The Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments endorsed this week a list of five priorities for the upcoming legislative session that include preventing the consolidation of health districts, revising requirements for placing legal notices in newspapers and addressing the ongoing heroin crisis. 

The council is seeking legislation to stop the state Department of Public Health's recent proposal to consolidate health districts and departments into larger regional health districts.

The Department of Public Health should instead collaborate with health districts, councils of governments and cities and towns to "see where voluntary consolidations for fiscal and operational effectiveness may occur," according to the legislative agenda approved by the council on Wednesday.

The council of governments wants to revise the state's requirement for towns and cities to place municipal legal advertisements in newspapers and instead allow shorter print advertisement with a more detailed online notice. The legislative agenda said this would reduce costs and maintain transparency.

State Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, also the first selectman of Sprague and a member of the council, said she has advocated for legislation with that goal several times in the past but hit heavy opposition from newspapers and a newspaper trade association. She said the council should explain the reasons why it wants the revision of the requirement and inform newspapers.

Legislation that would allow Historic District Commissions to charge application fees, like other land use commissions, is another priority.

The council is further advocating for legislation that would adopt federal "burden of proof" standards for special education services and require the state to provide dependable funding for special education services, according to the agenda. If a student transfers to another district during the fiscal year, the district where the student started the year would continue to pay for the services.

The council also is urging new legislation to tackle the ongoing heroin crisis, with proposals that include the regulation of sober houses, expanded insurance coverage for addiction treatment and drug intervention programs to provide treatment to people addicted to drugs, rather than send them to prison.

The agenda also asks legislators to continue to back funding for the Thames River Heritage Park initiatives and to support the "placement of funding for the forgiveness of loans made under the State's Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund on the State Bond Commission agenda, as allowed under previously approved legislation."

At Wednesday's council meeting, North Stonington Selectman Nick Mullane urged local officials to convey the message to legislators that any reduction in state aid to municipalities will mean locally either cuts in services or tax increases. 

Mullane said that state aid to towns has basically been flat over the past ten years, save for minor adjustments, and that state aid has never met the needs of towns, especially considering all the mandates that are placed on towns.

Members of the council of governments are expected to meet in January with the local delegation to discuss the priorities.

k.drelich@theday.com