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OLR Bill Analysis
HB 5614 (as amended by House "A")*
AN ACT ESTABLISHING A COMMISSION ON THE DISPARATE
IMPACT OF COVID-19.
SUMMARY
This bill establishes a 22-member Commission on the Disparate
Impact of COVID-19 within the legislative department. The
commission must, among other things, analyze and identify the cause
of any disparate impact of COVID-19 and the federal and state
responses to it on different racial, ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic
groups.
The bill establishes qualifications for commission members and
requires the commission to hold its first meeting by September 1, 2021.
The commission's powers and duties include, among other things,
convening at least two working groups and holding any necessary
public hearings. The Commission on Women, Children, Seniors,
Equity, and Opportunity‘s (CWCSEO) administrative staff serve as the
commission’s administrative staff.
Starting by January 1, 2022, the commission must annually report its
findings and legislative and policy recommendations to the
commission’s appointing authorities and the governor. The
commission expires on June 20, 2023, or after a two-thirds vote by its
membership, whichever is earlier.
*House Amendment "A" (1) changes the bill’s effective date from
upon passage to July 1, 2021; (2) terminates the commission within a
specified time period and correspondingly removes provisions on the
length of members’ terms; (3) eliminates the governor’s appointments
to the commission; (4) adds gender as a component of the
commission’s disparate impact analysis and requires the commission
to assess the effects of the federal response on any COVID-19-related 2021HB-05614-R01-BA.DOCX
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disparate impact; and (5) makes minor and technical changes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2021
COMMISSION POWERS AN D DUTIES
Under the bill, the commission's powers and duties include:
1. analyzing any disparate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on
the state’s different racial, ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic
groups and identifying its causes;
2. assessing the effects of the federal and state responses on any
such disparate impact;
3. appointing and convening at least two working groups to
analyze the impact of COVID-19, one each on (a) education,
housing, and human services needs and (b) labor, commerce,
and public health needs;
4. holding any necessary public hearings;
5. requesting any necessary and reasonable assistance and data
available from executive departments, boards, commissions, or
other state agencies;
6. accepting gifts, donations, or bequests to perform its duties;
7. establishing bylaws; and
8. performing any other necessary and appropriate acts to carry
out its duties.
COMMISSION MEMBERSHI P
The bill establishes the commission with 21 appointed members
plus the CWCSEO executive director, or his designee, who serves as an
ex-officio nonvoting member. Appointed members may be legislators.
Table 1 shows the appointing authority and required qualifications
for the commission’s 21 voting members. 2021HB-05614-R01-BA.DOCX
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Table 1: Appointed Members
Appointing Authority Number of
Appointments
Qualifications
House speaker Four Must have expertise in evaluating
disparities in education, housing, and
human services
Senate president pro
tempore
Four Must have expertise in evaluating the
impact of COVID-19 on essential
workers
House majority leader Three Two must have expertise in public
health and infectious diseases; one
must be a teacher
Senate majority leader Three Two must have expertise in small
business; one must be a housing
advocate
House minority leader Three Two must have expertise in nursing
homes; one must be a representative
of higher education
Senate minority leader Three Two must have expertise in health care
delivery; one must have expertise in
the hospitality industry
Chairperson of the
Black and Puerto
Rican Caucus
One Representative of the Black and Puerto
Rican Caucus
The bill requires appointing authorities to make their appointments
by September 1, 2021, and fill any vacancies. Commission members are
not paid but must be reimbursed for necessary expenses within
available funds.
COMMISSION MEETINGS AND PROCEDURES
The bill requires the House speaker and Senate president pro
tempore to select the chairperson from among the commission’s
members. The chairperson must schedule the commission’s first
meeting, which must be held by September 1, 2021. After that, the
commission must meet upon the call of the chairperson.
Under the bill, a majority of the members constitutes a quorum to
transact business. 2021HB-05614-R01-BA.DOCX
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COMMISSION REPORTS
The bill requires the commission to annually report starting by
January 1, 2022, to all commission appointing authorities and the
governor on (1) the results of the commission’s analysis of the COVID-
19 pandemic’s disparate impact on the state’s racial, ethnic, gender,
and socioeconomic groups and (2) policy and legislative
recommendations to address the causes of any disparate impact and
improve outcomes during any future pandemic.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Commerce Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 19 Nay 4 (03/11/2021)