You asked whether, since 1990, any General Assembly special session calls have listed the titles of specific bills as part of the business of the session, similar to HJR 149 for the special session starting 12: 01 a. m. June 9, 2005.

SUMMARY

A survey of 39 special session calls from 1990 through 2004 shows none listing a bill for consideration by its exact title as HJR 149 does. At the same time, several calls describe proposed legislation to be considered in very specific terms and refer to public acts passed in regular sessions by title. In addition, a special session call from 1975 lists a specific bill for consideration by its exact title.

The information in this report comes from special session calls printed in the House Journals and from a listing of General Assembly special sessions from 1916 through 2004, by year and purpose, compiled by the Legislative Library. A copy of the listing is enclosed with this report for your further information.

JUNE 9, 2005 SPECIAL SESSION

On June 8, 2005, the General Assembly adopted a House Joint Resolution calling itself into special session starting at 12: 01 a. m. on June 9, 2005. HJR 149 listed the following legislation to be considered in the special session:

• Bills needed to implement the state budget for the biennium beginning July 1, 2005

• Bill relating to (1) state bond authorizations and their underlying programs, and (2) school construction

• Bills relating to transportation bonding, including funding relating to transportation initiatives

• An Act Concerning Energy Independence (House Journal, June 8, 2005).

SPECIAL SESSION CALLS, 1990-2004

There were 39 special sessions of the General Assembly held between 1990 and 2004. This number excludes so-called “trailer” sessions called specifically to address gubernatorial vetoes of specific bills enacted in regular or previous special sessions. The General Assembly called 27 of the sessions under Article III of the amendments to the Connecticut Constitution and the governor called 12.

Although none of the 39 special session calls list any particular bill by its full title, at least five describe the legislation to be considered in the sessions in very specific terms, as if describing a particular bill. These instances are enumerated below.

May 12, 1992 Special Session

This call, among other things, lists for consideration “the Legislative Commissioners’ revisor’s bill” (House Journal, May 6, 1992, p. 1382).

June 22, 1992 Special Session

The call lists: “Enacting legislation to amend section 5-200c of the general statutes, as amended by PA 91-321 of the January session, to delay the commencement of collective bargaining negotiations concerning wage changes as a result of objective job evaluations to July 1, 1993 and to extend the deadline for elimination of wage inequities to June 30, 1995. ” (House Journal, June 22, 1992, p. 2)

July 13, 1994 Special Session

Among other things, the resolution for this special session called for (1) increasing the number of Superior Court judges from 172 to 174 and (2) appropriating the following sums from the General Fund for FY 05:

• $ 2,650,000 to the Office of Policy and Management for purposes of § 21a-274a of the General Statutes

• $ 645,000 to the Division of Criminal Justice to fund additional personnel and related expenses for the prosecution of urban and gang-related violence and illegal use of firearms in the commission of a crime

• $ 405,000 to the Public Defender Commission for the purposes of funding additional personnel and related expenses

• $ 300,000 to the Judicial Department for personal services

(House Journal, July 13, 1994, p. 58).

November 28, 1994 Special Session

The resolution for this session listed several specific items including (1) authorizing the Department of Environmental Protection to enter into contracts to complete the Silver Lake reclamation project in Meriden and Berlin, (2) amending the charter of the Connecticut Mutual Insurance Company, and (3) amending § 29-5f of the General Statutes to retain the rank of sergeant for state police officers assigned to the governor and the commissioner of public safety (House Journal, November 28, 1994, p. 2)

June 22, 1998 Special Session

Among other things, the call for this session listed the following legislation for consideration: (1) the Revisor's Technical Corrections to the General Statutes And To Certain Public And Special Acts and (2) amendments to P. A. 98-129, An Act Concerning Handgun Safety, to address issues relating to § 53-206 and § 29-38 of General Statutes regarding carrying and sale of dangerous weapons. (House Journal, June 22, 1998, p. 2).

SPECIAL SESSION CALLS, 1916-1989

The General Assembly was called into special session 54 times between 1916 and 1989, excluding trailer sessions, with the governor issuing all but one of the calls for these sessions. Although generally quite specific, most of the calls did not mention bills by title. The only exception was a 1975 special session call issued by Governor Grasso, which listed for consideration, among other items, “An Act Concerning City and Town Development” (House Journal, July 21, 1975, p. 1).

JL: ro