2024 Legislative Session Summary

Summary of Legislation

The summaries below outline Public Acts passed during the 2024 Regular Session and June Special Session of the 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.

Full 2024 Legislative Report

Agriculture

CT HB 5223, PA 24-69

An Act Concerning Minor Revisions to Agriculture Related Statutes.

This Act makes numerous unrelated changes to agriculture-related statutes.

(Effective dates vary)

CT HB 5225, PA 24-11

An Act Concerning the Recommendations of the Invasive Plants Council.

This Act adds seven plants to the list of invasive or potentially invasive plants that are generally banned in the state. By law, a violator of the ban is subject to a fine of up to $100 per plant. The Act also requires the Invasive Plants Council to submit a report to the Environment Committee by March 1, 2025, on the cultivars of Japanese barberry and burning bush that are sterile and may reasonably be sold in the state. (By law, the council must annually publish and periodically update the list of invasive and potentially invasive plants and recommend ways to control them, among other things.)

(Effective October 1, 2024, except for the report provision, which takes effect upon passage)

CT HB 5338, SA 24-22

An Act Concerning the Admission of State Residents to Veterinary Schools.

This Act requires UConn to assess the feasibility of restarting the Kirklyn M. Kerr program, established pursuant to section 10a-19h of the general statutes, with a school of veterinary medicine that is accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association, with the purpose of supporting the veterinary medicine education of Connecticut students.

It also requires that the University of Connecticut submit a report on the feasibility and cost of restarting the program to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to higher education and employment advancement and appropriations and the budgets of state agencies by January 1, 2025.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

CT SB 194, PA 24-100

An Act Concerning Certain Farming Programs of the Department of Agriculture.

This Act eliminates the current requirement that the agriculture commissioner consult with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) commissioner before approving a request to remove a development rights restriction from agricultural land preserved under either the Farmland Preservation Program or Community Farm Preservation Program. In practice, DEEP is not consulted in these matters. The Act also requires the agriculture commissioner to study the need to establish an annual harvest season for vehicles transporting agricultural products and report his recommendations to the Environment Committee by January 1, 2025. It also repeals various agriculture statutes and makes confirming changes.

(Effective upon passage)

CT SB 296, PA 24-105

An Act Establishing a Task Force to Study the Enforcement of Certain Provisions of the General Statutes Concerning Roaming Livestock.

Existing law prohibits owners or keepers of dogs or livestock from allowing their animals to roam at large on another’s land or a public highway when not under their control. A violation is an infraction. This Act authorizes animal control officers to seek an order enforcing the law, including an injunction, from the Superior Court in the judicial district in which an animal is found roaming at large. By law, land proprietors must install and maintain fences to secure their fields. The Act also requires land proprietors to install fences sufficient to contain their livestock and prevent them from roaming at large. The Act applies the statute’s existing fence specifications, which vary based on the location of the land (i.e., within or outside of incorporated cities). Lastly, the Act establishes a nine-member task force to study enforcement of the law prohibiting dogs and livestock from roaming at large. The task force must report its findings and recommendations to the Environment Committee by January 1, 2025. It ends on that date or the date it submits the report, whichever is later.

(Effective upon passage)

CT SB 435, PA 24-70

An Act Concerning the Designation of Farmland and Open Space Land and Revisions to the Connecticut Entity Transactions Act.

This Act makes the following prima facie evidence of land being classified as “farmland” or “open space land” for the state’s 490 program and qualifying for the program’s reduced property tax rate:

an advisory opinion from the Department of Agriculture (DoAg) commissioner stating that land is “farmland” or “open space land” or
inspection and approval by the DoAg commissioner or his designee of an agricultural or farming operation, place, establishment, or facility.

The Act also specifies that this inspection and approval is prima facie evidence that a farming operation constitutes “agriculture” and “farming,” as under the state’s general definition for those terms, for excluding these practices from being deemed a nuisance due to things like odor, noise, or dust. Lastly, the Act makes changes to the Connecticut Entity Transactions Act (CETA), concerning cross-entity transactions.

(Effective July 1, 2024, except that the CETA provisions are effective October 1, 2024)

Bonding

CT HB 5524, PA 24-151

An Act Authorizing and Adjusting Bonds of the State and Concerning Provisions Related to State and Municipal Tax Administration, General Government and School Building Projects.

§ 19-24 UConn 2000

The bond package adds $625M to UCONN 2000 and extends the program until FY31. The funding will be used to update STEM infrastructure to meet workforce needs, help address deferred maintenance needs, renovate portions of Gampel Pavilion for our national championship basketball programs, and upgrade the Field House and other athletic facilities to address Title IX inequities as follows:

UCONN 2000 Capital Extension ($M)
New Science 2 + Torrey Demo	$294.5
Gant-Code Repairs & Renovations	100.0
Deferred Maintenance	50.0
Return Hydrogen Hub Funds	12.0
Gampel Renovations	100.0
Field House Renovation (Title IX + DM)	60.0
Coventry Boathouse (Title IX)	0.8
Freitas Renovation (Title IX)	7.0
Tennis Facility (Title IX)	0.7
Total UCONN 2000 Capital Extension	$625.0

21 Fundraising Requirements

In exchange for this funding, UConn pledges to raise $100 million by FY32 to support the construction, renovation and operating expenses associated with the new projects being funded in the Act. Of the $100M UConn commits to raise, at least $60M will be for construction expenses with the remaining directed for operational expenses. $10M of the $100M will be in the form of endowed gifts. UConn will be required to report every year to the General Assembly on progress toward the $100M and commits to raising gifts according to a statutory schedule. In any year that UConn does not meet the statutory targets, its Board of Trustees will be statutorily required to lower its request to the Governor for that year’s bond issuance proportionally.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

63 Carbon Sequestration Study:

Requires the DOT to award a grant to UConn’s Department of Natural Resources and the Environment to study carbon sequestration by trees and other vegetation along roads and other areas in the state. The department must submit, to the Transportation and Environment committees, an interim report by January 1, 2025, and final report with its findings and recommendations by July 1, 2025. It must also present either or both of these reports at a joint hearing held by these committees. The expectation is that the grant provided to conduct the study will be $50,000.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

146 Hospital Financial Reporting:

Requires hospitals to report semi-annually, starting by October 31, 2024, to the Office of Health Strategy (OHS) on certain financial information for the prior two calendar quarters. Specifically, hospitals must report the 1.) number of days of cash on hand, or days cash and cash equivalents otherwise available to them, and 2.) dollar amounts of the following expenses that are at least 90 days past due in the reporting period: 1. any invoices or utility bills; 2. fees, taxes, or assessments owed to public entities; and 3. unpaid employee health insurance premiums, including unpaid contributions, claims, or other obligations supporting employees under self-insured or fully-insured plans. If a hospital reports multiple consecutive quarters of 100 or more days of cash on hand, OHS may waive one of the two semi-annual reports.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

148 OPM UConn Health Study:

A provision carrying forward money from the Cannabis Fund in the amount of $1.1M to OPM for the study and operations of the UConn Health Center, to be spent by FY24. UConn Health's OPM analyst has confirmed the funds are to cover the costs associated with Cain Study commissioned by OPM in 2023.

(Effective upon passage)

170 Indoor Air Quality in K-12 Schools:

Earmarks up to $15 million for grants for K-12 schools to purchase equipment and materials for constructing and installing individual classroom air purifiers. Up to $11.5 million of the $15 million is dedicated to UConn as part of the Supplemental Air Filtration for Education program under the Clean Air Equity Response Program to use for this purpose. It earmarks the remainder for an organization or organizations that provide equipment and materials for individual classroom air purifiers to schools.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

Budget

CT HB 5523, PA 24-81

An Act Concerning Allocations of Federal American Rescue Plan Act Funds and Provisions Related to General Government, Human Services, Education and the Biennium Ending June 30, 2025.

A summary of the impact to UConn and UConn Health follows:

$80M in additional ARPA funds are provided to UConn and UConn Health in FY25. The allocation is:

UConn	UConn Health	Total
$57.7	$22.3	$80.0

Wage Reopener: OPM has confirmed the state will cover through the Reserve for Salary Account some of the wage increases negotiated by the state. We requested funding in the amount of $9.6M for Storrs and $5.0M for UConn Health, which represents 4.5% times the value of the block grant. In FY25, the state will cover $7.8M for UConn and $4.1M for UConn Health. This funding covers 26% of UConn’s total salaries; 32% of salaries at UConn and 19% at UConn Health.

(Effective from passage)

5 Holdbacks: The budget also allows the Office of Policy and Management to reduce $177.7M of funding to state agencies to achieve savings targets across state government.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

7 Additional ARPA funds

After October 15, 2024, there is the possibility of receiving additional unallocated ARPA funds totaling up to $20M ($10M to UConn and $10M to UConn Health). These funds are not automatic and will only be dispersed if all state agency deficiencies (if any) are covered first, and if the Secretary “reasonably believes” any remaining ARPA funds will not be obligated by December 31, 2024 or expended by December 31, 2026.

