One of the most powerful people in state government is a Republican businessman from Waterbury.
As the only House Republican to chair a committee in the Democrat-controlled General Assembly, State Rep. Selim Noujaim is one of two people leading a commanding and sometimes forgotten 14-member panel that unilaterally decides when and how laws are implemented.
Noujaim — along with his co-chair State Sen. Andres Ayala (D-Bridgeport), who wields equal power — sets the agenda, tone, and assignments for the legislature’s Regulation Review Committee, whose role since 1972 is to ensure state agencies write regulations that honor the spirit of laws passed by the General Assembly.
This power gives the committee sole authority to reject, delay, and rewrite agency proposals on how to enforce laws, which can have a significant impact on business interests. The committee, for example, has rejected wind turbine regulations several times, which has put a three-year moratorium on the growth of that industry in Connecticut.
“It is an unbelievably rewarding position,” said Noujaim, who founded Waterbury manufacturer Noujaim Tools Co. “We approve all the regulation of the state.”
Ayala said committee members are final gatekeepers before laws are implemented.
“It is a tremendous responsibility,” Ayala said. “We have a responsibility to get it right.”
The committee members, who are equal number Republican and Democrat, are supposed to set aside any political views and personal bias and focus solely on whether an agency is adhering to what the law says. Members are chosen by leaders of their respective caucuses.
Noujaim and Ayala said they have no problem being unbiased, and some outside observers like the Connecticut Business & Industry Association say the committee does a good job adhering to recommendations from the Legislative Commissioners’ Office (LCO), which assesses whether or not a state agency has written proper regulations.
Not everyone, however, sees eye-to-eye with the committee. Critics argue it’s influenced by special interests.
Wind Power Struggle
Gaining committee approval has been a frustrating and tiresome experience for agencies like the Connecticut Siting Council, which approves energy and telecommunications infrastructure.
Regulation Review members will inject their personal opinions and public interest groups will use the committee’s role as a last-ditch effort to stall and/or re-legislate laws, said Melanie Bachman, acting executive director for the Siting Council, which has fought with the committee for three years over wind power regulations.
In 2011, the legislature passed a law putting a moratorium on new wind developments in the state until the Siting Council wrote regulations that better defined wind project standards.
Those proposals need approval by Regulation Review, a process that was thought to take only a few months but has dragged on for more than three years as the committee keeps rejecting the Siting Council’s proposed standards. As a result, any proposed wind turbine project in Connecticut has missed out on federal tax credits that would have made them more economical.
“It almost seemed like every time we went back to the committee, we were asked to jump through another hoop, even though we did what we were asked from the last time,” Bachman said.
Regulation Review has followed through on so many objections from the anti-turbine group FairWindCT, that it seems the committee and the political group are one in the same, Bachman said.
“What they are asking us to do is regulate wind out of Connecticut, and we don’t believe that is what the legislature originally intended,” Bachman said.
Noujaim said the Siting Council case has been difficult because the agency is not listening to committee member recommendations. Following one rejection of the proposed wind regulations in 2013, the committee told the council to talk with the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities about its concerns. When CCM decided to withdrawal its regulatory objections and instead focus on legislative change, the Siting Council resubmitted its application to the committee without any changes.
“I saw that as an insult to the members of the committee,” Noujaim said. “The agency has not listened to the opinions of the membership.”
Different Opinions
In most cases, if the legislature passes a law, the enforcing state agency writes proper regulations, and the LCO recommends approval, Noujaim said he would have a tough time justifying a vote against measures in the Regulatory Review Committee, even if he opposed the law when it was debated in the legislature.
That wasn’t the case in August when the committee weighed medical marijuana regulations proposed by the Department of Consumer Protection. The LCO recommended approval, and the committee passed the regulations. Noujaim, however, voted against the measure, as he did when the legislation was debated in the House, because he felt legalizing medical marijuana violates federal law.
“Although we usually go along with the recommendation of the LCO, we don’t have to go with what they say,” Noujaim said.
Regulation Review has a reputation of rejecting all first proposals, Noujaim said.
Usually, though, the rejections only are to make technical corrections to the wording rather than substantive changes to interpretation of law. Proposals then typically get approved the second time around in unanimous or near-unanimous votes, Noujaim said.
Despite disagreements over the implementation of regulations, the committee doesn’t have the same partisan bickering that is typical of other legislative committees, Ayala said. Also unlike other legislative committees, Regulation Review meets year-round.
Need for Bipartisanship
Ayala said he and Noujaim are in constant contact, as they act as facilitators of the committee’s responsibilities and don’t have to worry about political gamesmanship.
“We need to make sure we have some common footing so everything can move forward,” Ayala said.
Since most proposed regulations come before the committee within 12 months of a law passing, the committee members typically remember what the spirit of the law was when it was being written, said Bonnie Stewart, vice president of government affairs for the Connecticut Business & Industry Association. That gives them a solid understanding of how the regulations should be written.
“It is a much purer committee in that sense,” Stewart said.
CBIA pays close attention to anything that goes before Regulation Review, said Stewart. Even though it may seem like the battle has been won — or lost — once the legislature passes and the governor signs a law, the fight isn’t over until the proper regulations are in place.
That requires a stamp of approval from Regulation Review.
“It is an extremely important committee,” Stewart said. “They have a lot of responsibility. It is a great system of checks and balances.”
