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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 5483
AN ACT ESTABLISHING AND TRANSFERRING VARIOUS
FUNCTIONS TO A DIVISION OF FIRE SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY SERVICES AND
PUBLIC PROTECTION AND REVISING THE POWERS AND
COMPOSITION OF THE COMMISSION ON FIRE PREVENTION AND
CONTROL.
SUMMARY
This bill merges the Office of State Fire Administration and the
Department of Administrative Services’ (DAS) Office of the State Fire
Marshal and Office of Education and Data Administration into a newly
created Division of Fire Services Administration within the Department
of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP). It designates the
division as a successor to these offices and generally assigns jurisdiction
of this new division to the state fire administrator, whom the bill
requires the governor to appoint. It also reassigns the administrator’s
current duties to the division and expands on them.
Additionally, the bill makes several changes to the Commission on
Fire Prevention and Control, including expanding its membership and
its powers and duties, such as requiring it to distribute funding for fire
school operations.
The bill also makes conforming and technical changes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2025.
§§ 1 & 4-27 — DIVISION OF FIRE SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
The bill requires that the functions, powers, duties, and personnel of
the Office of State Fire Administration, Office of the State Fire Marshal,
and Office of Education and Data Administration be transferred to the
Division of Fire Services Administration. Additionally, any order or
regulation of these offices that is in force on the effective date of the bill 2024HB-05483-R000291-BA.DOCX
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must continue in force and effect as an order or regulation of the division
until it is amended, repealed, or superseded. The bill makes conforming
changes to carry out this transfer, including requiring the division,
rather than the Office of State Fire Administration, to administer the
state’s responsibilities under federal laws relevant to fire services and to
develop a master plan for fire prevention and control. It also requires
the DESPP commissioner, rather than the DAS commissioner, to
appoint the state fire marshal.
Under the bill, the DESPP commissioner must serve as the Division
of Fire Services Administration’s administrative head but delegate his
jurisdiction of the division to the state fire administrator. Relatedly, the
bill changes who appoints the state fire administrator from the DESPP
commissioner to the governor. (It retains the Commission on Fire
Prevention and Control’s responsibility to recommend a candidate for
this position.)
The bill also transfers the state fire administrator’s current duties to
the Division of Fire Services Administration and adds new ones.
Specifically, whereas current law requires the state fire administrator to
coordinate the training and education of fire service personnel at state
institutions, facilities, and properties, the bill instead requires the
division to do the following:
1. advise and assist the Commission on Fire Prevention and Control
on legislative proposals;
2. encourage the expansion and improvement of existing local
firefighter training facilities in cooperation with the commission;
3. administer the state fire school and certification examinations,
testing procedures, and reciprocity recognition for credentials in
the fire service disciplines; and
4. make recommendations to the commission on the operational
funding of the state fire school and regional fire schools.
The bill also requires the division to recommend and give reports on 2024HB-05483-R000291-BA.DOCX
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revisions to statutes on firefighter training and fire prevention and
control. (The bill does not specify to whom these recommendations and
reports must be sent.)
§ 2 — COMMISSION ON FIRE PREVENTION AND CONTR OL
MEMBERSHIP
The bill makes several changes to the Commission on Fire Prevention
and Control membership beginning July 1, 2025. Generally, it increases
the commission’s size from 14 voting members to 19 voting members
and three nonvoting members. It also changes its composition from 12
gubernatorial appointees and two ex-officio members to 10 legislative
appointees, six gubernatorial appointees, and six ex-officio members
(three voting and three non-voting). It additionally requires members of
the Connecticut State Firefighters Association, Inc.’s education
committee to serve as a commission subcommittee on matters relating
to fire schools.
Under current law, the commission consists of the state fire marshal
and the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) president
(or their respective designees) and 12 members appointed by the
governor, representing six specified entities. The bill retains the fire
marshal (or designee) on the commission but removes the CSCU
president. It also changes the (1) appointing authority for seven of these
members and (2) represented entity for one of them, as shown in the
table below.
