A legislative committee made up of both House and Senate members is at an impasse and will begin meeting separately, according to the pair of Democrats responsible for steering the state’s climate initiatives.

The Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy, through its House and Senate Chair, told the Herald they will hold separate meetings on both Thursday and Friday, instead of a bicameral joint meeting as per usual.

Sen. Michael Barrett said that his name’s recent appearance on a joint committee hearing notice for Thursday must either be an egregious mistake or fraud — a word, he said, that as an attorney he does not use lightly — as he did not sign the notice nor agree to the joint hearing.

“I’m listed as the co-sender today of an official joint committee hearing notice, along with the House chair. The House chair knows I haven’t approved the scheduling of this hearing. There’s a small chance this is merely a serious error. Otherwise, I regret to say, the use of my name appears to be fraudulent,” Barrett said.

According to Barrett, his House counterpart, state Rep. Jeff Roy, has thrown the joint committee process for a loop by refusing to allow equal representation of Senate priorities when it comes time to advance bills. Barrett said that this may seem meaningless, but it causes the work of the Legislature to slow and fewer bills to get passed.

Roy told the Herald that other committees are already meeting and it is time for the important work of his joint committee to begin.

“Given that most joint committees have begun the hearing process, it is my hope that the Senate members of the Committee on TUE will participate in our first official hearing this session,” he said in a written statement.

Roy indicates the separate House and Senate members of the committee are having trouble agreeing on a new set of self-imposed rules of conduct, which he said should not allow one of the two chairs more power than the other.

“The broader discussion on adoption of official committee rules should not prevent the Committee from holding hearings on critical legislation,” he said. “As House Chair of the Joint Committee on TUE, I am advocating for committee rules that prevent one Chair from maintaining absolute control over which bills are released from Committee.”

According to Roy, that control is “a power that not only diminishes the influence of each individual member of the Committee, but that was also wielded last session to delay the consideration of major energy legislation, and to block hundreds of other bills from advancing through the Committee.”

Barrett said he hopes his House colleagues will attend a Friday meeting he has scheduled.

He also said the committee working separately is a waste of resources, especially after successfully passing major pieces of climate legislation last year.

“It’s a great waste of time and some additional expense,” he said.