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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 301
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 5581
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION
AND ELECTIONS
Introduced by:
(GAE)
AN ACT CONCERNING BI PARTISAN REVIEW OF EMERGENCY
DECLARATIONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 19a-131a of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2
2021): 3
(b) (1) Any declaration issued pursuant to this section shall become 4
effective upon its filing with the Secretary of the State and with the 5
clerks of the House of Representatives and Senate. The declaration shall 6
state the nature of the public health emergency, the political 7
subdivisions or geographic area subject to the declaration, the 8
conditions that have brought about the public health emergency, the 9
duration of the public health emergency and the public health authority 10
responding to the emergency. Any such declaration issued by the 11
Governor may be disapproved and nullified by majority vote of a 12
committee consisting of the president pro tempore of the Senate, the 13
speaker of the House of Representatives, the majority and minority 14
leaders of both houses of the General Assembly , [and] the 15
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cochairpersons and ranking members of the joint standing committee of 16
the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public 17
health and two additional members of the General Assembly, one 18
appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives and 19
one appointed by the minority leader of the Senate. Such disapproval 20
shall not be effective unless filed with the Secretary of the State not later 21
than seventy-two hours after the filing of the Governor's declaration 22
with the Secretary of the State. 23
(2) Any declaration issued pursuant to this section may be renewed 24
by the Governor upon its filing with the Secretary of the State and with 25
the clerks of the House of Representatives and Senate. The renewal 26
declaration shall state the nature of the continuing public health 27
emergency, the political subdivisions or geographic area subject to the 28
renewal, the conditions that have brought about the renewal 29
declaration, the duration of the renewal declaration and the public 30
health authority responding to the public health emergency. Any such 31
renewal declaration issued by the Governor may be disapproved and 32
nullified by majority vote of a committee consisting of the legislative 33
leaders and members specified in subsection (b) of this section. Such 34
disapproval shall not be effective unless filed with the Secretary of the 35
State not later than seventy-two hours after the filing of the Governor's 36
renewal declaration with the Secretary of the State. 37
(3) The Governor shall declare a public health emergency to be 38
terminated before the duration stated in the declaration, upon a finding, 39
after informing the legislative leaders and members specified in 40
subsection (b) of this section, that the circumstances that caused such 41
emergency to be declared no longer pose a substantial risk of a 42
significant number of human fatalities or incidents of permanent or 43
long-term disability. 44
Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 28-9 of the general statutes is repealed 45
and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2021): 46
(a) In the event of serious disaster, enemy attack, sabotage or other 47
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hostile action or in the event of the imminence thereof, the Governor 48
may proclaim that a state of civil preparedness emergency exists, in 49
which event the Governor may personally take direct operational 50
control of any or all parts of the civil preparedness forces and functions 51
in the state. Any such proclamation shall be effective upon filing with 52
the Secretary of the State. Any such proclamation, or order issued 53
pursuant thereto, issued by the Governor because of a disaster resulting 54
from man-made cause may be disapproved by majority vote of a joint 55
legislative committee consisting of the president pro tempore of the 56
Senate, the speaker of the House of Representatives, [and] the majority 57
and minority leaders of both houses of the General Assembly and two 58
additional members of the General Assembly, one appointed by the 59
minority leader of the House of Representatives and one appointed by 60
the minority leader of the Senate, provided at least one of the minority 61
leaders votes for such disapproval. Such disapproval shall not be 62
effective unless filed with the Secretary of the State not later than 63
seventy-two hours after the filing of the Governor's proclamation with 64
the Secretary of the State. As soon as possible after such proclamation, 65
if the General Assembly is not then in session, the Governor shall meet 66
with the president pro tempore of the Senate, the speaker of the House 67
of Representatives, and the majority and minority leaders of both 68
houses of the General Assembly and shall confer with them on the 69
advisability of calling a special session of the General Assembly. 70
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2021 19a-131a(b)
Sec. 2 July 1, 2021 28-9(a)
Statement of Purpose:
To allow for bipartisan review of emergency declarations.
[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.]
Co-Sponsors: SEN. SAMPSON, 16th Dist.; REP. FISHBEIN, 90th Dist.
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REP. MASTROFRANCESCO, 80th Dist.
S.B. 301