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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6964
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 4537
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC SAFETY AND SECURITY
Introduced by:
(PS)
AN ACT ESTABLISHING A TASK FORCE TO STUDY THE PROVISION
OF EMERGENCY TREATMENT AND TRANSPORTATION TO AN
ANIMAL THAT IS INJURED IN THE PERFORMANCE OF ITS DUTIES
UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF A PEACE OFFICER.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (Effective from passage) (a) There is established a task force 1
to study the provision of emergency treatment and transportation to an 2
animal that is injured in the performance of its duties under the 3
supervision of a peace officer, as defined in section 53a-3 of the general 4
statutes. Such study shall include, but need not be limited to, an 5
examination of: 6
(1) The circumstances under which the emergency treatment and 7
transportation of such an animal is appropriate; 8
(2) The training that should be required of emergency medical 9
services personnel, as defined in section 19a-175 of the general statutes, 10
in the provision of such services, including, but not limited to, first aid, 11
cardiopulmonary resuscitation, life-saving interventions and safe 12
handling of such animals; 13
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(3) The identification of veterinary facilities that could be used to 14
provide emergency treatment to such animals; 15
(4) Decontamination and sterilization requirements for equipment 16
and vehicles used to treat and transport such animals; and 17
(5) Any issues related to the scope of practice of emergency medical 18
services personnel. 19
(b) The task force shall consist of the following members: 20
(1) One appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, 21
who has experience as a provider of emergency medical services; 22
(2) One appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, who is 23
a police officer; 24
(3) One appointed by the majority leader of the House of 25
Representatives; 26
(4) One appointed by the majority leader of the Senate; 27
(5) One appointed by the minority leader of the House of 28
Representatives, who has experience as a provider of emergency 29
medical services; 30
(6) One appointed by the minority leader of the Senate, who is a 31
sworn member of the Division of State Police within the Department of 32
Emergency Services and Public Protection; 33
(7) One appointed by the House chairperson of the joint standing 34
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 35
relating to public safety and security; 36
(8) One appointed by the Senate chairperson of the joint standing 37
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 38
relating to public safety and security; 39
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(9) One appointed by the House ranking member of the joint standing 40
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 41
relating to public safety and security; 42
(10) One appointed by the Senate ranking member of the joint 43
standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of 44
matters relating to public safety and security; 45
(11) The Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection, 46
or the commissioner's designee; and 47
(12) The Commissioner of Public Health, or the commissioner's 48
designee. 49
(c) Any member of the task force appointed under subdivision (1), 50
(2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9) or (10) of subsection (b) of this section may 51
be a member of the General Assembly. 52
(d) All initial appointments to the task force shall be made not later 53
than thirty days after the effective date of this section. Any vacancy shall 54
be filled by the appointing authority. 55
(e) The speaker of the House of Representatives and the president pro 56
tempore of the Senate shall select the chairpersons of the task force from 57
among the members of the task force. Such chairpersons shall schedule 58
the first meeting of the task force, which shall be held not later than sixty 59
days after the effective date of this section. 60
(f) The administrative staff of the joint standing committee of the 61
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public safety 62
and security shall serve as administrative staff of the task force. 63
(g) Not later than January 1, 2026, the task force shall submit a report 64
on its findings and recommendations to the joint standing committee of 65
the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public 66
safety and security, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a 67
of the general statutes. The task force shall terminate on the date that it 68
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submits such report or January 1, 2026, whichever is later. 69
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Statement of Purpose:
To establish a task force to study the provision of emergency treatment
and transportation to an animal that is injured in the performance of its
duties under the supervision of a peace officer.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]