Summary of Legislation
The summaries below outline Public Acts passed during the 2021 Regular Session of the Connecticut General Assembly that impact or may be of interest to the University of Connecticut. The summaries were either developed by the Office of Governmental Relations, the state Office of Legislative Research or the state Office of Fiscal Analysis.
The new Acts are organized by topic, and the topics are alphabetized. To access the complete text of a new law, click on the Public Act or resolution number on the top of the summary.
Agriculture
An Act Concerning Aquatic Invasive Species Effects on Lakes and Related Funding, Certain Group Fishing Events and Eliminating the Season Limitation for the Taking of Trout. Among other things, this Act requires the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP)to report to the Environment Committee on (a) the Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) fee revenue and (b) grants from the Connecticut Lakes, Rivers and Ponds Preservation account
Effective October 1, 2021
An Act Concerning Enhancements to Certain Agricultural Programs. This Act makes changes to various agricultural laws and programs.
Effective October 1, 2021
An Act Concerning a Low-Carbon Fuel Blend of Heating Oil and the Establishment of a Bioheat Advisory Board. This Act requires a low-carbon fuel blend of heating oil in the state and established a bioheat advisory board.
Effective July 1, 2021
An Act Concerning Certain Soil-Related Initiatives. Among other things, this Act expands the Council on Soil and Water Conservation’s charge to include advising the DEEP commissioner on soil health matters and implementing related programs. The Act (1) allows the commissioner to have research done on soil health and (2) requires her to update regulations on soil and water conservation districts and boards to include soil health matters. Under the Act, she may take certain actions to provide the districts and boards with federal resources to study and improve soil health.
Effective October 1, 2021
An Act Concerning the Siting of Anaerobic Digestion Facilities on Farms and the Expanded Use and Establishment of Certain Compost Facilities and Standards. The Act’s purpose is to encourage the timely siting and applicable permitting of anaerobic digesters on farms while establishing workable feed stock requirements for such facilities.
Effective from passage
An Act Concerning Animal Welfare. Among other things, this Act makes a minor change to align the definition of poultry in the dog and companion animal statutes with the definition of poultry in the poultry dealer statute.
Effective from passage
An Act Concerning Agricultural Education Programs. This Act requires that the University of Connecticut study the feasibility of establishing or expanding programs of study and community outreach programs related to food and agricultural literacy by increasing opportunities for interactions with farms in rural, suburban and urban communities. It also requires that the University submit a report on the findings of the feasibility study by January 1, 2022.
Effective from passage
Athletics
An Act Concerning Higher Education. This Act makes various changes to Higher Education statutes including Section 14 which allows student athletes enrolled at a higher education institution in the state to (1) earn compensation through an endorsement contract or employment in an activity unrelated to an intercollegiate athletic program, and (2) obtain the legal or professional representation of an attorney or sports agent through a written agreement, provided he or she complies with their higher education institution's policy on student athlete endorsement contracts and employment activities. Under the Act, if an institution adopts or updates its policy before September 1, 2021, then the above authorizations apply on the date of policy adoption. NOTE- this was amended in CT SB 1202 see below.
Effective July 1, 2021
An Act Concerning the Authorization, Licensing and Regulation of Online Casino Gaming, Retail and Online Sports Wagering, Fantasy Contests, Keno and Online Sale of Lottery Tickets. This Act prohibits sports wagering on games involving Connecticut intercollegiate teams except for tournaments but establishes new frameworks for legalizing and regulating (1) in-person and online sports wagering, (2) online casino gaming, (3) in-person and online keno, (4) online lottery draw games other than keno, and (5) fantasy contests. These frameworks are subject to several conditions, principally that the governor must first enter into specific contractual agreements with the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes. These agreements must then be approved by the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) secretary and published in the Federal Register, pursuant to the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) and its implementing regulations.
Effective July 1, 2021, except provisions defining terms and authorizing the governor to reach amended or new agreements with the tribes are effective upon passage.
June Special Session PA 21-2, 1202
An Act Concerning Provisions Related to Revenue and other Items to Implement the State Budget for the Biennium Ending June 30, 2023.
- 146 — STUDENT ATHLETE COMPENSATION Modifies provisions in HB 6402, to extend the date by which higher education institutions are required to develop student athlete name, image and likeness compensation policies until January 1, 2022. However, institutions can adopt policies as early as July 1, 2021. It also adds provisions making it clear that student athletes cannot be compensated for participation in a collegiate sport.
Effective July 1, 2021
- 434 — ADMISSIONS TAX Eliminates the admissions tax beginning July 1, 2021, for all places of amusement, entertainment, or recreation except movie theaters, but including XL and Rentschler Field.
Effective June30, 2021
Board of Trustees
An Act Concerning the Recommendations of the Governor's Council on Women and Girls. Among other things, this Act: 1. requires the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) commissioner to maintain an online system for submitting recommendations for public member appointees to executive department boards or commissions; 2. requires appointing authorities for state boards, commissions, committee, and councils with members appointed by the Governor or legislators, to, among other things, ensure that the membership is qualified and diverse, consistent with applicable law, by January 1, 2026, and after that, according to the most recent U.S. census population data; and 3. requires the secretary of the state to publish a report on the gender and racial composition of certain state boards and commissions and compare this information with the state’s gender and racial composition, according to the most recent U.S. census population data.
Effective July 1, 2021
Resolution Confirming the Nomination of Kevin J. O'Connor of Greenwich to be a Member of the Board of Trustees for the University of Connecticut.
Resolution Confirming the Nomination of Andrea B. Dennis-Lavigne of Simsbury to be Appointed a Member of the Board of Trustees for the University of Connecticut.
June Special Session PA 21-2, 1202
An Act Concerning Provisions Related to Revenue and other Items to Implement the State Budget for the Biennium Ending June 30, 2023.
- § 149 & 151 — PUBLIC AGENCY MEETINGS USING ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT Authorizes public agencies to conduct meetings using electronic equipment until April 30, 2022, and establishes requirements and procedures for doing so
- § 150, 151 — MEETING NOTICES GENERALLY Allows public agencies to provide meeting notice by electronic transmission; requires agencies to post certain notices of adjournment on their websites
Effective July 1, 2021
Bonding
An Act Authorizing and Adjusting Bonds of the State for Capital Improvements, Transportation and Other Purposes, Establishing the Community Investment Fund 2030 Board, Authorizing State Grant Commitments For School Building Projects and Making Revisions to the School Building Project Statutes.
Key Provisions of HB 6690 - 2021 Regular Session
Storrs & Regional Campuses:
- Maintains UConn 2000 funding of $190.5M in FY22 and $125.1M in FY23 as codified in CGS 10a-109.
UConn Health:
- § 96-98 Adds $57.1M in FY22 and $23M in FY23 to the UConn 2000 Phase III for Deferred Maintenance and Equipment. NOTE: See Budget Implementer Bill PA 21-2, SB1202 June Special Session, Section 601-603 for Reduction in this amount.
Faculty Innovation Hires:
- § 99 & 100 Authorizes $46.1M in bonds over a five-year period for a new research faculty recruitment and hiring program at UConn. This funding is not included in the UCONN 2000 program (outside the normal state bonding process). Instead, it will have to be placed on a State Bond Commission agenda and approved annually by that body.
June Special Session PA 21-2, 1202
An Act Concerning Provisions Related to Revenue and other Items to Implement the State Budget for the Biennium Ending June 30, 2023.
- § 601-603 — UCONN 2000 INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM Reduces bond authorizations in PA 21-111, HB 6690 by $55.1 million for two existing UConn 2000 Phase III projects at the UConn Health Center, thereby authorizing $25M in FY22 for Deferred Maintenance at UConn Health.
Budget
An Act Concerning the State Budget for The Biennium Ending June Thirtieth, 2023, And Making Appropriations therefor, and Making Deficiency and Additional Appropriations for the Fiscal Year Ending June Thirtieth, 2021.
BLOCK GRANT SUPPORT:
| UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT | FY 21-22 | FY 22-23 |
| Operating Expenses | 207,784,065 | 207,784,065 |
| Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy | 400,000 | 400,000 |
| AGENCY TOTAL | 208,184,065 | 208,184,065 |
| UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT HEALTH CENTER | ||
| Operating Expenses | 133,354,285 | 133,354,285 |
| AHEC | 375,832 | 375,832 |
| Temporary Operating Support | 2,000,000 | |
| AGENCY TOTAL | 135,730,117 | 133,730,117 |
Effective July 1, 2021
Budget - Key Provisions of HB 6689– 2021 Regular Session and SB 1202 Budget Implementer
Storrs & Regional Campus:
- Includes surplus dollars of $6.1M in FY23 for Unfunded Legacy Costs.
- Provides ARPA dollars of $20M in FY22 and $5M in FY23
- Transfers the Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy from CCSU to UConn and provides $400,000 for such purpose.
- Increases the Roberta Willis Scholarship Program using ARPA dollars by $20M in FY22 and FY23 for state funded student financial aid.
- Back-of-the-Budget cuts:
- Gives OPM the ability to make reductions of $44M in FY22 and $49M in FY23 across all state agencies. The provisions of this section shall not apply to The University of Connecticut Health Center. (sec. 10)
- Allows OPM to make reductions in allotments across state agencies to achieve retirement, restructuring or efficiency savings of $4.6M in FY22 and $73M in FY23. The provisions of this section shall not apply to The University of Connecticut Health Center. (sec. 11)
- Additional Surplus Funds (sec. 27 & 29):
- $100,000 for UConn and Fairfield University for the operation of the CT Writing Project
- $250,000 in FY22 and FY23 for UConn’s Veterans Project
- $2.5M in FY22 and FY23 for UConn’s CT Institute for Resilience & Climate Adaption
- $250,000 for FY22 and FY23 for the CT Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory in the Department of Agriculture’s budget
UConn Health:
- Allocates $50m for FY21 in the Deficiency section of the Act
- Allocates for FY22 - $2 M for Temporary Operating Support
- The budget also allocates for FY22 - $4.9 M for Operating Support
- In addition, the budget allocates for FY23 - $30.2 M for Operating support
- The budget distributes ARPA funds in the amount of $35 M for revenue impact for FY 20 and FY 22
- It also distributes ARPA funds in the amount of $38 M for FY 22
- Provides funding of $547,860 in FY 22 and $507,270 in FY 23 for the HITEC program in the DOC budget. The program will be conducted by UConn Health and memorialized via a MOU. The Health Improvement Through Employee Control (HITEC) program assists correction officers with their mental health, stress reduction, sleep hygiene, and officer mentoring.
- Allows UCH to use FY 22 ARPA funds to retire FY 20 COVID-19 clinical revenue losses. The language reads: 42. (Effective from passage) Up to $20,000,000 of the federal funds allocated in section 41 of this act to The University of Connecticut Health Center, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022, may be used to retire COVID-19 clinical revenue losses from the fiscal year ending June 30, 2020.
June Special Session PA 21-2, 1202
An Act Concerning Provisions Related to Revenue and other Items to Implement the State Budget for the Biennium Ending June 30, 2023.
NOTE-Summaries of key provisions are listed under subject matter areas.
- 35 — AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT REPORTING Requires OPM to collect data on ARPA funds use and submit to the Appropriations Committee the interim and quarterly reports due to the federal government; requires separate quarterly reports to the Appropriations Committee on funds for higher education constituent units, UConn, and the judicial branch, with the first report due on Oct. 1, 2021
Effective from passage
- § 306 & 307 — ARPA ALLOCATIONS Adjusts ARPA allocations made in the biennial budget Act. Reduces surplus funds allocated to UConn to cover a portion of the state’s legacy costs and increases ARPA funds to UConn for operating support.
Effective from passage
Concrete & Crumbling Foundations
An Act Concerning Crumbling Concrete Foundations. Among other things, the Act makes changes to disclosure requirements. Current law exempts from disclosure (1) documents executive branch agencies have on claims of faulty or failing concrete foundations in residential buildings by the buildings’ owners and (2) associated agency-prepared documents. Currently, the disclosure protection lasts until the later of May 25, 2023, or seven years after the agency receives the documents. The Act (§6) makes the disclosure exemption permanent. The Act also makes minor changes that specify which records are covered. Under the Act, the executive branch agency protection applies to (1) any records the agencies maintain or keep on file related to claims of or testing for faulty or failing residential concrete foundations, rather than only those related to owners’ claims, and (2) both documents and materials the agencies prepare related to the records. Lastly, the Act extends disclosure protection to records public higher education institutions maintain or keep on file, or documents or materials the institutions prepare, concerning claims of and testing for faulty or failing concrete foundations.
Effective July 1, 2021
Contracting
An Act Codifying Prevailing Wage Contract Rates. This Act revises the method the labor commissioner must use to set prevailing wage rates on public works projects. The Act establishes one process for building, heavy, and highway projects and another for residential projects.
Effective October 1, 2021
An Act Concerning the Modernization of State Services and the Membership of the Commission for Educational Technology.
