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Votes at a glance: confirmations and procedural rules adopted in Connecticut House session
Summary
The House adopted a mix of confirmations, judicial reappointments and procedural changes on Jan. 28; many items were placed on consent calendars and several roll-call votes were recorded for higher-profile nominations and certified measures.
The Connecticut House cleared a large slate of confirmations, reappointments and procedural changes on Jan. 28, adopting multiple joint resolutions, emergency-certified measures and consent-calendar items.
Key roll-call results and notable confirmations
- House Joint Resolution 29 — Confirmed Raheem L. Mullins (nominee) to serve as chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court: roll-call tally announced as 131 yes, 13 no, 6 absent (adopted).
- Emergency-certified Senate Joint Resolution 33 — Amended joint rules of the Senate and House regarding executive and legislative nominations committee membership: roll-call tally recorded 143 yes, 0 no, 7 absent (adopted).
- Emergency-certified House Resolution 12 and House Resolution 11 — Both measures were adopted (see separate coverage for substantive pension and disability changes). Recorded tallies: HR 12 (143 yes, 0 no, 7 absent); HR 11 (143 yes, 0 no, 7 absent).
Consent calendars and grouped confirmations
The chamber repeatedly used the consent calendar to confirm a large series of judicial nominees and reappointments without separate roll-call votes on each item. The consent calendars themselves were recorded as adopted by recorded tallies and covered many nominations (examples below):
- Consent Calendar 1 (included a set of house joint resolutions and confirmations moved together) — adopted (clerk tally: 141 yes, 0 no; absent 9). Items placed on that consent calendar included a sequence of judicial reappointments and nominations noted on the floor (examples listed below under "Judicial and referee confirmations").
- Consent Calendar 2 (contained a second group of senate joint resolutions and confirmations) — adopted (clerk tally: 139 yes, 0 no; absent 11).
Judicial and referee confirmations (selected items recorded on the floor)
A large number of judicial confirmations and reappointments were addressed either individually or via consent calendar motion. The chamber recorded favorable committee reports for these nominees and in most cases moved them to a consent calendar before final adoption. Items announced on the floor or moved to consent included (representative list drawn from the session record):
- Kristen L. Zurbach — nomination to Connecticut Port Authority board (House Joint Resolution 46) (adopted by voice vote).
- Raheem L. Mullins — confirmed as chief justice and judge of the Superior Court (House Joint Resolution 29) (roll-call result above).
- Multiple superior court judge reappointments and nominees confirmed or placed on consent (examples): John L. Cordani; Ernest Green Jr.; Matthew D. Gordon; Corinne L. Cladd; Sherry A. Murphy; Elizabeth J. Stewart; Tammy Nugent O'Dowd; W. Glenn Pearson; Kimberly A. Knox; Elizabeth A. Bizzuto; Barry F. Armada; Matthew J. Budzik; Margaret M. Murphy; Sheila A. Ozales; Thomas J. Welch; Walter M. Spader Jr.; and others named on the floor.
- Several state referee / trial-referee confirmations and reappointments processed by the Judiciary Committee and placed on consent (representative examples from the record): Richard N. Palmer; Bruce P. Hudak; Patty Jenkins Pittman; Joseph P. Flynn; Susan S. Reynolds; Brian T. Fisher; Gerard I. Edelman; Fleming Norcott Jr.; and others.
- Appellate court confirmations (selected): Nina F. Algo (nominee to the Appellate Court; recorded roll-call vote; adopted); Bethany J. Alfred (Appellate Court; recorded roll-call; adopted).
Floor procedure notes
- Committee chairs repeatedly moved acceptance of the judiciary committee's favorable reports before bringing nominees to the floor; numerous nominations were placed on consent calendars at the request of the committee chairs.
- Several representatives used floor time to register concerns about particular nominees; those concerns were recorded on the transcript even when the general consent motion or roll-call resulted in confirmation.
What to watch next
- Confirmed nominees on the consent calendars will be transmitted as required and the judiciary committee record will remain the official record for questions or future inquiries.
- Emergency-certified changes (House Resolutions 11 and 12) will require the comptroller and OPM to coordinate implementation; those items were adopted on the same day and are covered in separate articles for detail.
Ending: The House completed a heavy slate of confirmations and several emergency measures in an extended session that used consent procedure to bundle many routine reappointments while holding roll-call votes for higher-profile nominations and emergency items.
