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--- version:File No. 71+++ version:(document, no version)@@ -1,176 +1,4 @@-Senate-sSB133 / File No. 71 1--General Assembly File No. 71-February Session, 2026 Substitute Senate Bill No. 133--Senate, March 19, 2026--The Committee on Commerce reported through SEN.-HARTLEY of the 15th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on-the part of the Senate, that the substitute bill ought to pass.-- AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE CONNECTICUT-INDIA TRADE-COMMISSION.-Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General-Assembly convened:--Section 1. (NEW) ( Effective from passage ) (a) There is established a 1-Connecticut-India Trade Commission, which shall be part of the 2-Legislative Department. 3-(b) The commission shall consist of the following members: 4-(1) Two appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives; 5-(2) Two appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate; 6-(3) Two appointed by the majority leader of the House of 7-Representatives; 8-(4) Two appointed by the majority leader of the Senate; 9-(5) Two appointed by the minority leader of the House of 10-sSB133 File No. 71--sSB133 / File No. 71 2--Representatives; 11-(6) Two appointed by the minority leader of the Senate; 12-(7) Two members of the joint standing committee of the General 13-Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to commerce, one of 14-whom shall be appointed by the Senate chairperson of such committee 15-and one of whom shall be appointed by the House chairperson of such 16-committee; 17-(8) The ranking members of the joint standing committee of the 18-General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to commerce, 19-or their designees; 20-(9) Three persons appointed by the Governor; 21-(10) A representative of a public institution of higher education in the 22-state, who shall be appointed by the Governor; 23-(11) A representative of a chamber of commerce in the state, who shall 24-be appointed by the Governor; 25-(12) Two representatives of Indian or Indian-American communities 26-in the state, who shall be appointed by the Governor and shall not be 27-members of the same political party; and 28-(13) Any additional members, as deemed necessary by the 29-chairpersons of the joint standing committee of the General Assembly 30-having cognizance of matters relating to commerce. 31-(c) The members of the commission shall each have current or past 32-involvement in organizations that promote Indian affairs or are 33-interested in the well -being of trade relations between the state and 34-India. 35-(d) Any member of the commission appointed under subdivisions (1) 36-to (6), inclusive, and (13) of subsection (b) of this section may be a 37-member of the General Assembly. 38-sSB133 File No. 71--sSB133 / File No. 71 3--(e) (1) All initial appointments to the commission shall be made not 39-later than October 1, 2026. Initial appointments made by the Governor, 40-the majority leader of the House of Representatives and the minority 41-leader of the House of Representatives shall terminate on September 30, 42-2029. Initial appointments made by the speaker of the House of 43-Representatives, the president pro tempore of the Senate, the majority 44-leader of the Senate and the minority leader of the Senate shall terminate 45-on September 30, 2030. The initial and subsequent terms of members 46-appointed by the chairpersons of the joint standing committee of the 47-General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to commerce 48-shall be coterminous with the terms of the appointing authority for each 49-such member in accordance with the provisions of section 4 -1a of the 50-general statutes. 51-(2) Appointed members of the commission shall serve for four -year 52-terms which shall commence on the date of appointment, except as 53-provided in subdivision (1) of this subsection. Members shall continue 54-to serve until their successors are appointed. 55-(f) The speaker of the House of Representatives and the president pro 56-tempore of the Senate shall select the chairpersons of the commission 57-from among the members of the commission. Such chairpersons shall 58-schedule the first meeting of the commission, which shall be held not 59-later than November 1, 2026. 60-(g) The administrative staff of the joint standing committee of the 61-General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to government 62-oversight shall serve as administrative staff of the commission. 63-(h) Any vacancy shall be filled by the appointing authority. Any 64-vacancy occurring other than by expiration of term shall be filled for the 65-balance of the unexpired term. 66-(i) A majority of the commission shall constitute a quorum for the 67-transaction of any business. 