- § 1-7 —CONTRACTING AFFIDAVITS: Generally eliminates requirements that contractors submit documentation (e.g., affidavits and certifications) about their compliance with certain contracting laws and instead requires that they incorporate the applicable requirements into the contracts
- § 8-11 —SET-ASIDE PROGRAM: Revamps program’s eligibility requirements by requiring that for-profit entities be registered as a small business in the federal government's contracting database to participate in the program
- §12 —COMPETITIVE BIDDING WAIVERS: Clarifies DAS commissioner’s authority to waive competitive bidding requirements
- §13 —REVERSE AUCTIONS FOR SERVICES: Allows use of reverse auctions to purchase services other than construction or construction-related services
- §14 —PRE-MARKET PRODUCT TESTING BY STATE AGENCIES: Expands the types of eligible businesses and products eligible for pre-market testing by state agencies
- §15 —PURCHASES FROM EXISTING CONTRACTS: Expands the state’s “piggyback” purchasing authority to include purchases from contracts with another state agency or branch; allows agencies to make these purchases directly if approved by DAS
- §16 —STATE INSURANCE AND RISKMANAGEMENT BOARD: Reduces the board’s size from 13 members to 10 and makes conforming changes
- §17 —BUSINESS ACTIVITIES CONDUCTED ONLINE: Allows state and quasi-public agencies to conduct certain business activities electronically
- §18 —INFORMATION AND TELECOMMUNICATION SYSTEMS STRATEGIC PLAN: Requires that DAS’s annual information and telecommunication systems strategic plan include standards for digital identity verification
- § 19-24 —ELIMINATED REPORTING REQUIREMENTS: Eliminates various reporting requirements
Effective July 1, 2021
An Act Concerning a Disparity Study. This Act requires the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities and the Department of Administrative Services develop and issue a request for proposals for the conducting of a disparity study. It requires that the study provide an analysis of existing statistical data concerning the state's set-aside program to determine whether its current form achieves the goal of facilitating the participation in state contracts of small contractors and minority business enterprises. The study shall include, but shall not be limited to, a review of the state's current set-aside program practices and the best practices of other states or governmental entities.
Effective from passage
An Act Concerning Public-Private Partnerships. This Act reestablishes, through January 1, 2027, the governor’s authority to approve up to five public-private partnership (P3) project agreements. This authority previously expired on January 1, 2020.It also applies the P3 law to the Department of Transportation (DOT) and transportation projects only, thus reducing the types of state entities and projects covered by the law.
Effective from passage
PA 21-198, SB 1076
An Act Concerning Public-Private Partnerships and Privatization of State Services at the University of Connecticut Health Center. NOTE: this bill was amended and removed any reference to UConn Health. This Act makes several changes to the statutes governing the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) as follows :1. eliminates a provision that invalidates any bid on public works contracts submitted without a required update bid statement or prequalification certificate and instead allows agencies to permit bidders up to two business days post-bid to submit the missing documentation (§3); 2. removes references to “update bid statement” and, where necessary, replaces them with “update statement”(§§ 1-4);and 3. allows DAS to grant easements to, and acquire easements from, the federal government or a subdivision of the state, subject to certain approvals(§ 5).
Effective July 1, 2021
June Special Session PA 21-2, 1202
An Act Concerning Provisions Related to Revenue and other Items to Implement the State Budget for the Biennium Ending June 30, 2023.
- 201 — STATE CONTRACTING STANDARDS BOARD FUNDING LAPSE Requires that a portion of the biennial budget Act's appropriation for SCSB lapse on July 1 in both FYs 22 and 23
Effective July 1, 2021
Economic Development
An Act Concerning Incentives for Qualified Data Centers to Locate in the State. This Act authorizes the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) to enter into agreements to provide tax incentives to “qualified data centers” that locate within the state and make a minimum investment.
Effective July 1, 2021
An Act Concerning Diverse Economic Opportunity, Worker Protections and Small Business Revitalization. Among other things, this Act requires Connecticut Innovations (CI), in consultation with DECD, CTNext, and the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, to develop and implement a plan to increase the total funding provided to Connecticut businesses through the federal (1) small business innovation research program and (2) small business technology transfer program.
Effective July 1, 2021, and applicable to income years beginning January 1, 2021
An Act Concerning Revisions to Certain Economic and Community Development-Related Statutes. This Act’s purpose is to make various revisions to certain economic and community development statutes.
Effective from passage
An Act Establishing a Manufacturing Technology Working Group. This Act requires the Chairs of the Commerce Committee to appoint and convene a manufacturing technology working group to develop a strategic plan to ensure that manufacturers in the state have a strategy for the lean application and integration of Industry 4.0 technology into their product development and production processes. UConn named to the working group. The working group is required to submit a report by March 15, 2022.
Effective July 1, 2021
June Special Session PA 21-2, 1202
An Act Concerning Provisions Related to Revenue and other Items to Implement the State Budget for the Biennium Ending June 30, 2023.
- § 203, 214— OFFICE OF WORKFORCE STRATEGY Eliminates OWC and replaces it with a new OWS, headed by a chief workforce officer; generally transfers to the chief workforce officer the workforce development-related functions and duties currently assigned to the labor commissioner and OWC; and establishes additional duties and reporting requirements
- §204 — STATE WORKFORCE STRATEGY UPDATES Requires the chief workforce officer to submit to the governor recommendations for updates to the state workforce strategy relating to certain individuals’ needs and Two-Generational Advisory Board recommendations
- §205 — OFFICE OF WORKFORCE STRATEGY ACCOUNT Establishes a new OWS account in the General Fund to fund workforce training programs and the office’s administrative expenses; requires the chief workforce officer to report to the legislature and governor on these programs and the individuals they served
- §206 — CREDENTIALS OF VALUE Requires OWS, in consultation with other state entities, to establish standards to designate certain credentials as “credentials of value”
- §207 — CREDENTIALS AND SKILLS REPORT Requires the chief workforce officer to submit a biennial report on certain credentials, skills, and associate degree programs, starting by September 1, 2022
- § 211, 214-215 & 224 — GOVERNOR’S WORKFORCE COUNCIL Creates the Governor’s Workforce Council as a successor council to Connecticut Employment and Training Commission removes some duties from the council and adds others, making conforming changes regarding the council’s duties
- 488 — ECONOMIC ACTION PLAN Allows the DECD commissioner, for FYs 22 to 24 and in coordination with the OPM secretary, to use bond funds, ARPA funds, and available resources to provide grants for selected major projects to implement the state’s Economic Action Plan
Effective July 1, 2021
Education K-12
An Act Implementing the Recommendations of the Task Force to Analyze the Implementation of Laws Governing Dyslexia Instruction and Training. This Act makes the following changes in state laws governing teacher preparation programs, teacher certification, and elementary student reading proficiency assessments:
- establishes an Office of Dyslexia and Reading Disabilities (hereafter “the office”) in the State Department of Education (SDE) to verify whether teacher preparation programs and teacher certification applicants comply with requirements in state law relating to dyslexia instruction and training (§§ 1-4);
- bars the State Board of Education (SBE) from approving any teacher preparation programs, beginning September 1, 2022, until the office verifies that the program complies with state law relating to dyslexia instruction and training (§ 3);
- requires SDE to issue a teaching certificate to any level of applicant (initial, provisional, or professional), beginning September 1, 2023, if the office verifies that he or she has fulfilled certain literacy training and education requirements (§ 4);
- allows applicants for certain teaching certification endorsements to substitute student teaching experience for supervised practicum hours (§ 5);
- requires the office to provide guidance to higher education institutions and other teacher preparation program providers about how to verify whether practicum hour supervisors have obtained certain qualifications (§ 6);
- requires SDE to revise previously-developed reading assessments for grades kindergarten through three to include new methodologies for measuring reading proficiency (§ 7);
- allows SDE to partner with a public college or university to establish a data center to guide the department and boards of education in the use and effectiveness of reading assessments (§ 7);
- requires each local or regional board of education to develop a voluntary family history questionnaire to help identify students who are at risk of reading proficiency challenges (§ 8); and
- requires SDE to report to legislative committees about the (a) progress of the office’s establishment and staffing, (b) results of the verification of teacher preparation programs’ and teacher certificate applicants’ compliance with state law, and (c) guidance given to boards of education about the administration of reading assessments (§§ 9 & 10).
Effective July 1, 2021
An Act Concerning Issues Relating to the Provision of Early Childhood Education and Services in Connecticut. Among other things, this Act creates a 13-member early childhood workforce development needs task force.
Effective July 1, 2021
An Act Implementing the Recommendations of the Office of Early Childhood. This Act makes numerous changes to the laws related to the Office of Early Childhood.
Effective July 1, 2021
An Act Concerning Assorted Revisions and Additions to the Education Statutes. This Act requires a number of actions related to social-emotional learning, including assessing students for social-emotional learning, developing a statewide social-emotional learning strategy, and developing social-emotional learning standards. The Act includes provisions on social-emotional learning and teacher professional development and school resource officer training. It also requires the state law regarding bullying in school to be reviewed for possible changes and modifies the membership of safe school climate committees.
Effective July 1, 2021
An Act Implementing the Recommendations of the Department of Education. This Act makes the following changes in the education statutes:
- requires planning and placement teams (PPTs) for special education students to write transition services into individualized education programs (IEPs) for all 14-year-olds (§ 1);
- splits the elementary level bilingual education certificate into two and creates alternative methods by which candidates may fulfill the certificates’ written competency requirement (§ 2);
- requires the education commissioner, by January 1, 2022, to approve guidelines for bilingual STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and humanities teaching certificate endorsements and establishes coursework eligibility requirements for high school bilingual STEM and humanities teachers (§ 2);
- removes the grade point average (GPA) requirement for the resident teacher certificate and broadens its eligibility pool (§ 3);
- requires charter school governing councils and cooperative arrangements to have their requested criminal history records checks for school personnel conducted in accordance with the federal National Child Protection Act of 1992 and the federal Volunteers for Children Act of 1998, in addition to state law (§§ 4& 5);
- removes the requirement that the criminal history records checks for charter school governing councilor management organization members and certain contractors be conducted in accordance with the state law governing their procedure (§ 6);
- allows the attorney general, on behalf of the State Department of Education (SDE), to bring a civil suit against an organization to recover misused state funds (§ 7);
- clarifies the appointment process for the Technical Education and Career System (TECS) superintendent (§ 8);
- creates a new PPT process that must occur before a student receiving special education services enrolls in TECS (§ 9);and
- removes obsolete language from state law and repeals certain education reports and programs (§§ 10-12).
Effective July 1, 2021
An Act Concerning Various Revisions to the Education Statutes. Among other things, this Act:
- requires local and regional boards of education to develop a policy by July 1, 2022, for equitable identification of gifted and talented students that uses multiple identification methods that comply with State Department of Education (SDE) guidelines (§ 2);
- requires boards of education to create or revise a policy for student placement in advanced academic courses or programs that is not based exclusively on academic performance (§ 3);
- creates new a content requirement for grades 6-12 student success plans and generally requires the plans to be created in collaboration with students and their parents or guardians (§ 4);
- requires board of education to adopt a new challenging curriculum policy (§ 5);
- requires boards of education to adopt a policy to improve the completion rates for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) among grade 12 students or students in adult education programs (§ 6);
Effective July 1, 2021
June Special Session PA 21-2, 1202
An Act Concerning Provisions Related to Revenue and other Items to Implement the State Budget for the Biennium Ending June 30, 2023.
- §250 — CONNECTICUT PRESCHOOL THROUGH TWENTY AND WORKFORCE INFORMATION NETWORK Makes changes to the CP20 WIN data sharing agreement for participating agencies; requires an annual data request be made to CP20WIN about the state’s workforce system
Effective July 1, 2021
- § 378 & 379 — MINORITY TEACHER CANDIDATE CERTIFICATION, RETENTION AND RESIDENCY YEAR PROGRAM Creates the candidate certification, retention, or residency year program for teacher certification candidates; requires each alliance district to partner with a residency program operator to enroll minority candidates; requires SDE to (1) withhold from each alliance district 10% of any increase in alliance aid and (2) use the funds for grants to cover costs related to the residency program
Effective July 1, 2021
- §380 — PLAN TO PROMOTE TEACHING AS A CAREER Requires the education commissioner and certain higher education officials to jointly develop a plan to help school boards promote teaching as a career option to high school students; requires SDE to distribute to school boards information that promotes the teaching profession
Effective July 1, 2021
- §384 — STUDY OF MULTIPLE MEASURES TO DEMONSTRATE CONTENT MASTERY FOR TEACHER CERTIFICATION Requires SDE to study a multiple-measures approach to demonstrate content-area mastery of the content assessment requirement for teacher certification; requires SDE to submit a report with any recommendations to the Education Committee by January 1, 2023
Effective July 1, 2021
- § 399, 400 — READING CURRICULUM MODELS OR PROGRAMS AND CENTER FOR LITERACY Creates a new Center for Literacy Research and Reading Success with the authority to recommend reading curriculum models or programs that school districts must use; creates a waiver process to allow districts to use other curriculum models or programs; modifies the definition of reading
Effective July 1, 2022
- §396 — READING AND MATH CURRICULA DEVELOPED BY SDE Eliminates the requirement that the SDE make reading model curricula and frameworks available for grades K-4
Effective July 1, 2022
- §397 — DEFINING READING IN THE REQUIRED PROGRAM OF INSTRUCTION FOR SCHOOLS Modifies definition of reading in the required program of instruction for all schools
Effective July 1, 2022
- §398 — READING ASSESSMENTS Requires the literacy center, rather than the State Department of Education (SDE), to compile a list of approved reading assessments for use by boards of education to identify children reading below proficiency
Effective July 1, 2022
- §399 — INTENSIVE READING INSTRUCTION PROGRAM Broadens the intensive reading instruction program by requiring the literacy center to provide the program to any alliance district board of education that requests it; modifies aspects of related reading programs by placing them under the literacy center
Effective July 1, 2022
- §400 — STATEWIDE READING PLAN Transfers the responsibility of developing the existing statewide reading plan from SDE to the literacy center
Effective July 1, 2022
- §401 — READING READINESS PROGRAM Requires the literacy center, rather than SDE, to operate the reading readiness program
Effective July 1, 2022
- §403 — DIRECTOR OF READING INITIATIVES Requires director of reading initiatives to improve literacy and close the achievement gaps that result from opportunity gaps; specifies that the director’s administration of the incentive program is within available appropriations
Effective July 1, 2022
- §404 — SDE EVALUATION OF LITERACY CENTER Requires SDE to submit an evaluation of the literacy center to the Education Committee.
