(a) The Advisory Board for Persons Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing shall consist of the following sixteen members appointed by the Governor: (1) The consultant appointed by the State Board of Education in accordance with section 10-316a, or the consultant’s designee; (2) the president of the Connecticut Council of Organizations Serving the Deaf, or the president’s designee; (3) the president of the Connecticut Association of the Deaf, or the president’s designee; (4) the president of the Connecticut Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, or the president’s designee; (5) the Commissioner of Rehabilitation Services, or the commissioner’s designee; (6) the executive director of the American School for the Deaf, or the executive director’s designee; (7) a parent of a student in a predominantly oral education program; (8) a parent of a student at the American School for the Deaf; (9) a person who is deaf; (10) a person who is hard of hearing; (11) a person who is deaf and blind; (12) an interpreting professional who serves deaf or hard of hearing persons; (13) a healthcare professional who works with persons who are deaf or hard of hearing; (14) the Governor’s liaison to the disability community; (15) an educator who works with children who are deaf or hard of hearing; and (16) the director of the Connecticut Chapter of We the Deaf People. The Commissioner of Rehabilitation Services, the Governor’s liaison to the disability community and a member chosen by the majority of the board shall be the chairpersons of the advisory board.

(b) The advisory board shall meet at least quarterly or more often at the call of the chairpersons or a majority of the members. A majority of members in office but not less than nine voting members shall constitute a quorum.

(c) Any appointed member who fails to attend three consecutive meetings or who fails to attend fifty per cent of all meetings held during any calendar year shall be deemed to have resigned. Vacancies occurring otherwise than by expiration of term in the membership of the advisory board shall be filled by the Governor.

(P.A. 74-252, S. 2, 11; P.A. 75-420, S. 4, 6; 75-638, S. 18, 23; P.A. 77-614, S. 302, 323, 521, 539, 610; P.A. 80-210; P.A. 83-167; P.A. 84-361, S. 3, 7; P.A. 93-91, S. 1, 2; 93-262, S. 66, 87; 93-381, S. 9, 39; P.A. 95-257, S. 12, 21, 58; P.A. 07-73, S. 2(b); P.A. 11-44, S. 36; P.A. 17-30, S. 2; 17-146, S. 25.)

History: P.A. 75-420 replaced welfare commissioner with commissioner of social services; P.A. 75-638 replaced deputy commissioner of health on mental retardation with commissioner of mental retardation; P.A. 77-614 replaced secretary of the state board of education with commissioner of education, commissioner of health with commissioner of health services and commissioner of social services with commissioner of human resources in Subsec. (a), replaced appointment provisions in Subsec. (b) with simple statement that appointments are made by governor and provided that qualifications and compensation of executive director be determined by commissioner of administrative services with approval of secretary of office of policy and management rather than by abolished personnel policy board and that director be under direction of human resources commissioner in Subsec. (e), effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 80-210 increased commission membership from 15 to 23, adding commissioners of income maintenance and children and youth services, increasing gubernatorial appointees from 9 to 11 and deaf appointees from 5 to 7; P.A. 83-167 amended Subsec. (a) by decreasing commission membership from 23 to 22, deleting the ex officio membership of the superintendent of the Mystic Oral School and providing that one member be a parent of a student in a predominantly oral education program rather than of a student at the Mystic Oral School; P.A. 84-361 added provisions requiring that meetings be held at least quarterly, establishing number of members required for quorum and setting standards of attendance required to retain membership and made commission rather than human resources commissioner responsible for supervision of executive director; Sec. 17-137m transferred to Sec. 46a-28 in 1991; P.A. 93-91 substituted commissioner and department of children and families for commissioner and department of children and youth services, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 93-262 reduced commission membership from 22 to 21 to reflect reorganization of social services, replacing reference to commissioners of income maintenance and human resources with commissioner of social services, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 93-381 replaced commissioner of health services with commissioner of public health and addiction services, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and Addiction Services with Commissioner and Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995 (Revisor’s note: A reference to “Commissioners of Public Health ... Labor, Education, Mental Retardation, and Children and Families” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Commissioners of Public Health ... Education, Mental Retardation, and Children and Families and the Labor Commissioner” for consistency with customary statutory usage); pursuant to P.A. 07-73 “Commissioner of Mental Retardation” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Commissioner of Developmental Services”, effective October 1, 2007; P.A. 11-44 amended Subsec. (a) by replacing “commission” with “Commission on the Deaf and Hearing Impaired”, deleted former Subsec. (e) re position of executive director, and deleted former Subsec. (f) re employment of clerical and other assistance, effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 17-30 amended Subsec. (a) by replacing “Commission on the Deaf and Hearing Impaired” with “Advisory Board for Persons Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing”, substantially amending provisions re members including replacing “twenty-one members, three of whom shall be ex officio” with “fifteen members appointed by the Governor”, and replacing provisions re members with provisions re same, amended Subsec. (b) by replacing 7 voting members with 8 voting members, deleted Subsec. (d) re expenses, and made technical and conforming changes, effective June 6, 2017; P.A. 17-146 amended Subsec. (a) by replacing “fifteen” with “sixteen” re members, adding Subdiv. (16) re director of Connecticut Chapter of We the Deaf People, amended Subsec. (b) by replacing “eight” with “nine” re voting members, and made a technical change, effective June 30, 2017.