(Effective from passage)

18 and §49 — Needs Assessment on Postsecondary Education Programs in Correctional Facilities

Requires OPM’s Criminal Justice Policy and Planning Division, in consultation with DOC, to do a needs assessment of the facilities, materials, and staffing required to deliver postsecondary education programs in correctional facilities.

feedback solicitation from higher education institutions that provide postsecondary education programs in correctional facilities to understand current needs;
an analysis of DOC’s policies on incarcerated individuals’ postsecondary education;
an estimate of the level of unmet demand for this type of education;
an inventory of (a) correctional facilities (including classrooms multi-purpose rooms, libraries, and study rooms), (b) staffing, and (c) materials currently available for education delivery (including education technology and internet access);
recommendations for and a cost analysis of improving facilities, staffing, and materials to meet the unmet demand;
a survey of (a) students of postsecondary education programs in correctional facilities; (b) former students of these programs, in consultation with regional reentry programs; and (c) any person or group the division deems necessary; and
a listing of any other barriers to the effective delivery of these education programs.

The Act requires the OPM secretary to report on the needs assessment to the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee by January 1, 2025.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

22 — STUDENT LOAN REIMBURSEMENT PILOT PROGRAM

Modifies eligibility requirements for the OHE Student Loan Reimbursement Pilot Program, including (1) expanding the program to students who have attended and graduated with an associate degree, (2) requiring the OHE executive director to establish hardship waiver qualifications and forms, and (3) requiring specific documentation from participants as part of their annual reporting requirements.

44 UConn Health Fringe Benefit Differential: The Act restores the language concerning the long-standing fringe benefit differential for UConn Health employees providing OPM with the mechanism to provide the $4.5M in FY24 and $4.3M in FY25 that was appropriated in the biennial budget. It also requires the Comptroller to enter into a MOU with UCHC for the purpose of providing operating support.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

ARPA Funds Elimination:

1 $500,000 in ARPA funds that were allocated to NEAG School of Education in FY23 to conduct a social media study were eliminated, ~$230,000 has already been expended and not reimbursed by the state for this study.

(Effective from passage)

The Act also reduces ARPA funds to the Department of Public Health, who had entered into a multi – year Memorandum of Understanding with UConn’s Rudd Center to conduct a study concerning COVID-19 and obesity. The allocation to DPH went from $1M to $104K. Work is underway and funds have been expended for the study. The total budgetary impact to UConn is under review.

53 Financial Aid / State Funded Roberta Willis Scholarship Program:

This Act makes a procedural change regarding FAFSA calculations, to individual need-based student grant amounts for the Willis Scholarship, in FY25. To the extent that students receive a larger or smaller grant, there could be a corresponding redistribution of financial aid funds among Willis recipients and some students may receive grants who would not qualify under the final FAFSA calculations.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

107 Higher Education Financial Sustainability Advisory Board: The Act establishes within the legislative branch, the Higher Education Financial Sustainability Advisory Board, whose powers and duties include:
1. Meeting with the public institutions of higher education and UConn Health, accept and review information required by the Advisory Board (detailed below) and to a) discuss barriers to meeting state workforce needs, b) developing economic growth and c) achieving or maintaining affordable tuition;
2. Obtaining from any executive department, board, commission or other agency the assistance and data needed to carry out the board’s powers and duties

It requires each public higher education institution and UConn Health to submit the following information, as requested by the board chairpersons:

a detailed financial report for the current fiscal year, subsequent fiscal year, and five preceding fiscal years, that identifies each revenue source, expense category, and any assumptions upon which the reports are based;
a detailed plan that eliminates a deficiency if the current or subsequent year’s financial report projects one;
a summary and general ledger account code analysis of the institution’s unrestricted net position for the most recently completed fiscal year;
the number of full- and part-time enrolled students disaggregated by in-state and out-of-state;
the number of vacant and filled employment positions disaggregated by bargaining unit and management confidential type with corresponding average salaries from the first payroll in October of the most recently completed fiscal year;
a summary of the institution’s cost drivers;
a summary of budget constraints affecting (a) workforce developments, economic development efforts, and student quality of life, including time required for degree completion, and (b) research productivity and faculty retention and recruitment; and
any other financial, operational, performance, or other outcome information, metrics, or data the board requests.

Membership of the Advisory Board includes: the chairpersons and ranking members of the Appropriations, Appropriations Higher Education Subcommittee, Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committees and the OPM secretary. The Appropriations Chairs and the OPM secretary will serve as chairpersons. The first meeting will be held by September 1, 2024; and meet at least quarterly thereafter.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

120 and 122 Asset and Capacity Mapping for Nonprofits: The Act allocates $100,000 to SDE and requires the agency to enter into an MOU with the UConn to provide the funds to the UConn School of Public Policy to conduct a study and comprehensive asset and capacity mapping for nonprofit organizations. The Act requires SDE to make all payments no later than September 30, 2024. The School of Public Policy must consult with state agencies, nonprofit organizations, and philanthropic associations while conducting the study. The school must submit to the Education Committee a preliminary report by October 1, 2024, and a final report by June 30, 2025.

Contracting

CT SB 107, PA 24-22

An Act Updating Requirements for Construction Management Oversight at the University of Connecticut, Pausing the Requirement for a Plan to Increase the Number of Full-Time Faculty at Public Institutions of Higher Education and Replacing References to the President of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities with the Chancellor of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities.

§ 1-3: Eliminates the Construction Management Oversight Committee (CMOC) and transfers its responsibilities to the UConn Board of Trustees (BOT), or one of the board’s committees. Current law charges CMOC with overseeing and implementing the UConn 2000 program; however, it functionally disbanded in 2014 after completing its major work and BOT assumed its responsibilities. CMOC’s oversight responsibilities include, among other things, reviewing and approving UConn 2000 policies and procedures on selecting professionals and contractors. It also must review each project after completion. (UConn 2000 is an infrastructure program that allows the university to use certain bond proceeds on specified projects.)

(Effective July 1, 2024)

CT SB 501, PA 24-1 (Special session June 2024)

An Act Concerning Motor Vehicle Assessments for Property Taxation, Innovation Banks, the Interest on certain Tax Underpayments, the Assessment on Insurers, School Building Projects, the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority Charter and Certain State Historic Preservation Officer Procedures.

43 — SHPO PROJECT REVIEW

Codifies in statute procedures for State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) reviews to determine a proposed project’s impact on historic structures and landmarks; requires SHPO to make a determination within 30 days and develop a mitigation plan with the project proponent under certain circumstances; allows a project proponent to request that DECD review the proposed plan.

(Effective October 1, 2024)

Education K-12

EDUCATION K-12

CT HB 5436, PA 24-41

An Act Concerning Educator Certification, Teachers, Paraeducators and Mandated Reporter Requirements.

This Act revises and updates the laws governing teacher certification, including, among other things:

3 This Act requires, beginning July 1, 2025, that any elementary education teacher preparation program be aligned with any professional standards and competencies for early childhood educators developed by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

(Effective July 1, 2024)

10 The Act creates the Connecticut Educator Preparation and Certification Board (CEPCB), which it deems responsible for modernizing and aligning educator preparation and certification to ensure that policies attract and retain effective and diverse professionals to work in Connecticut’s public schools.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

CT HB 5437, PA 24-45

An Act Concerning Education Mandate Relief, School Discipline and Disconnected Youth.

This Act makes various changes in the state’s education laws. Among other things, it:

§ 2-5 Requires that (1) the manner and frequency of in-service training for certified educators be

determined by the school board’s professional development and evaluation committee and

(2) the required subject matter be provided at least once every five years; eliminates

specified subject matter from in-service training that, generally, is addressed by other

training requirements; restores in-service training requirements that inadvertently sunset

in 2025.

(Effective July 1, 2024, except that the restoration of the 2023 enacted requirements is effective July 1, 2025)

§ 9 & 10 Delays the FAFSA completion requirement to the graduating class of 2027 and exempts certain international students at endowed academies from the requirement; eliminates the option for school boards to require students to complete a one-credit mastery-based diploma assessment; eliminates the ban on partisan political activities counting as community service; adds physician assistants to the list of practitioners who may certify that a student should not participate in physical education

(Effective July 1, 2024)

16 The Act requires the Social and Emotional Learning and School Climate Advisory Collaborative (i.e., “the collaborative”) to develop a (1) school climate survey standard and (2) model school climate improvement plan. For the survey, the standards must address collecting diversity, equity, and inclusion data and how to reduce disparities in data collection between school districts.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

20 Requires State Department of Education (SDE) to appoint a state director of school climate improvement.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

CT HB 5523, PA 24-81

An Act Concerning Allocations of Federal American Rescue Plan Act Funds and Provisions Related to General Government, Human Services, Education and the Biennium Ending June 30, 2025.

