Yup the Republicans here in Connecticut have introduced a number of anti-legislation.
These are the bills that I’m following*:
HB-5270**: AN ACT CONCERNING PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN EDUCATION.
HB-5274: AN ACT ESTABLISHING A SCOPE OF REVIEW PROCESS FOR THE ADOPTION OF NEW CURRICULUM GUIDES AND MATERIALS AND PROVIDING FOR LEGISLATIVE APPOINTMENTS TO THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION.
HB-5490: AN ACT ESTABLISHING A PILOT PROGRAM REGARDING COLLECTION AND REFERRAL OF INFORMATION ON HATE CRIMES, BIAS INCIDENTS AND CRIMES WITH BIAS ELEMENTS.
HB-6331: AN ACT REQUIRING PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATORS TO RECOGNIZE EACH STUDENT BY THE BIOLOGICAL GENDER OF SUCH STUDENT.
HB-6349: AN ACT CONCERNING THE UPDATING OF STATE FORMS AND APPLICATIONS TO INCLUDE A NONBINARY GENDER OPTION.
HB-6396: AN ACT PROTECTING EDUCATORS IN TEACHING CERTAIN SUBJECTS AND TOPICS IN SCHOOLS.
SB-467: AN ACT CONCERNING GENDER-SPECIFIC FACILITIES AND ACTIVITIES IN PRIVATE BUSINESSES.
SB-909: AN ACT ESTABLISHING A RIGHT TO HOUSING.
Warning! Bills can change numbers. Sometimes they merge bills or strip all the wording and make it completely different bill. One time I was tracking a bill that appeared to never make it out of committee… Whew! But then I was talking to a lobbyist friend and she said “Oh no, they combined three bills into one.” So I redo the search terms to see if a bill snuck back in.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Bills:
5270: AN ACT CONCERNING PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN EDUCATION.
Is a bill that requires all syllabuses, lesson plans, and policies to be posted online and then have a gender public comment period, followed by the Board of Education vote.
I think that it is very bureaucratic and will stretch out how long it will to make simple changes, suppose a book goes out of print and has a new edition. It could take months to go through the process of approving the new addition.
I don’t think this bill has wings and it will not go anywhere… but you never know.
++++++++
HB-5274: AN ACT ESTABLISHING A SCOPE OF REVIEW PROCESS FOR THE ADOPTION OF NEW CURRICULUM GUIDES AND MATERIALS AND PROVIDING FOR LEGISLATIVE APPOINTMENTS TO THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION.
Is a bill that is the same as 5270 but goes into more details.
++++++++
HB-5490: AN ACT ESTABLISHING A PILOT PROGRAM REGARDING COLLECTION AND REFERRAL OF INFORMATION ON HATE CRIMES, BIAS INCIDENTS AND CRIMES WITH BIAS ELEMENTS.
1 That a two-year pilot program be established, on or after July 1, 2023,
2 requiring the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection,
3 or another appropriate state agency, within available appropriations, to
4 operate a state-wide community-oriented hate crimes reporting system
5 that collects and refers information on hate crimes, bias incidents and
6 crimes with bias elements in cooperation with existing community
7 organizations that collect or respond to hate crime and incident
8 information reported by individuals.
Okay, this is my bill. The Governor’s Advisory Council on Hate Crimes which I am a member proposed this legislation. Right now there is no one agency that collects bias crime data, each town keeps track of their own data this will create a central data collection location.
This bill has wings like a falcon… it has the governor’s support and bipartisan support in the legislature.
++++++++
HB-6331:AN ACT REQUIRING PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATORS TO RECOGNIZE EACH STUDENT BY THE BIOLOGICAL GENDER OF SUCH STUDENT.
This bill requires public school educators to recognize each student by their gender assigned at birth.
Yup, this is just what you think it is. And I wonder what will happen if a student transitions and changes their birth certificate, it kind of punches hole in their bill.
I don’t think this bill has wings and it will not go anywhere, however you never know what bills are horse traded… “If you won’t oppose my bill I’ll let your bill come up for discussion on the floor.”
++++++++
HB-6349: AN ACT CONCERNING THE UPDATING OF STATE FORMS AND APPLICATIONS TO INCLUDE A NONBINARY GENDER OPTION.
This bill changes all the state forms to add “Non-Binary” to them.