Effective July 1, 2021
Energy
An Act Concerning the Solicitation of New Fuel Cell Electricity Generation Projects. This Act requires each electric distribution company (EDC; i.e., Eversource and United Illuminating) to (1) solicit proposals to acquire new fuel cell electricity generation projects that begin operation on or after July 1, 2021, (2) select project proposals from those solicitations, and (3) submit their selected proposals to the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA). Under the Act, PURA must evaluate the proposals and may approve them for certain purposes, such as enhancing distribution system reliability.
Effective July 1, 2021
An Act Increasing the Total Output of Class III Sources. This Act temporarily increases, from 4%to 5%, the Class III procurement requirement under the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) law. The RPS generally requires the electric distribution companies (EDCs, i.e., Eversource and United Illuminating) and retail electric suppliers to obtain a portion of their power from certain energy resources categorized as Class I, II, and III. By law, Class III sources include electricity from certain combined heat and power systems, certain waste heat recovery systems, and conservation and load management programs, generally excluding those supported by ratepayers (CGS § 16-1(a)(38)).From January 1, 2022, until December 31, 2024, the Act requires the EDCs and suppliers to obtain 5%, rather than 4%, of the power they provide to customers from Class III sources. (Presumably, the Class III requirement reverts to 4% after 2024, but it is unclear.)
Effective July 1, 2021
An Act Concerning Energy Storage. This Act establishes deployment goals, program requirements, and procurement authority for energy storage.
Effective July from passage
Environment
An Act Concerning Climate Change Adaptation. This Act authorizes all municipalities, rather than just certain ones, to establish a municipal stormwater authority. It expands the authorities’ powers to assess fees and specifies the process by which municipal legislative bodies approve the fees (§§ 1-3). The Act (1) caps the fees collected on certain hospital-owned properties at 15% of the total fees and allows for the properties to be fully exempt until FY 27; (2) restricts the fees for farm, forest, or open space land, or property owned by state or local governments and their agencies, to impervious surfaces that discharge to a municipal separate storm sewer system; and (3) requires a partial fee reduction for property owners who use certain stormwater best management practices.
Effective July 1, 2021
An Act Concerning the Use of Perfluoroalkyl or Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Class B Firefighting Foam. This Act generally prohibits (1) using class B firefighting foam with intentionally added perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) and (2) offering for sale or promotional purposes food packaging with PFAS intentionally introduced during manufacturing or distribution. Under the Act, class B firefighting foam is used to extinguish flammable liquid fires and PFAS is a class of fluorinated organic chemicals containing at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom.
Effective from passage
An Act Concerning a Just Transition to Climate-Protective Energy Production and Community Investment. This Act requires renewable energy project developers to meet certain requirements if their project (1) begins construction after July 1, 2021; (2) has a total nameplate (i.e., generating) capacity of at least two megawatts (MW); and (3) meets certain other criteria.
Effective July 1, 2021
Ethics
An Act Concerning Revisions to the State Codes of Ethics. Among other things, this Act exempts students serving as public officials from certain code provisions (§ 11).
Effective October 1, 2021
Financial Aid and Tuition
An Act Redefining Veteran and Establishing a Qualifying Review Board. This Act expands the general definition of “veteran” under state law to include those released with an other than honorable (OTH) discharge based on specified qualifying conditions and applies this new definition across veterans benefit programs. In doing so, it extends state-based benefits to certain veterans who are currently ineligible.
Effective October 1, 2021
An Act Concerning Student Loan Servicers. This Act requires federal student loan servicers to annually register with the Department of Banking (DOB), rather than obtain licensure as current law requires (§§ 1, 3 & 4). It sets a $900 fee for both registrations and renewals. The Act retains the law’s licensure requirement for private student loan servicers which, under the Act, are student loan servicers responsible for servicing student education loans that are not federal loans (i.e., “private student education loans”).
Effective July 1, 2021
Freedom of Information Act
An Act Exempting Certain Records Concerning Native American Cultural Knowledge from Public Disclosure Under the Freedom of Information Act. This Act exempts certain records of traditional cultural knowledge submitted to a public agency by a member, representative, or lineal descendant of a tribal nation from being (1) deemed a public record and (2) subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The exemption applies to any of these records submitted as part of the consultation process to determine cultural affiliation under the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and its implementing regulations.
Effective October 1, 2021
An Act Concerning Crumbling Concrete Foundations. Among other things, the Act makes changes to disclosure requirements. Current law exempts from disclosure (1) documents executive branch agencies have on claims of faulty or failing concrete foundations in residential buildings by the buildings’ owners and (2) associated agency-prepared documents. Currently, the disclosure protection lasts until the later of May 25, 2023, or seven years after the agency receives the documents. The Act (§6) makes the disclosure exemption permanent. The Act also makes minor changes that specify which records are covered. Under the Act, the executive branch agency protection applies to (1) any records the agencies maintain or keep on file related to claims of or testing for faulty or failing residential concrete foundations, rather than only those related to owners’ claims, and (2) both documents and materials the agencies prepare related to the records. Lastly, the Act extends disclosure protection to records public higher education institutions maintain or keep on file, or documents or materials the institutions prepare, concerning claims of and testing for faulty or failing concrete foundations.
Effective July 1, 2021
UConn Foundation
An Act Concerning Fundraising by the Foundation of the University of Connecticut. This Act prevents the Foundation from receiving less annual university compensation if it meets certain fundraising goals. By law, UConn must have a written operating agreement with the UConn Foundation that governs their relationship, with specific provisions about the cash compensation paid by the university to the Foundation. These provisions generally require UConn to (1) decrease and eventually eliminate payments to the foundation as the market value of its endowment exceeds specified thresholds and (2) increase payments if the endowment’s market value falls below those thresholds. The Act includes a provision by which the existing law’s payment reduction schedule would not apply in any fiscal year when the UConn Foundation’s average fundraising for the previous two years is less than five times its average compensation from UConn during the same period.
Effective July 1, 2021
Health Care-Administration and Finance
Resolution Granting the Claims Commissioner an Extension of Time to Dispose of Certain Claims. This Resolution gives the Claims Commissioner an additional year to review certain claims.
An Act Concerning Home Health, Telehealth and Utilization Review. This Act requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) commissioner, to the extent permissible under federal law, to provide Medicaid reimbursement for telehealth services to the same extent as services provided in person. Existing law requires DSS to provide Medicaid coverage for categories of telehealth services if the DSS commissioner determines they are (1) clinically appropriate to be provided through telehealth, (2) cost effective for the state, and (3) likely to expand access in certain circumstances.
Effective from passage
An Act Concerning the Procedures of the Office of the Claims Commissioner. This Act makes various changes in the laws concerning claims presented to the claims commissioner exclusively seeking permission to sue the state (rather than seeking payment through the claims process). It requires the governor to appoint six attorneys to serve as temporary deputies to hear claims seeking permission to sue that are pending for certain periods. The deputies may serve until September 30, 2023, at the latest. The Act requires them, within 90 days after a claim’s referral, to either deny or dismiss the claim or grant authorization to sue. Among other things, it allows claimants to request that the legislature review a deputy’s decision to deny or dismiss a claim. The Act allows the claims commissioner, without holding a hearing, to grant that permission based on the claim notice or supporting evidence if the attorney or claimant files a motion and an affidavit attesting to the claim’s validity. It (1) specifies the types of opposition that the state may file and (2) requires the court, in some situations, to impose sanctions if the attorney or claimant did not file the affidavit in good faith. It also deems permission to sue granted if the attorney general files a stipulation to that effect. The Act requires claims commissioner nominations to be referred to the Judiciary Committee rather than the Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee.
Effective from passage
An Act Requiring the Provision of Information Concerning Children’s Behavioral and Mental Health Resources in Hospital Emergency Departments and Schools. This Act requires the Department of Children and Families (DCF), by December 1, 2021, to develop a document for each mental health region describing the behavioral and mental health evaluation and treatment resources available to children. DCF must do so in consultation with the Behavioral Health Partnership Oversight Council (BHPOC), the Mental Health and Addiction Services and Public Health departments, and DCF’s Youth Suicide Advisory Board.
Effective July 1, 2021s
An Act Concerning the Department of Public Health's Recommendations Regarding Various Revisions to the Public Health Statutes. This Act’s purpose is to implement the recommendations of the department of public health regarding various revisions to the public health statutes.
- §78-81: This Act requires hospitals to provide DPH access, including remote access, to complete electronic medical records on reportable diseases and emergency illnesses and health conditions, in a manner the commissioner approves. It also requires hospitals to grant DPH access, including remote access, to complete patient medical records related to the 1. Connecticut Tumor Registry, if the department deems it necessary to perform case findings or other quality improvement audits; 2.Maternal Mortality Review Program, if DPH deems it necessary to review case information related to a death under review by the program; and 3. births, fetal deaths, and death occurrences, if the department deems it necessary to perform quality improvement audits and ensure completeness of reporting and data accuracy.(Existing law already grants DPH access to health care provider records for Connecticut Tumor Registry and Maternal Mortality Review Program purposes.)The Act requires hospitals to grant DPH access to the above records by October 1, 2022, if technically feasible.
October 1, 2021
An Act Equalizing Comprehensive Access to Mental, Behavioral and Physical Health Care in Response to the Pandemic. This Act includes various provisions related to racial disparities in public health, health care services, pandemic preparedness, and other related topics. For example, it:
- declares racism as a public health crisis and creates a Commission on Racial Equity in Public Health to (a) make recommendations to decrease racism’s effect on public health and (b) create a strategic plan to eliminate health disparities and inequities across several sectors- physician education from UConn is named to the Commission. §§ 1-2
- requires the Department of Public Health (DPH) to study (a) the state’s COVID-19 response and (b) developing a program to recruit and retain health care workers of color in the state; §5
- establishes a committee to advise the Public Health and Human Services committees on establishing a Commission on Gun Violence Intervention and Prevention;
- sets certain requirements related to demographic data collection in health care; and
- establishes working groups or task forces on other matters, such as breast health and breast cancer awareness, school-based health center service expansion, and peer support services.
- requires the Office of Higher Education, in collaboration with the Board of Regents for Higher Education and the Board of Trustees of the University of Connecticut to evaluate the recruitment and retention of people of color in health care preparation programs offered by the constituent units of the state system of higher education and the inclusion of cultural humility education in such programs.
- starting October 1, 2021, the Act requires hospitals to include implicit bias training as part of their regular training to staff members who provide direct care to women who are pregnant or in the postpartum period. §13
- the Act requires DMHAS to develop a mental health toolkit to help employers address employee mental health needs that arise due to COVID-19. The toolkit must (1) identify common issues and their symptoms and(2) provide information and other resources on actions that employers may take to help employees address these issues. §14
Effective from passage
An Act Concerning Hospital Billing and Collection Efforts by Hospitals and Collection Agencies. This Act extends certain hospital collection laws to cover entities that are owned by, or affiliated with, hospitals. By doing so, it prohibits these related entities, and not just hospitals, from (1) collecting from an uninsured patient more than the cost of providing the services, (2) referring certain patients to collection agencies, and (3) continuing collection efforts in certain situations until they determine whether the patient is eligible for debt reduction or elimination. It also limits or restricts when hospitals, these related entities, and collection agents may refer patients to credit rating agencies, foreclose a lien on a patient’s primary residence, or garnish a patient’s wages. Additionally, the Act makes several changes to laws on facility fees for outpatient services at hospital-based facilities. For example, it (1) expands the type of procedural codes for which hospitals, health systems, and hospital-based facilities may not charge facility fees in certain circumstances, (2) requires various patient notices to include information in 15 languages on free language assistance services, (3) expands certain existing reporting requirements, and (4) establishes new reporting requirements.
Effective October 1, 2022
An Act Concerning Various Revisions to the Public Health Statutes. This Act’s purpose is to make various revisions to the public health statutes. Among other things, the Act requires hospital personnel to ask patients, upon admission, whether the patient wants the hospital to notify a family member, caregiver, or support person of the admission (§ 4); and allows hospitals to provide written discharge planning materials required under existing law to patients and their designated caregivers electronically, if patients agree (§ 10).
