't think you can. I don't think you can, actually. But mostly, it was built on a willingness to stand firmly on behalf of something she believes is right. Connecticut is stronger because of the service, and generation of Connecticut residents have benefited from your dedication. Madam Speaker, I'm so glad to urge all of my colleagues to vote yes before us. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I just rise for a couple of questions to the proponent of the bill, if I may.

Thank you. If the good Chairman of the committee can explain to me exactly what this bill is doing. I see there's new lines in here talking about a barcode that they're required to use. What was the previous policy? And under this bill, what are we trying to do that's new, through you?

sn/rr 458 Through you, Madam Speaker, I believe that was in the underlying bill from what we passed in the E-Cert unless I'm missing that. Could you give a line reference through you, Madam Speaker?

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Yes. That would be looking on lines 42.

Representative Mastrofrancesco.

Through you, Madam Speaker, in the line that you're referring to, we are clarifying that if a redemption center purchases and begins using the barcode technology that will help ensure fraud is not happening, they are able to retain their full handling fee, which is a part of the bottle deposit system, through you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. So, I'm assuming on lines 46 through 48 of this bill is the old language. That's the language that we're taking out, was that the part that was in the E-Cert? I'm still a little confused on what we actually have to clarify. There has to be -- In order to clarify something, there should be new language in there, which I see that there is, but I'm just not sure what's different from the old language that we passed in the E-Cert, if I can get a better clarification, through you.

Through you, Madam Speaker. Thank you for the question. Exactly right. Lines 46 through 48 have been removed, and it's lines 42 through 44 that have been added. Through you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. So, on lines 46 through 48, were we requiring that they use a barcode and in the new language, we are not requiring or vice versa? Let me just put it this way. In lines 46 through 48, was it a may? They may use a barcode, and now we are removing that option. And now it is a mandate that they must use a barcode, through you.

Through you, Madam Speaker. I'm sorry I'm not explaining this quite as well. Not quite right. I'll try another way. What we had said previously was put in place a provision to incentivize redemption centers to utilize barcode technology with the idea that using that technology ensures that fraud is not happening so they know what bottles are coming in. sn/rr 462 One of the mechanisms to do that was to say that their handling fee could be reduced by up to 1¢ for the bottles that were processed that way. What that language did not include was the ability to, should that redemption center begin to utilize that technology, receive that 1¢ handling fee once again. So, this is actually an improvement in the bill that says, if you take the step we were incentivizing you to take, you can now go back to the previous system, which is best for redemption center so that they do receive that handling fee. So, the change in the language, when we added at such time that a redemption center subject to such etc. etc., we clarified this was the language needed to ensure that should they begin to utilize the technology, they could once again receive the handling fee. Was that not in the language, there might have not been a mechanism for those redemption centers to go back to getting their full handling fee once they began to use the technology. Hope that was a bit clearer. Through you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I appreciate that clarification, I guess. Who's on first? I think the easiest way to do it is just get rid of the bottle. The deposit we have on the bottles or bring it back down to 5¢ to solve the problem. I'm not necessarily sure this is the answer that's going to solve the problem. But if you can maybe just give me an idea of how this is going to help stop the problem that we're having right now with the with the deposits, through you.

Through you, Madam Speaker. Thank you for the question. This is going to help ensure that there's no fraud in the system. Through you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. And if the good Chairman of the committee can explain to me how that prevents the fraud, like, what is it exactly doing? How do we know there will not be any fraud? Through you.

Through you, Madam Speaker, redemption centers utilizing the barcode technology can ensure that those are valid bottles to be redeemed. Through you, Madam Speaker.

sn/rr 465 Thank you, Madam Speaker. And the barcodes on there, can they be manipulated? Through you.

Through you, Madam Speaker. I don't believe the bill in this case is looking at the possible manipulation of the barcode through you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I have no further questions, and I cannot have you leave us without me asking some questions. I got to keep your mind going. And I appreciate you. Thank you very much.

The House is voting by roll, members to the chamber. The House is voting by roll, members to the chamber.

concurrence with the Senate: Total number voting 149 sn/rr 467 Necessary for passage 75 Those voting Yea 138 Those voting Nay 11 Absent not voting 2

Okay. Chamber will come back to order. Before any photos, I know some people want to do different things. We are going to have one more guest for the evening. He's not going to give a speech at midnight, so no one has to stay longer than unnecessary or necessary rather. If folks could just hold off on the photo for just one minute, one minute. We have a guest coming in. It'll be quick. No speeches. Just one minute. That's all I can ask. I promise someone's coming. I did not lie to you. (applause) Ladies and gentlemen, he just sn/rr 468 came to say hi, and please give a warm round of applause for the Governor of the State of Connecticut. (applause)

Good evening, Madam Speaker. I move that we immediately suspend the rules to bring up Calendar 574.

House Calendar 574, Senate Bill No. 367, AN ACT ESTABLISHING A WORKING GROUP TO STUDY ROADSIDE SAFETY CONCERNS ASSOCIATED WITH WRECKERS AND TOWING AND RECOVERY PROFESSIONALS. Favorable Report of Public Safety. sn/rr 469

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Tripped me up on Bill Bingo here for a second. I move for acceptance on the Joint Committee's Favorable Report and passage of the bill.

Madam Speaker, there has been a healthy discussion in the Public Safety Committee about the well-being of workers who run sn/rr 470 wreckers or other type vehicles who pick up on the sides of highways, making sure that they are safe, and what the proper light construct should be of these vehicles. With DOT going green and amber, there's some talk of having blue lights. What we'd like to do here is we'd like to get a working group together to study it more depth than we have time in the session to bring back a recommendation, so that we can make sure that we have a regimen of statutes that protects the important and essential workers. I urge passage.