This bill has wings but not a hawk but rather a sparrow and it could go by the wayside if it doesn’t have support {Hint, hint, wink, nod}
++++++++
HB-6396: AN ACT PROTECTING EDUCATORS IN TEACHING CERTAIN SUBJECTS AND TOPICS IN SCHOOLS.
It allows a teacher to back down from teaching a class,
Okay this is another dozy. You know the drill just by saying the magic words “This violates my deeply held religious belief” the teacher doesn’t have to teach the class. The actual words of the bill are “...ideological differences of opinion exist between such board and educator...”
I think that this bird has two broken wings, it is a touchy feel go bill for the Republicans. See the bills we proposed and the evil Democrats killed the bill!
++++++++
SB-467: AN ACT CONCERNING GENDER-SPECIFIC FACILITIES AND ACTIVITIES IN PRIVATE BUSINESSES.
This bill allows companies to determine who can use which gender bathrooms.
Yup, the Republicans introduced a bathroom bill!
This bird got stepped on. I doubt it will even have a committee hearing.
++++++++
SB-909: AN ACT ESTABLISHING A RIGHT TO HOUSING.
This bill orders the sate agencies to work toward making housing more affordable and bans discrimination.
48 Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) There is established a right to
49 housing committee to review existing and proposed housing policies
50 and advise on (1) the state's implementation of a right to housing; and
51 (2) gaps and needs of vulnerable populations with regard to access to
52 permanent housing, including, but not limited to, (A) individuals
53 experiencing homelessness, including homeless youth, individuals with
54 disabilities, including physical disabilities and disabilities related to
55 mental health, substance abuse and developmental conditions; (B)
56 individuals with past or current criminal justice system involvement;
57 (C) individuals from historically marginalized racial and ethnic groups;
58 (D) individuals from historically marginalized groups based on sexual
59 orientation, gender identity or gender expression; (E) survivors of
60 sexual violence, domestic violence, dating violence, stalking and sexual
61 trafficking; (F) refugees and immigrants; and (G) veterans.
62 (b) The committee shall consist of the following members:
63 (1) Three appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives,
64 one with expertise in homelessness policies and programs, one with
65 expertise in low-income housing policies and programs and one with
66 expertise in matters relating to evictions and housing court;
This bird is getting supersonic support. You might seen the news coverage by non-profits about housing affordability, the governor went on TV to say he supports this bill, and some of the Republicans are also behind the bill.
Notice the bill says, “...individuals from historically marginalized groups based on sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression…” so we will be included in the help to get housing.
Okay these are the bills before the Connecticut General Assembly that includes something about “gender identity” and affect us so far. All the bills as of this morning have been referred to committees
The likelihood of the bills chances of passage are just my estimates.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* The Connecticut General Assembly’s website allows the public to
track bills. You need an email account and a password to create a tracking list. On the CGA website you can search for trans bills, I usually use key words like: gender, identity, and orientation. And also add 2023 otherwise you will get every bill with the keyword.
** A little lesson in the Governor Bill, House Bills and the Senate Bills and how a bill becomes law.
First the obvious: a Governor Bill is introduced by the governor but they are only a few of them, a House Bill is introduced by a member of the House, and the Senate Bill is introduced by a Senator.
The numbering of the bills: the Senate bills begins a 1 and ends at 4999, and the House bills begin at 5000, while the Governor bills can be any number.
Hearings: the hearings are held jointly by the Senate and House committees and is open to public to
give testimony.
Voting: the House bills usually get heard in the House first, while the Senate bills begin in the Senate
Amendments: can be added by either chamber if it is amended the bill goes back for a debate and vote in the originating chamber. Passing the legislation requires a vote of 51 percent.
Signing: Then it goes on to the governor to sign. If he vetoes the bill it goes back to the legislature and has to be passed by a 2/3 vote.
Important dates: The Connecticut General Assembly on odd years it is a long session from the beginning of January (This year it was January 4th) and ends mid-June (This year it is June 7th) and in the even years the session begins mid-February until mid-May. Each committee have their own deadlines.
Last day to submit bills: Depending up the committee it is either February 14th or 15th.
Last day a committee can submit a bill to the full legislature: March 7th through April 20th depending upon the committee.
Amendments: Can be added at anytime before the vote in their respected chambers up until the session ends in June or May.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Update: 2/2/23 @ 9:00AM