Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

General Assembly                       Raised Bill No. 5517
       February Session, 2020                LCO No. 1902
     Referred to Committee on PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
     Introduced by:
       (PD)
 AN ACT CONCERNING REGIONAL PLANNING AND COUNCILS OF
 GOVERNMENTS.
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
 Assembly convened:
        Section 1. Section 4-66k of the 2020 supplement to the general statutes
    is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July
    1, 2020):
      (a) There is established an account to be known as the "regional
   planning incentive account" which shall be a separate, nonlapsing
   account within the General Fund. The account shall contain any moneys
   required by law to be deposited in the account. Except as provided in
   subsection (d) of this section, moneys, in the account shall be expended
   by the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management in accordance
   with subsection (b) of this section for the purposes of first providing
   funding to regional planning organizations in accordance with the
   provisions of subsections (b) [and (c)] to (d), inclusive, of this section
   and then to providing grants under the regional performance incentive
   program established pursuant to section 4-124s, as amended by this act.
      (b) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014, funds from the regional
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 planning incentive account shall be distributed to each regional
 planning organization, as defined in section 4-124i, revision of 1958,
 revised to January 1, 2013, in the amount of one hundred twenty-five
 thousand dollars. Any regional council of governments that is
 comprised of any two or more regional planning organizations that
 voluntarily consolidate on or before December 31, 2013, shall receive an
 additional payment in an amount equal to the amount the regional
 planning organizations would have received if such regional planning
 organizations had not voluntarily consolidated.
    (c) [Beginning in] For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015, and
 [annually thereafter] each fiscal year thereafter until July 1, 2021, funds
 from the regional planning incentive account shall be distributed to each
 regional council of governments formed pursuant to section 4-124j, in
 the amount of one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars plus fifty cents
 per capita, using population information from the most recent federal
 decennial census. Any regional council of governments that is
 comprised of any two or more regional planning organizations, as
 defined in section 4-124i, revision of 1958, revised to January 1, 2013,
 that voluntarily consolidated on or before December 31, 2013, shall
 receive a payment in the amount of one hundred twenty-five thousand
 dollars for each such regional planning organization that voluntarily
 consolidated on or before said date.
    (d) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021, and each fiscal year
 thereafter, funds from the regional planning incentive account shall be
 distributed to each regional council of governments formed pursuant to
 section 4-124j, in the amount of two hundred thousand dollars plus fifty
 cents per capita, using population information from the most recent
 federal decennial census. The secretary may distribute, annually, an
 additional amount to each regional council of governments.
    [(d)] (e) There is established a regionalization subaccount within the
 regional planning incentive account. If the Connecticut Lottery
 Corporation offers online its existing lottery draw games through the
 corporation's Internet web site, online service or mobile application, the
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 revenue from such online offering that exceeds an amount equivalent to
 the costs of the debt-free community college program under section 10a-
 174 shall be deposited in the subaccount, or, if such online offering is not
 established, the amount provided under subsection (b) of section 364 of
 public act 19-117 for regionalization initiatives shall be deposited in the
 subaccount. Moneys in the subaccount shall be expended only for the
 purposes recommended by the task force established under section 4-
 66s.
    Sec. 2. Section 4-66r of the general statutes is repealed and the
 following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2020):
    For the fiscal year ending June 30, [2018] 2021, and each fiscal year
 thereafter, each regional council of governments shall [, within available
 appropriations,] receive a grant-in-aid to be known as a regional
 services grant, the amount of which shall be based on [a formula to be
 determined by the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management.
 No such council shall receive a grant for the fiscal year ending June 30,
 2018, unless the secretary approves a spending plan for such grant
 moneys submitted by such council to the secretary on or before
 November 1, 2017. No such council shall receive a grant for the fiscal
 year ending June 30, 2019, or any fiscal year thereafter, unless the
 secretary approves a spending plan for such grant moneys submitted by
 such council to the secretary on or before July 1, 2018, and annually
 thereafter] the formula established pursuant to section 4-66k, as
 amended by this act. Each regional council of governments shall use
 such grant funds for planning purposes and to achieve efficiencies in
 the delivery of municipal services, without diminishing the quality of
 such services. On or before October 1, [2018] 2021, and annually
 thereafter, each regional council of governments shall submit a report,
 in accordance with section 11-4a, to the joint standing committees of the
 General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to planning
 and development and finance, revenue and bonding, and to the
 secretary. Such report shall (1) summarize the expenditure of such grant
 funds, (2) describe any regional program, project or initiative currently
 provided or planned by the council, (3) review the performance of any
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 existing regional program, project or initiative relative to its initial goals
 and objectives, (4) analyze the existing services provided by member
 municipalities or by the state that, in the opinion of the council, could
 be more effectively or efficiently provided on a regional basis, and (5)
 provide recommendations for legislative action concerning potential
 impediments to the regionalization of services.
    Sec. 3. Subsections (b) to (e), inclusive, of section 4-124s of the general
 statutes are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof
 (Effective July 1, 2020):
    (b) There is established a regional performance incentive program
 that shall be administered by the Secretary of the Office of Policy and
 Management. [On or before December 31, 2011, and annually thereafter,
 any regional council of governments, any two or more municipalities
 acting through a regional council of governments, any economic
 development district, any regional educational service center or any
 combination thereof may submit a proposal to the secretary for: (1) The
 joint provision of any service that one or more participating
 municipalities of such council, educational service center or agency
 currently provide but which is not provided on a regional basis, (2) a
 planning study regarding the joint provision of any service on a regional
 basis, or (3) shared information technology services. A copy of said
 proposal shall be sent to the legislators representing said participating
 municipalities.] The secretary may provide funding for: (1) The joint
 provision of any government service, or (2) a planning study regarding
 the joint provision of any service on a regional basis. Any local or
 regional board of education or regional educational service center
 serving a population greater than one hundred thousand may submit a
 proposal to the secretary for a regional special education initiative.
