2026 Legislative Session Summary

Summary of Legislation

The summaries below outline Public Acts passed during the 2026 Regular 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 first section of the summary features new reports and working groups/task forces that impact UConn and UConn Health. Following that, 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 2026 Legislative Report

CT HB 5001, PA 26-42

AN ACT CONCERNING ABSENTEE VOTING FOR ALL AND VARIOUS OTHER REFORMS RELATED TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF ELECTIONS

§ 70 Establishes a task force to study absentee ballot access in certain cities and boroughs in the state that are unconsolidated with the towns where they are located. The task force’s membership consists of seven appointed members as well as the Secretary of the State and UConn’s Center for Voting Research Technology director, or their designees.

HB 5003, PA 26-12

AN ACT CONCERNING WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND WORKING CONDITIONS IN THE STATE

§§ 41-43 UCONN SPECIAL POLICE FORCES AND FIRE DEPARTMENT: The Act requires UConn’s president, by July 1, 2027, to establish a recruitment and retention program for the UConn special police forces and fire department to address critical staffing shortages and high resignation rates. As part of the program, the president must develop salary schedules for all sworn members of the university’s special police forces and all members of the fire department, referred to as UConn’s first responders, and an education benefit for those members. It also requires the president, beginning by January 1, 2027, to annually submit a report on the recruitment and retention status of UConn’s first responders to certain committees and entities. Lastly, the Act expands the objective job-based criteria the president must use to establish classifications for UConn’s special police forces.

§ 73 The Act establishes a task force to study recruitment and retention issues for public safety personnel. The study must examine the feasibility and fiscal impact of the state providing:

Tuition waivers, mortgage assistance, and tax credits to correction officers and judicial marshals;
Tuition waivers to dependent children of police officers, uniformed members of paid or volunteer fire departments, and EMS personnel;
Tuition waivers for undergraduate and graduate degree programs at UConn to police officers, uniformed members of paid or volunteer fire departments, and EMS personnel; and
Tuition vouchers for public safety personnel to any accredited higher education institution in Connecticut.

Under the Act, the task force consists of the DESPP and Education commissioners and the chief court administrator, or their designees, and one member appointed by each of the six legislative leaders. The House speaker’s appointee must have expertise in public safety, and the Senate president pro tempore’s appointee must represent the University of New Haven and have expertise in higher education. The appointees may be state legislators.

§§ 57-61 By October 1, 2026, the Act requires the UConn Board of Trustees and Board of Regents for Higher Education (BOR) to jointly identify the qualities and best practices of a high-quality internship program, using at least six of the eight National Association of Colleges and Employers career readiness competencies. The boards must create a syllabus for employers’ online training using these qualities and best practices by January 1, 2027, and BOR must use the syllabus to offer asynchronous online training through Charter Oak State College by July 1, 2027. The Act allows the college to charge a training enrollment fee and requires it to give employers a credential for completing the training. The boards must conspicuously post on their websites information about the qualities and best practices and a link to the online training registration for employers. The Act also requires the following reports to the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee: annually, beginning by July 1, 2028, BOR must report on the number of employers receiving the credential in the prior fiscal year; by January 1, 2027, each higher education institution in the state must report on the internship opportunities available to their students through their career services offices, including the types of employers offering internships, quality measures used to ensure students have a valuable experience, and other relevant information;

CT HB 5155, SA 26-10

AN ACT CONCERNING PESTICIDE REPORTING MODERNIZATION

The Act creates a working group to examine the creation of a searchable database associated with the sales and use of pesticides resulting in no fiscal impact to the state. The working group has the resources and expertise to meet the requirements of the Act. The director of the Sea Grant Program at The University of Connecticut, or the director's designee is name to the working group.

CT HB 5222, PA 26-100

AN ACT CONCERNING CONSUMER PROTECTION, CANNABIS, DATA PRIVACY, FIRE INSPECTIONS, CRIMINAL MISCHIEF AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Among other things, this Act requires the Department of Consumer Protection to develop and administer a pilot program to evaluate the use of an independent verification program administered by third parties to ensure compliance with state laws on AI and data privacy. The Act requires the Department of Consumer Protection, by December 31, 2028, and in consultation with the Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy (IMRP), to evaluate the pilot program and recommend legislation based on the evaluation to modify or extend the program. By January 31, 2029, IMRP must submit a report to the General Law Committee with the evaluation results.

CT HB 5333, PA 26-101

AN ACT CONCERNING THE REGULATION OF STRIPED BASS FISHING IN THE STATE, A WORKING GROUP CONCERNING THE WILDLIFE CONSERVATION PROGRAM AND PROCEDURES CONCERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF FISH PASSAGES

Among other things, the Act creates in § 4 the Traditionally Non-Harvested Species Conservation Program Working Group and requires the Environment Committee’s co-chairpersons, in consultation with the committee’s ranking members and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) commissioner, to jointly select, by July 31, 2026, two co-chairpersons for the conservation program working group. By August 15, 2026, the working group’s co-chairpersons must select the group’s members, which must include at least the following people:

One representative each from Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), the Department of Transportation, and the Office of Policy and Management;
Three representatives of conservation advocacy organizations that work on wildlife-related issues, one of whom must have fisheries aquatic expertise and one of whom must have avian expertise;
One representative of a land conservation organization;
Two state college or university faculty members, as recommended by the DEEP commissioner;
One representative from a council of governments;
One water utilities representative;
One representative of an organization representing Connecticut recreational businesses;
One representative of the Connecticut Farm Bureau or its designee; and
One Connecticut-certified forester.

The Act requires the working group’s co-chairpersons to hold the group’s first meeting by August 30, 2026, and the group must report its findings and recommendations, including any proposals for legislation, to the Environment Committee by January 15, 2027. The group ends on this date or when it submits its report, whichever is later. Under the Act, the Environment Committee’s administrative staff must serve in that capacity for the working group.