Table: Changes to Appointing Authorities
Entity Appointing Authority
Current Law The Bill
Connecticut State
Firefighter’s Association
Two by the governor One by the governor and
one by the Senate majority
leader
Connecticut Fire Chiefs
Association
Two by the governor One by the governor and
one by the Senate president
pro tempore
Uniformed Professional
Firefighters of the
International Association of
Firefighters, AFL-CIO
Two by the governor One by the governor and
one by the House majority
leader 2024HB-05483-R000291-BA.DOCX
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Entity Appointing Authority
Current Law The Bill
Connecticut Fire Marshals
Association
Two by the governor One by the governor and
one by the Senate minority
leader
Connecticut Fire Department
Instructors Association
Two by the governor One by the governor and
one by the House minority
leader
Connecticut Conference of
Municipalities
Two by the governor One by the Public Safety
and Security Committee
Senate chairperson
Connecticut Council of Small
Towns
N/A One by the Public Safety
and Security Committee
House chairperson
Beyond these changes, the bill adds six new voting members as
follows:
1. two members of the Connecticut Career Fire Chiefs’ Association,
one appointed by the governor and the other by the House
speaker;
2. one member of the Connecticut Fire Equipment Mechanics
Association, appointed by the Public Safety and Security
Committee’s House ranking member;
3. one representative of the Emergency Medical Services Advisory
Board, appointed by the Public Safety and Security Committee’s
Senate ranking member;
4. the Connecticut State Firefighters Association, Inc.’s education
committee chairperson; and
5. the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Forestry Division’s forest protection supervisor.
The bill also adds the following three officials as nonvoting members:
1. DESPP Division of Emergency Management and Homeland
Security’s director (or the director’s designee),
2. DESPP State Police Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit 2024HB-05483-R000291-BA.DOCX
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director, and
3. Connecticut Technical Education and Career System’s executive
director (or the executive director’s designee).
By law, appointed members are appointed to three-year terms; the
bill allows members to continue to serve until a successor is appointed.
As under current law for the governor’s appointments, the bill requires
each organization to be represented on the commission to submit a list
of nominees to the appropriate appointing authority annually by July
15.
Under existing law, appointees must be qualified, by experience or
education, in the fields of fire protection, fire prevention, fire
suppression, firefighting, and related fields.
§§ 3-4 — COMMISSION ON FIRE PREVENTION AND CONTR OL
POWERS AND DUTIES
The bill makes several changes to the Commission on Fire Prevention
and Control’s powers and duties, principally by making it responsible
for establishing certain standards and training instead of
recommending them. The bill specifically requires the commission to:
1. create and periodically update required minimum standards of
education and physical condition for candidates for any
firefighter position, instead of recommending them;
2. set and periodically update standards for fire service training and
education programs, rather than doing so on a voluntary basis;
3. create a required fire service training and education program in
the handling of incidents, such as wandering, that involve
juveniles and adults with autism spectrum disorder, instead of
establishing an optional one; and
4. set standards for promotion to the various ranks of fire
departments, rather than recommending them.
The bill further requires the commission do the following: 2024HB-05483-R000291-BA.DOCX
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1. distribute any state, federal, or private funds or contributions for
state fire school’s and regional fire schools’ daily operation; and
2. make recommendations on the funding needed for operating,
maintaining, and making capital improvements to the state fire
school and regional fire schools as part of the existing annual
reporting it must submit to the governor, legislature, and DESPP
commissioner.
The bill requires the commission to submit this annual report to the
Public Safety and Security Committee, rather than the Legislative
Management Committee as current law requires.
The bill eliminates the commission’s authority to appoint clerical and
other assistants it deems necessary to carry out the Office of State Fire
Administration’s functions.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Public Safety and Security Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 25 Nay 0 (03/19/2024)