68-(j) The members of the commission shall serve without 69-sSB133 File No. 71--sSB133 / File No. 71 4--compensation, but shall, within the limits of available funds, be 70-reimbursed for expenses necessarily incurred in the performance of 71-their duties. 72-(k) The commission shall have the following powers and duties: (1) 73-To advance bilateral trade and investment between the state and India; 74-(2) to initiate joint action on policy issues of mutual interest to the state 75-and India; (3) to promote business and academic exchanges between the 76-state and India; (4) to encourage mutual economic support between the 77-state and India; (5) to encourage mutual investment in the infrastructure 78-of the state and India; (6) to address such other issues as determined by 79-the commission; (7) to obtain from any executive department, board, 80-commission or other agency of the state such assistance and data as are 81-necessary and available to carry out the purposes of this section; (8) to 82-accept any gift, donation or bequest for the purpose of performing the 83-duties described in this section; and (9) to perform such other acts as 84-may be necessary and appropriate to carry out the duties described in 85-this section. 86-(l) The commission shall meet quarterly, or as often as deemed 87-necessary by the chairpersons or a majority of the commission. Any 88-appointed member who fails to attend three consecutive meetings or 89-who fails to attend fifty per cent of all meetings held during any 90-calendar year shall be deemed to have resigned from the commission. 91-(m) Not later than February 1, 2028, and annually thereafter, the 92-commission shall submit a report, in accordance with the provisions of 93-section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the Governor, the Commissioner 94-of Economic and Community Development and the joint standing 95-committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 96-relating to commerce on the activities of the commission during the 97-preceding year, which shall include, but need not be limited to, any 98-recommendations for policy changes and amendments to the general 99-statutes necessary to effectuate the purposes of the commission. 100-sSB133 File No. 71--sSB133 / File No. 71 5--This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following-sections:--Section 1 from passage New section--CE Joint Favorable Subst.--sSB133 File No. 71--sSB133 / File No. 71 6--The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of-the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not-represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general,-fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional-knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final-products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.--OFA Fiscal Note--State Impact:-Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $-Legislative Mgmt. GF - Potential-Cost-Minimal Minimal-Note: GF=General Fund-Municipal Impact: None-Explanation-The bill establishes a Connecticut-India Trade Commission resulting-in a potential minimal cost to the Office of Legislative Management. The-bill specifies that commission members serve without compensation but-can be reimbursed for necessary expenses resulting in a potential cost to-the extent reimbursements occur.-The Out Years-The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would-continue into the future subject to inflation.--sSB133 File No. 71--sSB133 / File No. 71 7+Researcher: Page 1 3/19/26OLR Bill AnalysissSB 133@@ -201,9 +29,9 @@during the prior year. At a minimum, the report must includerecommendations for policy and legislative changes needed to carry outits duties.-sSB133 File No. 71+2026SB-00133-R000071-BA.DOCX-sSB133 / File No. 71 8+Researcher: Page 2 3/19/26EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passageMEMBERSHIP AND MEETINGS@@ -230,11 +58,12 @@The bill requires appointing authorities to make their initialappointments by October 1, 2026, and fill any vacancies. Vacanciesoccurring other than by term expiration must be filled for the remainder-of the unexpired term. All members, except those appo inted by the+of the unexpired term. All members, except those appointed by thegovernor, may be legislators.-sSB133 File No. 71-sSB133 / File No. 71 9+2026SB-00133-R000071-BA.DOCX++Researcher: Page 3 3/19/26TermsUnder the bill, members generally serve four -year terms, until their@@ -256,7 +85,7 @@members. The chairpersons must schedule and hold the commission’sfirst meeting by November 1, 2026.Under the bill, the commission must meet quarterly or as often as the-chairpersons or a majority of the members deem necessary. Members+chairpersons or a majority of the members deem necessary. Memberswho miss three consecutive meetings or 50% of the meetings in acalendar year are deemed to have resigned. A majority of members is aquorum for conducting business.
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