Effective July 1, 2026.

CT HB 5340, PA 26-127

AN ACT CONCERNING RENEWABLE POWER GENERATION

§ 14 PUBLIC UTILITIES REGULATORY AUTHORITY (PURA) WORKING GROUP Requires PURA to convene a working group to review processes on resuming energy generation service after a service shutoff at a generation or storage facility and report to the Energy and Technology and Public Safety and Security committees by February 1, 2027. Working group includes an employee of a higher education institution in the state with expertise in electrical engineering or any field related to electricity generation, transmission, or distribution.

CT HB 5343, PA 26-140

AN ACT CONCERNING THE REPORTING OF ADVERTISING PURCHASED BY THE STATE

The Act also requires, beginning January 1, 2027, and within available appropriations, the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities chancellor and University of Connecticut president to annually give the Government Administration and Elections Committee a report that summarizes, for the preceding fiscal year, the:

Amount spent on advertising;
Names of each advertising vendor paid more than $50,000;
Advertising method, categorized by media type, such as Internet search platforms, national news outlets, digital platforms, and local news outlets; and
General subject matter of the advertising.

CT HB 5464, PA 26-63

AN ACT IMPLEMENTING RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND CONCERNING VEGETATION MANAGMENT GUIDELINES, TRANSPORTATION NETWORK COMPANIES AND RIDER SAFETY, TRAFFIC SIGNAL MODERNIZATION GRANT PROGRAM, ENCAMPMENTS, MARINE PILOT LICENSE FEES, MOTOR VEHICLE MECHNICAL EQUIPMENT, DISTRACTED DRIVING, A TASK FORCE TO STUDY ACCESS TO PARKING FOR HOME HEALTH AGENCIES AND A WORKING GROUP TO STUDY USE OF ALTERNATIVE FUELS AND TECNOLOGIES IN SCHOOL BUS FLEETS.

Among other things, in §§ 15 & 16 this Act delays, from July 1, 2025, to October 1, 2026, the due date for the UConn Department of Natural Resources and the Environment’s final report on its study of carbon sequestration by trees and other vegetation along highways and other areas in Connecticut.

CT HB 5514, PA 26-13

AN ACT CONCERNING VARIOUS REVISIONS TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH STATUTES.

§ 13 Establishes a 20-member endometriosis working group in the Legislative Department to evaluate and make recommendations on endometriosis diagnosis, treatment, research, education, and public awareness. The Act establishes a 20-member endometriosis working group within the Legislative Department to evaluate and make recommendations on endometriosis diagnosis, treatment, research, education, and public awareness in Connecticut. The Act requires the working group, starting by January 1, 2027, to annually report to the governor and the Human Services and Public Health committees on its evaluation and recommendations, including any legislation needed to implement them. Among others, the working group includes: one Connecticut-licensed physician experienced in diagnosing and treating endometriosis.

§ 18 The Act requires UConn Health Center’s Health Disparities Institute, within available appropriations, to develop a menopause toolkit that provides practical, evidence-based, and culturally appropriate guidance on best practices for screening, identifying, clinically assessing, diagnosing, and treating symptoms of perimenopause, menopause, and post-menopause. Under the Act, the Health Disparities Institute must distribute the toolkit to providers by June 1, 2028. The institute must then evaluate any provider feedback it receives on the toolkit’s effectiveness, revise the toolkit to address this feedback, and distribute any revised toolkit to providers by January 1, 2029.

CT HB 5567, PA 26-40

AN ACT CONCERNING HEALTH CARE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION FACILITIES.

§ 9 Creates a 21-member Correction Medical and Health Commission and charges it with

Making recommendations to improve medical, nutrition, behavioral health, and health care services and outcomes for incarcerated people and
Developing a 10-year plan to improve health care and food services in correctional facilities. It allows the commission to update the plan as it deems necessary.

The commission must report the 10-year plan, and any related legislative recommendations, to the Judiciary Committee by January 1, 2027. After that, within 30 days after any plan updates, the commission must report the update and related recommendations to the committee. The commission also must carry out the other duties the Act requires of it (see §§ 4 & 7) and any other duties set by law. The chief executive officer of The University of Connecticut Health Center, or the chief executive officer's designee serves on the Commission.

CT SB 1, PA 26-68

AN ACT MAKING ADJUSTMENTS TO THE STATE BUDGET FOR THE BIENNIUM ENDING JUNE 30, 2027, MAKING DEFICIENCY APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2026, AUTHORIZING AND ADJUSTING BONDS OF THE STATE AND CONCERNING PROVISIONS RELATING TO REVENUE, SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION AND OTHER ITEMS TO IMPLEMENT THE STATE BUDGET

§ 452 Requires UConn Health Center to submit a report by January 15, 2027 (to the Governor and relevant legislative committees) on payer mix, efforts to increase Medicaid days (including adolescent psychiatric unit and Department of Corrections (DOC) inpatient services), and increasing specialist access for Medicaid members. Must consult with stakeholders, including medical professionals, community groups, and labor unions.

Effective from passage.

§ 81 Amends the State Health Information Technology Advisory Council (section 17b-59f of the general statutes) to include the chief information officer of The University of Connecticut Health Center, or the chief information officer’s designee, as a member.

Effective July 1, 2026.

§ 142 Amends the membership of the task force established under section 28-33 of the general statutes (concerning prescription drug supply chains and shortages) to include the chief executive officer of The University of Connecticut Health Center, or the chief executive officer’s designee, as a member.

Effective July 1, 2026.

§ 202 Establishes a task force to study heat safety standards for workplaces. UConn’s Korey Stringer Institute has expertise in this area.

Effective from passage.

CT SB 5, PA 26-15

AN ACT CONCERNING ONLINE SAFETY.

