Environment committee advances dozens of bills; roll-call votes move three measures to public hearing

The Environment Committee advanced a broad slate of bills and concepts Tuesday, using a mix of voice votes and three roll-call votes that the clerk recorded into the public record.

Representative John Michael Parker, the committee chair, led the meeting, noting the panel’s role is to "raise bills for a hearing" and hear public input even on measures members may personally oppose. Senator Loops, speaking during opening remarks, reiterated that hearing bills does not signal support: "It does not imply that you consent or like the bill or dislike the bill," he said.

Several bills were raised on voice votes with little debate. Committee members moved and passed motions to raise grouped bills and individual items including HB6248, HB6236, HB5388 and HB6455, among others. Those motions were typically moved by Senator Lopes and seconded by Rep. Baumgartner and recorded as passed by voice vote.

Three items were decided by roll-call votes. The clerk read the titles aloud and recorded member responses before the chair announced votes would be held open until 2:00 p.m. for absent members.

- HB5004 (agenda item 1), described by the clerk as "an act concerning the protection of the environment and the development of renewable energy sources and associated job sectors," was put to a roll-call. Members’ individual responses were recorded; the chair noted votes would remain open until 2:00 p.m. for members who were not present.

- HB6280 (agenda item 5), "an act concerning the establishment of a climate change super fund," was similarly advanced by roll-call.

- HB6249 (agenda item 12), "an act limiting appeals under the Connecticut Environmental Protection Act," was the third roll-call item. Several members initially recorded a pass or abstain and then changed to 'yes' to move the item forward; Senator Cohen explicitly "votes yes to move the item forward to public hearing." The clerk’s roll-call record shows these vote-status changes in the hearing record.

Representative Callahan told the committee she did not yet have all of the bill language and said she "may vote no just to flag it" so that staff can continue work on the draft. Brett Piscopo urged colleague courtesy for raising bills to public hearing and noted some members’ prior ideas had not been included in committee materials.

Members also spent time confirming remote votes and addressing audio and web-portal issues for filing and publishing the committee bulletin. Staff walked members through the committee websuite process to add raised bills to the committee's bill record book so they could be included on the bulletin notice.

The chair thanked the new clerk, Zeta Romero, "for managing a couple complicated roll calls right out of the gate," and recessed the committee until 2:00 p.m. He announced the committee’s next scheduled meeting for Wednesday, March 19 at 10:00 a.m.

The committee’s actions advance the listed measures to the next step in the legislative process; the full texts, fiscal notes and any subsequent amendments will be available in committee files and the electronic bill location used by the General Assembly.