Good evening, Madam Speaker. I would just like to let my colleagues know why this is important. So, currently records in the state of Connecticut use amber lights and our DOT workers and construction workers use amber or green. And the reason that that's sn/rr 471 important is because in most construction zones specifically on interstates or limited access highways, there's a cone pattern. There's several crash prevention trucks along the way, and cars seem to just continue on. They should be slowing down. They don't always, but they're generally in a lane fairly well separated albeit maybe by cones, from where the construction work is happening. Tow truck drivers, however, when they show up on the side of the road, especially limited access highway, they're there for a very limited amount of time long enough to maybe change a flat tire, put some gas in a car, or in fact, sometimes get the car onto the bed of the truck. Right now with them using amber lights, the concern that we've heard for years now from tow truck operators is that that is not interpreted by the motoring public as a momentary infringement on part of the lane like a police officer would have, but rather, it's a construction thing, and they are expecting a traffic pattern or something to get them safely around, where in fact, that doesn't exist. sn/rr 472 There's been some opposition. The Chairman and I went through a lengthy process a couple years ago to get all the green lights out of the EMS volunteers and on the DOT trucks. So, we did all that. Then all of a sudden, this came up, and it's like we spend more time talking about colors in the Public Safety Committee than I did in kindergarten, but we're working on it. But this is a working group with all the stakeholders so we can come back and say, what is the best way to keep our tow truck drivers safe when they're on the side of the road without infringing on all the other safety measures that we've done. I hope this working group will come back with something that we can pass next year. I hope we're all here to pass it next year together, but I do urge passage to the legislation. Thank you, Madam Chair.

sn/rr 473 I do. I do. Thank you, Madam Speaker. I'd like to thank the good Chair of Public Safety, the good ranking member, and the whole committee. Salena Khan who tows for her family, Nelcon Towing. She's, I think, about 24 years old. She tows. I towed when I was a young man, and I challenged the Public Safety Committee or the Transportation Committee to ever go out in the middle of the night when it's pouring raining and to tow, you know, a disabled the vehicle. What they want and what I hope we get eventually is and I think it's the right thing to do is to have a blue light only at when you're stationary, when you're either changing a tire, putting gas in the vehicle, or towing a car. If the officer's there, no blue light. But if you're alone as an operator, you should have the blue light for safety. People drive -- Just go on the highway tonight on their way home. People do 90 to a 100 miles on the highway with no regard for people that are trying to say, you know, tow somebody or help somebody. So, I think it's important. I want to thank, like I said, Salena Khan and her family and all the men and women that tow. Unfortunately, there are deaths every year. It's dangerous out there, and they're just trying to help people and, you know, sn/rr 474 service people in the evening. 2:00 in the morning, 3:00 in the morning, 6:00 in the morning, or 6:00 at night. So, I stand in strong support of this, and I want to, again, thank the committee and the leadership of the committee. Thank you.

The House of Representatives is voting by roll, members to the chamber. The House of Representatives is voting by roll, members to the chamber.

Total number voting 150 Necessary for passage 76 Those voting Yea 150 Those voting Nay 0 Absent not voting 1

sn/rr 476 Page 7, Calendar 139, House Bill No. 5349, AN ACT ESTABLISHING A TASK FORCE TO STUDY THE OPERATIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER PROTECTION. Favorable Report of General Law.

Good evening, Madam Speaker. I move the Joint Committee's Favorable Report and passage of the bill.

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the Clerk is in possession of an amendment, LCO 6242. I ask the Clerk please sn/rr 477 call the amendment and I be granted leave of the chamber to summarize.

House Amendment Schedule "A", LCO 6242 offered by Representative Lemar.

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the bill generally does three things. We receive public hearings in the committee. One allows that hookah establishments can be treated sn/rr 478 similar to cigar bars for the purposes of statutory exceptions allowing certain hookah establishments to sell alcoholic liquor under a nearby restaurant permit. Think of it as sort of like a cigar bar. We think that that extension to hookah lounges was missed in the early consideration of this bill and is addressed here. It also solves a common problem of the penny. The penny is going out of circulation. What are retailers to do? Right now, DCP guidance is you cannot ever, under any circumstance, charge people more than the current bill would indicate. Well, what happens is over time, retailers get charged and never can recoup the costs associated with giving greater discounts than the bill would otherwise say. They always have to round down. They always have to round down. And that may not seem like a big deal, but anyone who's seen the movie Office Space knows that those pennies add up pretty quickly for our major retailers and prevent a huge problem. So, the average consumer, in some cases, will have their 97¢ bill round down to 95 or their 98¢ bill round it up to a dollar, but it won't cost them much in the long term where our retailers sn/rr 479 could potentially really suffer without this amendment. With that, Madam Speaker, I move adoption.

I was going to allow the amendment to get adopted then have a few comments on the bill.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Through you to the good Chairman, Section 2 of the bill, am I on the right LCO? It has to do with police officer standing in training council and desk. Am I on the right piece of legislation through you, Madam Speaker? sn/rr 480

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes. That section does have to do with a program that has been negotiated with the University of New Haven, and DESPP with regarding a consultation that they would engage with to work with a prior higher education institution to create a statewide one day police training program. The effective date would be in 2028. Through you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Through you, I heard the Chairman say that all these sections had a public hearing. Can you tell me the date of that public hearing for you? sn/rr 481

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. I'm not sure I remember the -- I wasn't on the committee where they had the public hearing, I believe. It was according to my notes, originally, House Bill 5382, perhaps. I believe it was part of HB 5382, Madam Speaker.

I'm sorry. Did he say SB 382, through you?

sn/rr 482 I'm sorry. House Bill 5382, Madam Speaker.

