O F F I C E O F L E G I S L A T I V E R E S E A R C H
P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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PA 24-125—sHB 5363
Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E PLANNING COMMISSIO N FOR HIGHER
EDUCATION
SUMMARY: This act makes a number of changes regarding the Planning
Commission for Higher Education, which is charged with revising and updating the
2015 strategic master plan for higher education in Connecticut. Among other
things, it:
1. extends, by one year, the commission’s deadlines for submitting the updated
master plan, and the date for certain goals and benchmarks in the plan;
2. removes the commission from within the Office of Higher Education and
requires the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee’s
administrative staff to serve as administrative staff for the commission;
3. eliminates the commission’s responsibility for implementing any policies it
develops; and
4. makes changes related to the commission’s membership and operations.
The act also makes technical and conforming changes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage
COMMISSION MEMBERSHI P AND OPERATION
The act makes the chairpersons and ranking members of the Higher Education
and Employment Advancement Committee voting members of the commission,
rather than ex-officio nonvoting members. In doing so, it increases the number of
the commission’s voting members from 19 to 23, and correspondingly decreases
the number of nonvoting members from 14 to 10.
It requires all initial commission appointments to be made by June 1, 2024. The
act permits members to continue to serve beyond their three-year terms until their
successor is appointed. It also specifies that a majority of the membership
constitutes a quorum for transacting business.
Prior law required the governor to appoint the commission’s chairperson from
among its voting members. The act adds two additional chairpersons by requiring
the Senate president pro tempore and House speaker to each appoint a chairperson
from these members. The act also eliminates the requirement that the commission
elect a vice chairperson. The act requires the chairpersons to jointly schedule the
commission’s first meeting by July 1, 2024.
It also eliminates a requirement that, when establishing subcommittees and
working groups needed to supplement its work, the commission collaborate with
the Office of Policy and Management. The act requires the three chairpersons,
rather than the chairperson and vice-chairperson, to appoint the members of these
subcommittees and working groups. O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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SUBMISSION OF UPDATE D MASTER PLAN, GOALS, BENCHMARKS,
AND REPORTING DEADLINES
By law, the commission develops and ensures implementation of a strategic
master plan for higher education that must address degree attainment, the number
of people entering the workforce, and the achievement gap. Updated plans must (1)
assess progress towards numerical goals established under the 2015 plan and (2)
revise or establish these goals and benchmarks for future target dates.
The act requires the commission to submit its:
1. preliminary report on the development of the updated strategic master plan
by September 1, 2025, rather than September 1, 2024, and
2. updated plan by December 1, 2025, rather than December 1, 2024.
The act delays by one year, from 2025 to 2026, the initial target date for goals
and benchmarks the commission must set as part of its updated master plan. By
law, these goals address topics such as (1) increasing the number of people earning
degrees, completing community college courses, and entering the workforce and
(2) the achievement gap. By law, the plan must also include goals and benchmarks
for 2030.
The act also delays, from January 1, 2026, to January 1, 2027, the deadline for
the commission to submit its first annual report to the governor and legislature on
the plan’s implementation and progress towards achieving its specified goals.