Effective July 1, 2021 (hospital discharge plans) and October 1, 2021
June Special Session PA 21-2, 1202
An Act Concerning Provisions Related to Revenue and other Items to Implement the State Budget for the Biennium Ending June 30, 2023.
- § 83 — CONTRACTS BETWEEN HEALTH CARRIERS AND PARTICIPATING HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS Requires health carriers to provide 90-days’ notice before changing certain participating provider contracts and allows providers to appeal any changes. For contracts entered into, renewed, or amended on or after July 1, 2022, the Act requires the:
- health carrier or its intermediary to disclose all provider manuals and policies incorporated by reference, and
- health carrier to provide 90-days’ written notice of any change to these documents or of a material change to the contract or policies a provider must follow under it.
Effective July 1, 2021
- § 190 — STATE AGENCY PURCHASE OF PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (PPE) Generally requires state agencies to make reasonable efforts to buy PPE from companies that changed their business model to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic
Effective from passage
- § 463-468 — AMBULATORY SURGICAL CENTERS - Beginning July 1, 2023, replaces the current 6% gross receipts tax on ASCs with a 3% net revenue tax on ASC services, subject to certain exclusions; eliminates the current exemption for the first $1 million of ASC gross receipts but retains the exemption for Medicaid and Medicare payments
Effective July 1, 2023, and applicable to calendar quarters commencing on or after July 1, 2023
Health Care-Clinical
An Act Concerning Immunizations. This Act eliminates the religious exemption from immunization requirements for individuals attending (1) public and private schools, including higher education institutions, and (2) child care centers and group and family day care homes. Under current law, individuals may opt out of vaccination if they present a statement that immunization would be contrary to their religious beliefs or, for minors, those of their parent or guardian. This Act grandfathers in individuals enrolled in grades kindergarten or higher who submitted a religious exemption prior to the Act’s passage. It continues to grandfather these students if they transfer to another public or private school in the state(i.e., a primary or secondary school). Under the Act, individuals with prior religious exemptions who are enrolled in pre-kindergarten or other preschool programs generally must comply with immunization requirements by September 1, 2022, or within 14 days after transferring to a different public or private program, whichever is later.
Higher Education Immunization Requirements: Connecticut law generally requires full-time students attending in-state post-secondary institutions to provide proof of adequate immunization against measles, mumps, and rubella and chicken pox (CGS § 10a-155). The law also requires each student who lives in on-campus housing to be vaccinated against meningitis (CGS § 10a-155b). Students who provided a statement that such immunization is contrary to his or her religious beliefs prior to the effective date of this section are exempt.
Effective from passage
Health Care-Medical Staff
An Act Expanding Economic Opportunity in Occupations Licensed by the Department of Public Health. This Act generally makes it easier for health care professionals and various tradespeople and other professionals licensed in other states to obtain a Connecticut credential if they reside here. It does so by generally requiring the Department of Public Health (DPH) or Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) to issue the appropriate license or other credential to a state resident, or a spouse of an active duty service member permanently stationed here, if that person meets specified experience and background requirements. The Act requires the DPH commissioner to (1) convene working groups to determine whether Connecticut should join any interstate licensure compacts and (2) report to the Public Health Committee on the groups’ recommendations by January 15, 2022. The Act requires the DPH commissioner to report on whether it would be in the state’s best interest to (1) replace any state exams for DPH-credentialed professionals with tests by national organizations that DPH deems acceptable and (2) reduce any experience and training requirements while increasing testing of applicants’ knowledge or skills. She must report to the Public Health Committee by January 15, 2022, and develop the report in consultation with whatever boards or commissions she deems appropriate. Lastly, the Act requires various state agencies, by January 1, 2022, to report to the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) secretary on certain information related to background check.
Effective October 1, 2021, except July 1, 2021 for the DPH reporting and working group provisions
An Act Allowing Advanced Practice Registered Nurses and Physician Assistants to Issue Home Health Orders. This Act allows physician assistants (PAs) to certify, sign, or otherwise document medical information in several situations that currently require a physician’s or advanced practice registered nurse’s (APRN’s) signature, certification, or documentation.
Effective October 1, 2021
June Special Session PA 21-2, 1202
An Act Concerning Provisions Related to Revenue and other Items to Implement the State Budget for the Biennium Ending June 30, 2023.
- § 199 & 200 — PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT LICENSE FEE Reinstitutes the previous $155 PA licensure fee by eliminating an inadvertent $5 decrease.
Effective July 1, 2021
Health Insurance
An Act Concerning Telehealth. This Act modifies requirements for the delivery of telehealth services and insurance coverage of these services until June 30, 2023. Among other things, it :1.expands the types of health providers authorized to provide telehealth services; 2. allows certain telehealth providers to provide telehealth services using audio-only telephone, which current law prohibits; 3. allows certain telehealth providers to use additional information and communication technologies in accordance with federal requirements (e.g., certain third-party video communication applications, such as Apple Facetime); 4. authorizes the Department of Public Health (DPH) commissioner to temporarily modify, waive, or suspend certain regulatory requirements to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and protect the public health; 5. establishes requirements for telehealth providers seeking payment from uninsured or underinsured patients; 6. requires insurance coverage for telehealth services and prohibits providers reimbursed for services from seeking payment from an insured patient beyond cost sharing; and 7. prohibits (a) insurance policies from excluding coverage for a telehealth platform selected by an in-network provider and (b) carriers from reducing reimbursement to a provider because services are provided through telehealth instead of in-person. Additionally, the Act permits physicians and advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) to certify a qualifying patient’s use of medical marijuana and provide follow-up care using telehealth if they comply with other statutory certification and recordkeeping requirements. They may do so notwithstanding existing laws, regulations, policies, or procedures on medical marijuana certifications (§ 7).
Effective from passage
An Act Concerning Insurance Discrimination Against Living Organ Donors and Establishing a Chronic Kidney Disease Advisory Committee. This Act prohibits an insurer issuing, delivering, or amending a life, long-term care, or disability-income protection insurance policy from discriminating against living organ donation. The Act also establishes a chronic kidney disease advisory committee to, among other things, work with policymakers, public health organizations and educational institutions to increase awareness of chronic kidney disease and develop related educational programs. Beginning by January 1, 2022, the committee must annually report its findings and recommendations to the Public Health Committee.
Effective January 1, 2022, except the chronic kidney disease advisory committee is effective upon passage.
An Act Concerning Explanations of Benefits. This Act requires certain health insurance carriers and their third-party administrators (TPAs)to (1) provide an explanation of benefits (EOBs) to covered individuals for benefits they receive and (2) allow covered individuals, who may legally consent to receive covered medical services, to make a specific written selection about whether and how to receive the EOBs The Act requires health insurance carriers and TPAs to disclose EOB delivery options to covered individuals.
Effective January 1, 2023
An Act Concerning Mental Health Care and Substance Abuse Services. This Act prohibits certain health insurance policies that cover outpatient prescription drugs from: 1. requiring a health care provider to prescribe a supply of outpatient psychotropic drugs greater than that which he or she deems clinically appropriate or 2. imposing a cost-sharing amount (i.e., coinsurance, copayment, deductible, or out-of-pocket expense) for a less than 90-day supply of these drugs that exceeds the 90-day, reduced pro-rata, cost-sharing amount. This Act also establishes a 10-member task force to study mental health service provider networks.
Effective January 1, 2022, except the task force provision is effective upon passage.
An Act Concerning Third-Party Access to Participating Dental Provider Contracts. This Act prohibits the parties to dental provider contracts from allowing third-party access to the contract (i.e., the health carrier’s dental network) unless the third party meets certain requirements. It also (1) allows participating dental providers to decline to participate in third-party access if these parties grant a third party access to the contract in violation of the Act’s provisions and (2) prohibits health carriers and their contractors or subcontractors from refusing to contract with a dental provider because the provider declines third-party access to the contract. The Act applies to contracts entered, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2022.
Effective January 1, 2022
An Act Prohibiting Certain Insurance Discrimination and Establishing a Task Force to Study Insurance Costs Borne by Businesses Located in Distressed Municipalities. This Act prohibits health carriers (e.g., insurers and HMOs) issuing disability income protection policies from refusing to insure a person, varying the terms of coverage, or charging a different rate for coverage because the person has been a victim of domestic violence. Current law prohibits heath carriers issuing other types of health insurance policies from taking these actions because a person has been a family violence victim, which is an undefined term. The Act instead prohibits them from taking these actions because a person has been a victim of domestic violence, as defined in state law. This Act also establishes a nine-member task force to study the insurance costs borne by businesses in distressed municipalities. It specifies the appointing authorities and member qualifications. The task force must report findings and recommendations to the Insurance and Real Estate Committee by January 1, 2022.
Effective October 1, 2021, except the task force provisions are effective upon passage.
An Act Concerning Prescription Drug Formularies and Lists of Covered Drugs. Beginning January 1, 2022, this Act prohibits health carriers (e.g., insurers and HMOs) offering a health benefit plan that covers prescription drugs and uses a formulary (i.e., a list of covered prescription drugs) from removing from the formulary or moving to a higher cost-sharing tier, any covered drug during the plan year except as specifically allowed. This applies regardless of any other general statute provision. Additionally, the Act requires the Office of Health Strategy (OHS), at least annually, to conduct a study to determine the financial impact of the Act’s requirements on the cost of commercial health plans in the state, including those offered and sold on the exchange (i.e., Access Health CT). Beginning by January 31, 2023, and annually thereafter, OHS must report the study results for the preceding year to the insurance commissioner and the Insurance and Real Estate Committee.
Effective January 1, 2022
An Act Concerning Medical Assistance for Children and Adults without Health Care Coverage.
Beginning January 1, 2023, this Act requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) to extend eligibility for medical assistance, subject to income limits and within available appropriations, to certain groups of people regardless of immigration status, who do not otherwise qualify for health care coverage. The Act extends this coverage to(1) children under age 9 and (2) women for 12 months after giving birth. The Act also requires the DSS commissioner to amend the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) state plan to provide medical assistance for prenatal care through the “unborn child option.” This is a state option that allows states to consider an unborn child a low-income child eligible for prenatal care coverage if other CHIP eligibility requirements are met. The Act also requires the Office of Health Strategy (OHS) executive director to study the feasibility of offering health care coverage for (1) income-eligible children ages 9 to 18, regardless of immigration status, and (2) adults with household income up to 200% of the federal poverty level (FPL) who do not currently qualify for medical assistance due to household income. The executive director must report on the plans to the Appropriations, Human Services, and Insurance and Real Estate committees by July 1, 2022. Lastly, the Act allows the DSS commissioner to (1) seek a state innovation waiver under section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or (2) enter into contractual agreements with other states, in accordance with established procedures, as needed to perform duties under the Act. Section 1332 of the ACA allows states to waive certain ACA requirements in order to customize their health insurance systems to better meet the state’s context and needs while retaining the basic protections of the ACA.
Effective October 1, 2021 except the report requirement is effective upon passage
An Act Concerning the Insurance Department's Recommended Changes to the Insurance Statutes. This Act makes a number of unrelated changes to the insurance statutes concerning (1) insurers’ use of genetic testing results, (2) the cancellation of homeowners insurance policies, (3) loss ratio requirements for credit insurance policies, and (4) insurance producer prelicensure education requirements.
Effective October 1, 2021
An Act Prohibiting Certain Health Carriers and Pharmacy Benefits Managers from Employing Copay Accumulator Programs. This Act requires certain health carriers and pharmacy benefits managers, when calculating a covered individual’s cost sharing liability (e.g., coinsurance, copayment, deductible) for a covered benefit, to credit discounts provided and payments made by a third party for any portion of the cost sharing. Thus, the Act prohibits copay accumulator programs, under which drug manufacturer coupons and copay assistance generally do not apply toward a covered individual’s cost-sharing responsibility.
Effective January 1, 2022
An Act Concerning Dental and Vision Insurance Coverage for Children, Stepchildren and other Dependent Children. This Act Requires certain health, dental, and vision insurance policies to continue coverage for a child, stepchild, or other dependent child until the policy anniversary date on or after the date the child turns age 26. Current law with respect to health policies (1) does not explicitly apply to stepchildren or other dependent children and (2) allows the policies to terminate coverage for children before age 26 if they obtain coverage through their own employment. In practice currently, dental and vision policies often end coverage for children at age 18.The Act applies to individual and group health insurance policies delivered, issued, renewed, amended, or continued in Connecticut that cover (1) basic hospital expenses; (2) basic medical-surgical expenses; (3) major medical expenses; (4) accidents only; (5) limited benefits; (6) hospital or medical services, including those provided under an HMO plan; or (7) single service ancillary coverage, including dental or vision coverage. Because of the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), state insurance benefit mandates do not apply to self-insured benefit plans.
