The President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives serve as the co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Legislative Management. The remaining Senate members include the Majority Leader, a Deputy Majority Leader, four Majority senators, the Minority Leader, an Assistant Minority Leader and two Minority senators. The remaining House members include the Majority Leader, the Deputy Speakers, the Deputy Majority Leader, three Majority representatives, the Minority Leader, an Assistant Minority Leader, and four Minority representatives.

The Office of Legislative Management provides administrative and operational support for the Connecticut General Assembly. The office, while implementing the policies of the Joint Committee on Legislative Management, provides administrative and financial services, administers compensation and human resources services, and oversees the management and maintenance of all buildings and grounds under the supervision and control of the Legislature. The Office of Legislative Management ensures the daily functioning of the Legislature for the benefit of the legislators, their staff, and the general public.

Michael L. Nauer, Acting Executive Director
Susan Craig, Financial Administrator
Doris J. McAusland, Financial Administrator
James P. Tracy, Personnel Administrator
Eric Connery, Support Services Administrator

Support Staff

Martena Campanelli, Senior Legislative Secretary
Karol Oakes-Cassidy, Payroll Assistant
Lou Carlisle, Support Services Coordinator
Lisa Cummings, Personnel Assistant
Sandra Forté, Staff Assistant
Lori Grayson, Senior Administrative Assistant
Carol Hamilton, Senior Executive Assistant
Mary Kula, Legislative Secretary
Yvonne Lewis, Legislative Secretary
Melissa Merbler, Senior Administrative Assistant
Sue Peplau, Business Officer
Eileen Lee Roif, Staff Assistant
Sherry Saylor, Payroll Assistant
Francine Scricca, Payroll Assistant
James Tamburro, Training Coordinator
Christina Taylor, Personnel Assistant
Linda J. Voghel, Services Officer
Jane Wantuch, Staff Assistant

Maria Geraci, Senior Office Technician

Debra Maselek, Supervisor
Diane Bouchard, Office Assistant

The Office of Information Technology Services is responsible for the selection, management and support of information technology at the Connecticut General Assembly. The Office is divided into three departments.

This department develops and supports all applications used in the Legislative Department, including the Legislative Information Network (LIN) and the Legislative Information Technology Enterprise Services (LITES) Intranet and Internet.

This department selects, implements, and maintains the equipment that runs the LITES and LIN computer networks. This department is also responsible for the deployment of desktop systems throughout the General Assembly.

This department includes the ITS Help Desk and the computer education programs. The help desk is chartered with providing one-stop shopping for computer services at the Connecticut General Assembly. This department also conducts numerous PC software classes on-site in the ITS training room located in Capitol basement.

The Research and Development group sets its sites on the future of Information Technology in the Legislature. R & D ties together all of the other ITS groups in order to maximize productivity and innovation in current and future projects.

Edward T. Kingston, Director

Frank J. Rocco, Jr., Application Development Manager
Victoria Beauregard, Project Leader
Susan Marsh, Project Leader
Joe Kruszewski, Chief Analyst
Alfred Grabka, Analyst
Jonathan Duboff, Assistant Analy
Eric McKeone, Assistant Analyst
Margaret Rutsch, Assistant Analyst
Jane Wang, Assistant Analyst
Ann Gillespie-White, Analyst
Cheryl Smith, Technical Manager
John Plamondon, Consultant
Paul Alderucci, Y2K Project Leader
Jackie Allo, Y2K Analyst
Lous Leigh, Consultant
Legairre Radden, Consultant
Mani Solairaj, Consultant
Christopher Ware, Consultant
Matthew Whitcomb, Consultant

Timothy Putnam, Manager
Barbara Clifford, Senior Analyst
Becky Fede, Senior Analyst
Robert Caroti, Analyst
Donna Galvin, Analyst
Jennifer Holton, PC/LAN Analyst
Karl Crandall, PC/LAN Analyst
William Wockenfuss, Analyst

Paula Hammon, Manager
Steven Johnson, Analyst
Michael Lohman, Analyst
Donna Pulsifer, Help Desk Analyst

IT Architecture

Roger Schyns, Chief Analyst

The Office of State Capitol Police supports the State Legislature by creating a safe and secure environment in which to conduct the business of the Legislature.

It also supervises the Legislative Office Building Parking Garage and parking areas on the Capitol grounds.

