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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6603
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 4447
Referred to Committee on COMMERCE
Introduced by:
(CE)
AN ACT CONCERNING RE GIONAL TOURISM DISTR ICT BOARDS OF
DIRECTORS AND TOURIS M COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 10-397 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 2
1, 2021): 3
(b) Each regional tourism district shall be overseen by a board of 4
directors consisting of one representative from each municipality within 5
the district, appointed by the legislative body of the municipality and, 6
where the legislative body is a town meeting, by the board of selectmen, 7
except that two or more municipalities may jointly appoint one 8
representative, who shall be deemed to be present for each such 9
municipality for the purposes of a quorum at any board of directors 10
meeting that such representative attends and be permitted to vote for 11
each such municipality at any such meeting. Any such member of a 12
board of directors shall serve for a term of three years. In addition, the 13
board of directors may appoint up to twenty-one persons representing 14
tourism interests within the district to serve on the board. No board 15 Raised Bill No. 6603
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member shall be deemed a state employee for serving on said board. All 16
appointments to the board of directors shall be reported to the 17
Commissioner of Economic and Community Development. 18
Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 10-397c of the general statutes is 19
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 20
passage): 21
(a) There is established within the Department of Economic and 22
Community Development, for administrative purposes only, a 23
Connecticut Tourism Council. The council shall consist of (1) the 24
Commissioner of Economic and Community Development, or the 25
commissioner's designee, (2) the Commissioner of Transportation, or 26
the commissioner's designee, (3) the Commissioner of Energy and 27
Environmental Protection, or the commissioner's designee, (4) [twelve] 28
thirteen members appointed by the Governor, (A) one of whom shall 29
represent the lodging industry, (B) one of whom shall represent a 30
chamber of commerce, (C) one of whom shall represent a tourist 31
attraction, (D) one of whom shall represent the arts, (E) one of whom 32
shall represent a culturally diverse event or attraction, (F) one of whom 33
shall represent the heritage tourism industry, (G) one of whom shall 34
represent the airline industry, (H) one of whom shall represent the 35
Connecticut Airport Authority, (I) one of whom shall represent a 36
convention center and sports arena trade organization, (J) one of whom 37
shall represent a charter bus trade organization, [and] (K) two of whom 38
shall represent casino gaming facilities, and (L) one of whom shall 39
represent the Connecticut Tourism Coalition, (5) fourteen members 40
appointed as follows: (A) Three by the president pro tempore of the 41
Senate, one of whom shall represent the agritourism industry, one of 42
whom shall represent the convention center and coliseum industry and 43
one of whom shall represent the eastern regional tourism district 44
established pursuant to section 10-397, as amended by this act, (B) two 45
by the majority leader of the Senate, one of whom shall represent the 46
events industry and one of whom shall represent the western regional 47
tourism district established pursuant to section 10-397, as amended by 48
this act, (C) two by the minority leader of the Senate, one of whom shall 49 Raised Bill No. 6603
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represent the marine trades industry and one of whom shall represent 50
the outdoor recreation industry, (D) three by the speaker of the House 51
of Representatives, one of whom shall represent the destination 52
shopping industry, one of whom shall represent the restaurant industry 53
and one of whom shall represent the central regional tourism district 54
established pursuant to section 10-397, as amended by this act, (E) two 55
by the majority leader of the House of Representatives, one of whom 56
shall represent the attractions industry and one of whom shall represent 57
the lodging industry, and (F) two by the minority leader of the House of 58
Representatives, one of whom shall represent the museum industry and 59
one of whom shall represent the tour and travel industry. All members 60
appointed by the Governor shall serve a term of four years. The terms 61
of all members appointed by members of the General Assembly shall be 62
coterminous with the terms of such members of the General Assembly. 63
The Commissioner of Economic and Community Development shall 64
serve as chairperson of the council. 65
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2021 10-397(b)
Sec. 2 from passage 10-397c(a)
Statement of Purpose:
To (1) allow two or more municipalities in any regional tourism district
to jointly appoint one representative to the regional tourism district
boards of directors, and (2) require that a representative of the
Connecticut Tourism Coalition be a member of the Connecticut Tourism
Council.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]