Effective January 1, 2022
An Act Concerning Health Equity, the Coronavirus Pandemic and Pulse Oximeters. The Act requires the Department of Public Health (DPH), by January 1, 2022, and in consultation with the Insurance Department, to develop educational materials on pulse oximeters. Specifically, these materials must ensure that health care providers, insurers and other health carriers, pharmacists, pharmacies, and pharmacy benefits managers doing business in the state are informed that a pulse oximeter is more likely to produce an inaccurate blood oxygen level reading for individuals of color as opposed to white individuals. The Act requires DPH and the Insurance Department, by July 1, 2022, to each post these educational materials on its website. The Act also prohibits certain insurers and others providing health insurance from denying coverage for an otherwise covered benefit if the denial is exclusively based on the insured’s blood oxygen level as measured by a pulse oximeter.
Effective July 1, 2021, except January 1, 2022, for the insurance coverage provision
June Special Session PA 21-2, 1202
An Act Concerning Provisions Related to Revenue and other Items to Implement the State Budget for the Biennium Ending June 30, 2023.
- § 15-19 — COVERED CONNECTICUT - Establishes the Covered Connecticut program to provide fully subsidized health insurance coverage for eligible individuals, including dental benefits and non-emergency transport to certain people; allows the Office of Health Strategy to apply for a 1332 waiver to advance the program’s purpose; requires DSS to apply for a 1115 Medicaid demonstration waiver to support the program
As part of the program, OHS must provide premium and cost sharing subsidies that are sufficient to ensure fully subsidized coverage for the following eligible individuals:
- on and after July 1, 2021, parents and needy caretaker relatives, and their tax dependents that are 26 or younger, who are eligible for premium and cost sharing subsidies for a qualified health plan (QHP) but ineligible for Medicaid due to income and who (a) have household income up to 175% of the federal poverty level (FPL), and (b) are covered by a silver-level health plan offered on the exchange; and
- on and after July 1, 2022, all parents and needy caretaker relatives, as well as nonpregnant low-income adults between ages 18 and 64, who are eligible for QHP premium and costs sharing but ineligible for Medicaid due to income and who (a) have household income up to 175% of FPL, and (b) are covered by a silver-level health plan offered on the exchange. No earlier than July 1, 2022, OHS must also provide dental benefits and non-emergency medical transportation services, as those services are provided under Medicaid, for the individuals described in (2) above.
Effective from Passage
Higher Education
An Act Requiring a Study by the Connecticut Higher Education Supplemental Loan Authority, Establishing a Working Group to Study Certain Issues Concerning Financing for Post-Secondary Education and Establishing the Alliance District Teacher Loan Subsidy Program. This Act requires the Connecticut Higher Education Supplemental Loan Authority (CHESLA) to establish an Alliance District Teacher Loan Subsidy Program to subsidize interest rates on CHESLA loans to teachers employed in alliance districts, subject to available funding. It establishes a separate account to hold program funds. Additionally, the Act expands the types of education assistance programs that CHESLA may offer to include other forms of financial assistance, in addition to grants and loans as under current law. It also makes a conforming change to a provision on CHESLA’s authority to establish guidelines, criteria, and procedures for its education assistance program. It requires CHESLA to study (1) how and whether to expand access to its loan programs to additional student loan borrowers, including those who have been previously denied a loan, and (2) how its student loans compare in certain respects to those of other lenders. The Act establishes a 12-memberpost-secondary education financing working group to (1) assist CHESLA in preparing the report described above and (2) study and recommend ways to improve access to and equity in education financing for post-secondary education.
Effective July 1, 2021, except the loan study and working group provisions are effective upon passage
PA 21-114, HB 6203
An Act Exempting Certain Records Concerning Native American Cultural Knowledge from Public Disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. This Act exempts certain records of traditional cultural knowledge submitted to a public agency by a member, representative, or lineal descendant of a tribal nation from being (1) deemed a public record and (2) subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The exemption applies to any of these records submitted as part of the consultation process to determine cultural affiliation under the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and its implementing regulations.
Effective October 1, 2021
An Act Concerning Sexual Misconduct on College Campuses. This Act makes various changes related to the handling of sexual misconduct (i.e., sexual assault, stalking, or intimate partner violence) at higher education institutions. Principally, it: 1) establishes a 20-member Council on Sexual Misconduct Climate Assessments and requires the council to report every two years to the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee, starting by January 1, 2022 (Note: The President of UConn or his designee is a member of the Council; 2) requires the council to, among other things, develop a list of data points for higher education institutions to collect using sexual misconduct climate assessments and establish guidelines for implementing the assessments; 3) requires higher education institutions to, every two years, (a) conduct a sexual misconduct climate assessment and distribute it to enrolled students, starting by March 1, 2023, and (b) report to the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee and higher education institutions on the assessment results; and 4) generally prohibits a higher education institution from taking disciplinary action against students or employees for violating the institution’s drug or alcohol policy, if they, in good faith and regardless of whether they were the alleged victim, report or disclose an alleged sexual misconduct incident that occurred during, or was connected to, the policy violation.
Effective July 1, 2021
An Act Concerning Higher Education. An Act Concerning Higher Education. This Act makes various changes to Higher Education statutes.
Effective July 1, 2021
- 1: The Act requires, by July 1, 2022, and every five years thereafter, each higher education institution’s governing body to review and update its policies on awarding college credit for a student’s military training, coursework, and education.
Effective July 1, 2021
- 2: The Act establishes a 16-member task force to study the costs and benefits of establishing a Postsecondary Prison Education Program Office within the Department of Correction (DOC).
Effective from passage
- § 3-7 Mental Health provisions:
- The Act requires each higher education institution in Connecticut, excluding Charter Oak State College or online institutions, by January 1, 2022, to establish a mental health coalition to assess the presence of mental health services and programs offered by the institution.
- The Act Requires the OHE executive director and DMHAS commissioner, in consultation with an epidemiologist or other student mental health specialist, to jointly offer training workshops for assessment best practices in order foreach higher education institution to evaluate the effectiveness of mental health services and programs offered at each of its campuses; requires certain institutions to maintain a memorandum of understanding with at least one community-based mental health care provider; requires each institution’s governing board to adopt, and update as necessary, a student mental health policy by January 1, 2021
- The Act Requires, by January 1, 2022, the Board of Regents for Higher Education to employ a grant writer to identify and apply for available grant funding to implement or improve mental health services and programs offered by the regional community-technical colleges to address student mental illness
Effective July 1, 2021
- 8: The Act requires the state comptroller, in consultation with the Board of Regents (BOR) and UConn Board of Trustees (BOT) to study and develop a plan to extend eligibility for participation in the state’s group medical insurance planto:1.part-time, professional state system of higher education employees who have taught at least 90 credit hours in the aggregate at any university in the system and 2.retired, part-time professional employees who have taught not less than 180 credit hours in aggregate within the system, regardless of whether the hours were completed at the rate of nine credits a semester. By January 1, 2022, the comptroller must report on the study to the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee.
Effective from passage
- § 9-12: The Act prohibits the charging of graduation fees at public higher education institutions.
Effective July 1, 2021
- 13: Extends the OER Coordinating Council's first annual reporting deadline to February 1, 2022.
Effective July 1, 2021
- 14: Allows student athletes enrolled at a higher education institution in the state to (1) earn compensation through an endorsement contract or employment in an activity unrelated to an intercollegiate athletic program, and (2) obtain the legal or professional representation of an attorney or sports agent through a written agreement, provided he or she complies with their higher education institution's policy on student athlete endorsement contracts and employment activities. Under the Act, if an institution adopts or updates its policy before September 1, 2021, then the above authorizations apply on the date of policy adoption. NOTE- this was amended in CT SB 1202 but has no impact on UConn’s student athletes or processes- see under Athletics.
Effective July 1, 2021
An Act Concerning Crumbling Concrete Foundations. This Act makes various changes in state law concerning “crumbling foundations,” including permanently exempting certain executive branch agency records related to faulty or failing concrete foundations in residential buildings from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and applies the exemption to the same types of records held by public higher education institutions (§ 6). The Act requires executive branch agencies to keep information about claims of faulty or failing foundations confidential in perpetuity (§ 7).
Effective July 1, 2021
An Act Concerning Workforce Development Issues at Public Institutions of Higher Education Related to the Insurance Industry. This Act requires UConn and the Board of Regents for Higher Education shall each, in consultation with employers in the insurance industry in the state, study workforce development issues at public institutions of higher education in the state related to the insurance industry. A report is due to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to higher education by January 1, 2022.
Effective from passage
An Act Requiring the Reporting of Incidents that Resulted in Serious Physical Injuries or Death at Institutions of Higher Education. This Act adds a new reporting requirement to the annual uniform campus crime report that all Connecticut colleges and universities prepare. It renames the report the “uniform campus crime and safety incident report” and requires the institutions’ reports to include the number of accidents that occurred in the immediately preceding calendar year on the property that they own or control and result in (1) serious physical injury and (2) death. This property includes campuses or dormitories in another country that an institution owns or controls for purposes of an international studies or international exchange program
Effective July 1, 2021
June Special Session PA 21-1, SB 1201
An Act Concerning Responsible and Equitable Regulation of Adult-Use Cannabis
- 35 —LOTTERY AND APPLICATION RANKING: The Act defines a “third-party lottery operator” as a person, or a state higher education institution, that conducts the lotteries, identifies the cannabis establishment license applications for consideration without reviewing the applications that are identified for consideration, and has no direct or indirect oversight of or investment in a cannabis establishment. Third-Party Lottery Operator Under the Act, the third-party operator must: 1. not be given any application received after the application period closes; 2. give equal weight to every complete application submitted during the application period; and3.conduct multiple, separate geographic lotteries if DCP requires. The Act requires the lottery operator to conduct a separate lottery for social equity applicants of each license type and a separate independent lottery for each license type that results in each application being randomly ranked starting with one and continuing sequentially.
Effective July 1, 2021
- 86 Prohibited locations: The Act adds to and expands the law’s prohibited locations by including: 1. any area of a state or municipally owned, operated, or leased building, instead of only inside the building; 2. any area of a school building, instead of only inside of it; 3. within or on the grounds of a family day care home, when a child enrolled in the home is present during customary business hours, instead of at any time the child is present; 4. any area of a retail establishment, rather than just a retail food store, accessed by the public; 5. any area of a higher education dormitory, instead of only inside it; and 6.any area of a halfway house or residential facility funded by the judicial branch.
Effective October 1, 2021
- 95 —POSITIVE STUDENT THC TESTS Prohibits, with some exceptions, a positive drug test result that only indicates a specified metabolite of THC from being the only basis for school discipline The Act generally prohibits a student’s drug test that yields a positive result only for a specified metabolite of THC from being the only basis for an educational institution to refuse to enroll or continue to enroll, or otherwise punish, the student. The Act makes an exception in cases where (1) failing to do so would put the institution in violation of a federal contract or cause it to lose federal funding or (2) the student is being drug tested as required by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the penalizing action taken is required by NCAA policies.
Effective July 1, 2021
- 96 —BAN ON REVOKING FINANCIAL AID OR EXPELLING HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS Generally bans higher education institutions from (1) revoking financial aid or student loans or (2) expelling a student, only for use or possession of small amounts of cannabis The Act generally bans public and private higher education institution from (1) revoking any financial aid or student loans or (2) expelling a student, only for use or possession of less than:1.four ounces of cannabis plant material;2.an equivalent amount of cannabis product, defined as (a) 20 grams of cannabis concentrate or (b) any other cannabis product or products with up to 2,000 milligrams of THC; or 3. an equivalent amount of a combination of cannabis and cannabis product, as described above. This ban does not apply if (1) complying with the Act would violate federal law or a federal contract or (2) failing to take those actions would jeopardize the educational institution’s federal funding.
Effective July 1, 2021
June Special Session PA 21-2, 1202
An Act Concerning Provisions Related to Revenue and other Items to Implement the State Budget for the Biennium Ending June 30, 2023.