All Connecticut State Capitol Police officers maintain their police officer certification through the Connecticut Police Officer Standards and Training Council and have jurisdiction throughout the State of Connecticut. Officers receive additional training as Medical Response Technicians and in other areas specifically tailored to the unique law enforcement issues faced by the State Capitol Police.

Chief of Police
Michael J. Whalen

Lieutenant
William Morgan

Sergeants
John Devine
Robert Holmgren
Paul Longo

Robert Arsenault
Robert Bates
Mark Baldwin
Robert Daley
Reginald Davis
Laura Fago
Timothy Kasek
Glenn Kolat
Michael Kopinja
Richard Kowaleski
Kevin Long
Peter Marrero
Dennis O'Connell
Tracy Schulz
Richard Segreto
Paul Warren

John Fabale
Matt Kacerguis
Gregory Miller
Jason Saccente

The Clerk of the Senate and the Clerk of the House are officers of the General Assembly and are elected on opening day of the odd-year regular session for two-year terms. The Clerks' Offices are charged with the publication of the Journals, Calendars, Bulletins, Bill Indices, and other documents of the General Assembly. The General Statutes provide that each house have a full-time Permanent Assistant Clerk. In addition to the Permanent Assistant Clerk, each office has a Journal Clerk, Calendar Clerk, Bill/Computer Clerk and an Office Assistant. During sessions, additional personnel are added as necessary.

A bill is not officially filed until it is presented in proper form to the Clerk of the introducer's chamber and signed by the introducer.

The Journals, which are published in accordance with the Constitution and the Rules, contain all of the legislative actions taken on each session day including the text of all amendments acted upon. The roll call vote on each action in the Senate or House appears in that chamber's Journal immediately following the description of actions on the bill or amendment. The Journals must be on the desks of the members the next session day for purposes of reconsideration.

During regular sessions, the Clerks' Offices are responsible for the operation of the Information and Bulletin rooms. During the interim, information is provided by the two Clerks' Offices.

The Legislative Commissioners' Office ("LCO") serves the members and committees of the General Assembly by drafting legislation that expresses their intent in clear, concise and constitutionally sound language, by providing legal counsel, by publishing legislative documents, and by carrying out all other duties assigned by law to the Legislative Commissioners.

The staff, in serving the members and committees of the Legislative Department:

Each LCO attorney is assigned to one or more legislative committees and has expertise in the areas of concern to the committee. In addition to drafting bills and amendments the attorneys advise the committees on applicable state and federal statutes and regulations, and case law affecting the committees' jurisdiction.

LCO is under the supervision of two commissioners, one a Democrat and one a Republican who are appointed by the General Assembly for staggered four-year terms. A nonpartisan director manages the day-to-day operations of the office. All full-time staff of LCO are nonpartisan.

Max Case, Republican
Robert G. Gilligan, Democrat

Director, Marcia B. Goodman
Assistant Director, Sharon L. Brais

Support Staff

Diane Beeman
Barbara L. Donagher
Deborah Blanchard
Grace Durkin
Patricia Centini
Mary Ellen McGuire
Miriam Colon
Janet Muisener
Carolyn Cugno
Tammie Parker

Supervisor, Lois J. Sullivan
Staff Assistant, Marilyn Scola

Supervisor, Anthony A. J. Trouern-Trend
Bill Review Attorney, Arthur S. Donovan
Code Revision Specialist, Laura Grant
Staff Assistant, Sally Ricci

The nonpartisan Office of Legislative Research (OLR) helps the General Assembly make policy and serve the public by providing accurate, timely, and objective research, policy analysis, and assistance in the development of legislation. Our major services to members of the General Assembly are committee staffing, research, and legislative analyses. OLR also maintains intra and internet we pages; publishes a periodic informational webzine for legislators called the OLReporter; and, in 1999, will inaugurate periodic e-mail information updates on Education, Business & Labor, Human Services, and Environment for legislators and staff who subscribe.

OLR assigns one or more researchers to assist each nonfiscal standing and select committee. Researchers help to develop legislation, screen bills, brief legislators on issues, answer questions, and otherwise assist the committees in their work. During the interim between sessions, OLR also works with special committees and task forces to develop recommendations and write reports.

OLR provides research for and answers questions from individual legislators and legislative staff. We prepare over 1,300 written reports a year for legislators, in addition to answering questions orally and by e-mail and making oral presentations.

Legislators and staff can access all OLR reports through OLR's Intranet web page (http://www.cga.ct.gov/olr) or the General Assembly's Intranet home page. Copies are also available from the Legislative Library.

