February 21, 2025

Dear Friends, 

Another week of the legislative session has passed, along with the raised bill deadline. This means that the bill report is beginning to get cut down as key bills begin to form. Click the Bill Report button below to view the most recent Bill Report. 

REMINDER: The JF deadline for the Environment Committee is March 31st!

Environment Committee

The Environment Committee held a Committee Meeting on Wednesday, February 19th, at 10 am, followed by a public Hearing at 12 pm. 

Committee Meeting Agenda Public Hearing Agenda 

• Watch the Committee Meeting HERE 
• Watch the Public hearing HERE

The following are concepts that were raised and that we will continue monitoring

• AN ACT CONCERNING MINOR REVISIONS TO DEEP STATUTES
• AN ACT CONCERNING BEAR HUNTING
• AN ACT CONCERNING SUNDAY HUNTING

The Following are Bills that were JF'ed to the floor:

• H.B. No. 5012 AN ACT PROHIBITING THE PRACTICE OF SHARK FINNING.
• H.B. No. 5013 AN ACT ADDING CERTAIN PLANTS TO THE INVASIVE PLANTS LIST.
• S.B. No. 313 AN ACT ESTABLISHING A SPEED LIMIT FOR LAKE MASHAPAUG IN UNION.
• S.B. No. 63 AN ACT CONCERNING THE MITIGATION OF EFFECTS ON WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES FROM FUTURE OFFSHORE WIND PROJECTS. 

The Following are relevant Time Stamps from this week’s Public Hearing: 

1. Katie Dykes - DEEP commissioner (0:00-17:42)

     96. Bill Hyatt - FOCS Fisheries (8:27:09-8:37:10)

• *NEW*Subscribe to the Environment Committee HERE

Public Saftey Hearing: BLACK BEAR BILL - Corrected Date

Next Thursday, February 27th, at 11 am, the Public Safety Committee is holding a Public Hearing that will include a discussion on HB 7051, AN ACT CONCERNING A BLACK BEAR MANAGEMENT PLAN.

• The full agenda can be found HERE
• If you wish to speak on this bill, you can click HERE to register via Zoom.
• To submit written Testimony, click HERE and follow the steps below:



1. Type in your first name, then your last name
2. From the drop-down menu, select the hearing date: 2/21/2025 at 11:00 am
3. Click either "supports" or "opposes," depending on the bills you wish to testify for.
4. From the drop-down menu, select the bill (or bills) you wish to testify.
5. Click on "type in my testimony."
6. In the text box that appears below, type your testimony either supporting or opposing your chosen bill(s). 
7. Click the box "I am not a Robot."
8. Click on "Submit Testimony"

To watch this meeting live, or on streaming, click HERE

Sportsmen's Caucus Meeting 

The Sportsmen's Caucus held a meeting on Thursday, February 20th at 6 pm. 

In this meeting, Senator Cathy Osten, and Representative Patrick Boyd had  DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes, Deputy Commissioner Mason Trumble, other various DEEP staff, and Encon Officers give a presentation going back to the basics of the sportsmen's caucus. 

In this presentation, they discussed BNR funding, the state of Fisheries in Connecticut, and addressed concerns surrounding the governor's budget cuts, as well as Federal funding among other issues. 

We will be sending out a link to the recording of this meeting as soon as it becomes available.

Black and Puerto Rican Caucus Meeting 

The Black and Puerto Rican Caucus will hold meetings next Wednesday, February 26th, at 6 pm and Monday, March 10th, at 5:30 pm.

To register for the February 26th date, click HERE. 

To register for the March 10th date, click HERE

*Please note that while these hearings have virtual options, we strongly recommend that those who wish to testify do so in person.

Endorsements of Robert Boris and Jason Perillo

Friends of Connecticut Sportsmen proudly endorsed Robert Boris (R-Groton) for the 40th House Seat and Jason Perillo (R-Shelton) for the 21st Senate Seat in a special election being held on Tuesday, February 25th. 

View Mr. Boris’s letter of endorsement HERE

View Representative Perillo’s letter of endorsement HERE

Sportsmen's Dinner Tickets

There are still tickets available for the Friends of CT Sportsmen's Dinner and raffle event on March 21st, 2025! This event will be held at the Westbrook Elks Club starting at 5:30 pm!

Ticket prices will be $80/person OR $640/table of 8.

To purchase your tickets and get more information about this event, click HERE

To purchase raffle tickets, and learn more about what you could win, click HERE

Sportsmen in the News

• CT officials call recent crashes involving deer on I-84 ‘unusual.’ Here’s why
• February 2025 DEEP Wildlife Highlights 
• This Months Edition Includes:
• Information about Avian Bird Influenza
• Connecticut’s growing bear population
• Tips on how to co-exist with coyotes
• And MORE!

Resources

• Bill Search 
• Committee deadline schedules for 2025 
• Environment Committee homepage
• Environment Committee calendar
• *NEW* Subscribe to the Environment Committee

Want More from FOCS?

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@friendsofconnecticutsportsmen