If I could just have one moment, Madam Speaker, I just want to review that piece of legislation. So, Madam Speaker, through you, this bill -- Well, here's a question. Through you to the good Chairman, can you explain to me how that's relevant to the title of the bill? Through you.

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. This was an amendment that we considered related to the underlying bill, and had great cooperation with members of our committee. And we thought it was sn/rr 483 applicable to the task force Department of Consumer Protection, through you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Through you, the House Bill 5382 that the good Chairman referenced was a bill that had to do with a study of health insurance coverage for retired police officers. The section here is relevant to de-escalation training narrowed to the city of West Haven, DESPP and POSTC shall -- Such insurance shall include, but not be limited to expert instructions [inaudible 01:45:10] de-escalation skills and practical planning. Through you to the good Chairman, does he know -- And I understand it went through the Labor Committee. Does he know how this -- What was POSTC and DESPP's opinion on this? Through you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I had some conversations with lead advocates of this bill, and the bill which did receive a public hearing. The list language did receive a public hearing in Public Safety, and there was testimony from all the impacted folks. I do not recall reading that testimony, but have a good authority that this is negotiated language that they're comfortable with. Through you, Madam Speaker.

Madam Speaker, can I just have a moment? Can we stand at ease for just a moment?

The chambers will come back. Representative Howard.

Stand at ease. Come back to order. Representative Howard, you have the floor. sn/rr 486

Thank you, Representative. Representative Rojas, you have the floor.

Thank you, Representative. Without objection, the bill is PT. The chamber will come back. Representative Rojas, you have the floor.

Can we please have some quiet? Representative Rojas is on the floor.

The rules are suspended. Mr. Clerk, call --

sn/rr 488 Representative Boyd, you have the floor.

It's not amended. Representative Boyd, the bill is not amended.

The question before the chamber's acceptance of the Joint Committee's Favorable Report and the passage of the bill in sn/rr 489 concurrence with the Senate. Representative Boyd, you have the floor.

9gavel) Again, please take your conversations outside. And if you're going to take a picture, please use your inside voices. Thank you. Representative Boyd, you have the floor.

Representative Howard of the 43rd District, you have the floor.

Thank you, Representative. Will you remark further on this bill? Will staff and guests please come to the well, and your machines will be open.

Have all the members voted? Have all the members voted? Will the members please check the board to determine if your vote is properly cast? If all the members have voted, the machine will be locked. the Clerk would take a tally. And the Clerk, please announce the tally.

The bill passes. (gavel). Stand at ease. Will the Clerk please call Calendar Number 551? sn/rr 493

Representative Foster, you have the floor.

The question before the chamber's acceptance of the Joint Committee’s Favorable Report and the passage of the bill as amended by Senate Amendment Schedule A, LCO 5334 in concurrence with the sn/rr 494

Thank you, Representative. Will you remark further on the bill as amended by the Senate? Representative Anderson, you have the floor.

Thank you, Representative. Representative Yaccarino of the 87th, you have the floor.

Please proceed.

Representative Foster. sn/rr 496

Representative Yaccarino.

I think that's probably Foster.

Representative Yaccarino.

Representative Foster. Did you hear that question?

No. Through you, Madam Speaker. It looks like in the language, there's a website for families to go to if they need help for a sn/rr 499 cemetery, either be it Veterans Affairs or the local municipality. Am I correct? Through you, Madam Speaker.

Through you, Madam Speaker, this bill only allows for the website to be placed on the VA website as somewhere for place people to go if they need it. It is already the case that each municipality has veterans in their municipality whose responsibility is to advocate in this role, but we believe that that might not be the place that some veteran family members go to seek support. And so the landing page on the CT Department of Veterans Affairs website is one more opportunity for grieved families to find resolution should they need it. Through you, Madam Speaker.

I appreciate that. I think that's a good idea, but it also they should link it to the municipality because I think most people are going to go to the local municipality first if it's a local cemetery. And I would hope maybe we could try to do that between the good ranking member and to the good chair. I really have nothing else to say. I just want to make sure we do this for our men and women that is -- their families and the people that have passed that serve this country. So I do support it. I don't know. Hopefully, we actually fulfill this, but I think it's a laudable important goal. And I think, like I said, the good chair and the good ranking member. And to you, Madam Speaker. Thank you.

sn/rr 501 Thank you so much, Madam Speaker. I rise for a point of comment. I would just like to thank all of the folks from my district and the other stakeholders that came together for the working group and the work that was put into understanding the issue very clearly and making this investment. Thank the committee chair and Appropriations as well. I think it's really important that we are continuing to partner with municipalities to make sure that families and veterans themselves are heard. And I really appreciate the fact that we now have a very clear process on how folks can make a complaint or file a concern with the department and also request some help from the state through this funding stream. And I am just in support of this, and I'm thankful for all the hours that have gone into what may have seemed like a simple task, but turned out to me much more difficult than was ever imagined. So thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Through you, just a question or two for the proponent of the bill.

Thank you. Through you, I was wondering if the situation could be clarified about what type of repairs could be reported. Through you.

sn/rr 503 Through you, Madam Speaker, the Veterans Graves Working Group has met over the last two years to outline the situation. And what is happening at many cemeteries is that the graves are upkept so that you can continue to read a headstone, see around the area, like weed, grass management around a headstone, that you would prevent moss from covering the words that are inscribed there. That is not the case everywhere. As in many municipalities, we have these really small cemeteries that are the final resting place of armed service members where there is no one really dedicated to the routine maintenance, and so there's an erosion of the visibility of the graves. And the hope is that that could be ameliorated with these funds. Through you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I really appreciate the answer from the proponent. This is something that I know is a concern of many people across the state, especially because some of these final sn/rr 504 resting places are of people who do not have family in the area anymore. And I know that I have worked with one of my local historical society groups to actually help clean and restore veterans graves and historical graves within our town, and that is something that is done by just volunteers. I really appreciate the process now as my good colleague said that there is a clear process for reporting repairs or attention that is needed, and I think this is such a really respectful way to ensure that we continue to care for those who gave all. Thank you so much, Madam Speaker.

sn/rr 505 The House of Representatives voting by roll. Members to the chamber. The House of Representatives voting by roll. Members to the chamber.