ARPA Funds Elimination: $500,000 in ARPA funds that were allocated to NEAG School of Education in FY23 to conduct a social media study were eliminated, ~$230,000 has already been expended and not reimbursed on this study.

(Effective from passage)

CT SB 5, PA 24-74

An Act Concerning School Resources.

This Act makes various unrelated changes to education law, including:

expanding Care 4 Kids program eligibility to parents or guardians of children who are enrolled in Medicaid and adds them to the existing priority intake and eligibility list;
expanding the Open Choice pilot program for Norwalk and Danbury;
requiring the social services and early childhood commissioners to enter a memorandum of understanding to share Medicaid enrollment data for people applying to Care 4 Kids;
pushing out the start date for SDE’s wholesome school meals pilot grant program to FY 25;
extending, from January 1, 2025, to June 30, 2031, the deadline for local and regional boards of education (i.e., “school boards”) to complete a uniform inspection and evaluation of their school buildings’ heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC); and
extending the deadline, from July 1, 2024, to January 1, 2031, for the school indoor air quality working group to submit its final report, adds two member to the working group and specifies that the House minority leader’s industrial hygienist appointment must be from the UConn Health Center.

(Effective July 1, 2024, except that the provision on the indoor air quality working group is effective upon passage)

CT SB 14, PA 24-78

An Act Assisting School Districts in Improving Educational Outcomes.

This Act makes various changes to education statutes, among other things, it:

§ 1 & 2 Requires SDE’s Center for Literacy Research and Reading Success to make certain resources available to the faculty of teacher preparation programs; expands the requirement that SDE’s Office of Dyslexia and Reading Disabilities;
§ 3 & 4 Requires SDE to conduct a study on the feasibility of establishing and administering a state-wide program to support public high school students’ participation in advanced placement courses; and
5 Allows a broader range of schools to award the Connecticut State Seal of Biliteracy on their high school diplomas.

(Effective dates vary)

CT SB 154, PA 24-93

An Act Concerning Schools.

This Act makes numerous, unrelated changes to education law, among other things, it:

§ 1 & 20 requires a comprehensive audit of public school student assessments (i.e., tests);
§ 3-5 Suspends enforcement of the state’s school racial imbalance law until July 1, 2025;
11 Creates two new parental notifications related to student behavior;
13 Adds new members to the Civics and Media Literacy Task Force and the Special Education Task Force; and
14 Requires that Reading Leadership Implementation Council members’ initial terms expire on June 30, 2024, and that subsequent appointments be made by July 1, 2024.

(Effective dates vary)

CT SB 349, SA 24-14

An Act Concerning Dyslexia Screening of Individuals Who Are Incarcerated.

The Act requires the Department of Correction (DOC) to assess and consider means for dyslexia screening and report its findings and recommendations.

(Effective from passage)

Energy

CT SB 385, PA 24-38

An Act Concerning Energy Procurements.

This Act includes provisions on energy procurements, among other things, it:

1 Requires DEEP to coordinate zero-carbon procurements for nuclear facilities with other states starting July 1, 2024, and prohibits PURA from approving any agreements with nuclear facilities unless at least two other states have also approved the agreement;
2 Adds requirements to the existing offshore wind procurement authorization related to employing state commercial fishing licensees; allows DEEP to enter into agreements for terms up to 30 years, rather than 20 years, if the solicitation is coordinated with at least one other state and officials from that state select a proposal;
3 Delays the Class III RPS sunset until December 31, 2029, but exempts certain retail electric supply contracts from Class III RPS requirements;
4 Authorizes the DEEP commissioner to solicit proposals from providers of instantaneous run-of-the-river hydropower that is interconnected to the electric distribution system and allows her to select proposals for up to 20 MW in total by December 31, 2025;
6 For biomass facilities with certain existing PPAs, authorizes the DEEP commissioner to direct EDCs to enter into additional biomass PPAs for up to 10 years; and
8 Allows PURA to select other agencies or EDCs to implement certain renewable energy programs and EV charging programs.

(Effective upon passage, except that the provisions on the Class III RPS, the run-of-the-river hydropower solicitation, and PURA’s selection of other agencies to implement certain programs are effective July 1, 2024.)

Ethics

CT HB 5407, PA 24-128

An Act Defining "Dependent Child" For Purposes of the State Code of Ethics for Public Officials and Concerning the Exercise of Jurisdiction Over Nonresidents by the Office of State Ethics.

This Act defines a “dependent child” in the state’s Code of Ethics for Public Officials as a covered official’s son, daughter, or stepchild who qualifies as the official’s dependent child under federal tax law. Generally, to qualify as a dependent child under federal tax law, a child must (1) share a principal residence with the official; (2) be under age 19 or 24, if a student; (3) have provided for less than half of their own support for the year; and (4) not have filed a joint return with their spouse.

(Effective October 1, 2024)

Financial Aid & Tuition

CT HB 5437, PA 24-45

An Act Concerning Education Mandate Relief, School Discipline and Disconnected Youth.

§ 9 & 10 Delays the FAFSA completion requirement to the graduating class of 2027 and exempts certain international students at endowed academies from the requirement; eliminates the option for school boards to require students to complete a one-credit mastery-based diploma assessment; eliminates the ban on partisan political activities counting as community service; adds physician assistants to the list of practitioners who may certify that a student should not participate in physical education

(Effective July 1, 2024)

CT HB 5523, PA 24-81

An Act Concerning Allocations of Federal American Rescue Plan Act Funds and Provisions Related to General Government, Human Services, Education and the Biennium Ending June 30, 2025.

22 — STUDENT LOAN REIMBURSEMENT PILOT PROGRAM

53 Financial Aid / State Funded Roberta Willis Scholarship Program:

Makes a procedural change regarding FAFSA calculations, to individual need-based student grant amounts for the Willis Scholarship, in FY25. To the extent that students receive a larger or smaller grant, there could be a corresponding redistribution of financial aid funds among Willis recipients and some students may receive grants who would not qualify under the final FAFSA calculations.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

87 — Repeal of Student Loan Reimbursement and Mental Health Grant Program

Repeals Sections 10a-19e, 10a-19f, 10a-19i, 10a-162a, 10a-164b, 10a-167,

10a-169b and 19a-7d of the general statutes are repealed.

The Act repeals the following programs that OHE administers:

the “Engineering Connecticut” student loan reimbursement program;
the “You Belong” student loan reimbursement program;
the Connecticut green technology, life science, and health information technology student loan reimbursement program;
a program, which under current law requires the office to provide grants in FYs 23-25 to public and private colleges and universities for delivery of student mental health services on campus;
the Act also repeals the information technology student loan reimbursement pilot program, administered by BOR;
the Act also repeals (1) a state scholarship program, which undercurrent law forgives loans provided by the state to residents for nursing education if the resident remains in the nursing field in the state for five years; and (2) a scholarship program for Vietnam-era veterans;
the Act also repeals the Department of Public Health’s (DPH) primary care direct services program. Under current law, the program provides, within available resources, three-year grants to community based primary care providers to expand health care access to the uninsured.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

CT SB 13, PA 24-52

An Act Incentivizing Student Loan Repayment Assistance.

This Act expands the student loan payment tax credit for qualified employers that make eligible student loan payments on a qualified employee’s behalf. It also caps the aggregate amount of tax credits the DRS commissioner may reserve for this program at $10 million per calendar or income year, and the credits must be reserved in the order of applications the commissioner receives. It also requires CHESLA to (1) establish a High Priority Occupation Loan Subsidy Program to subsidize interest rates on loans it issues to eligible individuals employed in high priority occupations and (2) consult with the Office of Workforce Strategy (OWS) to designate occupations as such.

(Effective July 1, 2024, except the tax credit expansion is effective January 1, 2025, and applicable to calendar or income years commencing on or after that date)

CT SB 304, PA 24-64

An Act Implementing the Recommendations of the Connecticut Higher Education Supplemental Loan Authority.

This Act allows Connecticut residents who are under age 18 to sign for a Connecticut Higher Education Supplemental Loan Authority (CHESLA) loan if they obtain the loan with an adult cosigner (i.e., age 18 or older). They must be otherwise eligible for the loan, and the Act deems them to have full capacity to act on the loan with all the powers, privileges, and obligations of someone who is age 18, including as it relates to applying, receiving, and repaying the loan. In practice, some people applying for college are under 18 when an education loan must be signed.

(Effective upon passage)

Health Care- Administration and Finance

CT HB 5058, PA 24-83

An Act Adopting the Nurse Licensure Compact.

This Act enters Connecticut into the Nurse Licensure Compact from October 1, 2025, until January 1, 2028. The compact creates a process for registered nurses (RNs) or licensed practical/vocational nurses (LPNs/VNs) to get a multistate license, allowing them to practice in any compact party state (including by telehealth). The Interstate Commission of Nurse Licensure Compact Administrators administers the compact, and Connecticut joins the commission under the Act.