§ 16 Allows any of the four legislative leaders (the House speaker the Senate president pro tempore, and the House and Senate minority leaders) to ask the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering (CASE) executive director to designate a CASE-selected fellow to serve as the leader’s liaison with the academy, the attorney general’s office, and Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD). One of the liaison’s purposes is to: develop a plan to establish a technology transfer program (a) for supporting commercialization of new ideas and research among Connecticut public and private higher education institutions and (b) by working with relevant public and private organizations, including DECD, UConn, and a statewide consortium of Connecticut public and private entities, including higher education institutions, designed to advance the development, application, and impact of AI across the state, to assess whether UConn can support technology commercialization at other higher education institutions in the state.

§ 29 The Act requires UConn’s Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy (IMRP) to conduct a study to understand and track AI’s impact on the state’s workforce and develop a comprehensive strategy to address the impact. IMRP must submit the study’s results and the comprehensive strategy to the General Law Committee by January 1, 2027.

CT SB 90, PA 26-77

AN ACT REVISING AND CONSOLIDATING THE HATE CRIMES STATUTES

Among other things, this Act in § 40 expands the Statewide Hate Crimes Advisory Council membership by adding the director of the Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy at UConn. Current law allows the governor to appoint 30 representatives of organizations committed to decreasing hate crimes, improving diversity, or representing the interest of groups within the state protected by the laws on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree intimidation based on bigotry or bias. The Act also requires the governor’s appointees to be committed to representing the interest of groups within the state protected by all the crimes the Act labels as hate crimes.

CT SB 132, PA 26-78

AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE CONNECTICUT-GERMANY AND CONNECTICUT-INDIA TRADE COMMISSIONS

This Act creates two new trade commissions within the Legislative Department: the Connecticut-Germany Trade Commission and the Connecticut-India Trade Commission. Under the Act, the Connecticut-Germany Trade Commission is 24 members including one representative of a Connecticut public college or university, appointed by the governor. Connecticut-India Trade Commission is 27 members with two representatives of a Connecticut public college or university, appointed by the governor.

CT SB 298, PA 26-1

AN ACT CONCERNING THE REALLOCATION OF CERTAIN STATE FUNDS AND VARIOUS PROVISIONS RELATING TO EDUCATION, PUBLIC SAFETY, GENERAL GOVERNMENT, ELECTIONS, INTERMEDIATE CARE FACILITIES AND WAREHOUSE DISTRIBUTION CENTERS.

§ 25 WORKING GROUP TO ADDRESS ANTISEMITISM IN SCHOOLS

Among others, the panel includes: Current or former faculty member of a college or university with expertise in curriculum development and knowledge and proven experience in addressing antisemitism and teaching Jewish heritage; and a leader at college or university in the state with knowledge and expertise in program development addressing antisemitism curriculum.

Effective from passage.

CT SB 397, PA 26-14

AN ACT CONCERNING DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY AND THE USE AND RETENTION OF DATA DERIVED FROM AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE READER SYSTEMS

§§ 13-15 AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE READER SYSTEMS (ALPR) Sets various conditions and restrictions on how law enforcement agencies and other public agencies may use ALPR systems or associated data, including limits on

When they can use these systems or data or share the data and;
How long they can keep the data;
Sets related requirements and restrictions for private vendors contracting with public agencies for these purposes; allows the attorney general (as to vendors) or private parties to seek related court relief and POST to discipline law enforcement officers for certain malicious conduct;
Requires Police Officer Standards and Training Council POST to adopt a model ALPR usage policy and DESPP to adopt related regulations for implementation by law enforcement agencies; requires POST, in consultation with UConn’s Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy, to develop a standardized form for reporting ALPR system usage and sets related reporting requirements.

CT HB 5521, PA 26-129

AN ACT CONCERNING STERILE CULTIVARS, APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR THE USE OF CERTAIN MATERIALS AS FILL AND THE REVISION OF CERTAIN HOUSING-RELATED STATUTES

Among other things, this Act requires the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station to submit a report on the safety of planting, importing, transporting, selling, or purchasing sterile cultivars and on the distribution of Japanese barberry. The report is due by January 15, 2027.

Effective from passage.

CT HB 5525, PA 26-65

AN ACT CONCERNING A RAPID RESPONSE PROGRAM FOR CERTAIN AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES

This Act outlines certain rapid response actions and associated timeframes to eradicate, contain, or control hydrilla or other aquatic invasive plant species introduced into an ecosystem or waterbody, while the infestation remains localized. It also requires the Connecticut Agriculture Experiment Station’s Office of Aquatic Invasive Species (OAIS), in consultation with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), to develop a state rapid response plan for hydrilla.

Effective October 1, 2026.

CT SB 148, PA 26-75

AN ACT CONCERNING REVISIONS TO AQUACULTURE-RELATED STATUTES AND PROVIDING FOR CERTAIN FARMING-RELATED PROGRAMS

This Act:

§ 1 Creates a Dairy Modernization Grant Program to help Connecticut’s dairy farmers invest in equipment, infrastructure, and operational upgrades; requires the Department of Agriculture (DoAg) to set the program’s parameters.

§ 2 Expands who qualifies as an eligible farmer under the farm investment tax credit program.

§ 3 Creates a Dairy Farming Sustainability Working Group to develop long-term recommendations to support Connecticut’s dairy industry.

§ 4 Requires the OPM secretary to reinstate the 2025 land use values for forestland until October 1, 2030.

§ 6 Removes the cap on the state’s per acre contribution to individual landowners applying for the agricultural land preservation program and the requirement that the contribution for the joint purchase of developmental rights with municipalities increase accordingly.

§§ 7 & 22 Changes notice requirements for areas closed to shellfishing; eliminates an obsolete law authorizing DoAg to appoint shellfish police.

