Text of CT SB 327 (2024)

LCO No. 2194 1 of 3 General Assembly Raised Bill No. 327 February Session, 2024 LCO No. 2194 *02194_______KID* Referred to Committee on COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN Introduced by: (KID) AN ACT ESTABLISHING A TASK FORCE TO STUDY THE EFFECTS OF HATE SPEECH ON CHILDREN'S HEALTH AND ACHIEVEMENT. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened: Section 1. (Effective from passage) (a) There is established a task force 1 to study the effects of hate speech on children. Such study shall include, 2 but need not be limited to, the effects of such speech on the mental and 3 physical health and educational achievement of children. For the 4 purposes of this section, "hate speech" means any form of expression 5 through which the speaker intends to vilify, humiliate or incite hatred 6 against a group or class of persons on the basis of race, religion, skin 7 color, sexual identity, gender identity, ethnicity, disability or national 8 origin. 9 (b) The task force shall consist of the following members: 10 (1) One appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, 11 who shall be a representative of an organization that works to improve 12 the behavioral health and well-being of children; 13 (2) One appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, who 14 Raised Bill No. 327 LCO No. 2194 2 of 3 shall be a representative of a state chapter of a national association of 15 providers of pediatric care; 16 (3) One appointed by the majority leader of the House of 17 Representatives, who shall be a representative of an organization that 18 works to eliminate discrimination based on race; 19 (4) One appointed by the majority leader of the Senate, who shall be 20 a representative of an organization that works to eliminate 21 discrimination based on religion; 22 (5) One appointed by the minority leader of the House of 23 Representatives, who shall be a representative of an organization that 24 works to eliminate discrimination based on sexual and gender identity; 25 (6) One appointed by the minority leader of the Senate, who shall be 26 a representative of an organization that works to eliminate 27 discrimination based on disability status; 28 (7) The Commissioner of Public Health, or the commissioner's 29 designee; 30 (8) The Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services, or 31 the commissioner's designee; 32 (9) The Commissioner of Children and Families, or the 33 commissioner's designee; 34 (10) The Commissioner of Education, or the commissioner's designee; 35 (11) The Chief State's Attorney, or the Chief State's Attorney's 36 designee; and 37 (12) The executive director of the Commission on Women, Children, 38 Seniors, Equity and Opportunity, or the executive director's designee. 39 (c) Any member of the task force appointed under subdivision (1), 40 (2), (3), (4), (5) or (6) of subsection (b) of this section may be a member 41 of the General Assembly. 42 Raised Bill No. 327 LCO No. 2194 3 of 3 (d) All initial appointments to the task force shall be made not later 43 than thirty days after the effective date of this section. Any vacancy shall 44 be filled by the appointing authority. 45 (e) The speaker of the House of Representatives and the president pro 46 tempore of the Senate shall select the chairpersons of the task force from 47 among the members of the task force. Such chairpersons shall schedule 48 the first meeting of the task force, which shall be held not later than sixty 49 days after the effective date of this section. 50 (f) The administrative staff of the joint standing committee of the 51 General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children 52 shall serve as administrative staff of the task force. 53 (g) Not later than January 1, 2025, the task force shall submit a report 54 on its findings and recommendations to the joint standing committee of 55 the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children, 56 in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes. 57 The task force shall terminate on the date that it submits such report or 58 January 1, 2025, whichever is later. 59 This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: Section 1 from passage New section Statement of Purpose: To establish a task force to study the effects of hate speech on children. [Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]

Substitute Senate Bill No. 327 Special Act No. 24-9 AN ACT ESTABLISHING A TASK FORCE TO STUDY THE EFFECTS OF HATE SPEECH AND BULLYING ON CHILDREN. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened: Section 1. (Effective from passage) (a) There is established a task force to study the effects and social impact of hate speech and bullying on children. Such study shall include, but need not be limited to, (1) an analysis of the effects of hate speech and bullying on the mental and physical health and academic achievement of children, (2) an analysis of the settings and environments in which children are most likely to encounter and participate in hate speech or bullying, including whether such hate speech or bullying occurs in person or through Internet-based applications or forums, (3) an examination of whether children encounter hate speech or bullying that is perpetrated by children or adults, or both, in each such setting or environment, (4) an analysis of the factors that may contribute to a child's likelihood of encountering hate speech or bullying, and a child or adult's likelihood of perpetrating hate speech or bullying, and (5) recommendations for strategies to prevent, reduce and address the effects of hate speech and bullying in communities and schools in the state, including, but not limited to, the implementation of (A) school, community-based and state-wide programs (i) for the prevention and reduction of hate speech and bullying, and (ii) to reduce the effects on children of hate speech and Substitute Senate Bill No. 327 Special Act No. 24-9 2 of 4 bullying, (B) public media campaigns, and (C) statutory changes concerning the prevention and reduction of and response to hate speech and bullying in schools. For the purposes of this section, "hate speech" means any form of expression through which a child or adult intends to vilify, humiliate or incite hatred against a child on the basis of such child's race, religion, skin color, sex, gender identity, ethnicity, disability, body weight or body type or national origin, and "bullying" means unwanted and aggressive behavior among children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. (b) The task force shall consist of the following members: (1) Two appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, one of whom shall be a representative of an organization that works to improve the behavioral health and well-being of children and one of whom shall be a representative of an organization that advocates for special education equity for children; (2) Two appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, one of whom shall be a representative of an organization that works to eliminate discrimination based on religion, and one of whom shall be a representative of a state-wide association of school-based health centers; (3) One appointed by the majority leader of the House of Representatives, who shall be a representative of an organization that works to eliminate discrimination based on race; (4) One appointed by the majority leader of the Senate, who shall be a representative of an organization that works to eliminate discrimination based on sexual and gender identity; (5) One appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives, who shall be a representative of a state chapter of a national association of providers of pediatric care; Substitute Senate Bill No. 327 Special Act No. 24-9 3 of 4 (6) One appointed by the minority leader of the Senate, who shall be a representative of an organization that works to eliminate discrimination based on disability status; (7) One appointed by the cochairpersons of the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children, who shall be a representative of a state-wide association of boards of education; (8) One appointed by the ranking members of the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children, who shall be a representative of a state-wide association of public school superintendents; (9) The Commissioner of Public Health, or the commissioner's designee; (10) The Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services, or the commissioner's designee; (11) The Commissioner of Children and Families, or the commissioner's designee; (12) The Commissioner of Education, or the commissioner's designee; (13) The Chief State's Attorney, or the Chief State's Attorney's designee; (14) The executive director of the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, or the executive director's designee; and (15) The executive director of the Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity and Opportunity, or the executive director's designee. (c) Any member of the task force appointed under subdivision (1), (2), (3), (4), (5) or (6) of subsection (b) of this section may be a member Substitute Senate Bill No. 327 Special Act No. 24-9 4 of 4 of the General Assembly. (d) All initial appointments to the task force shall be made not later than thirty days after the effective date of this section. Any vacancy shall be filled by the appointing authority. (e) The speaker of the House of Representatives and the president pro tempore of the Senate shall select the chairpersons of the task force from among the members of the task force. Such chairpersons shall schedule the first meeting of the task force, which shall be held not later than sixty days after the effective date of this section. (f) The administrative staff of the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children shall serve as administrative staff of the task force. (g) Not later than January 1, 2025, the task force shall submit a report on its findings and recommendations to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes. The task force shall terminate on the date that it submits such report or January 1, 2025, whichever is later.