Among various other provisions, the compact:

sets eligibility criteria for nurses to practice under the compact;
addresses several matters related to disciplinary actions for nurses practicing under it;
allows the commission to levy an annual assessment on party states to cover its operations costs;
only allows compact amendments to take effect if all party states adopt them into law; and
has a process for states to withdraw from it.

(Effective from passage)

CT HB 5198, PA 24-110

An Act Concerning Telehealth.

This Act makes permanent certain temporary expanded requirements for telehealth service delivery and insurance coverage enacted under PA 21-9 and PA 22-81 that will sunset under current law on June 30, 2024.

Among other things, these provisions include:

allowing authorized telehealth providers to use audio-only telephone to provide services;
allowing authorized providers to provide telehealth services from any location to patients at any location, subject to applicable state and federal requirements;
prohibiting providers from charging uninsured patients more than the Medicare reimbursement rate for telehealth services; and
prohibiting health carriers (e.g., insurers and HMOs) from reducing the amount of reimbursement they pay to telehealth providers for covered services appropriately provided through telehealth instead of in-person.

The Act also expands the list of authorized telehealth providers to include all Connecticut licensed health care providers and pharmacists.

Additionally, the Act repeals a provision in current law that permanently allows out-of-state mental or behavioral health services providers to practice telehealth in Connecticut under certain conditions. It instead temporarily allows them to do so, until June 30, 2025, if they meet certain requirements, such as registering with the Department of Public Health (DPH) and obtaining a Connecticut license within a specified timeframe. It requires Connecticut providers or entities that engage or contract with these out-of-state providers to verify that they registered with DPH.

The Act also repeals a provision in current law permitting the DPH commissioner to issue an order authorizing out-of-state telehealth providers to practice in Connecticut.

It also makes confirming changes.

(Effective upon passage, except that conforming changes to two insurance provisions take effect July 1, 2024 (§§ 5 & 7))

CT HB 5200, PA 24-113

An Act Concerning Health Care Accessibility for Persons with A Disability.

This Act requires group practices of at least nine physicians, advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), or a combination of them (hereafter “practice locations”) to consider certain federal technical accessibility standards when purchasing medical diagnostic equipment. Specifically, these practice locations must consider the technical standards developed by the federal Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board in accordance with the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (hereafter “standards for accessibility”). Existing law already requires health care facilities (i.e., hospitals, outpatient clinics, and long-term care and hospice facilities) to do this.

The Act also requires the public health commissioner to annually notify these practice locations, as she must currently do for health care facilities, about information on providing health care to people with accessibility needs, including the standards for accessibility. It eliminates current law’s requirement that she also notify licensed physicians, physician assistants (PAs), and APRNs individually. Additionally, starting January 1, 2025, the Act requires these facilities and practice locations to take certain related administrative actions, such as (1) training direct care staff on policies and procedures for patients with accessibility needs, (2) taking an inventory of all medical diagnostic equipment, and (3) creating a plan to address inventory gaps and identify steps needed to ensure compliance with the standards for accessibility.

Starting January 1, 2026, the Act also requires, with certain exemptions, health care facilities and practice locations with three or more examination rooms to have certain accessible medical diagnostic equipment (e.g., at least one weight scale and one examination table or chair in at least one examination room that accommodates patients using assistive devices). These requirements are effective until federal regulations are mandated on accessibility of medical diagnostic equipment.

Lastly, the Act specifies which health care facility construction guidelines the Department of Public Health (DPH) must use when reviewing a health care facility’s plan for a construction or renovation project that is necessary to comply with state law’s requirements for accessibility of medical diagnostic equipment.

The Act also makes technical changes.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

CT HB 5290, PA 24-68

An Act Concerning the Department of Public Health's Recommendations Regarding Various Revisions to The Public Health Statutes.

This Act implements the Department of Public Health's recommendations regarding various revisions to the public health statutes. Among other things, it:

6 Generally expands DPH’s online license renewal system to include all DPH-licensed professions, rather than just a subset of providers;
7 Removes the requirement that a witness sign the form before a patient may participate in the medical orders for life-sustaining treatment program;
8 Streamlines the process for dentists seeking a moderate sedation or general anesthesia permit for multiple locations after they have been approved for one location; requires DPH to post online a list of required equipment, personnel, and emergency medications for dental locations that administer moderate or deep sedation or anesthesia; and makes other changes to this permit process;
15 Requires EMS personnel trained in administering epinephrine to do so only if the medication is available, and provides that emergency medical responders’ training in this regard must be limited to methods that are within their scope of practice;
§ 32 & 33 Lowers the maximum civil penalty that DPH may impose against individual health care providers from $25,000 to $10,000; generally authorizes DPH, after a hearing, to impose a civil penalty of up to $25,000 on a health care institution that substantially failed to comply with statutory or regulatory requirements;
37 Adds to the list of organizations from whom a clinical medical assistant may be certified for purposes of qualifying to administer vaccines in non-hospital setting;
40 Allows a master social worker licensure candidate’s degree to be from a program that is in the process of getting accredited, before the spring 2028 semester;
42 Allows APRNs meeting certain training, experience, and examination requirements to use fluoroscopy for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, if they do so in collaboration with a physician trained in radiation protection, and while wearing a radiation safety badge; and
62 Extends by one year the reporting deadline for a task force on ways to address the shortage of certain practitioners;

(Effective dates vary)

CT HB 5291, PA 24-120

An Act Concerning the Department of Public Health's Recommendations Regarding Improved Opioid Monitoring.

This Act requires hospitals that treat a patient for a nonfatal opioid drug overdose to administer a toxicology screening if it is medically appropriate and the patient consents to it. At a minimum, the screening must test for opiates, opioids, benzodiazepines, cannabinoids, methadone, cocaine, gabapentin, xylazine, and other substances the Department of Public Health (DPH) commissioner deems appropriate. Hospitals must perform the toxicology screenings for a three-and-a-half-year period, from January 1, 2025, to August 1, 2028, and report the screening results to DPH as the commissioner prescribes.

Additionally, the Act requires the DPH commissioner, by January 1, 2026, and annually afterwards until January 1, 2029, to report to the Public Health Committee on the toxicology screening results they receive. The report must (1) identify and analyze any trends, (2) identity any benefits patients experienced when seeking emergency department care for their overdose, and (3) recommend whether hospitals should continue toxicology screening reporting after August 31, 2028.

CT HB 5523, PA 24-81

An Act Concerning Allocations of Federal American Rescue Plan Act Funds and Provisions Related to General Government, Human Services, Education and the Biennium Ending June 30, 2025.

44 UConn Health Fringe Benefit Differential: The Act restores the language concerning the long-standing fringe benefit differential for UConn Health employees providing OPM with the mechanism to provide the $4.5M in FY24 and $4.3M in FY25 that was appropriated in the biennial budget. It also requires the Comptroller to enter into a MOU with UCHC for the purpose of providing operating support.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

CT SB 1, PA 24-19

An Act Concerning the Health and Safety of Connecticut Residents.

This Act makes various changes to laws on home health care and home health aide worker safety and several other health-related matters. Among other things, it:

10 — PRESCRIPTION DRUG SHORTAGE STUDY Requires the DCP commissioner, in collaboration with UConn’s pharmacy school, to study prescription drug shortages and the commissioner to report on the study and any legislative recommendations to alleviate or prevent the shortages. By January 1, 2025, the commissioner must report to the General Law and Public Health committees on the study and any legislative recommendations to help alleviate or prevent these shortages.
26 — PARKINSON’S DISEASE REGISTRY Requires (1) DPH, within available appropriations and in collaboration with an in-state public college or university, to maintain and operate a Parkinson’s disease registry and (2) hospitals and certain health care providers to submit data to the registry as DPH requires, subject to patients opting out; establishes a data oversight committee to monitor the registry’s activities;
§ 18 & 19 — INSURANCE COVERAGE OF CORONARY CALCIUM SCANS Requires certain insurance policies to cover coronary calcium scans;
§ 21-23 — STATEWIDE HEALTH INFORMATION EXCHANGE Sets a new deadline for health care providers to connect to and actively participate in the Statewide Health Insurance Exchange, but exempts providers from connecting to the exchange under certain conditions; specifies (1) when providers are or are not liable for certain actions related to data security and (2) circumstances under which providers are not required to share information with the exchange; specifies that the exchange’s goals must be in line with federal regulations on information blocking; requires OHS to establish a working group to make recommendations on the office’s exchange-related regulations, policies, and procedures;
37 — PHYSICIAN RECRUITMENT WORKING GROUP Extends the reporting deadline for the physician recruitment working group and adds to the group’s charge the study of issues related to primary care residency and ways to keep those residents in the state; and

40 — DATA ON PRIOR AUTHORIZATIONS AND PRECERTIFICATIONS Starting January 1, 2025, allows hospitals, outpatient surgical facilities, and physician group practices to record and keep data on the amount of employee time spent on requesting prior authorizations or pre-certifications from health carriers for their patients; permits these entities to make the data available to the Public Health Committee, upon request.