§§ 8-22 Makes various changes to DoAg’s Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program to conform with current practices and align with program modernizations, including a transition to electronic benefits and expansion of eligible benefit redemption locations.

Effective dates vary.

CT HB 5229, PA 26-53

AN ACT CONCERNING GAMING

This Act makes a number of changes related to gaming, among other things, it:

§ 2 Prohibits advertising for keno, online lottery ticket sales, or fantasy contests during television programs primarily aimed at people under age 18 (a person cannot participate in these forms of gaming until reaching age 18).

§ 2 Restricts gaming advertising at athletic facilities on higher education institution campuses or on websites, social media, online services, or mobile applications of, or maintained by or on behalf of, these institutions.

Effective July 1, 2026.

UConn Testimony

CT SB 1, PA 26-68

Testimony Maric, Radenka, President-University of Connecticut (as submitted under the original Budget Bill, HB 5032)

Testimony Agwunobi, Andrew, CEO Exec VP for Health Affairs-UConn Health (as submitted under the original Budget Bill, HB 5032)

Description	2026-2027
UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT
Operating Expenses	250,103,874
Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory	250,000
Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy	550,000
UConn Veterans Program	250,000
Health Services - Regional Campuses	1,400,000
Puerto Rican Studies Initiative	500,000
Student Success Software	800,000
Learn and Earn	175,000
Kirklyn M. Kerr Grant Program	600,000
Various Grants*	2,320,000
AGENCY TOTAL	256,948,874

UCONN HEALTH CENTER	2026-2027
Operating Expenses	135,508,524
AHEC	429,735
Neuromodulation Treatment	2,000,000
Various Grants**	1,940,000
Endometriosis Biorepository	1,015,000
Migraine Study	150,000
AGENCY TOTAL	141,043,259

Effective July 1, 2026

*Various Grants (New Legislatively Directed) at UConn Storrs and Regional Campuses:

$1,000,000 for CT Makerspace initiative (Waterbury)
$200,000 for Waterbury robotics (in addition to pre-existing $120k)
$680,000 of Operating Expense (OE) funding for National Guard Fee Waivers (See HB 5003 § 71)

**Various Grants (New Legislatively Directed) at UConn Health:

$140,000 for Menopause Toolkit (See HB 5514 PA 26-13 18)
$1,800,000 for Medicaid Population Health Pilot

Additional Related Lines (Statewide/Fringe):

Workers’ Compensation Claims – University of Connecticut: $2,271,228
Claims – University of Connecticut Health Center: $3,460,985
Workers Comp Claims – UConn: $450,000

UConn Health / Department of Correction via MOU: No dedicated Health Improvement Through Employee Control (HITEC) line identified.

UConn Health Cannabis Fund: No separate Cannabis Fund allocation for UConn Health Operating Expenses.

UConn 2000 - Debt Service: $233,226,362

KEY PROVISIONS RELATED TO UCONN / UCONN HEALTH:

§ 211 Revenue Diversion to UConn Health Starting in FY 26, this requires DSS, in consultation with OPM, to divert up to a maximum of $15 million for each hospital the UConn Health Center Joint Venture Initiative (UCHC-JVI) owns and operates at any time during the fiscal year. Under the Act, this revenue must be diverted and transferred to UConn Health to support UCHC-JVI’s operational costs. DSS and UConn Health must enter into a memorandum of understanding to implement this transfer. For FY 27, DSS, with OPM’s approval, will establish receivables for anticipated hospital tax revenue.

Effective from passage.

§§ 212 & 214 Reduces the amount appropriated to UConn Health Center for Operating Expenses by $1,500,000 for FY 2027. Simultaneously appropriates $1,500,000 to DSS for FY 2027 to fund the Medicaid state share for expansion of physician supplemental payments issued to UConn Health Center.

Effective from passage.

§ 222 State Employee Hazardous Duty Disability Benefits- Requires health care providers who are employed by a state agency at a state-operated health care facility, including UConn Health, and that provide direct patient care, to receive state employee hazardous duty disability benefits if:

They are injured as a result of being assaulted while performing their duties and
The injury is a direct result of the special hazards inherent in their duties.

Current law also provides these benefits, under similar conditions, to various state employees such as State Police officers, correctional institution employees, and employees of the divisions of Criminal Justice or Public Defender Services.

Effective October 1, 2026.

§§ 226-246 Certificate of Need (CON) Program The budget includes sections making sweeping changes to the existing CON program. The Office of Health Strategy (OHS)-administered health care facility CON program will now be housed in the Department of Public Health (DPH), and it will be overseen by a panel comprised of DPH and Department of Social Services (DSS) commissioners and the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) secretary or their designees. The current CON program continues for applications submitted on or before June 30, 2027. The panel must meet at least monthly to review and decide on CON applications that were submitted to the panel at least five days before the meeting. Special meetings may be called to review applications or any other matter appropriate for panel review. The panel may cancel a monthly meeting if no CON applications or other business appropriately submitted to it with at least five days’ notice before the scheduled meeting.

Effective October 1, 2026.

§§ 254-255 This section establishes a tax credit for the PeoplesBank Arena’s facility management company under certain circumstances. It authorizes UConn to enter into a “qualified agreement” with the qualified operator of PeoplesBank Arena (Hartford) requiring a minimum of twenty UConn athletic events (men’s/women’s basketball and men’s hockey) per academic year through at least September 1, 2045. Includes tax credit provisions for the operator (up to $2 million per year for the first five eligible years, aggregate cap $10 million), repayment claw back for failure to host required events, and net profit-sharing favoring UConn (escalating schedule of 10-50% of the first $4 million net profit + excess net profits). UConn is entitled to its profit share; operator bears any net loss.

Effective July 1, 2026.

UConn Testimony (as submitted under HB 5571 which included similar provisions)

§ 259 Requires the state comptroller, by June 30, 2026, to transfer $50 million of FY 26 General Fund resources to the Federal Cuts Response Fund for FY 26.