Total Number Voting 150 Necessary for Passage 76 Those voting Yea 150 Those voting Nay 0 Those absent and not voting 1 sn/rr 506

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I move for suspension of our rules for immediate consideration of House Calendar 583.

Calendar 583 sub 2 for Senate Bill Number 307 as amended by Department of Economic and Community Development's Recommendations Revisions to the Commerce Statutes. Favorable of the report of Commerce Committee.

Good evening, Ms. speaker. Ms. speaker, the question before the chamber's acceptance of the Joint Committee’s Favorable Report and passage of the bill as amended by Senate Amendments A and B in concurrence with the Senate.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, Section 1 renames the Small Business Express program of the Connecticut Small Business Boost program and extends the deadline for it to become self-funded by July 2026. Sorry. sn/rr 508

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It extends the deadline for it becomes self-funded from July 1st, 2025 to July 1st, 2028. It replaces the minority business revolving loan fund with the Connecticut Opportunity Fund, shifting eligibility for minority ownership criteria to community and income-based criteria. It prioritizes assistance for applicants in concentrated poverty census tracts, those with incomes below HUD's median household income, new businesses lacking access to traditional lending, and applicants from large municipalities. The bill also requires the commissioner to collect loan recipient data and submit an annual report each February 1 to the sn/rr 509 governor, auditors of the public accounts, and the Appropriations, Finance, and Commerce committees. Section 2 renames the Minority Business Initiative Advisory Board as the first generation and emerging business initiative advisory board. It clarifies the board's statutory goals to promote equitable growth and generational wealth. It adds two members appointed by the Black and Puerto Rican caucus and authorize the adoption of bylaws. Section 3 raises the financials cap for business projects from 10 to 25 million every two years across all industries. The long, outdated 10 million cap was set in 1994. The language aligns with current project costs and inflation. Section 4 creates an exception in the employment promissory note prohibition for lawyers, where they repay federal H1B visas related to fees. In response to the September 2025 presidential proclamation requiring a $100,000 fee for H1B petitions, and which significantly restricts access for US workforce. It removes statutory reference to the Office of Film, Television, and Digital Media, Office of Data Infrastructure Administration and Security, Office of the Permit Ombudsman, and sn/rr 510 Office of the Brownfield Remediation and Development. Sorry about that, Madam Speaker. It repeals the Youth Service Corpse Grant Program reporting requirement. It moves several annual program reporting deadlines from January 1st until February 1st. It expands the manufacturing innovation fund, the MIF Advisory Board to include additional strategic industries, the high school technical system, and allows consultation with subject matter experts. It establishes an absentee policy to improve engagement. It moves the MIF Advisory Board annual report deadline to February 1st and the department, not the board, is responsible submitting the report. It moves the tourism council annual report deadline to February 1, clarifies departmental responsibility for submitting the report, and establishes the absentee policy. Section 18 clarifies the Connecticut clean economy council report biannually, not twice per year, and moves the worker transitional plan deadline from July 1st, 2025 to October 1st, 2026. Ms. Speaker, I move adoption of the amendment of the bill as amended by in concurrence with the Senate. sn/rr 511

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I really couldn't hear that well. Could you repeat that? Through you. I'm only kidding. I heard it all. It was great. As usual, very thorough. Thank you, Madam Speaker. Obviously, listening to it, a lot of these are just minor changes, name changes of funds, some of the things that we've already reported and passed another pieces of legislation. The one question I have, through you, Madam Speaker, is it renames the Small Business Express program to the Connecticut Small Business Boost program. And then, again, in the next section, in Section 1, replaces the minority business revolving loan fund with the Connecticut Opportunity Fund. Can you just speak briefly to why those changes occurred and what impact, if any, it has? Through you. sn/rr 512

Sure, Madam Speaker. The Justice Department in July 2025 gave the state guidance on how to reform the language in those said programs. Through you, Ms. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. And, again, I think everything else in here are minor changes. Again, I think very little impact. So, again, thank you for the explanation, for the hard work on getting this as a strike-all and getting these new revisions into this piece of legislation. And I fully support it and look for adoption. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I had some questions for the proponent, if I may.

Thank you. Just want to ask about Section 19, which starts on line 1,113. And what is the intent of that section? Through you, Madam Speaker.

sn/rr 514 It's to repeal the annual reporting requirement. Through you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It was very difficult to hear. I think I heard to repeal an annual reporting requirement? Thank you, Madam Speaker.

I'm going to ask the question again so that I can hear the answer. What is the intention of Section 19?

Through you, Madam Speaker, it's to repeal the annual reporting requirement for the small business innovation research and small business technology transfer programs.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I appreciate the answer. However, I note in line 1156 that there are some provisions having to do with attending meetings. Is that fair to say? Through you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I was asking about line 1156 in particular, which has to do with attending meetings. Is that fair to say? Through you, Madam Speaker.

Through you, Madam Speaker.

It's specifically absentee policy for the tourism council. Through you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I'll ask the question again, because, obviously, that was not responsive. Is it fair to say sn/rr 517 that line 1156 and thereon has to do with attendance of individuals at this tourism commission? Through you, Madam Speaker.

