Connecticut HB 5351: AN ACT ESTABLISHING A WORKING GROUP TO STUDY THE COST TO THE STATE TO PROVIDE SERVICES BENEFITING UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS.

Bill Text

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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 5351
February Session, 2026

AN ACT CONCERNING THE SOCIAL EQUITY COUNCIL'S
RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING CANNABIS REGULATION.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 21a-420d of the 2026 supplement to the general 1
statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 2
(Effective from passage): 3
(a) There is established a Social Equity Council, which shall be within 4
the Department of Economic and Community Development for 5
administrative purposes only. 6
(b) The Social Equity Council shall consist of seventeen members as 7
follows: 8
(1) One appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, 9
who has a professional background of not less than five years working 10
in the field of either social justice or civil rights; 11
(2) One appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, who 12
has a professional background of not less than five years working in the 13
field of either social justice or civil rights; 14
(3) One appointed by the majority leader of the House of 15
Representatives, who has a professional background of not less than five 16
years working in the field of economic development to help minority-17

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owned businesses; 18
(4) One appointed by the majority leader of the Senate, who has a 19
professional background of not less than five years in providing access 20
to capital to minorities, as defined in section 32-9n; 21
(5) One appointed by the minority leader of the House of 22
Representatives, who is from a community that has been 23
disproportionately harmed by cannabis prohibition and enforcement; 24
(6) One appointed by the minority leader of the Senate, who has a 25
professional background of not less than five years in providing access 26
to capital to minorities, as defined in section 32-9n; 27
(7) Two appointed by the chairperson of the Black and Puerto Rican 28
Caucus of the General Assembly, one of whom shall be designated by 29
the chairperson of the Black Caucus of the General Assembly and one of 30
whom shall be designated by the chairperson of the Puerto Rican and 31
Latino Caucus of the General Assembly; 32
(8) Five appointed by the Governor, one who is from a community 33
that has been disproportionately harmed by cannabis prohibition and 34
enforcement, one who has a professional background of not less than 35
five years working in the field of economic development and one who 36
is an executive branch official focused on workforce development; 37
(9) The Commissioner of Consumer Protection, or the commissioner's 38
designee; 39
(10) The Commissioner of Economic and Community Development, 40
or the commissioner's designee; 41
(11) The State Treasurer, or the State Treasurer's designee; and 42
(12) The Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, or the 43
secretary's designee. 44
(c) (1) In making the appointments in subsection (b) of this section, 45

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the appointing authority shall use best efforts to make appointments 46
that reflect the racial, gender and geographic diversity of the population 47
of the state. 48
(2) Members appointed by the Governor shall serve a term of four 49
years from the time of appointment and members appointed by any 50
other appointing authority shall serve a term of three years from the 51
time of appointment. The appointing authority shall fill any vacancy for 52
the unexpired term. 53
(3) (A) The Governor shall appoint an interim executive director to 54
operationalize and support the Social Equity Council until, 55
notwithstanding the provisions of section 4-9a, the council appoints an 56
executive director. Subject to the provisions of chapter 67, and within 57
available appropriations, the council may thereafter appoint an 58
executive director and such other employees as may be necessary for the 59
discharge of the duties of the council. 60
(B) Not later than July 1, 2024, the council shall adopt bylaws 61
specifying which duties are retained by the members of the council and 62
which duties are delegated to the executive director. 63
(C) The council may, by a simple majority vote of the members of the 64
council, take any formal personnel action concerning the executive 65
director for any reason. 66
(D) In addition to the council's authority under subparagraph (C) of 67
this subdivision, if a final review board consisting of the chairperson 68
and the members of the council appointed under subdivisions (1), (2), 69
(5) and (6) of subsection (b) of this section determines, by a simple 70
majority vote of the members of the final review board, that removing 71
the executive director is in the best interest of serving the council's 72
mission, such final review board shall issue a letter to the council 73
recommending that the council remove the executive director. 74
(4) The Governor shall appoint the chairperson of