Connecticut General Assembly
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The Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) is the state legislature of the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
. It is a bicameral body composed of the 151-member
House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
and the 36-member Senate. It meets in the
state capital Below is an index of pages containing lists of capital cities. National capitals *List of national capitals * List of national capitals by latitude *List of national capitals by population * List of national capitals by area * List of capital c ...
,
Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...
. There are no term limits for either chamber. During even-numbered years, the General Assembly is in session from February to May. In odd-numbered years, when the state budget is completed, session lasts from January to June. The governor has the right to call for a
special session In a legislature, a special session (also extraordinary session) is a period when the body convenes outside of the normal legislative session. This most frequently occurs in order to complete unfinished tasks for the year (often delayed by confli ...
after the end of the regular session, while the General Assembly can call for a " veto session" after the close in order to override gubernatorial
veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...
es. During the first half of session, the House and Senate typically meet on Wednesdays only, though by the end of the session, they meet daily due to increased workload and deadlines.


History

The three settlements that would become Connecticut (
Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...
, Wethersfield, and
Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
) were established in 1633, and were originally governed by the
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under terms of a commission for settlement. When the commission expired in 1636 and the Connecticut Colony was established, the legislature was established as the "General Corte", consisting of six magistrates along with three-member committees representing each of the three towns. In 1639, the
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut The Fundamental Orders were adopted by the Connecticut Colony council on . The fundamental orders describe the government set up by the Connecticut River towns, setting its structure and powers. They wanted the government to have access to the ...
were adopted, which changed the spelling to "General Court;" formalized its executive, judicial, and legislative authority; and changed its membership to consist of the governor and six magistrates (each elected for one year terms) and three or four deputies per town (elected for six-month terms). Although the magistrates and deputies sat together, they voted separately and in 1645 it was decreed that a measure had to have the approval of both groups in order to pass. The Charter of 1662 changed the name to the General Assembly, while replacing the six magistrates with twelve assistants and reducing the number of deputies per town to no more than two. In 1698, the General Assembly divided itself into its current bicameral form, with the twelve assistants as the Council and the deputies as the House of Representatives. The modern form of the General Assembly (divided into the upper Senate and lower House and devoid of all executive and judicial authority) was incorporated in the 1818 constitution.''Under the Gold Dome: An Insider's Look at the Connecticut Legislature'', by Judge Robert Satter. New Haven: Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, 2004, pp. 16-27.


Facilities

Most of the General Assembly's committee and caucus meetings are held in the modern Legislative Office Building (LOB), while the House and Senate sessions are held in the State Capitol. The two buildings are connected via a tunnel known as the "Concourse," which stretches underneath an off-ramp of Interstate 84. Most offices for legislators and their aides are also housed in the LOB, though some legislative leaders choose to be based in the State Capitol itself. Each committee has its own office space, with most being located in the LOB. A few committees, particularly select committees, have their offices in the Capitol. Committee chairs and ranking members normally choose to have their personal offices near their committee offices, rather than staying in their caucus areas. The General Assembly is also provided with facilities such as a cafeteria, private dining room, newsstand, and library.


Committee system

The General Assembly has 26 committees, all of which are joint committees; that is, their membership includes House and Senate members alike. Several committees have
subcommittee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
s, each with their own chair and special focus. Before most bills are considered in either the House or Senate, they must first go through the committee system. The primary exception to this rule is the emergency certification bill, or "e-cert," which can be passed on the floor without going through committee first. The e-cert is generally reserved for use during times of crisis, such as natural disasters or when deadlines are approaching too quickly to delay action.


Permanent committees

Most are permanent committees, which are authorized and required by state statute to be continued each session. The twenty-five permanent committees of the General Assembly are:
Aging Committee

Appropriations Committee

Banks Committee

Children Committee

Commerce Committee

Education Committee
(K-12)
Energy and Technology Committee

Environment Committee

Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee

Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee

General Law Committee

Government Administration and Elections Committee

Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee

Housing Committee

Human Services Committee

Insurance and Real Estate Committee

Internship Committee

Judiciary Committee

Labor and Public Employees Committee

Joint Committee on Legislative Management

Planning and Development Committee

Public Health Committee

Public Safety and Security Committee

Regulation Review Committee

Transportation Committee

Veterans' Affairs Committee
Of those, the Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee, Internship Committee, Joint Committee on Legislative Management, and Regulation Review Committee are considered bi-partisan and feature leadership from each party.


Select committees

Some committees are select committees, authorized to only function for a set number of years before being brought up for review. Most select committees deal with issues of major importance during a particular time period and are created in response to specific problems facing the state. As of the 2013 legislative session, there are no active select committees.


Leadership and staff

Most committee chair positions are held by the ruling party, but committees considered officially bi-partisan have chairs from both the Republican and Democratic caucuses. Bi-partisan committees are ones that are mostly administrative in nature, such as the Legislative Internship Committee. Most committees have
ranking member In United States politics, a ranking member is the most senior member of a congressional or state legislative committee from the minority party. On many committees the ranking minority member, along with the Chair, serve as '' ex officio'' member ...
s, or leaders from the minority party who serve as the leaders of their party on each committee. All committees have their own staff members. The four largest committees (Appropriations, Finance, Judiciary, and Public Health) are led by non-partisan senior committee administrators. The rest are led by a committee
clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...
appointed by the majority party. The majority and minority party appoint assistant clerks. Each committee is assigned additional non-partisan staffers from the Office of Legislative Research, the Office of Fiscal Analysis, and the Legislative Commissioners' Office who, respectively, research legislation and issues, assess fiscal impacts, and draft legislation.


