Researcher: LRH Page 1 4/7/25
OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 5422
AN ACT REESTABLISHING THE LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM REVIEW
AND INVESTIGATIONS COMMITTEE.
SUMMARY
This bill re-establishes the legislative Program Review and
Investigations (PRI) Committee as a 12-member permanent standing
committee beginning with the 2025 legislative session. The committee
previously existed from 1973 through 2016 (see BACKGROUND).
The bill generally restores the committee’s previous powers and
duties (e.g., the authority to access state agencies’ records and files,
including by subpoena). Like prior law, the bill requires the PRI
Committee to examine state agency programs to determine whether
they are effective, continue to serve their intended purpose, are
conducted in an efficient and effective manner, or require modification
or elimination. It allows the committee to receive study requests from
legislators, legislative committees, elected state officials, agency heads,
and the legislature as a whole. It also allows the committee to undertake
studies at its own initiative.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2025
COMMITTEE COMPOSITIO N
The bill re-establishes the PRI Committee as a 12-member permanent
standing committee with three members from each caucus appointed
by the caucus’s leader. It requires the leaders to make initial
appointments by February 4, 2026 (i.e. the start of the 2026 session), and
then make subsequent appointments at the beginning of each regular
session in an odd-numbered year. Members serve for two years from
their appointment, and their service ends with the termination of their
term or holding of office, whichever occurs first. The chairpersons and
ranking members of a joint standing committee requesting an 2025HB-05422-R000548-BA.DOCX
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investigation must serve as ex-officio, nonvoting PRI Committee
members during the course of the investigation.
The bill requires the committee members to elect chairpersons from
among the members. (In prior practice, the committee had one
chairperson from each party, alternating between the caucuses each
term.) Under the bill, all committee actions require a majority vote of the
full committee membership, and a majority of the membership
constitutes a quorum.
POWERS AND DUTIES
The bill generally restores PRI’s previous statutory powers and
duties, including, among other things, the powers and duties to:
1. obtain public records, data, information, and other assistance
needed by the committee from political subdivisions (e.g.,
municipalities) and state agencies, officers, and authorities;
2. subpoena (by either chairperson) witnesses and require the
production of books, papers, and other documents;
3. retain, within available appropriations, consultants, technical
assistants, researchers, and other needed personnel;
4. review and assess reports from the state auditors and quasi-
public agencies; and
5. report to the legislature annually by February 15.
As under prior law, when a program review cites certain deficiencies
(e.g., inadequate operating or administrative system controls or
procedures), the department or agency head, or the appropriate
program officer or official, must take the necessary corrective actions. If
the committee deems these actions not suitable, it must report the matter
and its recommendations to the legislature.
Receipt of Information
The bill restores provisions requiring the Department of Children
and Families (DCF) and Judicial Review Council to disclose to the PRI 2025HB-05422-R000548-BA.DOCX
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Committee specified information when requested by the committee in
writing upon a majority vote. Specifically, it adds the PRI Committee to
the list of committees to which DCF must disclose records without a
subject’s consent upon a majority vote of the committee. (Under existing
law, it must disclose records to the Children’s, Human Services, and
Judiciary committees upon a majority vote.) As under existing law, DCF
may not disclose any names or identifying information unless essential
to a legislative purpose.
The bill requires the Judicial Review Council to disclose information
about complaints received against judges, administrative law judges,
and family support magistrates, as well as the complaints’ investigation
and disposition. However, the council may not disclose names or other
identifying information.
Like prior law, the bill prohibits disclosing the identity of a public
employee who provides information to the PRI Committee. It makes the
committee’s investigation records exempt from disclosure under the
Freedom of Information Act until the investigation is completed.
The bill also subjects the committee and its staff and authorized
representatives to statutory confidentiality requirements for records,
data, and information to the same extent that these requirements apply
to other agencies and officials, including penalties for violations.
BACKGROUND
PRI Committee
The PRI Committee existed from 1973 through 2016. The committee’s
funding was eliminated by the FY 17 budget revisions (PA 16-2, May
Special Session). PA 17-60 eliminated statutory references to the
committee’s powers and duties.
Related Bill
sHB 7184, reported favorably by the Government Oversight
Committee, requires the Office of Legislative Management to study the
feasibility of reestablishing PRI within the Government Oversight
Committee. 2025HB-05422-R000548-BA.DOCX
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COMMITTEE ACTION
Government Administration and Elections Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 19 Nay 0 (03/19/2025)