(Effective dates vary)

CT SB 181, PA 24-4

An Act Concerning Emergency Department Crowding.

This Act generally requires each in-state hospital with an emergency department, starting by January 1, 2025, and until January 1, 2029, to annually analyze certain data from its emergency department (ED). It also allows exclusively state-run hospitals to do this if they so choose. Hospitals may analyze the data directly or in consultation with an in-state hospital association.

Hospitals must use the data with the goals of (1) developing policies or procedures to reduce admission wait times after a patient presents to the ED, (2) informing potential ways to improve admission efficiencies, and (3) examining root causes for admission delays.

Specifically, the data must include, for the prior year:

the number of patients treated in the ED;
the number of patients admitted after being seen in the ED, with their average time from first presentation to the ED until admission; and
the percentage of patients admitted after presenting to the ED who were transferred to an available bed outside of the ED more than four hours after the patient’s admitting order was completed.

Under the Act, each hospital conducting this analysis must annually report to the Public Health Committee, starting by March 1, 2025, and until March 1, 2029, on its findings and any recommendations to achieve the goals above.

(Effective upon passage)

CT SB 368, PA 24-7

An Act Concerning Source Plasma Donation Centers.

Existing law requires the Department of Public Health (DPH) to adopt regulations to implement new licensure categories for source plasma donation centers and blood collection facilities established by PA 23-31.

This Act eliminates current law’s requirement that the regulations require a registered nurse or advanced practice registered nurse to be on-site during these facilities’ operating hours. It also requires the regulations to allow “responsible physicians” to be directors of these facilities. (In doing so, it aligns with federal regulations.)

Under the Act, the commissioner must update DPH policies and procedures by October 1, 2024, to include the Act’s requirements. By law, these policies and procedures are valid until final regulations are adopted. (DPH issued initial policies and procedures for these centers and facilities to implement PA 23-31’s requirements in October 2023, and proposed regulations for public comment in January 2024.)

Additionally, the Act exempts someone who performs apheresis on a healthy donor to collect blood or its components from needing a nursing license. A person may do this regardless of existing health care institution and nursing laws, so long as they follow federal and state regulations.

(Effective upon passage)

Health Care-Medical Staff

CT HB 5058, PA 24-83

An Act Adopting the Nurse Licensure Compact.

Among various other provisions, the compact:

sets eligibility criteria for nurses to practice under the compact;
addresses several matters related to disciplinary actions for nurses practicing under it;
allows the commission to levy an annual assessment on party states to cover its operations costs;
only allows compact amendments to take effect if all party states adopt them into law; and
has a process for states to withdraw from it.

(Effective from passage)

CT HB 5196, PA 24-112

An Act Expanding the Podiatric Scope of Practice.

This Act expands the scope of practice of podiatric medicine to allow podiatrists to independently perform Chopart joint-level (i.e., forefoot and midfoot) amputations. To do so, a licensed podiatrist must provide the Department of Public Health (DPH) documentation that they: 1. graduated from a podiatric residency program meeting specified criteria and 2. hold current board certification or qualification in reconstructive rearfoot ankle surgery by the American Board of Foot and Ankle Surgery, or its successor.

(Effective October 1, 2024, except the provision on total ankle replacement surgeries is effective upon passage)

CT HB 5197, PA 24-30

An Act Concerning Social Workers.

This Act enters Connecticut into the Social Work Licensure Compact. The compact creates a process for social workers to obtain a multistate license, allowing them to practice in any member state (including by telehealth). Member states must grant a multistate license in one of three categories (clinical, master’s, or bachelor’s) to social workers who meet the compact’s eligibility requirements. The Social Work Licensure Compact Commission administers the compact, and Connecticut joins the commission under the Act.

Among other provisions, the compact:

sets eligibility criteria for states to join the compact and for social workers to practice under it;
addresses several matters related to disciplinary actions for licensees practicing under the compact;
allows the commission to levy an annual assessment on member states and fees on multistate licensees to cover its operational costs;
only allows amendments to the compact to take effect if all member states adopt them into law; and
has a process for states to withdraw from it.

In practice, the compact has not yet taken effect. Two states have adopted it; by its terms, the compact takes effect after seven states do so.

Additionally, under the Act, the public health commissioner must require anyone applying for social worker licensure to submit to a state and national fingerprint-based criminal history records check by the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (§ 2). This corresponds to a compact requirement.

(Effective upon passage)

CT HB 5290, PA 24-68

An Act Concerning the Department of Public Health's Recommendations Regarding Various Revisions to The Public Health Statutes.

This Act implements the Department of Public Health's recommendations regarding various revisions to the public health statutes. Among other things, it:

6 Generally expands DPH’s online license renewal system to include all DPH-licensed professions, rather than just a subset of providers;
15 Requires EMS personnel trained in administering epinephrine to do so only if the medication is available, and provides that emergency medical responders’ training in this regard must be limited to methods that are within their scope of practice;
37 Adds to the list of organizations from whom a clinical medical assistant may be certified for purposes of qualifying to administer vaccines in non-hospital setting;
40 Allows a master social worker licensure candidate’s degree to be from a program that is in the process of getting accredited, before the spring 2028 semester;
42 Allows APRNs meeting certain training, experience, and examination requirements to use fluoroscopy for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, if they do so in collaboration with a physician trained in radiation protection, and while wearing a radiation safety badge; and
62 Extends by one year the reporting deadline for a task force on ways to address the shortage of certain practitioners;

(Effective dates vary)

CT SB 1, PA 24-19

An Act Concerning the Health and Safety of Connecticut Residents.

This Act makes various changes to laws on home health care and home health aide worker safety and several other health-related matters. Among other things, it:

37 — PHYSICIAN RECRUITMENT WORKING GROUP Extends the reporting deadline for the physician recruitment working group and adds to the group’s charge the study of issues related to primary care residency and ways to keep those residents in the state.

(Effective upon passage)

Health Care- Studies

CT HB 5290, PA 24-68

An Act Concerning the Department of Public Health's Recommendations Regarding Various Revisions to The Public Health Statutes.

This Act implements the Department of Public Health's recommendations regarding various revisions to the public health statutes. Among other things, it:

62 Extends by one year the reporting deadline for a task force on ways to address the shortage of certain practitioners;

(Effective upon passage)

CT HB 5430, SA 24-18

An Act Concerning a Study of Migraine Treatment for Women and Veterans.

The Act requires the University of Connecticut Health Center's Department of Neurology to conduct a study, by July 1, 2026, on migraine treatment for women and veterans. The Act requires the results of the study to be reported to both the Public Health and Appropriations Committees. This represents an opportunity for UConn Health to work directly with the legislature to work on advancing awareness and help to two underserved groups of the population in terms of healthcare- civilian women, and veterans. The legislature specifically reached out to UConn Health for its expertise in this area, and the working group established under the bill has already begun its charge. The Office of the Vice President for Research is engaged at this stage.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

CT HB 5511, PA 24-150

An Act Concerning the Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee and the Transforming Children's Behavioral Health Policy and Planning Committee.

This Act makes changes to the membership of the Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee. Among the changes, the bill:

1.) expands the membership of the Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee and the Transforming Children's Behavioral Health Policy and Planning Committee, and

2.) makes changes to reporting dates for the Children's Behavioral Health Policy and Planning Committee.

(Effective upon passage)

Higher Education

CT HB 5128, PA 24-87

An Act Requiring Disclosure of Scholarship Displacement Policies at Institutions of Higher Education.

This Act requires each higher education institution in the state to disclose its policy on reducing the amount of financial aid it offers to a current or prospective student who receives a scholarship (“scholarship displacement”) in:

the initial financial aid package offered to each current or prospective student, and
a report submitted to the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee by January 1, 2025.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

An Act Concerning Social Workers.

Among other provisions, the compact:

sets eligibility criteria for states to join the compact and for social workers to practice under it;
addresses several matters related to disciplinary actions for licensees practicing under the compact;
allows the commission to levy an annual assessment on member states and fees on multistate licensees to cover its operational costs;
only allows amendments to the compact to take effect if all member states adopt them into law; and
has a process for states to withdraw from it.

In practice, the compact has not yet taken effect. Two states have adopted it; by its terms, the compact takes effect after seven states do so.

(Effective upon passage)

CT HB 5199, SA 24-17

An Act Establishing a Task Force to Study the Shortage of Athletic Trainers in the State.

The Act establishes a task force to study the athletic trainer shortage in the state. The task force includes a member who is a faculty member of a master's degree program in athletic training offered by an institution of higher education in the state.