Subpoena power

The General Assembly has
subpoena A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...
power under
Connecticut General Statutes The Connecticut General Statutes, also called the General Statutes of Connecticut and abbreviated Conn. Gen. Stat., is a codification of the law of Connecticut. Revised to 2017, it contains all of the public acts of Connecticut and certain special ...
§2-46. Recent decisions by the
Connecticut Supreme Court The Connecticut Supreme Court, formerly known as the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, is the highest court in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. The seven justices sit in Hartford, ac ...
, the
state supreme court In the United States, a state supreme court (known by other names in some states) is the highest court in the state judiciary of a U.S. state. On matters of state law, the judgment of a state supreme court is considered final and binding in b ...
, have clarified and limited this power. §2-46 vests the Connecticut General Assembly with broad subpoena power. The power to compel documents and testimony is vested in the President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, or either of the chairman of any committee (Connecticut has joint Committees, with a chairman from each house of the General Assembly). Once subpoenaed, a person refusing to comply may be fined between $100 and $1000, and
imprisoned Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is "false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessari ...
for between one month and one year. The legislature has the power to subpoena the sitting
governor of Connecticut The governor of Connecticut is the head of government of Connecticut, and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Connecticut Military Department, military forces. The Governor (United States), governor has a duty to enforce state laws, ...
in limited circumstances. The Connecticut Supreme Court clarified these circumstances, during the
John G. Rowland John Grosvenor Rowland (born May 24, 1957) is an American politician, author, and convicted felon who served as the 86th Governor of Connecticut from 1995 to 2004. He served two nonconsecutive prison terms on various corruption charges. A Repu ...
impeachment, in ''Office of the Legislature v. The Select Committee On Inquiry'', 271 Conn. 540 (2004), holding that the legislature can issue subpoenas only in conjunction with its mandate under the state constitution. Impeachment is a constitutional power of the legislature under Article IX of the Connecticut Constitution, and therefore the legislature can compel the testimony of the governor in conjunction with impeachment proceedings. The ability of the legislature to subpoena judges of the state court has also been clarified in court. During the controversy surrounding the retirement of the chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, William "Taco" Sullivan, the Connecticut General Assembly subpoenaed the testimony of Sullivan, who was still sitting on the Court. Sullivan challenged the subpoena in
Connecticut Superior Court The Connecticut Superior Court is the state trial court of general jurisdiction. It hears all matters other than those of original jurisdiction of the Probate Court, and hears appeals from the Probate Court. The Superior Court has 13 judicial distr ...
. The court ruled, in ''Sullivan v. McDonald'' (WL 2054052 2006), that the legislature could only subpoena a sitting Justice in an impeachment proceeding. On appeal, the entire Connecticut Supreme Court
recused Judicial disqualification, also referred to as recusal, is the act of abstaining from participation in an official action such as a legal proceeding due to a conflict of interest of the presiding court official or administrative officer. Appli ...
itself, and the argument was made before the judges of the
Connecticut Appellate Court The Connecticut Appellate Court is the court of first appeals for all cases arising from the Connecticut Superior Courts. Its creation in 1983 required Connecticut's voters and legislature to amend the state's constitution. The court heard its ...
sitting as the Supreme Court. The Judiciary Committee, who issued the subpoenas, argued that they could also issue subpoenas in conjunction with their constitutional confirmation power. Sullivan voluntarily testified before a ruling was issued.


Public participation

The majority of General Assembly proceedings are open to members of the public. Public hearings are held regularly during the session for residents to be given a chance to testify on pending legislation. Viewing areas are offered in both chambers for people who would like to observe, though the floor of each chamber is generally restricted to legislators, staff members, interns, and certain members of the media collectively known as the Capitol Press Corps. Additionally, the
Connecticut Network The Connecticut Network, also known as CT-N, is a 24-hour Cable TV and internet streaming service that provides coverage of Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. I ...
, or CT-N, broadcasts the majority of each session for viewing on television. Members of the public are often recognized during legislative proceedings, particularly sessions of the House. Representatives and Senators can call for a "point of personal privilege" when there is no business pending on the floor, which allows them to introduce family members or residents of their districts to the rest of the membership. The entire chamber often recognizes civic and youth groups, particularly championship-winning sports teams. Some residents receive special citations from the membership as well.


See also

*
Connecticut State Capitol The Connecticut State Capitol is located north of Capitol Avenue and south of Bushnell Park in Hartford, the capital of Connecticut. The building houses the Connecticut General Assembly; the upper house, the State Senate, and lower house, the Ho ...
*
Connecticut House of Representatives The Connecticut State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an equal number of districts, with ...
*
Connecticut Senate The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 99,280 inhabitants. Sen ...
* Connecticut Capitol Police *
List of members of the Connecticut General Assembly from Norwalk This is a list of members of the Connecticut General Assembly from Norwalk, Connecticut since the founding of the settlement in 1651 to the present. Seventeenth century Eighteenth century Nineteenth century Twentieth century Crea ...


References


External links


Connecticut General Assembly

CGA Legislative Member Database, 1776-Present

Capitol Tours
{{Authority control 1636 establishments in Connecticut Bicameral legislatures