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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5343
February Session, 2022
LCO No. 2450
Referred to Committee on HUMAN SERVICES
Introduced by:
(HS)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL,
TRANSGENDER AND QUEER HEALTH, HUMAN SERVICES AND
OPPORTUNITY NETWORK.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 19a-132 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2022): 2
(a) There is established a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and 3
Queer Health, [and] Human Services and Opportunity Network to 4
make recommendations to the state legislative, executive and judicial 5
branches of government concerning the promotion of equitable access 6
to opportunities for, the delivery of health and human services to, and 7
educational awareness about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and 8
queer persons in the state. 9
(b) The network shall work to build a safer and healthier environment 10
for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer persons by (1) 11
conducting a needs analysis, within available appropriations, (2) 12
collecting additional data on the health and human services needs of 13
such persons as necessary, (3) informing state policy through reports 14 Raised Bill No. 5343
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submitted at least biennially, in accordance with the provisions of 15
section 11-4a, to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly 16
having cognizance of matters relating to public health, human services, 17
appropriations and the budgets of state agencies, other legislative 18
committees as necessary, the Governor and the Chief Court 19
Administrator, and (4) building organizational member capacity, 20
leadership and advocacy across the geographic and social spectrum of 21
the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community. 22
(c) The network shall include, but need not be limited to, the 23
following members, or their designees: 24
[(1) The president of Connecticut Latinas/os Achieving Rights and 25
Opportunities (CLARO); 26
(2) The executive director of the Safe Harbor Project;] 27
[(3)] (1) The executive director of the New Haven Pride Center; 28
[(4) The executive director of True Colors, Inc.;] 29
[(5)] (2) The executive director of the Triangle Community Center; [in 30
Norwalk;] 31
[(6)] (3) The executive director of [AIDS Connecticut] Advancing CT 32
Together; 33
[(7)] (4) The [executive director] board president of the Connecticut 34
chapter of the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN); 35
[(8) The executive director of the Rainbow Center at The University 36
of Connecticut;] 37
(5) The executive director of Kamora's Cultural Corner; 38
[(9)] (6) The executive director of the Hartford Gay [and] & Lesbian 39
Health Collective; 40
[(10)] (7) The executive director of the Connecticut [Transadvocacy] 41 Raised Bill No. 5343
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TransAdvocacy Coalition; 42
[(11)] (8) The board president of OutCT; [in New London;] 43
[(12) The executive director of the Queer Unity Empowerment 44
Support Team;] 45
[(13)] (9) The executive director of the Commission on Women, 46
Children, Seniors, Equity and Opportunity; 47
[(14) A lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer physician, 48
licensed pursuant to chapter 370, appointed by the speaker of the House 49
of Representatives;] 50
(10) The president of Connecticut Community Care; 51
(11) The executive director of Q Plus; and 52
(12) The following members appointed by the chairpersons of the 53
joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of 54
matters relating to human services: 55
(A) A lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer physician, licensed 56
pursuant to chapter 370; 57
(B) A lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer mental health 58
provider, licensed pursuant to chapter 370; 59
(C) A representative of the Latino, Latina, LatinX or Puerto Rican 60
lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community; 61
(D) A representative of the African American/Black lesbian, gay, 62
bisexual, transgender and queer community; 63
(E) A representative of the LGBTQ Plus women community; 64
(F) A lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer person with 65
disabilities; 66
(G) A representative of the Transgender, Nonbinary or Intersex 67 Raised Bill No. 5343
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community; 68
(H) A representative of the LGBTQ Plus youth services sector; 69
(I) Rotating representatives of the Pride Network; 70
(J) Rotating representatives of the College LGBTQ Plus services and 71
support community; 72
(K) Rotating representatives of the HIV/AIDS service sector; 73
(L) A member of the LGBT Aging Advocacy coalition; and 74
[(15)] (M) An LGBT Veteran Care coordinator assigned to a health 75
care facility in the state administered by the United States Department 76
of Veterans Affairs. [, appointed by the president pro tempore of the 77
Senate; 78
(16) A member of the LGBT Aging Advocacy coalition, appointed by 79
the Governor; and 80
(17) The president of Connecticut Community Care.] 81
(d) [Members shall serve at the will of the speaker of the House of 82
Representatives and the president pro tempore of the Senate, who may 83
each appoint additional members and set term limits for each member. 84
Appointments] Initial appointments to the network shall be made [not 85
later than sixty days after the effective date of this section] pursuant to 86
subsection (c) of this section. Members shall choose chairpersons. Any 87
vacancy shall be filled by the [speaker of the House of Representatives, 88
acting in consultation with the president pro tempore of the Senate] 89
appointing authority or a majority vote of members of the network. 90
(e) The administrative staff of the Commission on Women, Children, 91
Seniors, Equity and Opportunity shall provide administrative support 92
to the network and shall administer network funds through a fiscal 93
agent, with the advice and consent of the network. The network may 94
use such funds as may be available from federal, state or other sources 95 Raised Bill No. 5343
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and may enter into contracts to carry out the purposes of the network, 96
including, but not limited to, contracts for administrative support, 97
programmatic initiatives and grantmaking. The network may also 98
utilize voluntary and uncompensated services of private individuals, 99
state or federal agencies and organizations as may, from time to time, be 100
offered and needed. 101
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2022 19a-132
Statement of Purpose:
To update the membership and change the title of a network serving
health and human service needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender
and queer persons.
[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.]