- § 22-27 & 202 — INSTITUTE FOR MUNICIPAL AND REGIONAL POLICY Transfers the IMRP from Central Connecticut State University to UConn and makes related conforming changes. Section 236 transfers a $50,000 grant for IMRP from CCSU to UConn
Effective July 1, 2021
- 34 — OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE (OER) COORDINATING COUNCIL CARRYFORWARDS Exempts unexpended operating funds of the OER Coordinating Council from lapsing at the end of each fiscal year
Effective July 1, 2021
- § 54-57 — PUBLIC HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION GRADUATION FEE BAN Prohibits assessing or charging a graduation fee to students enrolled in a regional community-technical college, the CSUS, Charter Oak State College, or UConn
Effective July 1, 2021
- 77 — FEE-FREE DAY Requires BOR and BOT to jointly establish an annual “Fee-Free” Day
Effective from passage
- § 78-80 — GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS Creates a new GIS office within OPM and establishes a GIS information officer to oversee the office and its staff; and establishes a GIS Council to consult with the new information officer on matters regarding free and public GIS data. Includes UConn on Advisory Group
Effective October 1, 2021
- 89 — ELECTRONIC SYSTEM FOR TRANSMITTING VOTER REGISTRATION APPLICATIONS Requires DMV, voter registration agencies, and public higher education institutions to use a secretary of the state-approved and NVRA-compliant electronic system to automatically transmit voter registration applications for qualified applicants to registrars of voters unless an applicant declines to apply for admission
Effective January 1, 2022
- 261 — UCONN EARLY COLLEGE EXPERIENCE COURSES Requires UConn to remove Early College Experience (ECE) course prerequisites as much as possible and report to the education commissioner and legislative committees on these efforts and related topics
Effective July 1, 2021
- 262 — COLLEGE CREDIT FOR HIGH SCHOOL COURSEWORK Requires the governing boards of public state colleges and universities to report on their policies for awarding college credit for exam scores earned in advanced high school courses
Effective July 1, 2021
- 263 — STUDENT INFORMATION PROTECTION Exempts specified student information from disclosure under FOIA; prohibits the sharing of higher education student applications and immigration status with federal immigration authorities except under specified conditions
Effective July 1, 2021
- 264 — CREDENTIALS DATABASE Requires OHE to create a database of the credentials offered in Connecticut; beginning by July 1, 2024, requires specified institutions and training providers to submit information about the credentials they offer to be included in the database; creates an advisory council to advise OHE on the database’s implementation; establishes council membership
Effective July 1, 2021
- § 265-267 — HIGHER EDUCATION PROGRAM APPROVAL Decreases, and in some cases eliminates, reporting requirements for independent institutions, BOR, and BOT on new programs and program changes they approve for their respective institutions; requires OHE to report on recommendations for program approval and modification requirements to the Higher Education Committee
Effective July 1, 2021
- 276 – ADDS A UCONN REPRESENTATIVE TO THE NEW ENGLAND BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Effective July 1, 2021
- 293 — CTPASS PROGRAM The Act requires the Department of Transportation (DOT) commissioner to establish the CTpass program by January 1, 2022, to allow certain employees, clients, students, or customers of an approved class for an eligible organization to use certain public transit services without cost or at reduced cost. A higher education institution is an eligible organization.
Effective July 1, 2021
- 493 — ELIMINATION OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION COORDINATING COUNCIL Eliminates the Higher Education Coordinating Council and the annual performance measures reporting
Effective from passage
Human Resources
An Act Concerning Breastfeeding in the Workplace. This Act establishes certain criteria for employer-provided areas used by employees to express breast milk. Existing law requires employers to make reasonable efforts to provide a room or other location near the employee’s work area, other than a toilet stall, where an employee can express her milk in private during a meal or break period. The Act further requires that, as long as there is no undue hardship, this area must (1) be free from intrusion and shielded from the public while the employee expresses milk;(2) include or be near a refrigerator or employee-provided portable cold storage device in which the employee can store her breast milk; and (3) have access to an electrical outlet. By law, an employer’s “reasonable efforts” to provide such an area are those that would not impose an undue hardship on the employer’s business operation. An “undue hardship” is any action that requires significant difficulty or expense when considered in relation to factors such as the business’s size and financial resources and the nature and structure of its operation.
Effective October 1, 2021
An Act Concerning the Removal of Covid-19 Related Layoffs from the Unemployment Compensation Experience Account. This Act disregards an employer’s benefit charges and taxable wages between July 1, 2019, and June 30, 2021, when calculating the employer’s unemployment tax experience rate for taxable years starting on or after January 1, 2022. In effect, this means that the unemployment benefits paid to an employer’s former employees during that period will not affect the employer’s experience rate. The Act's provisions apply to the extent allowed by federal law and as necessary to respond to the spread of COVID-19.
Effective October 1, 2021
An Act Concerning the Disclosure of Salary Range for a Vacant Position. This Act requires employers to provide job applicants and employees with the wage range of their positions. Under the Act, a “wage range” is the range of wages the employer anticipates relying on when setting wages for a position, such as an applicable pay scale; previously determined wage ranges for the position; actual wage ranges for current employees; or the employer’s budgeted amount for the position. The Act also broadens the standard used to determine whether an employer is discriminating in the amount of compensation it pays to an employee based on sex (i.e., gender wage discrimination). Generally, it requires employers to provide equal pay for comparable (rather than equal) work.
Effective October 1, 2021
An Act Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair. This Act makes it an illegal practice to (1) discriminate based on a person’s hair texture and protective hairstyle in employment, public accommodations, housing, credit practices, union membership, and state agency practices or (2) deprive any person of any rights secured or protected by the Connecticut Constitution or the United States Constitution. It does so by specifying that the term "race" includes ethnic traits historically associated with race, including hair texture and protective hairstyles. Under the Act, “protective hairstyles” include wigs, headwraps, and hairstyles such as individual braids, cornrows, locs, twists, Bantu knots, afros, and afro puffs. It adds this protection to those afforded under the existing human rights law under the jurisdiction of the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO). CHRO has the authority to investigate complaints of discriminatory practices. The Act also applies to the laws that govern the awarding of agency, municipal public works, and quasi-public agency project contracts.
Effective from Passage
An Act Restructuring Unemployment Insurance Benefits and Improving Fund Solvency. This Act makes several changes in the unemployment system.
Effective January 1, 2022
An Act Deterring Age Discrimination in Employment Applications. This Act makes it a discriminatory employment practice for an employer or the employer’s agent to request or require a prospective employee’s age, birth date, or graduation date on an initial employment application unless it is (1) for a bona fide occupational qualification or need or (2) required by state or federal law. The discriminatory employment practices law covers employers with at least three employees, including the state and its political subdivisions (CGS § 46a-51(10)).
Effective October 1, 2021
An Act Requiring Employers to Recall Certain Laid-Off Workers in Order of Seniority. This Act requires hotels, lodging houses, food service contractors, and building service enterprises with at least 15 employees to meet certain requirements related to recalling certain employees laid off between March 10, 2020, and May 1, 2022.
Effective from passage
An Act Expanding Workers' Compensation Benefits for Certain Mental or Emotional Impairments Suffered by Health Care Providers in Connection with Covid-19. This Act expands eligibility for workers’ compensation benefits for post-traumatic stress injuries (PTSI) to cover (1) emergency medical services (EMS) personnel;(2) all Department of Correction (DOC) employees;(3) telecommunicators (i.e., 9-1-1 emergency dispatchers); and (4) under certain circumstances related to COVID-19, health care providers. The Act also changes the terminology used in the underlying law by replacing “post-traumatic stress disorder” (PTSD) with “post-traumatic stress injury.”
Effective from Passage
An Act Concerning Access to Certain Public Employees by the Exclusive Bargaining Representative of a Public Employer Bargaining Unit. This Act establishes requirements for public employers (i.e., the state, municipalities, and local or regional boards of education) to provide public employee unions with: 1. certain information about new and current employees; 2. access to new employee orientations; and 3. access to(a) the employees that they represent and (b) government buildings and facilities to conduct meetings with bargaining unit members. The Act also establishes requirements and criteria related to payroll deductions for dues paid to public employee unions.
Effective October 1, 2021
An Act Concerning Dental and Vision Insurance Coverage for Children, Stepchildren and other Dependent Children. This Act Requires certain health, dental, and vision insurance policies to continue coverage for a child, stepchild, or other dependent child until the policy anniversary date on or after the date the child turns age 26. Current law with respect to health policies (1) does not explicitly apply to stepchildren or other dependent children and (2) allows the policies to terminate coverage for children before age 26 if they obtain coverage through their own employment. In practice currently, dental and vision policies often end coverage for children at age 18.The Act applies to individual and group health insurance policies delivered, issued, renewed, amended, or continued in Connecticut that cover (1) basic hospital expenses; (2) basic medical-surgical expenses; (3) major medical expenses; (4) accidents only; (5) limited benefits; (6) hospital or medical services, including those provided under an HMO plan; or (7) single service ancillary coverage, including dental or vision coverage. Because of the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), state insurance benefit mandates do not apply to self-insured benefit plans.
Effective January 1, 2022
An Act Concerning the Duties and Responsibilities of the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. This Act makes various changes affecting the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO) and related laws. Existing law allows state entities’ equal employment opportunity officers to not investigate discrimination complaints filed against the entity if a complaint was also filed with CHRO or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC); instead, the entity may rely on CHRO’s or the EEOC’s process. The Act provides that even if the entity relies upon the applicable commission’s process, it still must mitigate discriminatory conduct and take immediate corrective action to prevent a similar occurrence. This provision applies to state agencies, departments, boards, and commissions. For CHRO complaints that reach the public hearing stage, the Act specifies that the chief referee may serve the complaint and required notice by first class mail, email, fax, or file transfer protocol. By law, CHRO’s executive director must approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove certain contractors’ affirmative action plans within 120 days of their submission. The Act specifies that these contractors are not barred from bidding on future contracts if the executive director failed to meet the deadline and the plan was deemed deficient without consequence. Current law already provides that these contractors are not barred if their plans are deemed approved. For purposes of existing requirements for employee training in sexual harassment laws, the Act allows employers to not provide the training to an employee who, within two years before being hired, received it while working for another employer. This applies if CHRO provided that training in-person or through its online training program required by law (see BACKGROUND). Finally, for all types of discriminatory practice complaints, the Act allows claimants to file a complaint within 300 days after the alleged act. This applies to discriminatory acts that allegedly occurred on or after October 1, 2021. Under current law, claimants have 300 days to file complaints for certain types of discrimination (e.g., employment and several types of state agency discrimination) and 180 days for other types (e.g., housing, public accommodations, and credit).
Effective October 1, 2021
June Special Session PA 21-1, SB 1201
An Act Concerning Responsible and Equitable Regulation of Adult-Use Cannabis
- § 97-101 —EMPLOYMENT RELATED PROVISIONS: Defines numerous terms, including exempt employer and exempt employee; sets rules for what employers are (1) banned from doing and (2) authorized to do under certain conditions; specifies it does not limit an employer’s ability to require employees to submit to drug testing; creates a civil action for employees aggrieved by a violation of the Act’s employer limitations The Act establishes allowed and prohibited employer actions on employee cannabis use and exempts certain types of employers and employees from these requirements.
Effective July 1, 2022
June Special Session PA 21-2, 1202
An Act Concerning Provisions Related to Revenue and other Items to Implement the State Budget for the Biennium Ending June 30, 2023.
- 189 — TASK FORCE ON THE STATE WORKFORCE AND RETIRING EMPLOYEES Establishes a task force to study issues related to managerial and exempt state employees’ retirements and barriers to recruitment
Effective from Passages
Information Technology
An Act Concerning Data Privacy Breaches. This Act expands the data breach notification law to apply to additional types of information and cover additional individuals who keep this information. It extends the data breach notification requirements to include anyone who owns, licenses, or maintains computerized data that includes personal information (data managers), rather than just those who do so in the ordinary course of doing business in the state, as under current law.
Effective October 1, 2021
An Act Concerning Equitable Access to Broadband. This Act contains various provisions related to broadband Internet access service (referred to as “broadband service” below) and broadband Internet access service providers (“broadband providers”).
Effective July 1, 2021
Marine Sciences
An Act Concerning Certain Soil-Related Initiatives. This Act allows the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) commissioner to establish a pilot program to beneficially use as fill certain reclaimed materials that may have very minor amounts of solid waste. Under the Act, the commissioner may authorize four projects using these materials, subject to certain conditions, including that there is no harm or threat to human health, safety, or the environment(§ 1). The Act also requires the DEEP commissioner, by November 1, 2021, to submit a report to the Environment Committee on the approval process for maintenance marine dredging projects for the last four years. The report must (1) describe each dredging project application and (2) analyze how long it took DEEP to act on each application and specify whether DEEP approved or denied the application (§ 5).
Effective October 1, 2021
Resolution Proposing the Adoption of the Long Island Sound Blue Plan. This Act approves the Long Island Sound Blue Plan.
An Act Concerning Connecticut's Shellfish Restoration Program, the Connecticut Seafood Council and the Taxation of Certain Underwater Farmlands. This Act extends Connecticut’s PA 490 program to certain aquaculture operations. PA 490 allows farm, forest, open space, and maritime heritage land to be assessed for property tax purposes based on current use value rather than fair market value(CGS § 12-63).In exchange for this reduced assessment, the property owner cannot change the land’s use for a period of time. By law, if the use changes within 10 years of ownership or classification, a conveyance tax penalty is charged to the owner (CGS § 12-504a).The Act also expands Connecticut’s shellfish restoration program by allowing the Department of Agriculture (DoAg) to do the following: 1. acquire, in addition to purchase as under existing law, shell or other cultch material to deposit on state shellfish beds; 2. contract to use a shell recovery vessel to collect and deposit shell on the beds; and 3. receive and deposit on the beds cultch from oyster shell recycling programs DoAg administers or authorizes. The Act requires private, state, or federal grants and other direct funding for the shellfish restoration program to be deposited in the Shellfish Fund, which DoAg uses to operate the program. It explicitly allows DoAg to use the fund for an oyster shell recycling program it administers with any other person. Lastly, the Act reconstitutes the Connecticut Seafood Advisory Council and renames it the Connecticut Seafood Development Council.
Effective October 1, 2021, and for the PA 490 provision, applies to tax assessments on and after that date.
An Act Concerning the State Budget for The Biennium Ending June Thirtieth, 2023, And Making Appropriations therefor, and Making Deficiency and Additional Appropriations for the Fiscal Year Ending June Thirtieth, 2021.
