Sec. 17b-420. Commission on Aging. Established. Membership. Duties. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 17b-420. Commission on Aging. Established. Membership. Duties. (a) There is established a Commission on Aging to advocate on behalf of elderly persons on issues and programs of concern to the elderly including, but not limited to, health care, nutrition, housing, employment, transportation, legal assistance and economic security. The commission shall be composed of seventeen voting members who are knowledgeable about areas of interest to the elderly to be appointed as follows: Five by the Governor, two by the president pro tempore of the Senate, two by the speaker of the House of Representatives, two by the majority leader of the Senate, two by the majority leader of the House of Representatives, two by the minority leader of the Senate and two by the minority leader of the House of Representatives. The initial appointments to the commission shall be made by August 15, 1993. The initial term for three of the members appointed by the Governor and the members appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, majority leader of the House of Representatives and minority leader of the Senate shall expire August 15, 1997, and the initial term for two of the members appointed by the Governor and the members appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, majority leader of the Senate and minority leader of the House of Representatives shall expire August 15, 1995. Thereafter, all members shall be appointed for a term of four years from August fifteenth in the year of their appointment. Members shall be limited to two consecutive terms. The commission shall include the following ex-officio nonvoting members: The chairpersons and ranking members of the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to human services, the chairpersons and ranking members of the select committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to aging, the Commissioners of Social Services, Public Health, Mental Health and Addiction Services, Developmental Services, Economic and Community Development and Transportation, the Insurance Commissioner and the Labor Commissioner. The chairperson of the commission shall be elected from among its members. Members of the commission shall receive no compensation for their services, but shall be reimbursed for any necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.

      (b) The Commission on Aging shall: (1) Prepare and issue an annual report to the Governor, General Assembly and the legislative body of each municipality in the state on its findings and recommendations concerning services for the elderly in the state; (2) conduct annual public hearings on issues affecting the well-being of the elderly in the state; (3) meet regularly with representatives of state agencies to review and comment on the policies and procedures of the department concerning the elderly; (4) review and comment on the budget of the State Unit on Aging within the Department of Social Services; (5) meet as needed with state officials to discuss issues affecting the elderly; (6) conduct studies and report on issues affecting the elderly; and (7) disseminate information to the business community, education community, state and local governments and the media on the nature and scope of the problems faced by the elderly. The commission may accept any gifts, donations or bequests and may enter into contracts for any of the purposes of this section.

      (c) There shall be an executive director of the Commission on Aging who shall be appointed by the commission. There may be additional staff within available appropriations. The commission shall be within the Legislative Department for administrative purposes only.

      (P.A. 93-262, S. 5, 87; 93-381, S. 9, 39; 93-435, S. 59, 95; P.A. 95-250, S. 1; 95-257, S. 11, 12, 21, 58; P.A. 05-77, S. 1; P.A. 07-73, S. 2(b).)

      History: P.A. 93-262 effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 93-381 and P.A. 93-435 authorized substitution of commissioner and department of public health and addiction services for commissioner and department of health services and executive director of Connecticut alcohol and drug abuse commission, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 95-250 replaced Commissioner and Department of Housing with Commissioner and Department of Economic and Community Development; P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and Addiction Services with Commissioner and Department of Public Health and replaced Commissioner and Department of Mental Health with Commissioner and Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, effective July 1, 1995 (Revisor's note: In Subsec. (a), references to "Commissioner of Insurance" and "Commissioner of Labor" were replaced editorially by the Revisors with "Insurance Commissioner" and "Labor Commissioner" for consistency with customary statutory usage and minor changes in wording were made to accommodate the changes); P.A. 05-77 amended Subsec. (a) by increasing composition of commission from 11 to 17 voting members and increasing total number of appointments to the commission by legislative leaders from 6 to 12, by specifying that chairpersons and ranking members of aging committee and human services committee are ex-officio voting members of commission, by specifying that commission chairperson shall be elected from among commission members, by removing provision re Governor's selection of chairperson and by removing obsolete language re initial organizational meeting, amended Subsec. (b)(3) by requiring that commission meet regularly with representatives of state agencies and eliminating requirement re meeting with commissioner and head of Division of Elderly Services of Department of Social Services, amended Subsec. (b)(4) by replacing "Division of Elderly Services of" with "State Unit on Aging within", amended Subsec. (b) by authorizing commission to enter into contracts for purposes of section, and amended Subsec. (c) by substituting "Legislative Department" for "Department of Social Services", effective July 1, 2005; pursuant to P.A. 07-73 "Commissioner of Mental Retardation" was changed editorially by the Revisors to "Commissioner of Developmental Services", effective October 1, 2007.

      See Sec. 4-38f for definition of "administrative purposes only".