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Senate adopts racial and ethnic impact statement measure with procedural amendment
Summary
The Senate passed a bill to expand racial and ethnic impact statements for legislation, adopting a procedural amendment clarifying timing and extension rules; senators debated the objectivity, capacity of nonpartisan staff, and whether constitutionality reviews should be added.
The Connecticut Senate voted to pass legislation intended to expand the use and reliability of racial and ethnic impact statements for proposed laws.
Senator Winfield, chair of the judiciary committee, said the bill updates an earlier framework and creates a commission to carry out racial and ethnic impact statements; he noted that Connecticut had not completed such statements despite prior enabling language in 2018. Senator Kissel and other supporters argued the statements would supply legislators with data analogous to fiscal notes so debates about disproportionate impacts can be grounded in evidence. Opponents, including Senator Sampson, questioned whether nonpartisan staff have the specialized training to produce such assessments and whether the work would introduce subjective judgments into the legislative process.
The Senate adopted an amendment (LCO 7695) clarifying the time allowed for an agency to respond and the process for reasonable extensions. A separate amendment to allow lawmakers to request constitutionality reviews alongside racial/ethnic assessments (LCO 7598) failed on a roll call. After debate and amendment, the bill passed as amended.