- Additional Surplus Funds (sec. 27 & 29): $2.5M in FY22 and FY23 for UConn’s CT Institute for Resilience & Climate Adaption
Medicaid
An Act Concerning Changes to the Husky B Program. This Act to changes co-pay requirements for Husky B and eliminate the Husky Plus program.
Effective from passage
June Special Session PA 21-2, 1202
An Act Concerning Provisions Related to Revenue and other Items to Implement the State Budget for the Biennium Ending June 30, 2023.
- 331 — MEDICAID PAYMENTS FOR ACUPUNCTURISTS AND CHIROPRACTORS Requires Medicaid to cover acupuncture and chiropractic services
Effective from passage
- 333 — MEDICAID RATE PARITY FOR CERTAIN PROVIDERS Requires Medicaid rates for (1) nurse-midwifes to equal obstetrician-gynecologist rates and (2) podiatrists to equal physician rates
Effective from passage
- 334 — THIRD PARTY LIABILITY FOR MEDICAL ASSISTANCE PAYMENTS Establishes deadlines for insurers and other legally liable third parties to (1) act on claims DSS submits for covered health care items and services and (2) request refunds from DSS when they determine they are not liable for a claim for which they reimbursed DSS.
Effective July 1, 2021
- 335 — POSTPARTUM CARE EXTENDED TO 12 MONTHS Extends Medicaid coverage for postpartum care for 12 months after birth to a woman otherwise eligible for Medicaid, to the extent permissible under federal law
Effective from passage
- 336 — POSTPARTUM CHILDREN’S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM (CHIP) COVERAGE Extends CHIP coverage for postpartum care for 12 months after birth to a HUSKY B beneficiary, beginning April 1, 2022, to the extent permissible under federal law.
Effective from passage
- 334 — EMERGENCY & NON-EMERGENCY AMBULANCE RATES Increases Medicaid reimbursement rates by 10% for emergency and nonemergency ambulance services and by $3 for transports beginning in FY 22.
Effective from passage
- 344 — UNBORN CHILD OPTION FOR PRENATAL CARE UNDER HUSKY B Amends HB 6687 to limit eligibility for prenatal care to households with incomes at or below 258% of FPL.
Effective October 1, 2021
Pandemic
An Act Establishing a Commission on the Disparate Impact of Covid-19. This Act establishes a 22-member Commission on the Disparate Impact of COVID-19 within the legislative department. The commission must, among other things, analyze and identify the cause of any disparate impact of COVID-19 and the federal and state responses to it on different racial, ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic groups. Starting by January 1, 2022, the commission must annually report its findings and legislative and policy recommendations to the commission’s appointing authorities and the governor. The commission expires on June 20, 2023, or after a two-thirds vote by its membership, whichever is earlier. NOTE: UConn is not expressly named as a member of the new 22-member Commission. Areas of potential interest and appointing authority:
- House speaker: four must have expertise in evaluating disparities in education, housing, and human services
- Senate president pro tempore: four must have expertise in evaluating the impact of COVID-19 on essential workers
- House majority leader: three, two must have expertise in public health and infectious diseases; one must be a teacher
- Senate majority leader: three, two must have expertise in small business; one must be a housing advocate
- House minority leader: three, two must have expertise in nursing homes; one must be a representative of higher education
- Senate minority leader: three, two must have expertise in health care delivery; one must have expertise in the hospitality industry
- Chairperson of the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus: one Representative of the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus
Effective July 1, 2021
An Act Concerning Declarations of Public Health and Civil Preparedness Emergencies and the Creation of a Bipartisan Commission to Study Statutes Governing the Issuance of such Declarations. This Act makes technical changes in statutes concerning public health and civil preparedness emergencies declared by the Governor.
Effective July 1, 2021
An Act Concerning Legislative Oversight and Approval of Covid-19 Relief Funds. This Act establishes a process for legislative oversight and approval of the allocation of COVID-19 funds received from the federal government pursuant to the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, or a subsequent federal act. The Act requires the Governor to submit an allocation plan to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. The Governor’s recommended allocations under the Act would then be referred to the Appropriations Committee, which would report its approval or modifications to the General Assembly for approval.
Effective from passage
An Act Concerning Public Health and Civil Preparedness Emergencies Declared and Renewed by the Governor. The Act’s purpose is to ratify the public health and civil preparedness emergencies declared by the governor. The Act authorizes the to renew said public health and civil preparedness emergency declarations through May 20, 2021.
Effective from passage
An Act Concerning the Declaration and Renewal of Civil Preparedness and Public Health Emergencies by the Governor. The Act authorizes the to renew said public health and civil preparedness emergency declarations through July 20, 2021.
Effective from passage
An Act Equalizing Comprehensive Access to Mental, Behavioral and Physical Health Care in Response to the Pandemic. This Act includes various provisions related to racial disparities in public health, health care services, pandemic preparedness, and other related topics. For example, it:
- declares racism as a public health crisis and creates a Commission on Racial Equity in Public Health to (a) make recommendations to decrease racism’s effect on public health and (b) create a strategic plan to eliminate health disparities and inequities across several sectors- physician education from UConn is named to the Commission. §§ 1-2
- requires the Department of Public Health (DPH) to study (a) the state’s COVID-19 response and (b) developing a program to recruit and retain health care workers of color in the state; §5
- establishes a committee to advise the Public Health and Human Services committees on establishing a Commission on Gun Violence Intervention and Prevention;
- sets certain requirements related to demographic data collection in health care; and
- establishes working groups or task forces on other matters, such as breast health and breast cancer awareness, school-based health center service expansion, and peer support services.
- requires the Office of Higher Education, in collaboration with the Board of Regents for Higher Education and the Board of Trustees of the University of Connecticut to evaluate the recruitment and retention of people of color in health care preparation programs offered by the constituent units of the state system of higher education and the inclusion of cultural humility education in such programs.
- starting October 1, 2021, the Act requires hospitals to include implicit bias training as part of their regular training to staff members who provide direct care to women who are pregnant or in the postpartum period. §13
- the Act requires DMHAS to develop a mental health toolkit to help employers address employee mental health needs that arise due to COVID-19. The toolkit must (1) identify common issues and their symptoms and (2) provide information and other resources on actions that employers may take to help employees address these issues. §14
Effective from passage
An Act Concerning Health Equity, the Coronavirus Pandemic and Pulse Oximeters. The Act requires the Department of Public Health (DPH), by January 1, 2022, and in consultation with the Insurance Department, to develop educational materials on pulse oximeters. Specifically, these materials must ensure that health care providers, insurers and other health carriers, pharmacists, pharmacies, and pharmacy benefits managers doing business in the state are informed that a pulse oximeter is more likely to produce an inaccurate blood oxygen level reading for individuals of color as opposed to white individuals. The Act requires DPH and the Insurance Department, by July 1, 2022, to each post these educational materials on its website. The Act also prohibits certain insurers and others providing health insurance from denying coverage for an otherwise covered benefit if the denial is exclusively based on the insured’s blood oxygen level as measured by a pulse oximeter.
Effective July 1, 2021, except January 1, 2022, for the insurance coverage provision
June Special Session PA 21-2, 1202
An Act Concerning Provisions Related to Revenue and other Items to Implement the State Budget for the Biennium Ending June 30, 2023.
- §35 — AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT REPORTING Requires OPM to collect data on ARPA funds use and submit to the Appropriations Committee the interim and quarterly reports due to the federal government; NOTE: requires separate quarterly reports to the Appropriations Committee on funds for higher education constituent units, UConn, and the judicial branch, with the first report due on Oct. 1, 2021
Effective from passage
- §289 — ESSENTIAL WORKERS COVID-19 ASSISTANCE PROGRAM Establishes the Essential Workers COVID-19 Assistance Program to provide benefits through June 30, 2024, for lost wages, out-of-pocket medical expenses, and burial expenses to qualifying essential employees who could not work due to contracting COVID-19.
Effective October 1, 2021
- § 306 & 307 — ARPA ALLOCATIONS Adjusts ARPA allocations made in the biennial budget Act. Switches UConn’s legacy cost funding provided in the budget from surplus dollars to ARPA.
Effective from passage
Pharmacy
An Act Concerning Prescription Drug Formularies and Lists of Covered Drugs. Beginning January 1, 2022, this Act prohibits health carriers (e.g., insurers and HMOs) offering a health benefit plan that covers prescription drugs and uses a formulary (i.e., a list of covered prescription drugs) from removing from the formulary or moving to a higher cost-sharing tier, any covered drug during the plan year except as specifically allowed. This applies regardless of any other general statute provision. Additionally, the Act requires the Office of Health Strategy (OHS), at least annually, to conduct a study to determine the financial impact of the Act’s requirements on the cost of commercial health plans in the state, including those offered and sold on the exchange (i.e., Access Health CT). Beginning by January 31, 2023, and annually thereafter, OHS must report the study results for the preceding year to the insurance commissioner and the Insurance and Real Estate Committee.
Effective January 1, 2022
PA 21-192, SB 895
An Act Concerning Changes to Various Pharmacy Statutes. This Act makes changes to various pharmacy statutes.
Effective upon passage, except the PMP database provisions (§ 5) are effective July 1, 2022
Public Safety & Emergency Medical Services
An Act Concerning Opioids. This Act requires the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) to establish a pilot program in up to five urban, suburban, and rural communities to serve individuals with opioid use disorder. The department must do this by January 1, 2022. Each participating community must form a team of at least two peer navigators who must, among other things, (1) travel throughout the community to address the health care and social needs of individuals with opioid use disorder rand (2) complete regularly updated training on non-coercive and non-stigmatizing methods for engaging these individuals, as determined by the DMHAS commissioner. The Act also requires the DMHAS commissioner to report by January 1, 2023F, to the Public Health Committee on the pilot program, including its success and any recommendations for its continuation or expansion
Effective July 1, 2021
An Act Studying the Consolidation of Public Safety Answering Points. This Act establishes a task force to study the current system of public safety answering points and make recommendations for consolidating such answering points while prioritizing the need to ensure public safety.
Effective from passage
An Act Concerning Use of Force by a Peace Officer. This Act delays the effective date of 2020 legislative changes affecting law enforcement use of force (§ 29 of PA 20-1, July Special Session (JSS)) from April 1, 2021, to January 1, 2022.
Effective March 31, 2021
An Act Concerning the Certification of Mental Health First Aid Training Programs. Current law requires applicants for paramedic licensure to have successfully completed mental health first aid training provided by a National Council for Behavioral Health-certified instructor. This Act additionally allows applicants to have completed this training provided by other organizations with substantially similar certification requirements, as determined by the public health commissioner.
Effective from passage
An Act Requiring the Reporting of Incidents that Resulted in Serious Physical Injuries or Death at Institutions of Higher Education. This Act adds a new reporting requirement to the annual uniform campus crime report that all Connecticut colleges and universities prepare. It renames the report the “uniform campus crime and safety incident report” and requires the institutions’ reports to include the number of accidents that occurred in the immediately preceding calendar year on the property that they own or control and result in (1) serious physical injury and (2) death. This property includes campuses or dormitories in another country that an institution owns or controls for purposes of an international studies or international exchange program
Effective July 1, 2021
An Act Concerning the use of Opioid Antagonists and Epinephrine Cartridge Injectors by Police Officers. This Act requires law enforcement units to (1) require their police officers to be trained in using opioid antagonists (e.g., Narcan) and (2) acquire and maintain a supply of these medications for use by their police officers when responding to a medical emergency. A police officer who completes the training must be permitted to carry opioid antagonists and administer them to an individual whom the officer believes in good faith is experiencing an opioid-related drug overdose. The Act also requires the Police Officer Standards and Training Council (POST), in consultation with the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection and Department of Public Health, to convene a working group to study the feasibility of requiring police officers to carry epinephrine cartridge injectors (e.g., Epi-Pens) and administer them to an individual whom the officer believes in good faith is experiencing anaphylaxis.
Effective from passage
An Act Concerning Civilian Police Review Boards, Security Guards, Body-Worn Recording Equipment, Searches by Police, Limitations on Offenses Subject to Automatic Erasure, Enticing a Juvenile to Commit a Crime, Lawful Orders by Police Officers and Notice to a Victim Concerning Automatic Erasure of Criminal Record History. This Act makes various changes to the laws regarding (1) police procedures, (2) juvenile criminal matters, (3) security guards, and (4) criminal record erasure under SB 1019.
Effective date varies by section
Research
An Act Concerning Education and Training in Exertional Heat Illness for Coaches, Parents, Guardians and Students. This Act requires any person with a State Board of Education (SBE) coaching permit who coaches intramural or interscholastic athletics to complete an exertional heat illness awareness education program. They must do this before beginning their coaching assignment for the season and then review the program annually before the start of each coaching season. It authorizes SBE to revoke the permits of coaches who do not comply with the requirement, which begins in the 2022-23 school year. The education program must be developed or approved by January 1, 2022, by the intramural and interscholastic athletics governing authority, which is the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC), in consultation with specified organizations. SBE must then publish the plan on its website. In addition to the program, CIAC must also develop for school board use:1. review materials on current and relevant exertional heat illness information annually, starting by October 1, 2022, and 2. a model exertional heat illness awareness plan, by January 1, 2022.The Act also requires school boards to implement the model plan using written materials, videos, or online or in-person training. Starting with the 2022-23 school year, the Act requires school boards to prohibit a student athlete from participating in intramural or interscholastic athletics unless the student and his or her parent or guardian reads or views the training materials or attends an in-person training. The parent or guardian must sign an athletic participation informed consent form issued by the school board that acknowledges compliance with the requirement. Under the Act, an “exertional heat illness” means an illness resulting from engaging in physical activity in the heat, including heat cramps, heat syncope (i.e., sudden dizziness, feeling faint, and fainting), heat exhaustion, and heat stroke (i.e., neuropsychiatric impairment and a high body temperature, typically 105.8 degrees or higher).
