HARTFORD, CT— The House and Senate may not have a budget, but they’ve been able to give final passage to a few bills already this year.
Typically, one chamber would exhaust their own members’ bills before passing legislation approved by the other chamber, but this year is different.
The split between parties in the Senate and the slim Democratic majority in the House have lawmakers working together for the most part on smaller pieces of legislation. As a result, three bills received final passage Wednesday and are headed to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s desk.
One of the bills would create a consumer council position within the Metropolitan District Commission, a water and sewer authority serving eight towns in the Hartford region.
There have been several recent issues where residents of MDC’s member towns have said that the MDC was not acting in their best interests and had not given adequate notice of certain major developments.
The bill, HB 6008, was placed on a consent calendar in the Senate. It had already been approved by the House and has no fiscal note because the position would be paid for by the MDC. The bill caps expenses for the position at $70,000 for the first year and $50,000 for each year after that.
The Senate also approved HB 7254, which takes steps to improve the quality of education received by students with dyslexia. The bill will require special education teachers to complete a course of study and have supervised practicum hours in the detection and recognition of students with dyslexia.
Dyslexia is a neurobiological disorder and is often inconsistent with a student’s other cognitive abilities. It is estimated that 15-20 percent of children struggle with this condition, according to lawmakers.
The Senate also approved HB 7025, which provides a mechanism for domestic insurance businesses to divide their organization into two or more entities with the approval of the state Insurance Department. It grants the domestic insurer a means to be able to sell segments of their business in a more targeted way without impacting the rest of their book of business.
The Senate decided not to suspend its rules Wednesday to take up a bill that would ban the practice of conversion therapy for youth. The House overwhelmingly passed the bill on Monday.
The House did not give any final passage to legislation Wednesday.
