AN ACT CONCERNING THE PROCESS AND TIMETABLE FOR THE REVIEW OF EXISTING REGULATIONS OF CONNECTICUT STATE AGENCIES.

House of Representatives
sHB5254 / File No. 320 1

General Assembly File No. 320
February Session, 2026 Substitute House Bill No. 5254

House of Representatives, April 1, 2026

The Committee on Government Oversight reported through
REP. DATHAN of the 142nd Dist., Chairperson of the
Committee on the part of the House, that the substitute bill
ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING THE PROCESS AND TIMETABLE FOR THE
REVIEW OF EXISTING REGULATIONS OF CONNECTICUT STATE
AGENCIES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 4 -189i of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2026): 2
[(a) Not later than July 1, 2017, and not later than every seven years 3
thereafter, each committee of cognizance, in consultation with each 4
agency that is within the cognizance of the committee, shall establish the 5
date by which each such agency shall submit a review of its existing 6
regulations and shall notify the administrator of the regulation review 7
committee of each such date and any extension thereof . In establishing 8
such date, or any extension of the date that may be requested by the 9
agency, the committee of cognizance (1) shall consider the volume and 10
complexity of such regulations and the personnel and other resources 11
of the agency that would be available to undertake the review within 12
sHB5254 File No. 320

sHB5254 / File No. 320 2

the agency's available appropriations, and (2) may establish a schedule 13
of dates for the review of various portions of such regulations upon the 14
agreement of the committee of cognizance and the administrative head 15
of the agency. 16
(b) Not later than the date specified by the committee of cognizance 17
pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, each such agency shall submit 18
to the committee of cognizance and to the administrator of the 19
regulation review committee] 20
(a) Not later than February 1, 2027, (1) (A) the office of the Governor 21
shall prescribe an individual timetable for each agency of the Executive 22
Department that reports to the Governor, and (B) any other agency not 23
in the Executive Department shall prescribe an individual timetable for 24
such agency, to conduct a review of its existing regulations, [which] 25
provided any such individual timetable shall be not later than every 26
seven years, and (2) the office of the Governor shall notify the regulation 27
review committee and the joint standing committee of the General 28
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to government 29
oversight of each such individual timetable. Any such review of existing 30
regulations shall include, but need not be limited to: [(1)] (A) The 31
agency's recommendations on how it may substantially reduce the 32
number and length of its existing regulations; [(2)] (B) the agency's 33
determination of whether each of its existing regulations [(A)] (i) is 34
obsolete, [(B)] (ii) has not been used within the preceding seven years, 35
[(C)] (iii) is inconsistent with any provision of the general statutes, 36
federal law or any regulation adopted under the general statutes or 37
federal law, [(D)] (iv) has been the subject of written complaints, and 38
[(E)] (v) is otherwise no longer effective; and [(3)] (C) the agency's 39
recommendation, if any, regarding any extraordinary circumstances in 40
which waivers from its existing regulations may be appropriate. 41
(b) Not later than the specified initial submission date for the 42
completion of such review determined pursuant to subsection (a) of this 43
section, and, thereafter, the reoccurring scheduled timetable prescribed 44
individually by the office of the Governor or the agency, as applicable, 45
sHB5254 File No. 320

sHB5254 / File No. 320 3

each agency shall (1) submit a summary of the results of the review 46
conducted under subsection (a) of this section to the administrator of 47
the regulation review committee, the committee of cognizance and the 48
joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of 49
matters relating to government oversight, in accordance with the 50
provisions of section 11 -4a, and (2) post a listing of any regulations 51
recommended to be repealed on its Internet web site and the 52
eRegulations System and shall provide a public comment period for 53
interested persons to present their views on the proposed repeal of such 54
regulations on the eRegulations System. 55
(c) Upon receipt of an agency's [review] summary of the results of its 56
review, the committee of cognizance [shall] may schedule a public 57
hearing, which, if applicable, shall be held not later than ninety days 58
following such receipt. The committee of cognizance shall make copies 59
of the [review] summary available to the public at least fifteen days prior 60
to [the] any hearing. 61
(d) Following the public hearing , if applicable: (1) The committee of 62
cognizance may request the agency to initiate the process under chapter 63
54 to carry out a recommendation of the agency under subsection [(b)] 64
(a) of this section to amend or repeal an existing regulation which, in the 65
determination of the committee of cognizance, does not require the 66
enactment of authorizing legislation, and (2) the committee of 67
cognizance shall consider any recommendation by the agency under 68
subsection [(b)] (a) of this section which, in the determination of the 69
committee of cognizance, would require the enactment of authorizing 70
legislation. 71
(e) If an agency fails to submit a summary of the results of the review 72
of its regulations to the committee of cognizance , [and] the 73
administrator of the regulation review committee and the joint standing 74
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 75
relating to government oversight as required by subsection (b) of this 76
section or if the committee of cognizance determines that the agency has 77
not conducted a satisfactory review of its regulations as required by 78
sHB5254 File No. 320

