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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 5483 (as amended by House “A”)*
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 eliminates the Office of State Fire Administration and creates
a Division of Fire Services Administration within the Department of
Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP) as a successor
agency. It assigns jurisdiction of this new division to the state fire
administrator and reassigns the administrator’s current duties to the
division and expands on them.
Among other things, the bill makes several changes to the
Commission on Fire Prevention and Control, including expanding its
membership and its powers and duties, such as advising the new
division on the management of the Statewide Fire Service Disaster
Response Plan. It also expressly allows any regional fire school to
receive and use federal, state, or private funds or contributions for the
school’s facilities and operations (§ 9). Additionally, the bill creates a
working group to make recommendations on the structure and
operations of the Department of Administrative Services’ (DAS) Office
of the State Fire Marshal and Office of Education and Data Management.
The bill also makes conforming and technical changes.
*House Amendment “A” principally (1) removes provisions merging
the DAS Office of the State Fire Marshal and Office of Education and
Data Administration into the newly created division; (2) makes the state
fire administrator instead of the DESPP commissioner the division’s 2024HB-05483-R010653-BA.DOCX
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administrative head; (3) modifies the changes to the Commission on Fire
Prevention and Control’s membership and duties, including removing
appointments by the six legislative leaders; (4) requires the state fire
administrator to have at least five years of experience in the fire service;
and (5) adds the working group provision.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2025 , except the changes to the
Commission on Fire Prevention and Control and creation of the
working group are effective upon passage and the deletion of a
reference to a statute that the bill repeals is effective July 1, 2024.
§§ 1 & 4-8 — DIVISION OF FIRE SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
The bill requires that the functions, powers, duties, and personnel of
the Office of State Fire Administration be transferred to the Division of
Fire Services Administration. Additionally, any order or regulation of
the office that is in force on the effective date of the bill 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.
Under the bill, the state fire administrator is the Division of Fire
Services Administration’s administrative head. Under current law, the
state fire administrator must be recommended by the Commission on
Fire Prevention and Control and appointed by the DESPP
commissioner. Beginning July 1, 2025, and upon a vacancy of the
position, the bill instead allows the Commission on Fire Prevention and
Control to recommend candidates to the DESPP commissioner, who
must appoint someone with at least five years of experience in the fire
service.
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 2024HB-05483-R010653-BA.DOCX
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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 regional
firefighter training facilities in cooperation with the commission;
3. administer the state fire school, regional fire schools, certification
examinations, testing procedures, and reciprocity recognition for
credentials in the fire service disciplines;
4. manage the Statewide Fire Service Disaster Response Plan, with
the advice of the commission; and
5. make recommendations to the commission and DESPP
commissioner 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
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.)
The bill further requires the division to approve the purchase of fire
apparatus or equipment at state institutions, facilities, and properties, in
addition to reviewing them as under current law.
§ 2 — COMMISSION ON FIRE PREVENTION AND CONTR OL
MEMBERSHIP
On June 30, 2025, the bill ends the term of any Commission on Fire
Prevention and Control member appointed by that date and makes
several changes to the commission’s membership beginning July 1, 2025.
Generally, it increases the commission’s size from 14 voting members to
18 voting members and three nonvoting members. It also changes its
composition from 12 gubernatorial appointees and two ex-officio,
voting members to 14 gubernatorial appointees, four legislative
appointees, and three ex-officio, non-voting members. It additionally 2024HB-05483-R010653-BA.DOCX
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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 on the commission but eliminates his authority to vote or assign
a designee and removes the CSCU president. The bill changes the
governor’s current appointments by (1) requiring one of the two
members from the Connecticut State Firefighters Association be the
chairperson of the association’s education committee and (2) reducing
the number of Connecticut Conference of Municipalities appointees
from two to one. It adds three gubernatorial appointments, specifically
two members of the Connecticut Career Fire Chiefs’ Association and one
representative of the Connecticut Council of Small Towns.