Through you, Madam Speaker, yes. It is correct.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. And it clearly says that if a member of this body does not attend three consecutive meetings, they are deemed to have resigned. Is that fair to say? Through you, Madam Speaker.

Yes. Through you, Madam Speaker. That is correct, and that is standard language.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. And what is the process by which when we get notified that they have effectively resigned even though they haven't resigned? Through you, Madam Speaker.

sn/rr 519 Through you, Madam Speaker, the DCD staff will inform the authority that they need to seek a replacement, a reappointment.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. And really what's important that I want to ask about at the crux of this is it just talks about meetings. Now, we know that we have regular meetings, and various times we have special meetings. Sometimes special meetings are called 48 hours’ notice. Are we to understand that this draconian measure applies to both regular meetings and special meetings? Through you, Madam Speaker.

sn/rr 520 Through you, Madam Speaker, very good question. The tourism board only has standard, regular meetings. They'd have no special meetings that I'm aware of, and it only applies to the regularly scheduled meetings. Through you, Madam Speaker?

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I would accept that if it said that, but, unfortunately, it doesn't. So I appreciate the legislative intent here, but clearly -- first of all, I'm not aware of any statute that says that this body can't have a special meeting. And certainly, we know that meetings are scheduled and there's a snow, there's some sort of weather, and business has to happen, and our statutes allow for special meetings. So I'm also in favor of attendance by people. But I think it's really important that if we had a chance to draft this language once again, I think the word regular meeting should appear within this language because sometimes things happen. I'm probably sn/rr 521 going to support the legislation anyway, but I think that should have been addressed when this language was drafted. But I appreciate the legislative intent. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I'm not going to draw on, but I do want to say that in the beginning, when we first saw this piece of legislation in the Commerce Committee, DECD had simply, in certain parts of our statute, taken the word minority out of certain things. And I just want to be thankful to DECD. I want to be thankful to our chairs of Commerce. I want to be thankful to our members upstairs who have made sure that even though we are removing that word, and making sure that these programs are not based on race or gender, but they do recognize the diversity in our communities, the differences in our communities, exactly what our communities sn/rr 522 here in the state of Connecticut look like and what makes them beautiful. So I just wanted to say thank you for that. And I appreciate that, Madam Speaker.

chamber. The House of Representatives is voting by roll. Members to the chamber.

Total Number Voting 149 Necessary for Passage 75 Those voting Yea 149 Those voting Nay 0 Those absent and not voting 2

AJ, Calendar 151, substitute to House Bill Number 5224. An Act Concerning the Department of Consumer Protection's sn/rr 524 recommendations regarding various guaranteed funds. Favorable report of General Law.

Good evening, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I'm about to take a quick picture, so I'm going to try to do this quick. I'm with the Joint Committee's Favorable Report and passage of the bill.

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the Clerk is in possession of amendment, LCO 6245. I ask the Clerk please call the amendment and I be granted leave the chamber to summarize. sn/rr 525

House Amendment Schedule LCO 6245 offered by Representative Lemar.

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the bill before us is very simple. It shrinks the currently existing taxing refinancing district in the town of Stratford to exclude a DOT parcel. I urge passage.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It's everything the good chairman says. It just carves out a little piece of that land to make the line straight. Good bill. Ought to pass.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. To echo my colleague's comments, this just shrinks the size of the existing TIF district to exclude a piece of DOT property so that they wouldn't be encumbered with the development as it goes forward, which is finally happening after all these years. Thank you, Madam Speaker. And I've asked my colleagues to vote in favor of it. sn/rr 527

All those opposed nay. The ayes have it, and the amendment is adopted. (gavel). Will you remark further on the bill as amended? Will you remark on the bill as amended? If not, will staff and guests please come to the well of the House? Will the members please take your seats? The machine will be open.

Have all the members voted? Have all the members voted? Will the members please check the board to determine if your vote is properly cast? If all the members have voted, the machine will be locked. The Clerk will take a tally. And the Clerk please announce the tally.

The bill as amended passes. Representative Rojas. sn/rr 529

Without objection, so ordered. Will the Clerk please call Calendar Number 347?

Representative Stafstrom, you have the floor.

The question before the chamber's acceptance of the Joint Committee's favorable will report and the passage of the bill as amended by Senate Amendment Schedule A, LCO 6252 in concurrence with the Senate and House Schedule A, LCO 594. Representative Stafstrom, you have the floor.

sn/rr 531 Thank you, Representative. Will you remark further on the bill as amended? Representative Fishbein of the 90th District, you have the floor.

Please proceed.

Representative Stafstrom.

Representative Fishbein.

I'm sorry, Representative. Please continue.

I think you got it. Thank you, Representative. Will you remark further on the bill as amended?

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I'm sorry. Everything's going really fast, and it's really loud. And I have no idea what the heck we're doing right now. Which amendment are we looking at, please?

Through you, Madam Speaker, it's 5563 as amended by both the House amendment, as well as the Senate amendment, which is 6252. Through you.

6252. Thank you.

sn/rr 535 House of Representatives voted by roll. Members to the chamber. The House of Representatives voting by roll. Members to the chamber.

House Bill 5563, as amended: Total Number Voting 150 Necessary for Passage 76 Those voting Yea 150 Those voting Nay 0 Those absent and not voting 1 sn/rr 536

Page 37, Calendar 531, substitute to Senate Bill Number 220 as amended by Senate Amendment Schedule A, LCO 4641 one, An Act Concerning Student Literacy. Favorable report of Education.

Hi, Madam Speaker. Great to see you up there. Madam Speaker, I move for acceptance and passage of the bill as amended by the

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the Clerk's in possession of an amendment, LCO 6248. I'd like to be granted leave of the chamber to summarize.

