House approves bill creating panel to study mandatory public comment periods
May 5—Connecticut's House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill this week that would establish a task force to study requiring public comment periods at meetings of all public agencies.
The bill will move to the Senate for consideration.
The measure originated in response to a policy in effect in Groton, where public comment is allowed during monthly Town Council meetings but not at twice-a-month meetings at which the council convenes as Committee of the Whole.
State Rep. Aundré Bumgardner, D-Groton, who resigned from the council in March, co-sponsored the bill.
Following a public hearing, the legislature's Planning and Development Committee unanimously approved the bill, which originally called for public comment periods to be mandated. Subsequently, the committee proposed that a task force be created to study the matter.
Th version approved Wednesay by the House calls for the task force to be made up of seven members, one of whom would be the executive director of the state Freedom of Information Commission or the executive director's designee.
The Yankee Institute for Public Policy, a conservative think tank, listed the measure among what it considered "good" bills that had survived the legislative session's committee process and were worthy of public support.
"To think that public comment periods are not required at public agency meetings currently is unbecoming of a representative democracy," the Yankee Institute wrote in a statement. "... We need transparency and accountability ― and this bill will foster those ideals."
The bill would require that the task force examine the benefits and drawbacks of mandatory public comment periods and the best practices for conducting such periods, "including the length of time allotted for comments, the rules governing comment and the process for signing up to speak .. "
Legal and practical considerations, costs associated with additional staff support and the potential for abuse or disruption of the public comment process also would be part of the task force's purview.
The task force would be required to report its findings to the Planning and Development Committee by Jan. 1, 2024.
