Draft Minutes

CT Council on Developmental Disabilities

Legislative Policy and Planning Committee Meeting

February 24, 2022, Thursday

1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Via MS Teams

Present:  Emily Ball, April Burke, Adriano Cirioli, III, Committee Chair; Kevin Daly, Doris Maldonado Mendez, Council Vice Chair;

Sheldon Toubman

Staff:  Walter Glomb, Council Director

Minutes:  Donna Devin

1. Call to Order with Quorum:The meeting was called to order at 1:02 p.m. There was no public present at the meeting, so the Committee moved on to the next agenda item.

    

2. Approval of Minutes:Andy Cirioli, Committee Chair, entertained a motion to approve the minutes from Tuesday, February 15, 2022. April Burke made the motion to approve the minutes. Kevin Daly seconded the motion. The minutes were approved.

    

3. Comments From the Committee Chair:Andy Cirioli provided the Committee with a summary of legislation he found that aligned with the goals of the Council’s Five-Year Plan. He advised the Committee their purpose is to review and offer opinions on legislation to show how a bill may negatively or positively impact the communities they represent. It is critical the Committee does not offer explicit suggestions on how legislators vote, but they can outline what the outcomes are in a very fact-based approach.

    

4. Comments From the Council Director:Walter Glomb offered some context for the Committee and reminded them the State Legislature is in a short session this year, which is a middle of a biennium in the state’s budget cycle. He stressed the group really needs to start thinking about January of 2023 because it will be a long session. The Legislature will be passing a new biennium, a new 2-year budget, so there will be a lot of variety in the legislation in play.

   He said, “It’s like Sun Tzu says in the ‘The Art of War’, the outcome of battles is determined before the battle begins.” In October, the Governor will formulate the budget he will submit to the Legislature in January, so the Committee needs to be talking to the Commissioners and the Governor’s Office at that time. Likewise, all the Committee Chairs and so forth are thinking about what their priorities are going to be.

   He revealed all those decisions are usually made in November, so the leadership of anything that is going to be a committee bill will assemble what is needed for it in the fall. What is currently in the Legislature and is getting a lot of press right now, like the mental health package, was completed back in October and November. This means the Council’s Legislative Policy and Planning Committee needs to prepare to engage the Legislature, the Governor’s Office and like-minded advocacy groups in October at the latest. Between now and October, the LP&P Committee needs to orient itself and see that every member is on the same page.

   Walt wants the Committee to familiarize itself with the CGA website. https://www.cga.ct.gov/lco/resources-aboutbills.asp   He recommends members be well versed in the site and how it works, how to use the search function, where to find the calendars and the deadlines, etc. Even the complete General Statutes are available on it, in case anyone wants to know what’s in the law, the rules by which the House and the Senate and Committees operate, etc.

   By October, members should have knowledge of the issues they want addressed and be aware of who the players are, so they can start engaging third parties.

    

5. New Business:Andy Cirioli, Committee Chair, led a discussion about legislation on the agenda and other legislation of interest to the group. He mentioned Senate Bill No. 156 that aligned under Council Goal #3, An Act Increasing Funding For Training For Municipal Police Officers On Crisis Intervention.

April Burke would really like to see a Police Officer elected to the Council. Andy Cirioli, Committee Chair, also thought that was a great idea. To increase diversity in terms of public officials would be a benefit for everyone.

Andy Cirioli, Committee Chair, summarized the bill focused on training for municipal Police Officers on crisis intervention in the “Memphis” model of crisis intervention teams. Trainings are given by the Connecticut Alliance to Benefit Law Enforcement and are endorsed by the State Training Board.

Walter Glomb, Council Director, commented the past year the state formed a sub-committee on how to improve the interaction of law enforcement with a number of different groups, including people with disabilities. The Task Force identified a need for improved and expanded training and the use of a different model on responding to certain types of calls. Doris Maldonado Mendez, Council Vice Chair, was an active member on the sub-committee. Emily Ball, Walter Glomb, and CT-KASA all testified to the sub-committee.

April Burke asked about the 911 Center and ‘Text to 911’. Andy Cirioli, Committee Chair, questioned if was fully activated in all areas, all 911 dispatchers? Walter Glomb, Council Director, answered there is a network of discreet independently operated dispatcher centers in Connecticut. Some survey work needs to be done on the 911 dispatch centers to find out if they are managed centrally in Connecticut.

He commented the state will be rolling out a 988 system, which is a national standard for psych interventions. There’ll be a whole different infrastructure implementing 988 and the reasons for using it will differ from 911 and 211.

April Burke volunteered to investigate the hotlines and Andy Cirioli, Committee Chair, offered his assistance to her.

Doris Maldonado Mendez, Council Vice Chair, posted the website info for 211. https://uwc.211ct.org/categorysearch/mental-health/

Andy Cirioli, Committee Chair, brought the Committee’s attention back to the proposed legislation in this legislative session, and asked for suggestions on supporting House Bill No. 156, since it would be beneficial to members of the communities the Council represents.

Walter Glomb, Council Director, said it’s a proposed bill and not ready for action yet because it’s not written in legislative language. A committee would have to decide to have it crafted by the Legislative Commissioner’s Office into an actual statute.

He explained a raised bill is a bill raised by a committee and wrapped in full legislative language, the words of the statute, and it’s ready for a vote to make it a part of the Connecticut General Statutes.

A proposed bill is not written in legislative language, it’s written as a concept. It’s an idea and a step away from a raised bill. It can be submitted by any member of the Legislature.

The Committee was given a further overview of the bill process.

Walter Glomb, Council Director, mentioned the agendas of other advocacy groups. He gave information from established organizations that had created websites and agendas, so the group could see what they looked like and what kinds of issues people were concerned about. The focus of the Arc of Connecticut is intellectual disabilities, while the primary concern of Keep The Promise, Connecticut Legal Rights Project, and NAMI, is mental health. The Cross Disability Alliance devotes its attention to all disabilities.