Effective from passage.

§ 307 Updates and reauthorizes UConn 2000 projects, financing authority, and debt service. Reauthorizes prior bond funding and transferring to the UCONN 2000 program including: $46.1 million for labs and equipment to recruit Eminent Faculty Hires (faculty with demonstrated experience in creating new businesses and commercializing technology); $3 million for improvements to digital learning infrastructure at a regional campus; $6 million for UConn Health system telecommunications infrastructure, upgrades, improvements and expansions; $35 million for UConn Health Equipment, library collections and telecommunications; $90 million for UConn Health deferred maintenance, code compliance and infrastructure improvements, New authorizations include for UConn $10 million for IT equipment; $20 million for the recruitment of Top Tier Faculty start up lab renovations and equipment; and $40 million for the Field House and Gampel projects. Adding these prior authorizations to the UCONN 2000 program means that the University will not need to go through the State Bond Commission process.

UCONN 2000 Reauthorization – Effective July 1, 2026

§§ 357-362 Hospital Tax The Act makes various changes to the hospital tax including

Decreasing the tax on inpatient hospital services from 6% to 4% for FYs 27 through 31 and 3.5% starting in FY 32,
Decreasing the total revenue on which the outpatient hospital services tax is calculated,
Changing the applicable federal fiscal year used to calculate the tax, and
Requiring children’s general hospitals to pay the tax starting July 1, 2026;

also diverts hospital tax revenue to a new dedicated account that must be used to make specified supplemental payments and requires certain actions if the account has insufficient funds for these payments; requires the tax and related supplemental payments to hospitals to revert to the structure and amounts in effect on June 1, 2025, under specified circumstances. Waterbury Hospital is not exempt from the hospital tax, and it is anticipated that Waterbury’s tax payment will come from the $15 M in diverted Medicaid funds (See § 211 above).

Effective October 1, 2026.

§ 452 Requires UConn Health Center to submit a report by January 15, 2027 (to the Governor and Appropriations, Higher Education and Employment Advancement, Human Services, and Public Health Committees) on payer mix, efforts made to increase the proportion of Medicaid days, including increasing the census in the adolescent psychiatric unit and inpatient services provided to people incarcerated in Department of Correction facilities, and increasing specialist access for Medicaid members. UConn Health must consult with stakeholders, including medical professionals, community groups, and labor unions.

Effective from passage.

UConn and UConn Health Representation on State Advisory Bodies, Task Forces, and Working Groups:

§ 81 Amends the State Health Information Technology Advisory Council (section 17b-59f of the general statutes) to include the chief information officer of The University of Connecticut Health Center, or the chief information officer’s designee, as a member.

Effective July 1, 2026.

§ 142 Amends the membership of the task force established under §§ 28-33 of the general statutes (concerning prescription drug supply chains and shortages) to include the chief executive officer of The University of Connecticut Health Center, or the chief executive officer’s designee, as a member.

Effective July 1, 2026.

§ 202 Establishes a task force to study heat safety standards for workplaces. UConn’s Korey Stringer Institute has expertise in this area.

Effective from passage.

OTHER PROVISIONS OF NOTE:

§ 215 Requires any hospital or health system (including UConn Health) that schedules a patient for infusion or injection services at a hospital-based outpatient infusion center located outside the hospital campus to provide the patient with written notice at the time of scheduling disclosing potential greater financial liability compared to a non-hospital-based setting.

Effective January 1, 2027.

§ 324 CHANGES TO STUDENT LOAN PROGRAM Modifies the purpose of a bond-funded nursing student loan subsidy program and changes the program’s administrator. Current law authorizes $10 million in GO bonds to the Connecticut Higher Education Supplemental Loan Authority for a nursing student loan subsidy program. The Act changes the administrator of these bond proceeds to the Office of Higher Education and changes their purpose so they go towards a DOC nurse and social worker student loan reimbursement program.

Effective July 1, 2026.

§§ 340 & 341 SUPPLEMENTAL GRADUATE LOAN PROGRAM Requires the Connecticut Higher Education Supplemental Loan Authority (CHESLA) to create the Supplemental Graduate Loan Program to provide loans to eligible graduate students and authorizes $30 million in GO bonds for the program,

Effective from Passage

UConn Testimony & UConn Testimony (as submitted under SB 85 and SB 8 which included similar provisions)

§ 344 CHESLA Bonds Increases, from $300 million to $750 million, the aggregate amount of outstanding Connecticut Higher Education Supplemental Loan Authority (CHESLA) bonds that may be secured by special capital reserve funds.

Effective from passage.

§ 353 WINDHAM TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL SITE Requires the OPM secretary to evaluate alternative sites for relocating Windham Technical High School proposed by local officials and state legislators; prohibits OPM from proceeding with final site selection unless the evaluation shows that no alternative site located closer to the existing school is both feasible and capable of meeting certain criteria.

Effective from passage.

§ 380 ROBERTA B. WILLIS SCHOLARSHIP FUNDING CONTRACTS WITH HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS The Act permits the Office of Higher Education (OHE), with the Office of Policy and Management’s (OPM’S) approval, to enter contracts with Connecticut higher education institutions on and after January 1 annually to commit funds for Roberta B. Willis needs-based scholarships in the following fiscal year. The total amount committed cannot exceed the appropriation for this purpose for the

Current fiscal year if no budget has been adopted for the following fiscal year or
Following fiscal year as approved in the state budget.

Effective July 1, 2026.

§ 382 PROMISE PROGRAMS The Act requires the Office of Higher Education (OHE) to establish a program to support the creation of new promise programs throughout the state. The program must prioritize programs serving students in alliance districts and maintain a goal of establishing eight new promise programs by January 1, 2031.

Effective July 1, 2026.