Beyond these changes, the bill adds four new voting members as
follows:
1. one representative of the Connecticut Council of Small Towns,
appointed by the Public Safety and Security Committee’s House
chairperson;
2. one representative of the Connecticut Conference of
Municipalities, appointed by the Public Safety and Security
Committee’s Senate chairperson;
3. one member of the Connecticut Fire Equipment Mechanics
Association, appointed by the Public Safety and Security
Committee’s House ranking member; and
4. one representative of the Emergency Medical Services Advisory
Board, appointed by the Public Safety and Security Committee’s
Senate ranking member.
The bill also adds the following two officials (or their designees) as 2024HB-05483-R010653-BA.DOCX
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nonvoting members: the Department of Energy and Environmental
Protection Forestry Division’s forest protection supervisor and the
DESPP State Police Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit’s
commanding officer.
By law, appointed members are appointed to three-year terms; the
bill allows members to continue to serve until a successor is appointed
and requires any vacancy to be filled by the appointing authority for the
unexpired portion of the term. 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.
As 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.
The bill sunsets, on June 30, 2025, the current commission leadership
process under which it elects from its membership a chairperson, vice
chairperson, and secretary who must serve a one-year term starting on
October 1 of the year in which they are elected. The bill requires their
terms to expire on June 30, 2025, and expressly states that nothing in the
bill may prevent their reelection. Beginning July 1, 2025, the bill requires
the governor to appoint the commission’s chairperson from its
membership, and the commission must elect from its membership a vice
chairperson and secretary, who must all serve one-year terms. As with
current leadership, nothing in the bill prevents them from being
reelected.
§§ 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. The bill specifically requires the
commission to set standards for fire service training and education
programs, rather than to do so on a voluntary basis.
The bill further requires the commission do the following: 2024HB-05483-R010653-BA.DOCX
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1. advise the Division of Fire Services Administration on the
management of the Statewide Fire Service Disaster Response
Plan;
2. implement the recommendations of the DESPP study on issues
facing fire services in the state that was authorized by the 2023
budget implementer; and
3. 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
report 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.
§ 10 — WORKING GROUP
The bill creates a working group to make recommendations on the
structure and operations of the DAS Office of the State Fire Marshal and
Office of Education and Data Management to effectively administer
code development, code enforcement, fire prevention, and fire
investigation functions. The working group must report its findings and
recommendations to the Public Safety and Security Committee by
January 1, 2025. It terminates on the date it submits the report, or
January 1, 2025, whichever is later.
The working group consists of the following members:
1. the Public Safety and Security Committee’s chairpersons, vice-
chairpersons, and ranking members (or their designees);
2. the DESPP and DAS commissioners (or their designees); 2024HB-05483-R010653-BA.DOCX
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3. the head of the DAS Office of Education and Data Management;
and
4. a representative of the Connecticut State Fire Marshals
Association, who must be appointed by the Public Safety and
Security Committee’s chairpersons.
All initial appointments to the working group must be made by July
1, 2024. The appointing authority must fill any vacancies.
Under the bill, the working group must select a chairperson from
among its members. The chairperson must schedule the group’s first
meeting, which must be held by August 1, 2024. The Public Safety and
Security Committee’s administrative staff must serve as the working
group’s administrative staff.
§§ 11 & 12 — APPLICABILITY OF FIRE SERVICE LAWS TO
SPECIFIED FIRE DEPARTMENTS
The bill repeals a law that provides that (1) the state statutes
concerning the Commission on Fire Prevention and Control and the
Office of State Fire Administration do not apply to any (a) municipality
that employs fewer than six paid firefighters or (b) volunteer fire
department or its employees or members and (2) these municipalities
and volunteer fire departments may elect to cooperate with the
commission regarding the statutes. In doing so, it subjects these
municipalities and volunteer fire departments to these statutes. The bill
also makes a conforming change.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Public Safety and Security Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 25 Nay 0 (03/19/2024)