Transportation committee advances multiple drafting motions, reserves HB 5646 for public hearing and refers Jones Act resolution

HARTFORD, Conn. — The Connecticut General Assembly Transportation Committee on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, approved a series of procedural motions to draft multiple raised bills and committee bills, reserved House Bill 5646 for a subject-matter public hearing, and voted to change the reference of House Resolution 9 — a memorial asking Congress to amend the Jones Act — to the Commerce Committee. All votes reported during the meeting were taken by voice and were announced as carried.

The moves set the committee’s early agenda for the 2025 long session as members emphasized road safety, mass transit efficiency and climate-related transportation issues. Representative Berger Gavallo, the committee’s House co-chair, and the committee’s leaders said the group intends to work in a bipartisan, collaborative fashion.

Representative Berger Gavallo said she was “excited to be here” for the committee’s first meeting of the session and welcomed many new and returning members. Representative Kennedy, the House ranking member, said the committee would focus on safety “not just in your vehicles, but as pedestrians and bicyclists and everything that’s walkable,” and called for respectful, bipartisan deliberations.

On the motions: the committee voted to approve concepts to be drafted as raised bills (items 1–7 on the agenda) after a motion moved by Representative Berger Gavallo and seconded by Representative Kennedy; the chair confirmed the motions were to draft concepts and stressed that a yes vote at this stage did not signal final approval of any bill and that public hearings would follow. Later, the committee approved items 1–5 listed under proposed bills to be drafted as committee bills by voice vote.

During the agenda item reserving proposed bills for subject-matter public hearings, the committee moved to reserve HB 5646 for a hearing. Representative Kearney asked that the proposal take into account broader transportation concerns in Middletown, citing longstanding problems with traffic signals: “...we’ve had discussions about, the dreaded lights, which caused tons of problems. So, I would hope that we can also include that in this discussion,” Kearney said. The committee then approved reserving HB 5646 for a subject-matter hearing; members noted they expected public hearings to allow broader input.

On a separate procedural motion, the committee voted to change the reference of House Resolution 9 — described during the meeting as a resolution memorializing Congress to consider amending the Jones Act — to the Commerce Committee. The motion to change reference was moved by Representative Berger Gavallo and seconded by Representative Marcus Brown and carried by voice vote.

The chairs repeatedly framed the committee’s priorities to include roadway safety and public transit improvements and invoked the committee’s previous work on Vision 0 — the committee’s road-safety initiative. Staff introduced at the start of the meeting included Cameron Carey (clerk), Patrick Riley and Alex Seferaza; nonpartisan staff on hand included Katrina Stratton (LCO), Heather Poole and Sean McGann (OLR), and Patrick Mellon (OFA).

The meeting was held open for attendance checks and recessed until 1 p.m.; subsequent attendance confirmations were handled by staff by phone and roll call. All recorded votes on the items considered on Jan. 22 were voice votes with the chair announcing “the ayes have it.”

Votes at a glance - Concepts to be drafted as raised bills (agenda Roman numeral 3, items 1–7): motion moved by Representative Berger Gavallo, seconded by Representative Kennedy; outcome: approved (voice vote). - Proposed bills to be drafted as committee bills (agenda Roman numeral 4, items 1–5): motion moved/seconded (recorded as moved and seconded during the meeting); outcome: approved (voice vote). - HB 5646: reserved for subject-matter public hearing (agenda Roman numeral 5, item 1); motion moved by Representative Berger Gavallo, seconded by Representative Marcus Brown; outcome: reserved for public hearing (voice vote). Representative Kearney requested inclusion of Middletown signal/traffic concerns in related discussions. - House Resolution 9 (memorial regarding the Jones Act): motion to change reference to Commerce Committee moved by Representative Berger Gavallo, seconded by Representative Marcus Brown; outcome: approved (voice vote).

What’s next The committee chair said that public hearing dates and the time of the next meeting would be announced soon. Members and staff indicated the committee will rely on public hearings and follow-up deliberations to refine draft bills before any final votes.

(Reporting based on the Transportation Committee meeting transcript, Jan. 22, 2025.)