UConn Testimony (as submitted under SB 380 which included similar provisions)

§ 470 FINISH LINE SCHOLAR PROGRAM MODIFICATIONS The Act modifies the student qualification and reporting requirements under the Finish Line Scholars program. By law, the Finish Line Scholars program awards grants to students who enrolled at CT State and received a Mary Ann Handley program award and then enroll in a bachelor’s program at the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) or Charter Oak State College. To be eligible for an award under the program, students must also

Be classified as an in-state student,
Meet certain enrollment and academic progress requirements,
Complete the Federal Application for Student Aid,
Accept all available financial aid.

In current law, a qualifying student must have completed at least 60 credits at CT State through the Mary Ann Handley program to be eligible to participate in the Finish Line Scholars’ program. The Act modifies this by instead requiring that the student received an associate’s degree.

Effective July 1, 2026.

§ 488 PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION FOR JOHN DEMPSEY HOSPITAL PORTION Provides 100% property tax relief for the portion of John Dempsey Hospital at UConn Health Center in Farmington used as a permanent medical ward for prisoners under DOC custody. Explicitly clarifies that this does not designate any portion of the facility as a correctional facility.

Effective July 1, 2026.

§ 490 FEDERAL CUTS RESPONSE FUND Appropriates $50 million to the Federal Cuts Response Fund (FCRF) established under SA 26-1 to the Office of Policy and Management. SA 26-1 transferred $330.8 million from the Budget reserve Fund (BRF) for the purposes of responding to policy impacts of P.L. 119-21 and mitigating any action or inaction by the federal government that results in a reduction of federal funding for any program in the state.

Effective from passage.

CT HB 5282, PA 26-126

AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE CONTINUING LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE ON PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT CONCERNING THE STATE PLAN OF CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT.

This Act makes several changes in laws related to the state plan of conservation and development (POCD). Among other things, it generally increases from $200,000 to $1 million (adjusted for inflation regularly), the threshold at which certain state agency capital projects and grant authorizations must be consistent with the state POCD. (Generally, these same projects are also deemed “growth-related projects” under current law.) The Act also removes acquiring public transportation equipment or facilities from the list of grants and projects that must be consistent with the POCD. Currently,

The state POCD must identify the boundaries for priority funding areas (PFAs) and
When state agencies fund or undertake a growth-related project, the project must be located in a priority funding area unless the agency complies with the statutory exception process.

The Act eliminates both of these requirements, among other PFA-related requirements.

Effective July 1, 2026.

CT SB 268, PA 26-17

AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE COMPTROLLER TO WITHHOLD PAYMENT FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE PREVAILING WAGE STATUTES

This Act sets a process for the state comptroller to withhold payment to a contractor or subcontractor who has violated the state’s prevailing wage law. More specifically, it allows the labor commissioner to notify the comptroller when, as allowed under existing law, she issues a stop work order against a contractor or subcontractor for knowingly or willfully failing to pay an employee the prevailing wage required on a public works project. The notice must be in a way set by the comptroller.

Effective October 1, 2026.

CT SB 247, PA 26-109

AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE AUDITORS OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS.

This Act makes various changes in the government administration statutes. It generally:

§ 1 Prohibits state agencies from entering certain settlement agreements that prohibit an employee from working while requiring that the employee continue to be paid, with exceptions;

§ 2 Specifies a process for determining when a foundation that supports a state agency must reimburse the agency for the services of state employees;

§ 3 Removes a requirement for the comptroller to be part of an annual audit that APA must conduct on the treasurer’s books and accounts;

§§ 4-6 Makes several changes related to the Auditors of Public Accounts’ (APA) involvement in audits conducted by other state agencies;

§ 7 Requires a quasi-public agency to submit its annual report with certain agency administrative and financial information to the governor and APA within six months after its fiscal year ends (current law does not set a deadline); and

§ 8 Clarifies that when APA conducts the annual comprehensive financial review of the Technical Services Revolving Fund (a fund used to purchase, install, and use information and telecommunication systems for state agencies), it must be done as a part of the audit of the annual comprehensive financial report issued by the comptroller.

The Act also makes technical changes.

More Specifically:

§ 2 FOUNDATION REIMBURSEMENTS FOR STATE EMPLOYEES Current law generally requires foundations that support state agencies (such as the UConn Foundation) to ensure that they pay the salaries, benefits, and expenses of their officers and employees. The Act specifies that this does not apply to those officers or employees who are state employees paid by the state under an agreement with the foundation. Existing law relatedly requires a state agency and its foundation to have a written agreement that requires the foundation to reimburse the agency for the expenses the agency incurs for the foundation’s operations that it otherwise would not have incurred. The Act requires this agreement to include whether the foundation must reimburse the agency for any portion of the expenses, salaries, or benefits of state employees providing services to the foundation, and if so, in what amount.

Effective Date: October 1, 2026, and the provision on foundation agreements with state agencies applies to agreements entered into or renewed on or after that date.

CT HB 5567, PA 26-40

AN ACT CONCERNING HEALTH CARE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION FACILITIES.

§ 9 creates a 21-member Correction Medical and Health Commission and charges it with

Making recommendations to improve medical, nutrition, behavioral health, and health care services and outcomes for incarcerated people and
Developing a 10-year plan to improve health care and food services in correctional facilities. It allows the commission to update the plan as it deems necessary.

Effective from passage.

CT SB 391, PA 26-117

AN ACT CONCERNING THE AVAILABILITY OF BREAST CANCER SCREENING, DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT SERVICES FOR WOMEN COMMITTED TO THE CUSTODY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION.

This Act authorizes the Department of Correction (DOC) to arrange for breast cancer screening, diagnostic, and treatment services for women in DOC custody to occur at licensed health care institutions that are closer to the correctional facility than is the UConn Health Center. It also allows DOC, if it is unable to provide on-site mammograms, to arrange for them at licensed health care institutions that are closer than UConn Health Center.