Bill Analyses. A key part of OLR's charge is to write plain-language analyses of all nonfiscal bills that reach the floor of the General Assembly. Each analysis contains a summary of the bill's legal effect; a further explanation for those who want all the details; and, where appropriate, background information on relevant court decisions, agency practices, and related legislation. We also highlight any technical problems with the bill draft. And we summarize each adopted amendment. Bill analyses are printed on the bill files.

Public Act Summaries. After the session, OLR publishes a book summarizing each of the public acts the General Assembly passed. In addition, within a week of adjournment, we issue short summaries of the session's major public acts. And, between publication of the Major Public Acts and the Public Act Summaries, we also issue the Acts Affecting...reports. These are brief, often informal, abstracts of new laws that affect specific groups or topics, such as children, seniors, municipalities, and education.

Websites. OLR maintains both Internet (http://www.cga.ct.gov/olr) and Intranet (http://www.cga.ct.gov/olr) websites. These sites, which are continually updated, contain a searchable database of all OLR reports, recently published reports, bill analyses and public act summaries, and other information and services from OLR.

OLReporter. This periodic newsletter describes recent OLR research, task force and agency reports, and issues and provides facts and figures of interest to legislators and legislative staff. Formerly published only in paper form, the Reporter is now also available on-line on the OLR web pages.

E-Mail Subscription Services. OLR publishes periodic e-mail update services on Education, Human Services, Business & Labor, and Environment. Legislators and legislative staff can sign up to receive short, periodic updates via e-mail on any or all of these topics. Information includes new reports from OLR plus reports from other legislative offices and task forces and the executive branch, news from other states and the federal government, newspaper and journal articles, and court decisions.

Acting Director, D'Ann Mazzocca
Assistant Director, Larry Furbish
Webmaster, Dennis Meltzer
Senior Administrative Services Coordinator, Tracey Otero

Committee Assignments

legislative.library@cga.ct.gov
860-240-8888
Room 5400, LOB

The Legislative Library collects and organizes informational materials for the use of legislators and legislative staff. Its intranet home page (http://www.cga.ct.gov/lib) provides remote access to materials within its collection and to outside resources.

The collection includes current Connecticut legislative materials from proposed bills to session laws; statutes of the six New England states, New York and New Jersey; federal laws and regulations; case law from all Connecticut courts and the United States Supreme Court; books and periodicals covering numerous subject areas; legislative task force reports, directories and reference tools. On-line access to legal and global databases is available in consultation with library staff. One of the Library's most valuable resources is its collection of research reports written by Office of Legislative Research staff. The staff indexes these reports for computer retrieval and for hard copy access in the library’s subject files.

Open 8:30 - 5:00 with extended hours when either House or Senate is in session, the staff is prepared to help users find their way in our collection or serve as a gateway to additional resources.

Staff

Legislative Librarians, Susan Southworth and Barbara Karp
Assistant Librarian, Jennifer Bernier
LibraryAssistant, Elizabeth Covey

The Office of Fiscal Analysis (OFA) provides the General Assembly with independent, accurate, and timely fiscal information to assist members in making budgetary decisions and to inform members of the fiscal impact of legislation under consideration.

OFA acts as the fiscal support staff to the committees on Finance, Revenue and Bonding and Appropriations. The staff reviews and does analyses of the Governor’s recommended budget, including revenues, appropriations, bond authorizations and various federal aid programs available to Connecticut.

In addition to analyzing the budget, OFA also assists the two committees in analyzing the fiscal impact of all individual money bills which may be referred to them. OFA prepares fiscal notes or fiscal impact statements that are appended to the file copy of all favorably reported bills; fiscal notes are also prepared on amendments.

The office provides information to individual legislators in areas concerning taxes, expenditures and other budgetary matters. A detailed report on the adopted State budget is prepared at the end of each session.

During the interim, OFA assists in legislative overview of State operations to assure that legislative intent is carried out during execution of the budget by the various agencies. This activity includes monitoring agency programs and expenditures and conducting in-depth analyses of selected programs. Also, State revenues are analyzed on a continual basis, and research is conducted on other finance matters such as bonding, investments, tax policy, and the total federal-state-local fiscal system.

