Appropriations Committee advances a package of bills, adds House Bill 7181 to agenda; votes left open until 3 p.m.

The Appropriations Committee met May 12 and moved a group of bills onto a single consent (described in the meeting as a “discontent”) calendar, approved the calendar by voice and roll-call votes as recorded, and added House Bill 7181 — “An act concerning enforcement of the state's cannabis, hemp, and tobacco laws” — to the agenda after a motion from Representative Nuccio.

The committee chair opened the meeting and asked for a motion to add House Bill 7181 to the agenda. Representative Nuccio moved to add the bill; Senator Summers seconded the motion. The chair announced the motion “so ordered.”

Why it matters: the committee used a single consent/discontent calendar to bundle many bills for expedited action; the process concentrates multiple approvals into one set of procedural votes and leaves individual members the option to remove items for separate consideration. Members repeatedly noted that most bills under consideration were “not in the budget,” a point Representative Nuccio put on the record.

The committee moved numerous substitute bills to the consent calendar and then called roll for individual items. Items explicitly placed on the consent/discontent calendar included (by agenda number and sponsor listing in committee materials) substitute bills identified as: substitute for Senate Bill No. 1; substitute for Senate Bill No. 2; substitute for Senate Bill No. 10; substitute for Senate Bill No. 11; substitute for Senate Bill No. 12; substitute for Senate Bill No. 1230; substitute for Senate Bill No. 1251; substitute for Senate Bill No. 1341; substitute for Senate Bill No. 1359; substitute for Senate Bill No. 1370 (as amended by Schedule A); substitute for Senate Bill No. 1396; substitute for Senate Bill No. 1405; substitute for Senate Bill No. 1450; substitute for Senate Bill No. 1500; substitute for Senate Bill No. 1516; substitute for Senate Bill No. 1535; substitute for Senate Bill No. 1543; and others listed in the meeting packet. Where an item was amended, the committee recorded the amendment on the record (for example, several bills were noted “as amended by Senate Amendment Schedule A”).

Senator Flexer asked that one item — agenda item No. 15 (substitute for Senate Bill No. 1500) — be removed from the consent calendar for separate consideration. “I'd like to request that item number 15 be removed from the consent calendar,” Senator Flexer said; the chair granted the request and the item was taken off the consent list so members could record individual positions.

Roll-call votes were taken on the bundled items and on multiple individual bills. The committee recorded many roll-call tallies during the meeting and the chair told members that staff would leave votes open to permit members who were delayed to cast ballots later. The chair instructed members that votes would be left open until 3:00 p.m., and the committee recessed while leaving the record open to permit late votes.

Other procedural notes included a recusal: Senator Anwar announced a recusal under Connecticut General Statutes Sec. 1-86a on an item concerning recruitment and retention of the health-care workforce (agenda item No. 14), and did not participate in debate or the recorded vote on that matter.

What the meeting did not do: the transcript shows minimal policy debate on the merits of individual bills; most action was procedural (motions to move bills to the consent calendar, roll-call voting, administration of the votes and temporary recesses for caucus). Where committee members spoke about substance, they primarily recorded that many bills were not in the budget or noted amendments on the record.

Votes at a glance (items placed on or called from the consent/discontent calendar and other actions taken at the meeting): - Motion to add House Bill 7181 (An act concerning enforcement of the state's cannabis, hemp, and tobacco laws) to the agenda — moved by Representative Nuccio; seconded by Senator Summers; outcome: added to the agenda (“so ordered”). - Motion to establish the consent/discontent calendar and place multiple substitute Senate bills on it — moved and seconded on the record; outcome: consent calendar established and individual items called for roll-call votes as recorded. - Request to remove agenda item No. 15 (substitute for Senate Bill No. 1500) from the consent calendar — requested by Senator Flexer; outcome: removed from consent for separate recording of votes. - Recorded roll-call votes on multiple substitute Senate bills (see committee minutes/roll call record for full, itemized tallies). The chair left the roll open and recessed until 3:00 p.m. to allow members additional time to vote.

The committee recessed for caucus earlier in the meeting and later recessed with votes left open until 3:00 p.m. to permit members not present at the time of a roll call to cast their recorded votes. The meeting contained numerous procedural exchanges while staff conducted roll-call votes and assisted members logging in or catching up on missed items.

The transcript contains the committee’s instruction that members inform colleagues to vote before the announced 3:00 p.m. deadline; the administrator repeatedly called roll on individual items and recorded members’ positions as they checked in. The meeting closed with the chair announcing the recess and the administrator confirming that votes would remain open until 3:00 p.m.

Next steps: final tallies for the roll-call votes that were left open at recess will be reflected in the official committee minutes and the legislature’s vote record once members who were temporarily absent return their ballots or the record is closed at the announced deadline.