(Effective upon passage)

CT HB 5239, PA 24-117

An Act Establishing the Path Program and Amending the Connecticut Collegiate Awareness and Preparation Program.

This Act requires the Connecticut collegiate awareness and preparation program (ConnCAP), which is part of the Office of Higher Education’s (OHE’s) Minority Advancement Program, to target disadvantaged students, including low-income and first-generation college students, rather than “underachievers” as under current law. Under the Act, a “collegiate awareness and preparation program” is a program that provides outreach and services to middle school and high school students to prepare them to successfully complete postsecondary education at a higher education institution.

The Act requires OHE, as part of its Minority Advancement Program, to establish the Preparation for Academic Transition to a Higher Education program (PATH). Beginning FY 25, the Act also requires OHE, within available appropriations, to annually award grants up to $100,000 to any nonprofit community-based organization in Connecticut that provides assistance to 11th and 12th grade students who live in the state with the following:

completing applications to postsecondary education programs;
completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or an application for institutional financial aid for students lacking legal immigration status, including through informational events and presentations about financial aid applications; and
securing education scholarships and grants to finance postsecondary education attendance.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

CT HB 5279, PA 24-16

An Act Concerning Authority to Declare that a Firefighter, Police Officer or Emergency Medical Service Personnel Died in the Line of Duty.

This Act generally allows a police or fire chief or emergency medical service (EMS) chief or administrative head to declare that a police officer, uniformed paid or volunteer firefighter, or EMS personnel died in the line of duty if the death was caused by a cardiac event, stroke, or pulmonary embolism within 24 hours after the officer, firefighter, or EMS personnel finished a shift or training. The chief or administrative head may do so unless a local charter or ordinance in effect on July 1, 2024, authorizes a different person or entity to make the determination.

(Effective October 1, 2024)

CT HB 5290, PA 24-68

An Act Concerning the Department of Public Health's Recommendations Regarding Various Revisions to The Public Health Statutes.

This Act implements the Department of Public Health's recommendations regarding various revisions to the public health statutes. Among other things, it:

40 Allows a master social worker licensure candidate’s degree to be from a program that is in the process of getting accredited, before the spring 2028 semester.

(Effective upon passage)

CT HB 5304, PA 24-121

An Act Designating the State Dog and State Candy and Creating a Working Group Concerning Redesignating the State Insect.

This Act designates the Siberian Husky as the state dog and the lollipop as the state candy.

(Effective October 1, 2024)

CT HB 5338, SA 24-22

An Act Concerning the Admission of State Residents to Veterinary Schools.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

CT HB 5363, PA 24-125

An Act Concerning the Planning Commission for Higher Education.

This Act makes several changes to the laws governing the Planning Commission for Higher Education, which is charged with revising and updating the 2015 strategic master plan for higher education in Connecticut. Among other things, it extends the commission’s reporting deadlines by one year and requires (1) all initial commission appointments to be made by June 1, 2024, and (2) the chairpersons to jointly schedule the commission’s first meeting by July 1, 2024.

The Act makes the chairpersons and ranking members of the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee voting members of the commission, rather than ex-officio nonvoting members. In doing so, it increases the number of the commission’s voting members from 19 to 23, and correspondingly decreases the number of nonvoting members from 14 to 10.

The Act eliminates requirements that the commission (1) be in the Office of Higher Education (OHE), (2) be responsible for implementing any policies it develops, and (3) collaborate with the Office of Policy and Management in establishing subcommittees and working groups needed to supplement its work. It requires the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee’s administrative staff to serve in that capacity for the commission.

(Effective upon passage)

CT HB 5523, PA 24-81

An Act Concerning Allocations of Federal American Rescue Plan Act Funds and Provisions Related to General Government, Human Services, Education and the Biennium Ending June 30, 2025.

18 and §49 — Needs Assessment on Postsecondary Education Programs in Correctional Facilities

feedback solicitation from higher education institutions that provide postsecondary education programs in correctional facilities to understand current needs;
an analysis of DOC’s policies on incarcerated individuals’ postsecondary education;
an estimate of the level of unmet demand for this type of education;
an inventory of (a) correctional facilities (including classrooms multi-purpose rooms, libraries, and study rooms), (b) staffing, and (c) materials currently available for education delivery (including education technology and internet access);
recommendations for and a cost analysis of improving facilities, staffing, and materials to meet the unmet demand;
a survey of (a) students of postsecondary education programs in correctional facilities; (b) former students of these programs, in consultation with regional reentry programs; and (c) any person or group the division deems necessary; and
a listing of any other barriers to the effective delivery of these education programs.

The Act requires the OPM secretary to report on the needs assessment to the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee by January 1, 2025.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

22 — STUDENT LOAN REIMBURSEMENT PILOT PROGRAM

75 — PACT PROGRAM

Expands the PACT Program’s eligibility to include transition program students; increases the program’s minimum award amounts; names the awards the “Mary Ann Handley Grant”; requires BOR’s upcoming semesterly reports on certain program metrics by November 1, 2024, and March 1, 2025.

87 — Repeal of Student Loan Reimbursement and Mental Health Grant Program

Repeals Sections 10a-19e, 10a-19f, 10a-19i, 10a-162a, 10a-164b, 10a-167,

10a-169b and 19a-7d of the general statutes are repealed.

The Act repeals the following programs that OHE administers:

the “Engineering Connecticut” student loan reimbursement program;
the “You Belong” student loan reimbursement program;
the Connecticut green technology, life science, and health information technology student loan reimbursement program;
a program, which under current law requires the office to provide grants in FYs 23-25 to public and private colleges and universities for delivery of student mental health services on campus;
the Act also repeals the information technology student loan reimbursement pilot program, administered by BOR;
the Act also repeals (1) a state scholarship program, which under current law forgives loans provided by the state to residents for nursing education if the resident remains in the nursing field in the state for five years; and (2) a scholarship program for Vietnam-era veterans;
the Act also repeals the Department of Public Health’s (DPH) primary care direct services program. Under current law, the program provides, within available resources, three-year grants to community based primary care providers to expand health care access to the uninsured.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

107 Higher Education Financial Sustainability Advisory Board: The Act establishes within the legislative branch, the Higher Education Financial Sustainability Advisory Board, whose powers and duties include:
Meeting with the public institutions of higher education and UConn Health, accept and review information required by the Advisory Board (detailed below) and to a) discuss barriers to meeting state workforce needs, b) developing economic growth and c) achieving or maintaining affordable tuition;
Obtaining from any executive department, board, commission or other agency the assistance and data needed to carry out the board’s powers and duties

It requires each public higher education institution and UConn Health to submit the following information, as requested by the board chairpersons:

a detailed financial report for the current fiscal year, subsequent fiscal year, and five preceding fiscal years, that identifies each revenue source, expense category, and any assumptions upon which the reports are based;
a detailed plan that eliminates a deficiency if the current or subsequent year’s financial report projects one;
a summary and general ledger account code analysis of the institution’s unrestricted net position for the most recently completed fiscal year;
the number of full- and part-time enrolled students disaggregated by in-state and out-of-state;
the number of vacant and filled employment positions disaggregated by bargaining unit and management confidential type with corresponding average salaries from the first payroll in October of the most recently completed fiscal year;
a summary of the institution’s cost drivers;
a summary of budget constraints affecting (a) workforce developments, economic development efforts, and student quality of life, including time required for degree completion, and (b) research productivity and faculty retention and recruitment; and
any other financial, operational, performance, or other outcome information, metrics, or data the board requests.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

110 — Board of Regents for Higher Education Expansion

Expands the Board of Regents for Higher Education (BOR) to include the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) secretary as an ex-officio, nonvoting member.

CT SB 107, PA 24-22

§ 1-3: Eliminates the Construction Management Oversight Committee (CMOC) and transfers its responsibilities to the UConn Board of Trustees (BOT), or one of the board’s committees. Current law charges CMOC with overseeing and implementing the UConn 2000 program; however, it functionally disbanded in 2014 after completing its major work and BOT assumed its responsibilities. CMOC’s oversight responsibilities include, among other things, reviewing and approving UConn 2000 policies and procedures on selecting professionals and contractors. It also must review each project after completion. (UConn 2000 is an infrastructure program that allows the university to use certain bond proceeds on specified projects.)
4: Pauses, until 2028, a biennial requirement that BOT and the UConn Board of Trustees for the community-technical colleges and the Connecticut State University System develop plans on how to increase the number of full-time faculty and report on them to the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee.

The Act makes minor and technical changes, including (1) correcting references to BOR following the merger of the community- technical colleges into Connecticut State Community College and (2) changing the title of Connecticut State Colleges and Universities’ chief executive officer from “President” to “Chancellor” making associated conforming changes (like changing “vice-president” to “vice-chancellor”).