Periodic reports are prepared on the state’s current fiscal condition, and long-range budget projections are developed for future years. Other publications by the office include: Connecticut Tax Expenditure Report, Connecticut Budget and Economic Data, and the annual Fiscal Note Compilation. The office also analyzes fiscal notes on proposed regulations submitted by executive agencies to the legislative Regulation Review Committee for approval.

Robert Harris, Jr., Acting Director

Daniel Schnobrich, Section Chief
Linda Miller, Principal Economic Analyst
Felix Planas, Associate Economic Analyst
Rob Wysock, Associate Economic Analyst

Budget System/Collective Bargaining

Laurie A. Lasrich, Secretary to the Director
Lisa Kiro, Sr. Administrative Assistant/Fiscal Note Coordinator
Czeslava Ferrigno, Senior Legislative Secretary
Theresa Kelly, Senior Legislative Secretary

The Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee serves as the General Assembly's "watchdog" over the executive branch of government. The committee is a bipartisan committee of twelve members. Pursuant to statue the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the House, and Senate and House Minority Leaders each appoint three members to the committee.

By law, the committee is charged with the duty of examining " . . . State government programs and their administration to ascertain whether such programs are effective, continue to serve their intended purposes, are conducted in an efficient and effective manner, or require modification or elimination."

The committee is also required to report to the General Assembly and to make administrative and legislative recommendations pertaining to any " . . . inadequate operating or administrative system controls or procedures, inaccuracies, waste, extravagance, unauthorized or unintended activities or programs or other deficiencies . . . " existing in any agency or program investigated by the committee.

The committee may conduct investigations on "any matter" when requested by a joint resolution of the General Assembly or, when the legislature is not in session, by a joint standing committee, or at its own initiative, subject to the approval of the Joint Committee on Legislative Management.

The Executive Reorganization Act of 1977 expanded the committee's mandate include performance reviews of nearly 100 boards, councils, committees and commissions scheduled for termination under the "Sunset" provisions of the Act. The first complete cycle of "Sunset" was completed in 1984.

Michael L. Nauer, Director
George W. McKee, Chief Analyst
Carrie E. Vibert, Chief Attorney
Catherine McNeill Conlin, Chief Analyst
Jill E. Jensen, Principal Analyst
Anne E. McAloon, Principal Analyst
Brian R. Beisel, Principal Analyst
Maryellen Duffy, Principal Analyst
Renee LaMark Muir, Principal Analyst
Michele Castillo, Associate Analyst
Scott M. Simoneau, Associate Analyst

Bonnine T. Klare, Executive Secretary

The Connecticut Law Revision Commission conducts an ongoing review of the General Statutes and recommends appropriate revisions to antiquated, unconstitutional, and inequitable laws. The Commission assists the Judiciary Committee and other legislative and executive bodies on specific revision proposals and solicits the expertise of numerous state legal authorities in arriving at its consensus on recommendations.

The Governor, Leadership of the General Assembly, and Judiciary Committee Co-Chairmen and Ranking Members each appoint members to the Commission, which presently consists of one senator, three representatives, two judges, two law school professors, and nine attorneys, and is supported by a staff of three attorneys and an executive secretary.

I. Milton Widem, Chairman
William R. Breetz
Judge H. Maria Cone
Representative Robert Farr
Jon P. FitzGerald
Robert W. Grant
Representative Michael P. Lawlor
Michael W. Lyons
Representative Arthur J. O'Neill
Mary Anne O'Neill
Joel I. Rudikoff
Edmond F. Schmidt
Joseph J. Selinger, Jr.
Judge Elliot N. Solomon
Professor Colin C. Tait
Professor Terry J. Tondro
Senator Donald E. Williams, Jr.

Commission Staff

David D. Biklen, Executive Director
David L. Hemond, Chief Attorney
Jo A. Roberts, Senior Attorney
Heidi C. Slack, Executive Secretary

The majority and minority leadership of each chamber is provided with funding for the employment of partisan professional staffs. These staffs, often referred to as caucus staffs, are responsible for serving the legislators of their respective parties in their respective chambers. Among the services normally provided to legislators by their caucus staffs are research, press releases, speech writing, secretarial services and constituent casework.

The Governor's legislative liaison provides the communications channel between the Governor, legislative leadership, legislative committees, and individual legislators. The service includes providing information relating to the administration's position on legislation and other issues, arranging meetings with members of the executive branch and assisting in the resolution of certain constituent problems.

Brenda L. Sisco, Legislative Director
Janine M. Braun, Legislative Aide
Robert Hammersley, Legislative Aide