Effective July 1, 2026.

CT SB 5, PA 26-15

AN ACT CONCERNING ONLINE SAFETY

Among other things, this Act:

Effective from passage.

CT HB 5491, PA 26-145

AN ACT CONCERNING CENTRALIZATION OF WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT INFORMATION.

This Act requires the labor commissioner, by January 1, 2027, to create and semi-annually update a centralized webpage on the Department of Labor’s website with information, resources, and materials on workforce development organizations and opportunities. It also requires the labor commissioner to post links on this webpage to external sources of information, resources, and materials on:

Job training, career counseling, and workforce development organizations and opportunities;
Regional sector partnerships; and
Other topics related to workforce development.

Effective October 1, 2026.

CT SB 132, PA 26-78

AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE CONNECTICUT-GERMANY AND CONNECTICUT-INDIA TRADE COMMISSIONS

This Act creates two new trade commissions within the Legislative Department: the Connecticut-Germany Trade Commission and the Connecticut-India Trade Commission. Under the Act, each commission must do the following between Connecticut and its respective country: advance bilateral trade and investment; initiate joint action on policy issues of mutual interest; promote business and academic exchanges; encourage mutual economic support and infrastructure investment; address other issues it determines; and, for the Connecticut-India Trade Commission, explore new opportunities for collaboration in the arts and technology.

Under the Act, the Connecticut-Germany Trade Commission is 24 members including one representative of a Connecticut public college or university, appointed by the governor. Connecticut-India Trade Commission is 27 members with two representatives of a Connecticut public college or university, appointed by the governor.

Effective from passage.

CT HB 5323, PA 26-139

AN ACT CONCERNING VARIOUS REVISIONS TO THE EDUCATION STATUTES

This Act:

§ 1 Allows retired parole officers to provide armed security services in public schools; prohibits police and parole officers who left employment during an investigation or after disciplinary action from providing armed security services in schools.

§ 2 Requires the Advisory Council for School Administrator Professional Standards to create a new school administrator mentorship pilot program.

§ 3 Prohibits schools from requiring students in grades 9-12 who participate in interscholastic athletics to meet academic eligibility standards that are higher than those set by CIAC.

§ 4 Requires the State Department of Education (SDE) to create a grant program, within available appropriations, for a therapeutic arts program in public schools starting in the 2027-28 school year.

§ 5 Allows the SDE commissioner to authorize the temporary placement of students enrolled in the Bridgeport Military Academy in available classroom space at the Fairchild Wheeler Interdistrict Magnet Campus to facilitate construction of a permanent facility for the Bridgeport Military Academy.

§ 6 Delays the effective date of the repeal of various educator preparation regulations from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 2027.

§ 7 Establishes an incentive program for school districts that limits broad assessments, integrates formative assessment tools, and increases teacher competency in the assessment process.

§ 8 Requires SDE to develop and give guidance to school boards on reducing discretionary local student assessments.

§ 9 Allows SDE to submit a request to the U.S. Department of Education to amend the state’s approved plan submitted pursuant to ESSA.

§ 10 Requires SDE to

Redesign the state’s high school mathematics pathways,
Develop a list of professional development providers for high-quality mathematics instruction,
Explore the feasibility of launching MathConn, and
Develop mathematics specialist guidelines.

§§ 11-13 Makes various revisions to the laws on the disclosure of certain misconduct-related information during the hiring process of a prospective school employee.

Effective July 1, 2026.

CT HB 5468, PA 26-37

AN ACT CONCERNING THE PROVISION OF PARENT-MANAGED LEARNING

Starting with the 2028-29 school year, this Act requires parents or guardians (“parents”) of most school-age children to annually complete (or cause to be completed) an intent to educate form indicating whether their child will

Enroll in a public school,
Attend a nonpublic school, or
Be instructed through parent-managed learning (such as homeschooling).

The forms must be submitted to the school district where the parent resides by October 1 and may be submitted electronically. The Act deems parents in compliance with this requirement if their child attends a public school or if the nonpublic school the child attends files the required annual attendance report.

Effective date: July 1, 2027, except the requirement for SDE to create the forms and the conforming changes are effective July 1, 2026.

CT SB 137, PA, 105

AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE OFFICE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD. ITS PURPOSE IS TO IMPLEMENT THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE OFFICE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD.

Among other things, this Act: clarifies and adds new definitions for each person under the child care services provider or staff member definition who must undergo a background check. Both UConn and UConn Health have childcare centers.

Effective July 1, 2026.

CT SB 138, PA 26-106

AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.

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

Aligning the approval process for new charter schools with the governor’s biennial budget process, rather than the annual process as under current law;
Requiring the State Department of Education (SDE) to pay transportation grants for Sheff region magnet schools operated by regional educational service centers (RESCs) in an amount of up to one half the total estimated cost paid by the RESC by October 31 of the fiscal year, rather than half the total estimated cost by this date as under current law; and
Amending what must be in the report by a regional school study committee supporting the district’s creation as part of the planning process to consider forming a regional school district.

The Act also repeals various annual reports that SDE must currently submit to the Education Committee, or other General Assembly committees, unless the frequency is otherwise noted.

Effective from passage, except the provisions on charter schools and magnet school transportation grant payments are effective July 1, 2026.