(Effective July 1, 2024)

CT SB 109, PA 24-47

An Act Modifying the Connecticut Automatic Admissions Program.

This Act requires the four Connecticut State Universities (CSUs) and any other in-state higher education institution eligible to participate in the Connecticut Automatic Admissions Program to use a Board of Regents for Higher Education (BOR)-established minimum unweighted grade point average (GPA), rather than a BOR-established minimum class rank percentile, as an academic threshold for admission. It correspondingly requires BOR to set the minimum unweighted GPA threshold and makes conforming changes.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

CT SB 250, PA 24-103

An Act Establishing the Global Entrepreneur in Residence Program.

This Act requires the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) to submit recommendations to the Commerce Committee by January 1, 2025, on the design and establishment of a three-year Global Entrepreneur in Residence pilot program to attract or retain resident specialists in Connecticut. Under the Act, a “resident specialist” is someone who:

is employed part-time by a private employer in a specialty occupation,
is not a United States citizen, and
wants to move to or remain in Connecticut as a nonimmigrant while employed by a private employer.

In addition to attracting and retaining resident specialists, the program may:

facilitate or support partnerships between eligible institutions (i.e., public or private higher education institutions in Connecticut) and private employers that employ resident specialists;
help resident specialists file visa applications; and
accept donated funds to support the program’s purposes. Under the Act, DECD must consult with UConn, the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU), the Office of Workforce Strategy, and the governor’s office to make pilot program recommendations. It also allows DECD to consult other eligible institutions, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit businesses to make recommendations.

The Act also requires DECD to work with UConn, and CSCU to conduct a joint survey of noncitizen students at UConn and CSCUs to assess interest in the Global Entrepreneur in Residence Program by January 1, 2025. They may do so in collaboration with other eligible institutions and any other parties.

(Effective upon passage)

CT SB 303, PA 24-63

An Act Concerning the Legislative Commissioners' Recommendations for Technical Revisions to The Higher Education Statutes.

This Act makes minor and technical changes to the statutes concerning higher education, including standardizing statutory references to the Office of Higher Education’s “licensure” and “accreditation” of a for-profit higher education institution by replacing these terms with “authorization.”

(Effective July 1, 2024)

CT SB 304, PA 24-64

An Act Implementing the Recommendations of the Connecticut Higher Education Supplemental Loan Authority.

(Effective upon passage)

Human Resources

CT HB 5005, PA 24-8

An Act Expanding Paid Sick Days in the State.

This Act expands the state’s paid sick leave law in numerous ways. The current paid sick leave law generally requires certain employers with at least 50 employees to give up to 40 hours of paid sick leave annually to their “service workers” in certain specified occupations (e.g., food service workers, health care workers, and numerous others).

(January 1, 2025, except that the provisions on the (1) FY 25 budget are effective July 1, 2024, and (2) task force are effective upon passage)

CT HB 5279, PA 24-16

An Act Concerning Authority to Declare that a Firefighter, Police Officer or Emergency Medical Service Personnel Died in the Line of Duty.

(Effective October 1, 2024)

CT HR 14

Resolution Proposing Approval of An Agreement Between the University of Connecticut Board of Trustees and the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, Local 6950.

The resolution proposes approval of an agreement between the University of Connecticut (UConn) Board of Trustees and the Graduate Employee Union Local 6950 – International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, Local 6950. This agreement pertains to Postdoctoral Research Associates or “Postdocs” and excludes those employed at the University of Connecticut Health Center. The agreement covers three fiscal years for the period July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2027.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

CT HR 15

Resolution Proposing Approval of An Agreement Between the State of Connecticut and the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC).

The resolution proposes approval of an agreement between the State of Connecticut and the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC). This agreement includes a wage reopener and covers one fiscal year for the period of July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

CT SB 220, PA 24-102

An Act Concerning Clarifying the Appeals Process Under the Paid Family and Medical Leave Statutes.

By law, anyone aggrieved by the Paid Family Medical Leave Authority’s denial of program benefits or by the imposition of penalties for certain program-related fraud may appeal to the labor commissioner. The commissioner or her designee (collectively referred to as the Department of Labor (DOL) below) must decide the appeal, and a party aggrieved by DOL’s decision may then appeal, within 31 days, to the Superior Court for the Hartford Judicial District or the judicial district where they live.

This Act specifies certain procedural steps and other criteria that must be followed in these appeals to the court. Among other things, the Act:

requires the appealing party to also file the appeal with DOL,
specifies what must be included in the record and requires DOL to certify it,
sets a process for the appealing party to request corrections for findings in the record,
generally limits what the court considers in the appeal to certain factors (e.g., whether DOL incorrectly applied the law to the facts it found), and
specifies what actions the court may take in deciding the appeal.

Lastly, the Act requires DOL to adopt regulations on procedural rules.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

CT SB 222, PA 24-5

An Act Concerning Changes to the Paid Family and Medical Leave Statutes.

This Act makes various changes in the state’s paid family and medical leave insurance (PFMLI) law, Family and Medical Leave Act (CTFMLA), and family violence leave law. In general, the PFMLI program is an employee-funded program that provides up to 12 weeks of partial wage replacement benefits to employees on unpaid leave from employment under the CTFMLA (e.g., for the birth of a child or a serious health condition) or family violence leave law (e.g., to obtain victim services or relocate)

(Effective October 1, 2024)

CT SR 12

Resolution Proposing Approval of an Agreement Between the State of Connecticut and the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC).

The resolution proposes approval of an agreement between the State of Connecticut and the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC). This agreement includes a wage reopener covers one fiscal year for the period of July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

CT SR 13

(Effective July 1, 2024)

Marine Sciences

CT HB 5189, PA 24-48

An Act Concerning a Small Harbor Improvement Projects Account.

This Act requires the Connecticut Port Authority (CPA) to establish the “Small Harbor Improvement Projects Account” and to spend funds deposited or appropriated in it to initiate small harbor improvement projects consistent with state law. The Act defines “small harbor” as any Connecticut harbor not under CPA authority.

(Effective upon passage)

CT HB 5229, PA 24-12

An Act Concerning the Recommendations of The Eelgrass Working Group.

This Act requires the eelgrass working group convened under Special Act 23-7 to reconvene by January 1, 2025, for specified purposes. It also requires the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) to select a Connecticut Seagrass Coordinator. DEEP must do this with the Department of Agriculture’s (DoAg) Bureau of Aquaculture and UConn. The Act requires the reconvened working group to review the (1) Eelgrass

Collaborative’s work on permitting and eelgrass restoration policies in Connecticut and (2) U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ existing permit regulations to evaluate future changes and the need to make similar changes to DEEP’s and DoAg’s policies. UConn’s Connecticut National Estuarine Research Reserve is a member of the eelgrass working group.

(Effective upon passage)

Medicaid

CT HB 5367, PA 24-130

An Act Concerning Medicaid Coverage of Rapid Whole Genome Sequencing for Critically Ill Infants.

This Act requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) commissioner to provide medically necessary Medicaid coverage for rapid whole genome sequencing for certain critically ill infants. These are tests for diagnosing genetic disorders in time to inform or change acute medical or surgical management of critically ill infants. The coverage requirement applies to infants ages 0 to 12 months who are enrolled in Medicaid and being treated in neonatal intensive care or pediatric intensive care units.

Section 2 Establishes a working group to study and make recommendations concerning eliminating or reducing the waiting list for services in the Katie Beckett Waiver Program and establishing priority placements on such list based on illness and life expectancy. The first meeting of the working group shall convene not later than August 1, 2024. Among the working group members is: one representative of The University of Connecticut Health Center's Department of Pediatrics with expertise in pediatric rare genetic diseases or terminal illness research

The Act sets requirements for how providers may use test data. It also requires DSS to set specific evidence-based medical necessity criteria for rapid whole genome sequencing.

The Act requires the DSS commissioner to take actions needed to implement the Act’s provisions, including (1) adopting regulations on provider payments and (2) submitting any waiver applications and amendments or state plan amendments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to ensure federal matching funds for this coverage.

(Effective July 1, 2024)

CT SB 307, PA 24-50

An Act Concerning Medicaid Coverage of Biomarker Testing.

This Act requires the Department of Social Services (DSS), to the extent federal law allows, to provide coverage for biomarker testing to diagnose, treat, manage, or monitor a Medicaid enrollee’s disease or condition. The Act requires the DSS commissioner to ensure this coverage is medically necessary under existing state law applicable to Medicaid services. The Act requires the commissioner to analyze relevant information and use applicable clinical guidelines to inform her medical necessity determination for the testing, including medical and scientific evidence that demonstrates that a test provides clinical utility (e.g., FDA approval or recommendations or other coverage determinations).

(Effective July 1, 2024)

Pharmacy

CT SB 1, PA 24-19

An Act Concerning the Health and Safety of Connecticut Residents.

