Sec. 2-79a. Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. Appointments. Powers and duties. Reports. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 2-79a. Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. Appointments. Powers and duties. Reports. (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 General Assembly may serve as gubernatorial appointees to the commission. 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 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.

      (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.

      (P.A. 84-523, S. 1, 5; P.A. 89-87, S. 2, 5; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-10, S. 1, 20; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 92-11, S. 67, 70; P.A. 93-434, S. 14, 20; P.A. 95-250, S. 12, 42; 95-309, S. 11, 12; P.A. 96-251, S. 1; P.A. 97-50, S. 1, 2; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, S. 56.)

      History: P.A. 89-87 amended Subsec. (a) to authorize legislative leaders and secretary of office of policy and management to name designees to serve on commission; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-10 changed membership by adding commissioners of education, environmental protection, housing and economic development and removing two members of the executive branch appointed by the governor, one member of the senate appointed by the president pro tempore and one member of the house of representatives appointed by the speaker, deleted requirement that commission elect chairperson and vice-chairperson and substituted appointment by governor, changed scope of forum for consultation by deleting reference to state officials, administrators and legislators, deleted requirement that commission employ executive director and other necessary staff and substituted provision of necessary staff by office of policy and management and deleted Subsec. (d) re power of commission to receive and expend funds from any public or private source; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 92-11 amended Subsec. (c) by substituting Connecticut Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations for "commission" and adding provision that staff may be exempt from the classified service; P.A. 93-434 inserted new Subsec. (c) re annual reports on state mandates and relettered the former Subsec. (c) as (d), effective June 30, 1993; P.A. 95-250 amended Subsec. (a) by replacing the Commissioners of Housing and Economic Development with the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development; P.A. 95-309 changed effective date of P.A. 95-250 but did not affect this section (Revisor's note: In Subsec. (a) the phrase "Commissioners of the Departments of Education ..." was replaced editorially by the Revisors with "Commissioners of Education ..." for consistency with customary statutory usage); P.A. 96-251 amended Subsec. (c) by requiring that on and after October 1, 1996, reports be submitted to the appropriations committee and any other legislative committee of cognizance and to General Assembly members upon request and by adding provisions re submission of report summaries to legislators; P.A. 97-50 amended Subsec. (c) to require that after 1998 the report be submitted quadrennially, inserted new Subsec. (d) requiring after 1997 submission of supplement to the report under Subsec. (c) in any year a report is not filed and relettered remaining Subsec. accordingly, effective May 14, 1997; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6 amended Subsec. (a) to authorize the Governor to appoint members of the General Assembly to the commission, effective August 20, 2003.

      See Sec. 2c-2b(a)(24) re termination of the Connecticut Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations under sunset law.