Which will be designated House Amendment Schedule A. sn/rr 538

The Representative seeks leave of the chamber to summarize the amendment. Is there objection to summarization? Is there objection? Hearing none, Representative Leeper, you have the floor.

The question before the chamber's adoption of Amendment Schedule A. Will you remark further on the amendment? Representative Zupkus, you have the floor.

Thank you, Representative. Representative Khan, you have the floor.

Please proceed. sn/rr 540

Representative Leeper.

Go ahead, Representative.

Okay. Will you remark further the amendment before us? Will you remark further the amendment before us? If not, is there objection to a voice vote? Hearing none, I will try your minds. All those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I just have some questions, through you for the proponent of the bill, if I may.

Great. Thank you. I know this bill -- I think I said it before when we were had this bill recently. This consists of a few bills put into one. And so the first couple of sections deal with student literacy. And so could the good Chair please explain this section, through you, Madam Speaker?

Through you, Madam Speaker. Happy to. So in Section 1, what we are doing is codifying the guidance SDE provided to districts back in 2023, '24 of all districts for students through kindergarten through 3rd grade must receive literacy assessments that are the state-approved assessment. Through you, Madam Speaker. sn/rr 543

Thank you. And is this additional testing on kindergarten through 2nd grade? Through you, Madam Speaker.

Through you, Madam Speaker, no.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. And moving on, I know that we just replaced Section 3 with the new amendment. So I'm good there. Thank sn/rr 544 you. In the next section that I have just a question on is regarding section -- I don't know if it's seven. It's the paraeducators' health care stipend. And through you, Madam Speaker, do we know how many paras that we are talking about? Through you, Madam Speaker.

Through you, Madam Speaker. In the program, there's about 4,700 paras, and this language would -- we estimate. It's a rough estimate, include an additional about a 140 paras. Through you, Madam Speaker.

sn/rr 545 Thank you, Madam Speaker. And this would include charter schools paras? Through you, Madam Speaker.

Through you, Madam Speaker. Yes.

Great. Thank you, Madam Speaker. That's all the questions I have, and I will be supporting this. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I just have a few questions for the proponent of the bill.

Thank you. So Section 1 talks about a list of required reading assessments. Can the proponent please explain the current requirement for reading assessments for our districts? Thank you. Through you.

Through you, Madam Speaker. It's a great question. In statute, currently, these assessments are required of all of our alliance sn/rr 547 districts. And back in '23, '24, the state Department of Education provided a directive to districts that they need to use the state approved assessments for kindergarteners through third graders for all districts. So this is codifying that directive that came from the department. Through you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Through you, I guess the document that I was able to find of assessments that the State Department of Education has sent out to districts, there were a couple conflicting documents. So I'm not sure exactly if there's a specific space on the state website or a specific list where that menu of assessments exists. The underlying bill also has the date of 2023, and the approved menus have a date of 2025. So I'm not sure where this list exists. Can the proponent please explain where that list can be found for districts?

Through you, Madam Speaker. The list of approved assessments is available on the State Department of Education's website. Through you, Madam Speaker.

Okay. Through you, Madam Speaker, does the proponent know what assessments are on that list? I have two separate documents that I have open that I don't know which are the correct documents because they conflict with each other. Through you, Madam Speaker.

sn/rr 549 Through you, Madam Speaker. I don't have the list of names of the assessments in front of me right now, but there's about five or six. And there is an established process through which the department vets and approves the state approved assessments that they review periodically. Through you, Madam Speaker.

Madam Speaker, I am looking at the underlying bill that has the dates for the school years commencing July 1st, 2023 as for the underlying bill, that is now being changed to July, 1st, 2026. The requirements that are currently on the site were the requirements that were put out to districts in 2023, or have they been changed since that last piece of legislation in the current year? Through you, Madam Speaker.

Through you, Madam Speaker. I did get the list of assessments. If it's helpful, I'm happy to read them. And my good colleague can see whether or not they align with what she's been able to find. The AIMS web plus early literacy and reading, EZ CBM Dibbles 8th edition, M class Dibbles 8th edition, on Amplify, and Acadians reading K through six Acadians ran. Through you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Through you. So that list is on this document that I'm looking at. That was the approved list for 2025 to 2026. The underlying bill has a requirement of the year 2023. Do we know what was the menu of screening assessments that was required in 2023? Through you, Madam Speaker.

Through you, Madam Speaker. Could my colleague point to where it's saying list as of 2023? Through you, Madam Speaker.

Absolutely. And the underlying bill line 11 changes the date, July 1st, 2023 to now being 2026. So I presume that this was legislation that we had in 2022 or 2023 that gave this requirement at that time that is now being changed to the date of 2026. Through you, Madam Speaker.

sn/rr 552 Through you, Madam Speaker. So I don't have a list of what was required for the state approved assessments in 2023. This provision of the bill is just requiring State Department of Education to establish those assessments. Through you, Madam Speaker.