Effective July 1, 2021
An Act Concerning Supplemental Revisions to the State's Hemp Program Statute. This Act makes changes to the state’s hemp program statute to comply with the federal U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) final rules for hemp production, which took effect March 22, 2021. Compliance is necessary for the state to receive federal approval of its state hemp production plan. Under state and federal law, “hemp” is the plant Cannabis sativa L and any part of it, including seeds and derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, and salts of isomers, whether growing or not, with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis. The changes under the Act include: 1. allowing remediation of noncompliant crops done in accordance with federal law as an alternative to disposing of them; 2. specifying that, in accordance with federal law, for those convicted of a state or federal controlled substance felony, the prohibition against holding a producer license lasts for 10 years from the conviction date; 3. requiring hemp producer license applicants to submit their employer identification number (EIN), or Social Security number if an EIN is not available, to the state agriculture department; and 4. eliminating a requirement that producer license applicants, who must submit to fingerprint-based criminal history records checks, provide the results through December 31, 2021, to the agriculture commissioner (in practice, the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection provides results to the agriculture department).By law, anyone who produces hemp without a license, or after a license was suspended or revoked, commits an infraction. The Act makes this infraction payable by mail through the Central Infractions Bureau. The Act makes other minor, technical, and conforming changes, including adding several terms included under the USDA final rule.
Effective from passage
An Act Concerning Animal Welfare. Among other things, this Act makes a minor change to align the definition of poultry in the dog and companion animal statutes with the definition of poultry in the poultry dealer statute.
Effective from passage
An Act Concerning Crumbling Concrete Foundations. This Act makes various changes in state law concerning “crumbling foundations,” including permanently exempting certain executive branch agency records related to faulty or failing concrete foundations in residential buildings from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and applies the exemption to the same types of records held by public higher education institutions (§ 6). The Act requires executive branch agencies to keep information about claims of faulty or failing foundations confidential in perpetuity (§ 7).
Effective July 1, 2021
June Special Session PA 21-2, 1202
An Act Concerning Provisions Related to Revenue and other Items to Implement the State Budget for the Biennium Ending June 30, 2023.
- § 22-27 & 202 — INSTITUTE FOR MUNICIPAL AND REGIONAL POLICY Transfers the IMRP from Central Connecticut State University to UConn and makes related conforming changes. Section 236 transfers a $50,000 grant for IMRP from CCSU to UConn
Effective July 1, 2021
- § 78-80 — GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS Creates a new GIS office within OPM and establishes a GIS information officer to oversee the office and its staff; and establishes a GIS Council to consult with the new information officer on matters regarding free and public GIS data. Includes UConn on Advisory Group
Effective October 1, 2021
- §272 — DISCLOSURE OF TAX RETURN INFORMATION FOR RESEARCH OR CP20 WIN DATA REQUESTS Authorizes DRS to release tax return information for evaluation or research purposes under specified conditions
Effective October 1, 2021
State Agencies
An Act Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair. This Act makes it an illegal practice to (1) discriminate based on a person’s hair texture and protective hairstyle in employment, public accommodations, housing, credit practices, union membership, and state agency practices or (2) deprive any person of any rights secured or protected by the Connecticut Constitution or the United States Constitution. It does so by specifying that the term "race" includes ethnic traits historically associated with race, including hair texture and protective hairstyles. Under the Act, “protective hairstyles” include wigs, headwraps, and hairstyles such as individual braids, cornrows, locs, twists, Bantu knots, afros, and afro puffs. It adds this protection to those afforded under the existing human rights law under the jurisdiction of the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO). CHRO has the authority to investigate complaints of discriminatory practices. The Act also applies to the laws that govern the awarding of agency, municipal public works, and quasi-public agency project contracts.
Effective from Passage
An Act Concerning the Duties of the Office of the Attorney General.
This Act expands the attorney general’s powers to include (1) investigating allegations of certain hate crimes and civil rights violations; (2) initiating related legal proceedings, with certain exceptions; and (3) seeking relief for the affected person. When conducting investigations, the attorney general may issue subpoenas and interrogatories consistent with how he investigates Connecticut Antitrust Act violations. But the Act prohibits information obtained from these investigations from being used in any criminal proceeding. The Act specifies that its provisions do not allow the attorney general to assert a claim against a state agency or a state officer or employee whose Act or omission was done in his or her official capacity, unless he determines that the officer or employee is not entitled to indemnification under the law.
Effective July 1, 2021
An Act Concerning the Recommendations of the Governor's Council on Women and Girls. Among other things, this Act: 1. requires the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) commissioner to maintain an online system for submitting recommendations for public member appointees to executive department boards or commissions; 2. requires appointing authorities for state boards, commissions, committee, and councils with members appointed by the Governor or legislators, to, among other things, ensure that the membership is qualified and diverse, consistent with applicable sb3. requires the secretary of the state to publish a report on the gender and racial composition of certain state boards and commissions and compare this information with the state’s gender and racial composition, according to the most recent U.S. census population data.
Effective July 1, 2021
An Act Concerning Public-Private Partnerships. This Act reestablishes, through January 1, 2027, the governor’s authority to approve up to five public-private partnership (P3) project agreements. This authority previously expired on January 1, 2020.It also applies the P3 law to the Department of Transportation (DOT) and transportation projects only, thus reducing the types of state entities and projects covered by the law.
Effective from passage
An Act Concerning State Agency Compliance with Probate Court Orders. The Act specifically requires state agencies to recognize, apply, and honor any probate court order, denial, or decree thatthe court is statutorily authorized to issue. Under the Act, a “state agency” refers to an agency as defined in the Uniform Administrative Procedure Act (UAPA).
Effective October 1, 2021
An Act Concerning the Duties and Responsibilities of the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. This Act makes various changes affecting the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO) and related laws. Existing law allows state entities’ equal employment opportunity officers to not investigate discrimination complaints filed against the entity if a complaint was also filed with CHRO or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC); instead, the entity may rely on CHRO’s or the EEOC’s process. The Act provides that even if the entity relies upon the applicable commission’s process, it still must mitigate discriminatory conduct and take immediate corrective action to prevent a similar occurrence. This provision applies to state agencies, departments, boards, and commissions. For CHRO complaints that reach the public hearing stage, the Act specifies that the chief referee may serve the complaint and required notice by first class mail, email, fax, or file transfer protocol. By law, CHRO’s executive director must approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove certain contractors’ affirmative action plans within 120 days of their submission. The Act specifies that these contractors are not barred from bidding on future contracts if the executive director failed to meet the deadline and the plan was deemed deficient without consequence. Current law already provides that these contractors are not barred if their plans are deemed approved. For purposes of existing requirements for employee training in sexual harassment laws, the Act allows employers to not provide the training to an employee who, within two years before being hired, received it while working for another employer. This applies if CHRO provided that training in-person or through its online training program required by law. Finally, for all types of discriminatory practice complaints, the Act allows claimants to file a complaint within 300 days after the alleged act. This applies to discriminatory acts that allegedly occurred on or after October 1, 2021. Under current law, claimants have 300 days to file complaints for certain types of discrimination (e.g., employment and several types of state agency discrimination) and 180 days for other types (e.g. ,housing, public accommodations, and credit).
Effective October 1, 2021
An Act Implementing the Recommendations of the Auditors of Public Accounts. This Act makes various changes in statutes about state auditors, auditing, and other related topics. Among other things, the Act: 1. explicitly prohibits state agencies from denying the auditors access to their records or accounts (§ 1); 2. (a) requires certain new or amended state contracts to contain a provision allowing the agency to access any relevant data upon demand, at no additional cost, and in the agency’s prescribed format and (b) similarly allows the auditors access to this data when auditing the agency (§§ 2 & 3); 3. requires state agencies to notify the auditors at least 15 days before contracting for auditing services and prohibits agencies from entering into these contracts until the auditors advise whether they can perform the work instead (§ 4); 4. specifies that private providers of special education services are subject to auditing requirements regardless of whether they receive state or local funds directly or indirectly (§ 5); 5. eliminates provisions (a) requiring the state auditors to approve an annual report by the Connecticut Retirement Security Authority and (b) authorizing the state auditors to prescribe the authority’s accounting methods and rendering of periodical reports (§ 7); 6. reduces the (a) amount of time by which a municipality must notify the Department of Administrative Services of its intention to acquire surplus state property from 120 days to 60 days and (b) maximum extension that DAS may grant on this deadline from 60 days to 30 days (§ 8); 7. conforms certain quasi-public statutes to the general biennial audit requirement (§§ 6, 9-11 & 14-15); 8. extends provisions on prohibited activities that apply to state-hired consultants and independent contractors under the ethics code to also apply to people they employ (§ 12); 9. requires DAS, when reviewing final plans any phase of a school building project for conformity with certain requirements (e.g., the State Building Code), to also review them for conformity with school safety infrastructure criteria (§ 13); 10. replaces references to the Office of the Ombudsman within the Department of Children and Families with its Office of Community Relations (§§16 & 17); and 11. repeals a provision requiring state auditors to audit Bradley Enterprise Fund reimbursements to the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection(§ 18).
Effective October 1, 20s21, except the change to surplus property deadlines is effective July 1, 2021.
June Special Session PA 21-2, 1202
An Act Concerning Provisions Related to Revenue and other Items to Implement the State Budget for the Biennium Ending June 30, 2023.
- §89 — ELECTRONIC SYSTEM FOR TRANSMITTING VOTER REGISTRATION APPLICATIONS Requires DMV, voter registration agencies, and public higher education institutions to use a secretary of the state-approved and NVRA-compliant electronic system to automatically transmit voter registration applications for qualified applicants to registrars of voters unless an applicant declines to apply for admission
Effective January 1, 2022
- §123 — WORKING GROUP ON RISK-LIMITING AUDITS Establishes a working group to examine risk-limiting audits and oversee a related pilot program, within available appropriations, in five to 10 municipalities for the 2021 municipal elections. Adds a UConn representative from the VoTeR Center to the working group.
Effective from passage
- § 149 & 151 — PUBLIC AGENCY MEETINGS USING ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT Authorizes public agencies to conduct meetings using electronic equipment until April 30, 2022, and establishes requirements and procedures for doing so
Effective July 1, 2021
- § 150, 151 — MEETING NOTICES GENERALLY Allows public agencies to provide meeting notice by electronic transmission; requires agencies to post certain notices of adjournment on their websites
Effective July 1, 2021
- §148 — FREEDOM OF INFORMATION COMMISSION APPEALS Allows FOIC to electronically send certain documents to parties in an appeal before the commission
Effective July 1, 2021
- §153 — ORDERLY CONDUCT AT MEETINGS Allows public agencies and town meetings to deny disorderly individuals access to meetings by electronic equipment
Effective July 1, 2021
- §189 — TASK FORCE ON THE STATE WORKFORCE AND RETIRING EMPLOYEES Establishes a task force to study issues related to managerial and exempt state employees’ retirements and barriers to recruitment
Effective from Passages
- §190 — STATE AGENCY PURCHASE OF PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (PPE) Generally requires state agencies to make reasonable efforts to buy PPE from companies that changed their business model to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic
Effective from passage
- §271 — DATA SHARING AGREEMENTS Allows state instrumentalities to enter into a data sharing agreement with non-state entities when allowed under state and federal law
Effective July 1, 2021
- § 438-443 — CREDIT CARD SERVICE FEES Generally requires state agencies accepting credit, debit, or charge card payments to charge payors a service fee for doing so and disclose the fee before imposing it.
Effective July 1, 2022
Transportation
An Act Concerning a Highway Use Fee. Beginning January 1, 2023, this Act imposes a highway use tax (HUT) on every “carrier” for the privilege of operating, or causing to be operated, certain heavy, multi-unit motor vehicles on any highway (i.e., public road) in the state. The HUT is calculated based on a vehicle’s weight and the number of miles driven in the state. The Act establishes per-mile tax rates that increase based on vehicle gross weight, ranging from (1) 2.5 cents per mile for vehicles weighing 26,000-28,000pounds (lbs.) to (2) 17.5 cents per mile for vehicles weighing more than 80,000 lbs. Revenue from the tax is directed to the Special Transportation Fund (STF).
Effective upon passage and applicable to calendar months beginning on or after January 1, 2023
Veterans’ Issues
An Act Redefining Veteran and Establishing a Qualifying Review Board. This Act expands the general definition of “veteran” under state law to include those released with an other than honorable (OTH) discharge based on specified qualifying conditions and applies this new definition across veterans benefit programs. In doing so, it extends state-based benefits to certain veterans who are currently ineligible.
Effective October 1, 2021