LCO 6442 1 of 5
General Assembly Committee Bill No. 5008
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 6442
Referred to Committee on COMMERCE
Introduced by:
(CE)
AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE CONNECTICUT-PUERTO RICO TRADE
COMMISSION.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) There is established a 1
Connecticut-Puerto Rico Trade Commission, which shall be part of the 2
Legislative Department. 3
(b) The commission shall consist of the following members: 4
(1) Two appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives; 5
(2) Two appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate; 6
(3) Two appointed by the majority leader of the House of 7
Representatives; 8
(4) Two appointed by the majority leader of the Senate; 9
(5) Two appointed by the minority leader of the House of 10
Representatives; 11 Committee Bill No. 5008
LCO 6442 2 of 5
(6) Two appointed by the minority leader of the Senate; 12
(7) Two members of the joint standing committee of the General 13
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to commerce, one of 14
whom shall be appointed by the Senate chairperson of such committee 15
and one of whom shall be appointed by the House chairperson of such 16
committee; 17
(8) The ranking members of the joint standing committee of the 18
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to commerce, 19
or their designees; 20
(9) Three persons appointed by the Governor; 21
(10) A representative of a public institution of higher education in the 22
state, who shall be appointed by the Governor; 23
(11) A representative of a chamber of commerce in the state, who shall 24
be appointed by the Governor; and 25
(12) Two representatives of Puerto Rican or Puerto Rican-American 26
communities in the state, who shall be appointed by the Governor and 27
shall not be members of the same political party. 28
(c) The members of the commission shall each have current or past 29
involvement in organizations that promote Puerto Rican affairs or are 30
interested in the well-being of trade relations between the state and 31
Puerto Rico. 32
(d) Any member of the commission appointed under subdivisions (1) 33
to (6), inclusive, of subsection (b) of this section may be a member of the 34
General Assembly. 35
(e) (1) All initial appointments to the commission shall be made not 36
later than October 1, 2025. Initial appointments made by the Governor, 37
the majority leader of the House of Representatives and the minority 38
leader of the House of Representatives shall terminate on September 30, 39
2028. Initial appointments made by the speaker of the House of 40 Committee Bill No. 5008
LCO 6442 3 of 5
Representatives, the president pro tempore of the Senate, the majority 41
leader of the Senate and the minority leader of the Senate shall terminate 42
on September 30, 2029. The initial and subsequent terms of members 43
appointed by the chairpersons of the joint standing committee of the 44
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to commerce 45
shall be coterminous with the terms of the appointing authority for each 46
such member in accordance with the provisions of section 4-1a of the 47
general statutes. 48
(2) Appointed members of the commission shall serve for four-year 49
terms which shall commence on the date of appointment, except as 50
provided in subdivision (1) of this subsection. Members shall continue 51
to serve until their successors are appointed. 52
(f) The speaker of the House of Representatives and the president pro 53
tempore of the Senate shall select the chairpersons of the commission 54
from among the members of the commission. Such chairpersons shall 55
schedule the first meeting of the commission, which shall be held not 56
later than November 1, 2025. 57
(g) The chairperson of the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus of the 58
General Assembly, in consultation with the Office of Legislative 59
Management, shall appoint the administrative staff to serve as the 60
administrative staff of the commission. 61
(h) Any vacancy shall be filled by the appointing authority. Any 62
vacancy occurring other than by expiration of term shall be filled for the 63
balance of the unexpired term. 64
(i) A majority of the commission shall constitute a quorum for the 65
transaction of any business. 66
(j) The members of the commission shall serve without 67
compensation, but shall, within the limits of available funds, be 68
reimbursed for expenses necessarily incurred in the performance of 69
their duties. 70 Committee Bill No. 5008
LCO 6442 4 of 5
(k) The commission shall have the following powers and duties: (1) 71
To advance bilateral trade and investment between the state and Puerto 72
Rico; (2) to initiate joint action on policy issues of mutual interest to the 73
state and Puerto Rico; (3) to promote business and academic exchanges 74
between the state and Puerto Rico; (4) to encourage mutual economic 75
support between the state and Puerto Rico; (5) to encourage mutual 76
investment in the infrastructure of the state and Puerto Rico; (6) to 77
address such other issues as determined by the commission; (7) to obtain 78
from any executive department, board, commission or other agency of 79
the state such assistance and data as are necessary and available to carry 80
out the purposes of this section; (8) to accept any gift, donation or 81
bequest for the purpose of performing the duties described in this 82
section; and (9) to perform such other acts as may be necessary and 83
appropriate to carry out the duties described in this section. 84
(l) The commission shall meet as often as deemed necessary by the 85
chairpersons or a majority of the commission. Any appointed member 86
who fails to attend three consecutive meetings or who fails to attend 87
fifty per cent of all meetings held during any calendar year shall be 88
deemed to have resigned from the commission. 89
(m) Not later than February 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, the 90
commission shall submit a report, in accordance with the provisions of 91
section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the Governor, the Commissioner 92
of Economic and Community Development and the joint standing 93
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 94
relating to commerce on the activities of the commission during the 95
preceding year, which shall include, but need not be limited to, any 96
recommendations for policy changes and amendments to the general 97
statutes necessary to effectuate the purposes of the commission. 98
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Committee Bill No. 5008
LCO 6442 5 of 5
CE Joint Favorable