Through you, Madam Speaker. I know after I've spoken with some districts that are currently using some of these assessments and other districts that are currently not using these assessments, the concern that I've received is that the requirements that the state department has put out, our annual requirements. And that that list of screening assessments can and maybe changed in any given year where that would require a district to then purchase a different one if the current assessment they were using is no longer on the list. sn/rr 553 So the reason I asked a question of what was required in 2023, as per what I have been told by some of the districts that I have spoken to, including some of my own, is that the requirement has since changed from 2023. And so, the concern is that, by codifying this and saying that we are going to require that district's purchase whatever assessment is on the approved list without knowing what is on the approved list and having annual lists, there is the concern of added, unfunded, mandates on districts of purchasing new assessments, which also requires new professional development money that we are not funding our districts with through this bill. So the 2023 requirement, I don't have that in front of me. I was not able to find out on the state website, but I know that the requirement that I can see that has the five assessments that the good proponent of the bill has just listed were on a list for 2025 to 2026. Does the good proponent of the bill have a list of assessments that are preferably on the list for 2026 to 2027, or is a proponent of the bill aware of the State Department of Education having that list that has been made available for districts for the upcoming year? Through you, Madam Speaker. sn/rr 554

Through you, Madam Speaker. It's my understanding that the list is not updated annually, but it's on a rolling basis when there's new evidence or the group of professionals who vet assessments thinks that an update is necessary. But I will add that the State Department of Education has made a point to ensure there's always a free assessment on the list of state-approved assessment so districts are not forced to spend money on a new assessment. They could opt to choose the free assessment. Through you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you. Madam Speaker, the concern with the free assessment is that anytime a district is to change the assessment that they sn/rr 555 are using, they have to purchase a new assessment, and they have to purchase new professional development that is required for said assessment. I believe the EZ CBM is a free assessment that we have on this list currently, but the -- let's just say Dibbles, the 8th edition was removed and a district was to try to get EZ CBM, they would still require professional development for that free assessment, and that would not be necessarily free cost to them. So the concern I have still stands that the districts are going to be left to foot the bill of the assessments and not have the option to do the assessment we choose. The other concern I have really, as an educator in this building that has taught reading for many, many years to many children and have taught children to read, I think that to not allow an option for teachers to choose the assessments that they are using for our students when they are the ones that we have entrusted with having the expertise we have certified them in our school districts, and to not allow an option for teacher-directed assessments, I think it misses a big mark. So through you, Mr. Speaker, does the proponent know what the professional development requirements would be for sn/rr 556 the free assessment that is listed in the 2025, 2026 list of screening assessments? Through you, Mr. Speaker.

Through, Madam Speaker, no.

Oh, Mr. Speaker.

sn/rr 557 Okay. I will ask my question again. So the EZ CBM assessment is the free assessment that is on that list of screening assessments. Does the proponent of the bill have an estimated cost of the professional development requirements that would be accompanying that free assessment? Through you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move you pass this bill temporarily.

Sorry. Rep. Rojas. sn/rr 558

Without objection, so order. (gavel). Calendar 578.

Representative Kavros-DeGraw, you have the floor, madam.

Yeah. It's all right. Just laid out. We're good.

Thank you so much. This bill is coming to us from OPM. This is the act concerning the recommendations of the intergovernmental policy and planning division within the Office of Policy and Management. It revises statutes related to local capital improvement fund, the Small Town Economic Assistance Program known as STEAP, and the Public School District Repair and Improvement Project Program. And I move adoption.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There's also some technical and conforming changes. Good bill. Ought to pass.

The House is voting by roll. Members to the chamber. The House is voting by roll. Members to the chamber.

Total Number Voting 147 Necessary for Passage 74 Those voting Yea 147 Those voting Nay 0 Those absent and not voting 4

Page 3, Calendar 62, House Bill Number five 5281, An Act Concerning Planning and Development. Favorable report of Planning and Development.

Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker. I move for acceptance of the Joint Committee's favor report and passage of the bill.

Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker. The Clerk has an amendment, LCO 6187. The Clerk please call the amendment and I be granted leave of the chamber to summarize.

Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker. sn/rr 564

House A, LCO 6187 offered by Representative Kavros DeGraw.

Thank you so much. This bill is telling us that a municipality that has 20,000 or fewer residents or happens to be a distressed community and/or an economic justice community and potentially is outside of but within 15 miles of such municipality, any voter could ask for a reversal of approval or denial of a permit for a new facility such as a trash energy facility. I move adoption.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask for a roll call vote on this amendment. Thank you.

House is voting by roll. members to the chamber. House is voting by roll. Members to the chamber.

House Amendment House A, as amended: Total Number Voting 149 Necessary for Adoption 75 Those voting Yea 77 Those voting Nay 72 Those absent and not voting 2

House is voting by roll. Members to the chamber. House is voting by roll. Members to the chamber.

House Bill 5281, as amended: Total Number Voting 149 Necessary for Passage 75 Those voting Yea 85 Those voting Nay 64 Those absent and not voting 2 sn/rr 568

330, Mr. Clerk.

Chairman Representative Parker, you may proceed.

You may proceed.

Thank you. We always appreciate their feedback. Care to remark further? Representative Callahan.

Representative Parker, can you summarize the amendments?

Representative Callahan.

Thank you. Representative Demicco? sn/rr 571

Representative Parker, I know it's hard to hear. Can you summarize the amendments that were not discussed based upon Representative Callahan's question, please, sir?

Representative Demicco.

He gave you the answer. If you want to give a line number, you can specify line number.

Staff and guests come over to the well of the House. Members take their seats. The machine will be open.

sn/rr 573 Have all the members voted? Have all the members voted? Have all the members voted? Have all the members voted? Machine will locked. Let's take and announce it.

The bill passes as amended in cocurrent with the Senate. Chamber will stand at ease for a moment. Why don't we do the photo in front? It's okay. Let's do the photo, and then we'll turn it over to Representative Candelora. We'll do some remarks before we get back down to business. All right. We're going to go to the sn/rr 574 good Representative of the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives. You have the floor, sir.

Hang on one second. I know it's a late hour. We did a photo that actually was a very nice photo. But the Minority Leader of going to give him the attention that he deserves. You may proceed, sir.

Well said, sir. Mr. Majority Leader, the floor is yours, sir.