    (c) (1) A regional council of governments, an economic development
 district, a regional educational service center or a local or regional board
 of education shall submit each proposal in the form and manner the
 secretary prescribes and shall [, at a minimum, provide the following
 information for each proposal: (A) Service or initiative description; (B)
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 the explanation of the need for such service or initiative; (C) the method
 of delivering such service or initiative on a regional basis; (D) the
 organization that would be responsible for regional service or initiative
 delivery; (E) a description of the population that would be served; (F)
 the manner in which regional service or initiative delivery will achieve
 economies of scale; (G) the amount by which participating
 municipalities will reduce their mill rates as a result of savings realized;
 (H) a cost benefit analysis for the provision of the service or initiative by
 each participating municipality and by the entity or board of education
 submitting the proposal; (I) a plan of implementation for delivery of the
 service or initiative on a regional basis; (J) a resolution endorsing such
 proposal approved by the legislative body of each participating
 municipality; and (K) an explanation of the potential legal obstacles, if
 any, to the regional provision of the service or initiative] provide a
 resolution endorsing such proposal approved by the regional council of
 governments of each planning region in which the jointly provided
 government service or planning study thereon is to be conducted. On or
 before December 1, 2020, and annually thereafter, the Connecticut
 Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, established
 pursuant to section 2-79a, may recommend to the secretary any specific
 proposal for achieving additional cost savings through regional
 efficiencies. The secretary may provide funding, within available
 resources, to a regional council of governments, an economic
 development district, a regional educational service center or any
 combination thereof for the purpose of administering any such
 proposal. Said commission shall submit each proposal in the form and
 manner the secretary prescribes.
    (2) The secretary shall review each proposal and shall award grants
 for proposals the secretary determines best meet the requirements of
 this section. [In awarding such grants, the secretary shall give priority
 to a proposal submitted by (A) any entity specified in subsection (a) of
 this section that includes participation of all of the member
 municipalities of such entity, and which may increase the purchasing
 power of participating municipalities or provide a cost savings initiative
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 resulting in a decrease in expenses of such municipalities, allowing such
 municipalities to lower property taxes, (B) any economic development
 district, and (C) any local or regional board of education.]
    (d) On or before December 31, 2013, and annually thereafter until
 December 31, 2018, in addition to any proposal submitted pursuant to
 this section, any municipality or regional council of governments may
 apply to the secretary for a grant to fund: (1) Operating costs associated
 with connecting to the state-wide high speed, flexible network
 developed pursuant to section 4d-80, including the costs to connect at
 the same rate as other government entities served by such network; and
 (2) capital cost associated with connecting to such network, including
 expenses associated with building out the internal fiber network
 connections required to connect to such network, provided the secretary
 shall make any such grant available in accordance with the two-year
 schedule by which the Bureau of Enterprise Systems and Technology
 recommends connecting each municipality and regional council of
 governments to such network. Any municipality or regional council of
 governments shall submit each application in the form and manner the
 secretary prescribes.
    (e) The secretary shall submit to the Governor and the joint standing
 [committee] committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of
 matters relating to planning and development and finance, revenue and
 bonding a report on the grants provided pursuant to this section. Each
 such report shall include information on the amount of each grant, and
 the potential of each grant for leveraging other public and private
 investments. The secretary shall submit a report for the fiscal year
 commencing July 1, 2011, not later than February 1, 2012, and shall
 submit a report for each subsequent fiscal year not later than the first
 day of March in such fiscal year. [Such reports shall include the property
 tax reductions achieved by means of the program established pursuant
 to this section.]
    Sec. 4. Section 4-124n of the general statutes is repealed and the
 following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2020):
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    A regional council of governments shall adopt bylaws for the conduct
 of its business and shall annually elect from among the representatives
 to the council a chairman, a vice-chairman, a secretary, a treasurer, [who
 shall be bonded,] and such other officers as may be designated or
 permitted in the bylaws. The bylaws may provide for alternate
 representatives of the council to attend and vote at any meeting in place
 of absent representatives and may provide for the organization of a
 regional planning commission. [No representative shall be eligible to
 serve more than two consecutive terms in the same office.] The bylaws
 [shall] may provide for an executive committee of the council [and an
 executive committee of the regional planning commission and may
 provide] and for additional committees including nonvoting advisory
 committees. Meetings of the council shall be called [by the chairman or
 as the bylaws shall otherwise provide] pursuant to the bylaws and
 minutes of all meetings of the council, its committees and other official
 actions shall be filed in the office of the council and shall be of public
 record.
       This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
       sections:
       Section 1           July 1, 2020                            4-66k
       Sec. 2              July 1, 2020                            4-66r
       Sec. 3              July 1, 2020                            4-124s(b) to (e)
       Sec. 4              July 1, 2020                            4-124n
      Statement of Purpose:
      To (1) make certain modifications to the administration of the regional
      planning incentive account and related programs, and (2) revise the
      bylaws requirements for officers and conduct of regional councils of
      governments.
      [Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
      that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
      underlined.]
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Statutes affected: 
Raised Bill: 4-66r, 4-124n