Frequently Asked
Questions & Answers
for
The Connecticut General Assembly Website
About the Connecticut General
Assembly (CGA)
What is the Connecticut General
Assembly?
How are members of the General
Assembly chosen?
When does the General Assembly
meet?
How does the General Assembly
work?
What is the deadline for
proposing new legislation/bills?
Where can I find current laws?
How can I search for a particular
bill to find its status?
How can I find bills proposed for
a particular area of interest?
How can I find how my Legislator
has voted on a particular issue?
How can I receive periodic
information regarding legislative action?
Where
do I find the Connecticut Statutes?
Who are my Representative and
Senator and how do I contact them?
How can I determine which
Legislators are on a particular committee?
Where can I get a list of all
Legislators?
How can I find a schedule of
events?
What is the address and phone
number of the Capitol?
Which entrances are open to the
public?
Are there services for the
physically challenged?
Where
can I purchase something to eat?
The Connecticut General Assembly is the
legislative branch of State Government.
The General Assembly, which is made up of the House of Representatives
(151 members) and the Senate (36 members), enacts laws dealing with the collection and
allocation of funds, public welfare, the environment, education, public works,
civil and criminal law and other matters.
Members are elected
in November of even-numbered years from the districts in which they
reside. Members of the Connecticut
House of Representatives and the Connecticut Senate serve for a two-year term.
Our legislature
is considered to be part-time. Regular
sessions of the General Assembly are held from January to June in odd-numbered
years, and from February to May in even-numbered years.
The General Assembly meets in the State Capitol in Hartford. General Assembly committees usually meet and hold most public hearings in the adjoining Legislative Office Building, which also houses Legislators’ offices. Committees, which may operate year-round, meet to review proposed legislation and make recommendations to the full House and Senate. A more detailed description is available at http://www.cga.ct.gov/olm/PandDs/This_is_Your_General_Assembly.pdf.
Once a bill has
been voted favorably out of committee, it is listed on the Calendar. After it has been on the Calendar for three
days it can be voted on by the General Assembly. The Speaker of the House controls the agenda for the House of
Representatives and the President Pro Tempore controls the agenda for the
Senate. The House publishes a GO LIST
just prior to a House session. This
list of bills and/or resolutions on the Calendar reflects the legislation the
House intends to take up on a particular session day. To find the GO LIST, click the House link (located on the left
side of the home page or at the top of a secondary page), and click Go List. Each time a new Go List is published, you will
see a link to the document on the home page under CGA Today.
Anyone may
testify at a public hearing. The rules
vary by committee. The notice of the
Public Hearing in the Bulletin provides basic rule information. Testimony should be no longer than three to
five minutes. The first hour of a
hearing is normally reserved for legislators and agency heads or invited
guests. Then testimony is taken in the
order people signed up. Written testimony is not required but is
recommended. If you bring written
testimony, you must bring a copy for every committee member.
Click the Citizen
Guide link (located on the left side of the home page or at the top of a
secondary page) for a Guide to Testifying at a Public Hearing and a
video, Joining the Debate.
Legislators must
propose bills within approximately one week of the opening day of the
session. Actual dates are listed in the
Joint Rules of the General Assembly.
What is the
deadline for each legislative committee to report bills favorably to the General Assembly?
To find a table
of committee deadlines, click Session Information (located on the left side of
the home page or at the top of a secondary page), and click Committee
Deadlines.
The Legislative Commissioners' Office is
responsible for compiling the General Statutes of Connecticut and releases
an edition every other year. In a
nonpublishing year, the Public and Special Acts for that year represent new
legislation not currently incorporated into the statutes. The Public and Special Acts, as well as the
Statutes, are all available in the Search system. Click the Search link (located on the left side of the home page or at the top of a
secondary page),
At the top of the
page is a Quick Search by bill number.
Enter a bill number and click the Go button. In addition, many options for searching bill information are
provided from the Search link (located on the left side of the home page or at
the top of a secondary page).
Click the Search link (located on the left
side of the home page or at the top of a secondary page). From the options, click Subject Index to
Bills A-Z. Click on the letter that represents
the first character of the topic you wish to review (i.e., "E" for
Environment Permits). Click on the
topic link from the list to see the bills categorized under that particular
topic by the Connecticut State Library.
At the top of the
page is a Quick Search by bill number.
Enter a bill number and click the Go button. You can click the links under the Votes section. The Connecticut State Library (http://www.cslib.org/)
can also provide voting information.
At the top of the
page is a link for Bill Tracking. This
application allows you to track legislative activity on bills.
Click the
Statutes link at the top of the page.
Click Search Statutes to execute a text search of the latest published
statutes. Click Browse Statutes to view
the statutes by chapter.
Click the House or Senate links (located on the left side of the home page or at the top of a
secondary page), and click Find Your Legislator.
Click the district number for your town and you will get to their
individual web page, which contains contact information. If your town has more than one legislative district (more than one
representative or senator) you will be directed to a map of your area to determine
in which district you live.
From the top of
the page click Committees A-H & I-Z.
From the list, click the appropriate committee, and then click Committee
Membership.
Click the House
or Senate links (located on the left side of the home page or at the top of a
secondary page). From the options,
click Members. The alphabetical list
includes district number, a link to email and website, political party, and a
link to bills introduced.
You may either
click a particular day on the calendar in the middle of the home page, or click
the Bulletin link under CGA Today. The
Bulletin provides a listing of events scheduled in the next two weeks –
including days the House or Senate will be in session in their chambers
(Session Days), committee meetings, public hearings and other events. Printed copies are available in the Bill
Room in the Legislative Office Building (first floor).
State Capitol, 210 Capitol Avenue,
Hartford, CT 06106
(860) 240-0100 Office of Legislative Management.
The Capitol and Legislative Office Building are open Monday –
Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. See
Capitol Tours under the link Citizen Guide or call (860) 240-0222.
At the Capitol,
the Southwest/Capitol Avenue and west entrances (facing the Legislative Office
Building) are open to the public. The
west entrance is handicapped accessible with a ramp and automatic door.
At the Legislative
Office Building, there are public entrances, at the west side of the first
floor facing Broad Street, from the parking garage (leading to the third floor)
and on the third floor
facing the Capitol. All are handicapped
accessible.
The Capitol and
Legislative Office Building are administered in compliance with the Federal
Americans with Disabilities Act.
Requests for accommodations should be directed to the Office of
Legislative Management (860) 240-0100.
There is a
cafeteria in the Legislative Office Building that is open from 7 a.m. to 4
p.m. Soda, candy and snack machines are
located in the Legislative Office Building and Capitol.