All meetings take place in the Legislative Office Building (LOB) in Hartford, CT. Information about any legislative activities need to be distributed as fast as quickly. Sometimes public hearing sessions on upcoming bills concerning the Deaf and Hard of hearing CT residents would happen on short notice.

Please go to www.cga.ct.gov for detailed bill information.    ( Updated 4/12/07)

HB 7109 – An Act Concerning Certification Standards for Persons Providing Interpreter Services –passed the House of Representatives yesterday. The vote was unanimous. The bill will now proceed to the Senate to be placed on their calendar to be voted on.

HB 5186 – An Act Concerning the Evacuation of Pets and Service Animals – passed the House of Representatives yesterday as well.

HB 7301 – An Act Concerning the Availability of Qualified Interpreter Services – was referred to the Appropriations Committee. (The bill has no fiscal impact, so the Appropriations Committee will most likely refer the bill back to the House of Representatives to be placed on the House calendar for a vote.

SB 73 – An Act Expanding Insurance Coverage for Hearing Aids for Children – is on the Senate Calendar waiting to be placed on their voting agenda. The bill expands the age of coverage from 12 years old (currently) to 18 years old. The amount of reimbursement ($1,000/two years) remains unchanged.

Submitted by Diane Wixted, CDHI  (CCOSD really appreciates her contact about legislation for its website. Thanks, Diane.) 

Thanks to Diane Wixted, of Commission on Deaf and Hearing Impaired for keeping track of these bills.

SUPPORT OR OPPOSE THESE BILLS AFFECTING DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING PEOPLE

• Please attend the Public Hearing if any of the announcements appear during the legislation session and if possible with your testimony. Make twenty (20) copies. Check the schedule of these Public Hearing events at WWW.CT.GOV. 
  
  
• When you browse the CT gov web site, please be sure to see the quick search at the top of the homepage, and type the bill number. You will see the page of the bill and click "ADD NOTES" to leave your message in supporting or opposing the bill proposal.
  
  
• If you cannot attend, please write letters of support or opposition to the legislators who are on the committees of these bill proposals. Find the proper committee members in the CT Gov website or if you cannot make it in person to testify, you can submit your testimony by mail or email to the committee members. HINT: Go to www.ct.gov, to Legislature, to Committees, and then to General Law Committee to find the names of committee members.
  

The Legislative Session for 2007 has started.

Proposed Bill Deadline

The time for receiving new business from members shall be limited and shall terminate on January 12, 2007 for the 2007 session at 5 p.m.

Committee Bill Deadline

The time limit for committees to submit to the Legislative Commissioners' Office requests for drafting committee bills and resolutions, except those based on proposed bills, proposed drafts and proposed resolutions on which subject matter hearings are held, shall be at 5 p.m. on the following dates in 2007.

January 30:
Aging; Banks; Housing; Children; and Veterans' Affairs

February 1:
Energy and Technology; Higher Education and Employment Advancement; Insurance and Real Estate; General Law; Public Safety and Security

February 8:
Labor and Public Employees; Legislative Management; Commerce; and Human Services

February 9:
Education; and Environment

February 14:
Government Administration & Elections; Judiciary; Finance, Revenue and Bonding; and Appropriations

Raised Bill Deadline

In 2007, the time limit for committees to submit requests for raised bills and resolutions to the Legislative Commissioners' Office shall be 5 p.m. on February 14 for the committees in Group A and the Program Review and Investigations Committee.

The Group A Committees are:
APPROPRIATIONS, EDUCATION, ENVIRONMENT, FINANCE, REVENUE AND BONDING GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION AND ELECTIONS, JUDICIARY, PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT, PUBLIC HEALTH, TRANSPORTATION

The time limit for committees to submit requests for raised bills and resolutions to the Legislative Commissioners' Office shall be 5 p.m on February 13 for the committees in Group B, the Legislative Management Committee, and the select committees.

The Group B committees are:
BANKS ENERGY AND TECHNOLOGY, GENERAL LAW, INSURANCE AND REAL ESTATE, LABOR AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES, HUMAN SERVICES, PUBLIC SAFETY AND SECURITY, COMMERCE, HIGHER EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT ADVANCEMENT

FINAL COMMITTEE ACTION (often called the "JF Deadline")

The time limit for committees to vote to report favorably and submit bills and resolutions proposing amendments to the constitution and other substantive resolutions to the Legislative Commissioners' Office shall be not later than 5 p.m. on the dates designated in the following schedule:

March 6: Aging; Children; Housing; Veterans' Affairs

March 8: Banks; Public Safety and Security

March 12: the Program Review and Investigations Committee

March 13 : Energy and Technology; General Law; Higher Education and Employment Advancement