Thank you. So we had budgeted 25 minutes for leaders' speeches. They left me 22. Kidding. I'll be just as quick. Just as sn/rr 580 quick. They're both very humble, so I just want to make sure we acknowledge one more time. Today was very nice to get a birthday cake and have Deputy Speaker Nolan surprise me and get a birthday song. You got to remember one thing. I don't like staying late. I think we can work it out. I don't read your bills. I'm honestly will tell you right now that the work of the Minority Leader and Majority Leader's offices of their teams do is hard to fathom. I have sat in that chair, actually, next to Jeff Curry, ironically. But I really hope people understand that the chamber flows up. And if it doesn't get worked out at the committee level, to your leadership level, I can't do anything successful. So one more time, they were pretty humble. Why don't we give a round of applause for representative Candelora and Representative Rojas and their teams? (applause). And I'm going to end with this in one minute because we have bills to get to, and people are texting me. I know. But I talk about in the press conference that we do in the morning where Jason and I get wonderful ratings as he mentioned with 12 people, and we have 12 family members that watch it. sn/rr 581 As I always talk about culture, and I really care deeply about the institution, and I don't think you can protect anything you care about in life if there's not a good culture to support that. Your family, your loved ones, your work. Nothing feels good if you don't have a good culture. And sometimes it's fun to read the actual definition of culture and what any word means. Any word you pick, what does it mean? And think about this morning when we had the speeches. I saw Representative Vail crying. We heard the speeches from folks who have been here for 46 years. No. I mean it. Yes. Forty six years to 10 years to one term. And you heard a lot of similar thoughts and emotion behind those speeches, and everybody here knew the stories, could relate to it, whether you had been here for 46 years or two years. It was relatable. You nodded when they said things that made sense. Yes. I've been through that too. And here's what culture is and why I use the word for this chamber. It is a shared set of beliefs, values, customs, and behaviors that characterize a group that is transmitted across generations. It is learned. It is not innate behavior. sn/rr 582 That's the House of Representatives of the state of Connecticut. It's been a real pleasure to serve with you. Thank you all very, very much. (applause). And with that, will the Clerk please call calendar 380, and don't you dare leave those seats. 380. Here we go.

Chairman Parker.

sn/rr 583 You may proceed, sir. In concurrence with the Senate.

Question is adoption. Care to remark on the amendment? Representative Callahan.

sn/rr 584 Okay. The bill has been amended. Any more comments? Care to remark further? If not, staff and guests move to the well of the House. Members, the machine is open.

Have all members voted? Machine will be locked. I'm so sorry. Take your time. And FYI, this is in concurrence. Sorry. I couldn't hear well. It was not amended by the Senate. And the machine will be locked. We'll take and announce the tally.

Bill pass in current Senate. (gavel). Calendar 546.

Good to see you, Mr. Speaker. I move for acceptance to the Joint Committee’s Favorable Report and passage of the bill as amended by Senate Amendment Schedule A, LCO 4116 in concurrence with the Senate.

This is the Office of the Early Childhoods agency bill. It does a number of things. I think most importantly, this amendment strikes Section 3. That was, I believe, the only point of contention in committee, and I move adoption.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this, and I appreciate that section being struck from the bill. Thank you.

House is voting by roll. Members to the chamber. House is voting by roll. Members to the chamber.

Total Number Voting 149 Necessary for Passage 75 Those voting Yea 149 Those voting Nay 0 Those absent and not voting 2

Page 39, Calendar 547, Subsequent to Senate Bill Number 138 as amended by Senate Amendment Schedule A, LCO 4643. An Act Implementing the Recommendations of the Department of Education. Favorable report of Education.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Good evening. Good to see you up there.

I move the acceptance of Joint Committee's favorable re favorable report and passage of the bill as amended by senate amendment a LCO 4643 in concurrence with the Senate.

This is SDE's annual agency bill. The amendment removes Sections 2, 7, and 10 and modify Section 3. Deals with charter school approval process, moving to the biennial budget process, clarifies payments made under transportation grants to rest, remove several redundant or unnecessary reports from SDE to the legislature, and finally sets forth additional considerations for regional school district planning. I move adoption.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the changes in the bill, and now I'll be supporting it. Thank you.

House is voting by roll. Members to the chamber. The House is voting by roll. Members to the chamber.

sn/rr 591 Total Number Voting 150 Necessary for Passage 76 Those voting Yea 150 Those voting Nay 0 Those absent and not voting 1

Page 30, Calendar 458, substitute for Senate Bill Number 147 as amended by Senate Amendment Schedule A, LCO 4101. An Act Concerning a Study on the Need for Extended Producer Responsibility for Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems and Paper Products Including Aerosol Paints Under the Paint Stewardship Program. Favorable report of Environment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move for acceptance of the Joint Committee's Favorable Report and passes the bill in concurrence of the Senate.

Mr. Speaker, Connecticut has an extraordinary extended producer responsibility program for paint. We are working to in expand that so we can include aerosol spray paint in that program. I move adoption.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I did meet with the industry officials on this, and they're more than happy to participate in this program. And after numerous meetings and hearing their concerns, have no problem at all with this. And I think this should pass. Thank you.

House is voting by roll. Members to the chamber.

Total Number Voting 150 Necessary for Passage 76 Those voting Yea 150 Those voting Nay 0 Those absent and not voting 1

Page 34, Calendar 490, Senate Bill Number 470, An Act Concerning the Legislative Commissioner's Recommendations for the Technical Minor Revisions to Government Administration Statutes. Favorable report of GAA. sn/rr 595

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thought you aimed it. Representative Parker, you hit me. Move acceptance and passage.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is our yearly LCO tech reviser bill. It is purely technical. I urge all my colleagues to support it.