This Act makes various changes to laws on home health care and home health aide worker safety and several other health-related matters. Among other things, it:

10 — PRESCRIPTION DRUG SHORTAGE STUDY Requires the DCP commissioner, in collaboration with UConn’s pharmacy school, to study prescription drug shortages and the commissioner to report on the study and any legislative recommendations to alleviate or prevent the shortages. By January 1, 2025, the commissioner must report to the General Law and Public Health committees on the study and any legislative recommendations to help alleviate or prevent these shortages. The School of Pharmacy will conduct the study within available resources.

(Effective upon passage)

CT SB 133, PA 24-73

An Act Concerning Regulation of Prescription Drugs and Related Professions.

This Act makes various changes to laws on pharmacies and pharmacists. It establishes the advanced pharmacy technician and clerk occupational categories. Among other related provisions, it sets certain parameters of their allowable duties.

The Act authorizes pharmacists and advanced pharmacy technicians to dispense to patients their prescription drugs in compliance packaging (generally, packaging that separates drugs into individual compartments by dose) if they follow certain criteria. Pharmacies that provide compliance packaging are required to keep records with specific details of the drugs they dispense and who they dispense them to.

The Act also allows for the re-dispensing of pharmaceutical drug compliance packaging if the prescriber modifies the prescription, subject to certain requirements. This includes the requirement to return any drugs removed from compliance packaging to the patient with directions on how to properly dispose of the drugs.

The Act makes it a punishable offense for pharmacists, pharmacy operators, pharmacy interns, and pharmacy technicians to return to the general inventory or regular drug stock of the pharmacy (unless otherwise allowed or required by law) any drug that has been sold or delivered to a patient, in addition to existing law’s prohibition on such returns of drugs exposed to possible contamination or substitution.

The Act allows individuals enrolled in pharmacy technician education programs to engage in duties of a pharmacy technician if they are under the direct supervision of a pharmacist who is an instructor in the program.

The Act allows pharmacists to order and prescribe, not just administer, vaccines for certain patients, and applies this authority to all federally approved vaccines on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) age-appropriate immunization schedule. It allows pharmacists to delegate to advanced pharmacy technicians authority to administer these vaccines, as well as COVID-19, influenza, and HIV tests.

The Act establishes a task force to study the impact of unannounced retail pharmacy closures. For purposes of the state’s pharmacy laws, the Act generally defines a “patient” as a human or other animal receiving health care services from a pharmacist or other health care provider related to a past, current, or future medical condition or research-related purposes (§ 1). The Act also makes minor, technical, and conforming changes, such as certain minor changes to definitions under the state’s pharmacy laws.

(Effective October 1, 2024, except for (1) July 1, 2025, for a conforming change (§ 8), and (2) upon passage for the task force provisions (§ 11).

CT SB 202, PA 24-80

An Act Concerning the Department of Consumer Protection's Recommendations Regarding Prescription Drug Control.

This Act allows the direct sale of hypodermic needles to certain health care professionals and amends certain provisions on pharmacists, pharmaceutical marketing firms and representatives, and controlled substances.

The Act authorizes licensed manufacturers and wholesalers to sell hypodermic needles and syringes directly to licensed advanced practice registered nurses, optometrists, and physician assistants, in addition to the other professions and groups already covered by existing law.

The Act eliminates the requirement for the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) to analyze the information submitted to it while compiling a report on the activities of pharmaceutical marketing firms. Among other changes regarding these firms, the Act requires each pharmaceutical marketing firm that employs or compensates pharmaceutical representatives to ensure that each representative discloses to prescribing practitioners and pharmacists certain information, such as the drug price, each time they contact them about legend drugs. Under current law, this is the responsibility of the pharmaceutical representatives themselves.

The Act eliminates an overlapping prohibition on automatic reciprocal discipline of pharmacists who assist in the termination of a pregnancy. Under existing law automatic reciprocal discipline of a pharmacist must be automatically rescinded if the other state’s discipline was solely for the termination of a pregnancy under conditions that would not violate Connecticut law. The Act requires a person permitted to distribute or dispense controlled substances in Connecticut to make certain medical evaluation records available to DCP for inspection for the purpose of enforcing existing law. It does not require the disclosure of any substance abuse treatment record that is protected from disclosure under federal law.

The Act also makes minor, technical, and conforming changes.

(Effective upon passage)

Public Safety & Emergency Medical Services

CT HB 5279, PA 24-16

An Act Concerning Authority to Declare that a Firefighter, Police Officer or Emergency Medical Service Personnel Died in the Line of Duty.

(Effective October 1, 2024)

CT HB 5290, PA 24-68

An Act Concerning the Department of Public Health's Recommendations Regarding Various Revisions to The Public Health Statutes.

This Act implements the Department of Public Health's recommendations regarding various revisions to the public health statutes. Among other things, it:

15 Requires EMS personnel trained in administering epinephrine to do so only if the medication is available, and provides that emergency medical responders’ training in this regard must be limited to methods that are within their scope of practice.

(Effective upon passage)

CT HB 5381, PA 24-15

An Act Concerning the Use of Police Body-Worn Recording Equipment.

This Act specifically requires the state’s guidelines on the use of police body cameras, starting October 1, 2024, to include provisions on the circumstances when officers must not pause recording with the cameras. The Act similarly requires these circumstances to be included in police basic and review training programs on body camera use. By law, the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection commissioner and the Police Officer Standards and Training Council (POST) must jointly maintain body and dashboard camera guidelines, and law enforcement units and police officers must follow them. Police basic and review training programs conducted or administered by the State Police, POST, or municipal police departments must include training on, among other things, using body cameras.

(Effective upon passage, except the provision on police training programs takes effect October 1, 2024)

Research

CT HB 5003, PA 24-82

An Act Concerning Child and Family Nutrition.

This Act creates new state agency responsibilities and reporting requirements to increase access to and enrollment in nutrition assistance programs for children and families including, among others:

Federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), administered by the Department of Social Services (DSS);
Federal Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), administered by the Department of Public Health (DPH); and
Connecticut Farmers’ Market nutrition program for women, infants and children (Connecticut Farmers’ Market WIC), administered by the Department of Agriculture (DoAg).

Section 8 of the Act requires that not later than August 1, 2024, the executive director of the Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity and Opportunity shall convene a working group to study and recommend strategies for expanding participation in federal nutrition programs. Such study shall include, but need not be limited to, the benefits of expanding participation in such programs and strategies for funding and implementing such an expansion.

Among the working group members is in subsection (11) One person appointed by the Governor, who shall be an employee of a center for food policy at a public institution of higher education who is a research expert in the Child and Adult Care Food Program. The Rudd Center has expertise in this area.

(Effective upon passage)

CT SB 292, PA 24-59

An Act Concerning the use of PFAS In Certain Products.

This Act generally regulates the sale and use of certain products containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). It authorizes the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) commissioner to enforce the Act’s provisions. She may also coordinate with the agriculture, consumer protection, and public health commissioners to do so.

(Effective October 1, 2024, except that the provisions on the PFAS Testing account are effective upon passage.)

Transportation

CT HB 5330, PA 24-40

An Act Implementing the Recommendations of the Department of Transportation and Concerning Capital Projects, Notice of Proposed Fair and Service Changes, the Connecticut Airport Authority, Automated Traffic Safety Enforcement, Road Safety Audits, Parking Authorities, a Shoreline East Report and the Submission of Reports and Test Results Regarding Impaired Driving.

This Act, among other things, makes various changes in transportation-related laws, including modifying provisions on automated enforcement. It also extends the timeframe during which a police officer must transmit DUI incident reports to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) under the administrative per se license suspension process. Additionally, the Act defines “unmanned aircraft” (i.e., drones) and “vertiports” and incorporates these concepts into various existing aeronautics statutes. Lastly, the Act makes various minor, technical, and conforming changes.

(Effective dates vary)

Voting Issues

CT HB 5498, PA 24-148

An Act Concerning Election Security and Transparency and Various Other Revisions Related to Election Administration.

This Act makes various changes to the state’s election laws. Primarily, it makes several changes to the laws on requesting and returning absentee ballots, including requiring the recording of drop boxes (§ 1); specifying they be checked at the close of the polls (§ 1); recording and reporting how absentee ballots are received by a town clerk (§ 2); requiring voters to personally apply for an additional absentee ballot (§3); and modifying procedures when, in certain circumstances, multiple absentee ballots are received from the same voter (§§ 3 & 4). Additionally, it allows nursing home patients to request absentee ballots within six days of an election contest (§ 5), sets expiration dates for absentee ballot applications, (§ 8) and creates certain limitations on acquiring ballot applications in bulk (§ 9). It also requires town clerks to use the central voter registration system (CVRS) when performing state election duties (§ 11) and eliminates a grounds for removal from permanent absentee ballot status (§ 16).

(Effective dates vary)

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