March 14: the Legislative Management Committee

March 15: Labor and Public Employees; and Insurance and Real Estate

March 19: the Transportation Committee

March 20: the Commerce Committee

March 22: the Human Services Committee

March 23: Planning and Development Committee; and Environment

March 26: the Public Health Committee

March 30: Government Administration and Elections; and Education

April 13: the Judiciary Committee

April 19: the Appropriations Committee

April 20: the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee

PUBLIC HEARINGS-SHORT NOTICE

Please be aware that under the rules of the legislature, only 5 days notice needs to be given before a public hearing is held on any piece of legislation. This is 5 calendar days, and it includes weekends, the first day the notice is published and the day of the hearing. So a notice could show up in the Friday, February 9th legislative bulletin, and Monday, February 12 is a State Holiday, the public hearing can be held on Tuesday, February 13. This would mean there the notice of the public hearing really only was published on that Friday. So be alert for any public hearing notices around state holidays especially.

GET LEGISLATIVE E-MAIL UPDATES! In addition to checking out the P&A website or you can subscribe to legislative e-mail updates. You will receive all the info posted at this website in an e-mail message. To sign up for this service just e-mail Beth and ask to be put on her e-mail list.

Beth Leslie, Legislative and Regulations Specialist, Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities, Beth.Leslie@po.state.ct.us , 1-800-842-7303

The Connecticut General Assembly starts its new legislative session on Wednesday, January 3, 2007.

For your information please review a report (as either of attached Word or PDF) by the legislature's research office on major issues that are expected to get major attention during the 2007 legislative session. The 2007 legislative session ends Wednesday, June 6, 2007. July 1, 2007 will be the start of a new two-year budget cycle, so the Governor will be proposing a two-year budget. The budget proposal usually comes in the first week or two of February.  

Below is the January 5, 2007 bill tracking report. It lists all bills that have been introduced that affect people with disabilities. So far no public hearings are scheduled. Bills are listed under the Committee that has possession of the bill. The legislature website address is: www.cga.ct.gov and you can enter the bill number for any bill and get a status report on the bill and other useful information such as who sponsored the bill and if there are public hearings scheduled.

The BILL TRACKING REPORT is also available on the P&A website. 

To implement the use of respectful language when referring to persons with mental disabilities.

To expand insurance coverage for hearing aids for children from twelve years of age or younger to eighteen years of age or younger.

Note: To expand the coverage from 12 years old (current) to 18 years old.

UPDATE

As of January 26, 2007 - No further action yet.

Date: January 23, 2007
Summary of Testimony on SB 73
Introduced by: Sen. Crisco, 17th District

Summary:
Two people provided testimony. The first was Sara Burke from the American School for the Deaf and the second was a "concerned citizen" and PhD Audiology student. NO PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH H/LOSS WERE PRESENT. Both testimonies only addressed increasing the age to 18. Neither discussed the amount of reimbursement in the current legislation, the actual cost of hearing aids, or the numbers of children affected.

The questions from the Representatives/Senators were as followed:
Q: What do kids between the ages of 12 and 18 who need hearing aids do?
A: They explained about how a hearing loss can progress over time and that the child needs a different device. They also discussed how technology constantly improves. They could have been stronger in the response to this question and discussed more negative outcomes of kids who have to go without hearing aids. They did not mention that kids need new ear molds as they grow and that they may continue to use a poorly fit mold or inappropriate amplification, etc, etc.

Q: Are hearing aids offered through the school system?
A: Nobody responded to this.

Q: How many other states provided hearing aid coverage for children up to age 18?
A: Nobody had the answer to this.

Q: Why did the initial legislation end at age 12?
A: It was a compromise.  

Thanks to: Donna C. Maselli, RN, MPH Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Program, Connecticut Department of Public Health, 410 Capitol Avenue MS # 11 MAT, Hartford, CT 06134-0308 Phone 860.509.7505 Fax 860.509.8132.

To expand insurance coverage for hearing aids for children. 

Scott is looking for people to provide testimony for SB 166. Unfortunately, you may only have a one-day notice of the hearing. If you, or any of the families of the children you serve are willing to provide testimony, please contact Scott .  

To expand insurance coverage for hearing aids for children from twelve years of age or younger to eighteen years of age or younger.

Update

Public Hearing - February 6, 2007
Insurance & Real Estate Committee
at 2PM, LOB Room 2D

This requires Medicaid to obtain and pay for interpreter services for medical appointments for Medicaid patients.  

To prevent misuse of handicapped parking spaces by persons who are neither handicapped nor serving as drivers for a handicapped person. 

Update

Public Hearing- February 2, 2007