sHB5254 / File No. 320 4

[said] subsection (a) of this section , the committee of cognizance may: 79
(1) Conduct a review of the existing regulations of the agency, as 80
described in subsection [(b)] (a) of this section, (2) request the agency to 81
initiate the process under chapter 54 to carry out a recommendation of 82
the committee of cognizance pursuant to such review to amend or 83
repeal an existing regulation which, in the determination of the 84
committee of cognizance, does not require the enactment of authorizing 85
legislation, and (3) introduce legislation to authorize the agency to 86
amend or repeal existing regulations. If the agency fails to initiate the 87
process to amend or repeal an existing regulation pursuant to 88
subdivision (2) of this subsection, the committee of cognizance may 89
introduce legislation requiring the agency to initiate such process. 90
Sec. 2. Subdivision (3) of section 4 -189h of the general statutes is 91
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 92
1, 2026): 93
(3) "Existing regulation" means a regulation that was adopted by an 94
agency no later than one year prior to the scheduled date of review, as 95
provided in subsection [(b)] (a) of section 4-189i, as amended by this act; 96
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:

Section 1 October 1, 2026 4-189i
Sec. 2 October 1, 2026 4-189h(3)

Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Sec. 1(b), "eliminated" and "elimination" were changed to " repealed"
and "repeal", respectively, for consistency.

GOS Joint Favorable Subst.

sHB5254 File No. 320

sHB5254 / File No. 320 5

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: None
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill makes procedural changes regarding state agencies' self -
reviews of regulations, which result in no fiscal impact to the state or
municipalities.
The Out Years
State Impact: None
Municipal Impact: None

sHB5254 File No. 320

sHB5254 / File No. 320 6

OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 5254

AN ACT CONCERNING THE PROCESS AND TIMETABLE FOR THE
REVIEW OF EXISTING REGULATIONS OF CONNECTICUT STATE
AGENCIES.

SUMMARY
By law, agencies must periodically review their regulations and the
legislative committee of cognizance must consider the agency’s
recommendations. This bill eliminates the requirement that each
committee, in consultation with the agencies within its cogni zance,
establish a timeline for conducting these reviews at least every seven
years. It instead transfers responsibility for setting the timeline to the
governor’s office, if the agency reports to him, or to the agency itself if
it does not report to the g overnor. It keeps the maximum seven -year
cycle and adds to the legislative committees that receive these reviews
and timelines.
The bill also requires agencies, on the same schedule as their required
reviews, to (1) post a list of the regulations it recommends for
elimination on the agency’s website and the eRegulations system and
(2) allow for public comment on the list through th e eRegulations
system.
The bill also makes technical and conforming changes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2026
AGENCY REGULATION REVIEWS
Current law requires each legislative committee, at least every seven
years, to consult with state agencies within its cognizance to set a date
by which the agency will submit a review of its existing regulations to
the committee. Committees must notify the Regulation Review
sHB5254 File No. 320

sHB5254 / File No. 320 7

Committee administrator about these dates and any extensions.
The bill instead requires , by February 1, 2027, the governor’s office,
for each executive branch agency that reports to the governor, to (1) set
an agency-specific timeline for reviewing its existing regulations and (2)
notify the Regulation Review and Government Oversight committees
about these timelines. Agencies that do not report to the governor must
set their own timelines. As under current law, the review must occur at
least every seven years.
By the specified initial submission date for the review’s completion,
and as often as set by the governor or agency as applicable, each agency
must submit a summary of the review results to the Regulation Review
Committee administrator , the committee of cognizance, and the
Government Oversight Committee.
As under existing law, the agency’s review must at least include (1)
recommendations for reducing regulations’ number and length; (2)
determinations on whether they are obsolete, unused, inconsistent with
other laws, no longer effective, or the subject of written complaints; and
(3) recommendations on extraordinary circumstances warranting their
waiver.
Current law requires the committee of cognizance to hold a public
hearing within 90 days of receiving the agency’s review. The bill instead
allows committees to do so. The bill otherwise maintains the
committee’s authority to act on agency recommendations.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Government Oversight Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 12 Nay 0 (03/17/2026)