Approved by the Legislative Commissioner

May 31, 2013

AN ACT CONCERNING GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) The ballroom polka shall be the state polka.

Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective from passage) The song entitled "Beautiful Connecticut Waltz", composed by Joseph Leggo of Newington, shall be the second state song.

Sec. 3. Subsection (a) of section 10-29a of the general statutes is amended by adding subdivisions (62) to (65), inclusive, as follows (Effective from passage):

(NEW) (62) The Governor shall proclaim the month of March of each year to be Irish-American Month to honor Americans of Irish ancestry, their culture and the great contribution they have made to this country. Suitable exercises shall be held in the State Capitol and elsewhere as the Governor designates for the observance of the month.

(NEW) (63) The Governor shall proclaim the month of October of each year to be Italian-American Month to honor Americans of Italian ancestry, their culture and the great contribution they have made to this country. Suitable exercises shall be held in the State Capitol and elsewhere as the Governor designates for the observance of the month.

(NEW) (64) The Governor shall proclaim the month of November of each year to be Native American Month to honor Americans of Native American ancestry, their culture and the great contribution they have made to this country. Suitable exercises shall be held in the State Capitol and elsewhere as the Governor designates for the observance of the month.

(NEW) (65) The Governor shall proclaim June twenty-fourth of each year to be French Canadian-American Day to honor Americans of French Canadian ancestry, their culture and the great contribution they have made to this country. Suitable exercises shall be held in the State Capitol and elsewhere as the Governor designates for the observance of the day.

Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective from passage) The Commissioner of Economic and Community Development may, in his or her discretion, designate a day, week or month for the celebration of any ethnic, cultural or heritage group upon the application of such ethnic, cultural or heritage group for such designation.

Sec. 5. Section 5-228 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

(a) When a vacancy in any permanent position in the classified service is to be filled, the appointing authority shall notify the Commissioner of Administrative Services of such fact, stating the title of the position to be filled. Vacancies in such positions shall be filled, so far as [practicable] possible and for the best interest of the state, by reemployment, as provided in subsection (b) of section 5-241, promotional appointments from within the agency and service-wide promotional appointments or transfers in accordance with regulations issued by the commissioner. The appointing authority, with the approval of the commissioner, shall decide whether a vacancy shall be filled by promotion from within the agency, from a state-wide employment list, transfer or, if such is not [practicable] possible, by original appointment.

(b) If a vacancy is to be filled by a promotional appointment from within the agency, the commissioner shall certify to the appointing authority the names of all candidates from the agency in accordance with the provisions of section 5-215a.

(c) If a vacancy is to be filled by promotion from a service-wide candidate list, the commissioner shall certify to the appointing authority the names of all candidates on that candidate list in accordance with the provisions of section 5-215a.

(d) If a vacancy is to be filled by an original appointment, the commissioner shall certify to the appointing authority the names of all candidates on that candidate list in accordance with the provisions of section 5-215a.

(e) Appointees to any position in the classified service shall be required to serve the working test period provided for in this chapter. Any promotional appointee from within the agency who is dismissed from the position to which [he] such appointee was promoted during such working test period, or at the conclusion thereof, shall be restored to a position in the same class in which [he] the appointee had been employed prior to his or her promotion. Any other appointee who was employed in the classified service prior to his or her appointment and who is dismissed from the position to which he or she was appointed during such working test period or at the conclusion thereof, shall be restored to a vacancy in the same class, or a vacancy in a comparable class or a vacancy in any other position the employee is qualified to fill, in the agency in which he or she had been employed prior to his or her appointment, or shall have his or her name placed on a reemployment list. No appointing authority who has removed such an employee as provided in this section may exercise such right of removal again with respect to any other employee in the same position within three calendar months after such original removal, except with the consent of the commissioner. No provision of this section shall be construed to prevent any employee in the unclassified service from competing for positions in the classified service if [he] such employee possesses the minimum qualifications established by the commissioner. [, except that no such employee shall be eligible to compete in a promotional examination unless he has previous permanent status in classified service.] In the certification of names of persons eligible for appointment, sex shall be disregarded except when otherwise provided by statute or upon request of the appointing authority subject to the approval of the commissioner.

Sec. 6. (Effective from passage) The General Assembly shall commemorate the fourteenth anniversary of the Connecticut-Taiwan sister state relationship. Suitable exercises shall be held in the State Capitol and elsewhere as the General Assembly designates for such commemoration.

Sec. 7. Subdivision (19) of subsection (a) of section 10-29a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

(19) The Governor shall proclaim a date certain in each year as Powered Flight Day to honor the first powered flight by [the Wright brothers] Gustave Whitehead and to commemorate the Connecticut aviation and aerospace industry.

The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst's professional knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact: None

Municipal Impact: None

Explanation

The bill requires the Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee to conduct a study, on or before January 1, 2014, regarding the feasibility of creating a centralized state permitting office. It also allows state employees in the unclassified service to compete in promotional examinations for positions in the classified service without having permanent status in the classified service. These provisions do not have a fiscal impact.

The bill makes other changes that also do not result in a fiscal impact.

House “A” adds provisions regarding the Connecticut-Taiwan sister state relationship, eliminated provisions regarding the polka, and made various changes. These changes do not result in a fiscal impact.

House “B” adds the provision concerning Powered Flight Day which also does not result in a fiscal impact.

The Out Years

State Impact: None

Municipal Impact: None

OLR Bill Analysis

sHB 6671 (as amended by House “A” and “B”)*

AN ACT CONCERNING GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION.

SUMMARY:

This bill allows state employees in the unclassified service to compete in promotional examinations for positions in the classified service without having previous permanent status in the classified service. Under current law, unclassified employees can compete for classified positions if they possess the minimum qualifications established by the administrative services commissioner, but they must have previous permanent status in the classified service to compete in promotional examinations for the positions.

Additionally, the bill requires (1) the governor to proclaim the following months and day of each year to honor Americans of different ancestry and (2) suitable exercises to be held in the State Capitol and elsewhere as the governor designates:

1. March as Irish-American Month,

2. October as Italian-American Month,

3. November as Native American Month, and

4. June 24 as French Canadian-American Day.

The bill also establishes (1) the ballroom polka as the state polka and (2) Beautiful Connecticut Waltz, composed by Joseph Leggo, as the second state song. It specifies that Powered Flight Day is in honor of the first powered flight by Gustave Whitehead, rather than the Wright Brothers.

The bill requires the legislature to commemorate the 14^th anniversary of the Connecticut-Taiwan sister state relationship. Suitable exercises must be held in the State Capitol and elsewhere as the legislature may designate. The bill allows the economic and community development commissioner to designate a day, week, or month for celebrating ethnic, cultural, or heritage groups upon the application of such groups. In practice, such days, weeks, or months are proclaimed by the governor in his role as the chief executive.

Lastly, the bill makes technical changes.

*House Amendment “A”:

1. adds the provisions on promotional examinations and the Connecticut-Taiwan sister state relationship;

2. eliminates provisions (a) requiring state agencies to communicate with clients in a culturally competent way, (b) requiring the Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee to study the feasibility of creating a centralized state permitting office, and (c) establishing the polka as the state dance; and

3. makes technical changes.

*House Amendment “B” adds the provision concerning Powered Flight Day.

EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage

COMMITTEE ACTION

Government Administration and Elections Committee

Joint Favorable Substitute