Substitute House Bill No. 6646
Substitute House Bill No. 6646
PUBLIC ACT NO. 97-50
AN ACT CONCERNING THE ADVISORY COMMISSION ON
INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 2-79a of the general
statutes is repealed and the following is
substituted in lieu thereof:
(a) There shall be a Connecticut Advisory
Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. The
purpose of the commission shall be to enhance
coordination and cooperation between the state and
local governments. The commission shall consist of
the president pro tempore of the Senate, the
speaker of the House of Representatives, the
minority leader of the Senate, the minority leader
of the House of Representatives, the Secretary of
the Office of Policy and Management, the
Commissioners of Education, Environmental
Protection, Economic and Community Development, or
their designees, and sixteen additional members as
follows: (1) Six municipal officials appointed by
the Governor, four of whom shall be selected from
a list of nominees submitted to him by the
Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and two
of whom shall be selected from a list submitted by
the Council of Small Towns. Two of such six
officials shall be from towns having populations
of twenty thousand or less persons, two shall be
from towns having populations of more than twenty
thousand but less than sixty thousand persons and
two shall be from towns having populations of
sixty thousand or more persons; (2) two local
public education officials appointed by the
Governor, one of whom shall be selected from a
list of nominees submitted to him by the
Connecticut Association of Boards of Education and
one of whom shall be selected from a list
submitted by the Connecticut Association of School
Administrators; (3) one representative of a
regional council of governments or a regional
planning agency appointed by the Governor from a
list of nominees submitted to him by the Regional
Planning Association of Connecticut; (4) five
persons who do not hold elected or appointed
office in state or local government, one of whom
shall be appointed by the Governor, one of whom
shall be appointed by the president pro tempore of
the Senate, one of whom shall be appointed by the
speaker of the House of Representatives, one of
whom shall be appointed by the minority leader of
the Senate and one of whom shall be appointed by
the minority leader of the House of
Representatives; (5) one representative of the
Connecticut Conference of Municipalities appointed
by said conference; and (6) one representative of
the Council of Small Towns appointed by said
council. Each member of the commission appointed
pursuant to subdivisions (1) to (6), inclusive,
shall serve for a term of two years. All other
members shall serve for terms which are
coterminous with their terms of office. The
Governor shall appoint a chairperson and a
vice-chairperson from among the commission
members. Members of the commission shall not be
compensated for their services but shall be
reimbursed for necessary expenses incurred in the
performance of their duties.
(b) The commission shall: (1) Serve as a
forum for consultation among state and local
government officials; (2) conduct research on
intergovernmental issues; (3) encourage and
coordinate studies of intergovernmental issues by
universities, research and consulting
organizations and others; (4) initiate policy
development and make recommendations for
consideration by all levels and branches of
government. The commission shall issue, from time
to time, public reports of its findings and
recommendations and shall issue, annually, a
public report on its activities.
(c) On or before the second Wednesday after
the convening of [each] THE 1998 regular session
of the General Assembly, AND EVERY FOUR YEARS
THEREAFTER, the commission shall submit to the
General Assembly a report which lists each
existing state mandate, as defined in subsection
(a) of section 2-32b, and which (1) categorizes
each mandate as constitutional, statutory or
executive, (2) provides the date of original
enactment or issuance along with a brief
description of the history of the mandate, and (3)
analyzes the costs incurred by local governments
in implementing the mandate. In each report the
commission may also make recommendations on state
mandates for consideration by the commission. On
and after October 1, 1996, the report shall be
submitted to the joint standing committee of the
General Assembly having cognizance of matters
relating to appropriations and budgets of state
agencies, to any other joint standing committee of
the General Assembly having cognizance and, upon
request, to any member of the General Assembly. A
summary of the report shall be submitted to each
member of the General Assembly if the summary is
two pages or less and a notification of the report
shall be submitted to each member if the summary
is more than two pages. Submission shall be by
mailing the report, summary or notification to the
legislative address of each member of the
committees or the General Assembly, as applicable.
THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SUBSECTION SHALL NOT BE
CONSTRUED TO PREVENT THE COMMISSION FROM MAKING
MORE FREQUENT RECOMMENDATIONS ON STATE MANDATES.
(d) COMMENCING ON OR BEFORE THE SECOND
WEDNESDAY AFTER THE CONVENING OF THE 1997 REGULAR
SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, AND EVERY YEAR
THEREAFTER EXCEPT A YEAR IN WHICH A REPORT IS
FILED PURSUANT TO SUBSECTION (c) OF THIS SECTION,
THE COMMISSION SHALL SUBMIT TO THE GENERAL
ASSEMBLY A SUPPLEMENT TO THE REPORT REQUIRED IN
SAID SUBSECTION (c) IDENTIFYING ANY NEW MANDATES
ADOPTED AND ANY MANDATES CHANGED IN THE PREVIOUS
YEAR.
[(d)] (e) The Office of Policy and Management
shall provide such staff as is necessary for the
performance of the functions and duties of the
Connecticut Advisory Commission on
Intergovernmental Relations. Such persons may be
exempt from the classified service.
Sec. 2. This act shall take effect from its
passage.
Approved May 14, 1997