CT SB 220, PA 26-149

AN ACT CONCERNING STUDENT LITERACY, ASPIRING EDUCATORS, AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE AS PART OF THE WORLD LANGUAGES CURRICULUM AND THE PARAEDUCATOR HEALTH BENEFIT PLAN SUBSIDY PROGRAM

This Act makes the following unrelated changes to education laws:

§§ 1 & 2 Requires the State Department of Education (SDE) to create guidance for school districts on implementing targeted reading intervention to students identified as struggling in reading and codifies SDE reading assessment requirements;

§§ 3 & 4 Modifies the aspiring educators diversity scholarship program by

Making “aspiring educators,” rather than “diverse educators,” eligible for the scholarship and
Allowing the SDE commissioner to use a portion of unspent funds to promote the teaching profession;

§§ 5 & 6 Requires SDE to establish the American Sign Language (ASL) education working group; and

§ 7 Makes permanent two health care subsidy programs for paraeducators employed by local or regional boards of education and expands the programs to include paraeducators at charter schools.

The Act also makes several minor and technical changes.

Effective July 1, 2026, except that

The codification of the assessment requirement and aspiring educator provisions are effective upon passage and
The creation of the American Sign Language working group is effective January 1, 2027.

CT SB 298, PA 26-1

§ 25 WORKING GROUP TO ADDRESS ANTISEMITISM IN SCHOOLS

Effective from passage.

CT HB 5336, PA 26-46

AN ACT CONCERNING ADVANCED NUCLEAR ENERGY.

This Act requires the Connecticut Council for Advancing Nuclear Energy Development, within available appropriations, to study the demand for skilled labor in the advanced nuclear energy industry, including the development of nuclear power technologies such as small modular reactors, micro-reactors, or reactors that use cooling sources such as molten salt, liquid metal, or high temperature gas. In doing so, the council must consult with a representative of the Connecticut State Building Trades Council and a representative of a joint apprenticeship and training committee that facilitates workforce training in the state.

Effective July 1, 2026.

CT HB 5340, PA 26-127

AN ACT CONCERNING RENEWABLE POWER GENERATION

§ 14 Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) WORKING GROUP Requires PURA to convene a working group to review processes on resuming energy generation service after a service shutoff at a generation or storage facility and report to the Energy and Technology and Public Safety and Security committees by February 1, 2027. Working group includes an employee of a higher education institution in the state with expertise in electrical engineering or any field related to electricity generation, transmission, or distribution.

Effective October 1, 2026.

CT SB 306, PA 26-121

AN ACT CONCERNING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND COMPREHENSIVE ENERGY STRATEGY

This Act requires the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) commissioner to consult with the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) commissioner; the agriculture, housing, and transportation commissioners or their designees; the Office of Policy and Management secretary or his designee; the Consumer Counsel or her designee; the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority chairperson or his designee; and the Connecticut Green Bank chief executive officer or his designee when preparing the state’s comprehensive energy strategy. By law, DEEP must prepare the strategy every four years and consider, among other things, how Connecticut’s energy policies affect greenhouse gas emissions and the state’s economy. The Act also requires the DEEP commissioner to submit the final comprehensive energy strategy to the Commerce Committee, in addition to the Energy and Technology and Environment committees as required under current law.

Effective October 1, 2026.

CT HB 5155, SA 26-10

AN ACT CONCERNING PESTICIDE REPORTING MODERNIZATION

Effective from passage.

CT HB 5333, PA 26-101

AN ACT CONCERNING THE REGULATION OF STRIPED BASS FISHING IN THE STATE, A WORKING GROUP CONCERNING THE WILDLIFE CONSERVATION PROGRAM AND PROCEDURES CONCERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF FISH PASSAGES

One representative each from Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), the Department of Transportation, and the Office of Policy and Management;
Three representatives of conservation advocacy organizations that work on wildlife-related issues, one of whom must have fisheries aquatic expertise and one of whom must have avian expertise;
One representative of a land conservation organization;
Two state college or university faculty members, as recommended by the DEEP commissioner;
One representative from a council of governments;
One water utilities representative;
One representative of an organization representing Connecticut recreational businesses;
One representative of the Connecticut Farm Bureau or its designee; and 9. one Connecticut-certified forester.

Effective July 1, 2026.

CT HB 5518, PA 26-142

AN ACT CONCERNING THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH'S RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING VARIOUS REVISIONS TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND DRINKING WATER STATUTES

This Act makes various changes to the Department of Public Health’s (DPH) regulation of bottled water and water sources, environmental laboratories, asbestos professionals, crematories, subsurface sewage enforcement officers, and apprentice water system operators.

Effective dates vary.

CT HB 5532, PA 26-66

AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE OFFICE OF STATE ETHICS FOR REVISIONS TO THE STATE CODES OF ETHICS, REDEFINING "GIFT" FOR PURPOSES OF SAID CODES AND INCREASING VARIOUS MONETARY THRESHOLDS IN SAID CODES.

Among other things, this Act in § 4 increases these financial thresholds in the ethics codes - including food and beverages per recipient, per year from less than $50 to less than $100. It also adds an exception for admission to an intercollegiate sporting event in the state hosted by a constituent unit, as defined in section 10a-1, at the invitation of the constituent unit, when provided to a public official or state employee and not more than one guest of such public official or state employee not more than once per calendar year. This provision will impact UConn events.

Effective October 1, 2026.

CT HB 5349, PA 26-128

AN ACT CONCERNING A POLICE OFFICER TRAINING PROGRAM AND THE ROUNDING OF CERTAIN CASH PURCHASES

Among other things, effective January 1, 2027, this Act allows merchants to round in-person cash purchases after taxes, fees, and discounts are applied: totals ending in one, two, six, or seven cents may be rounded down, while totals ending in three, four, eight, or nine cents may be rounded up. The rounding rule does not apply to transactions of four cents or less or to non-cash payments, and the Act preserves Connecticut’s general requirement that retailers accept cash and not charge cash-paying customers more, except as allowed under the new rounding provision.

Effective January 1, 2027.

CT HB 5514, PA 26-13

AN ACT CONCERNING VARIOUS REVISIONS TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH STATUTES.

Among other things, this Act:

§ 1 Allows an infirmary operated by an educational institution to provide care to dependent family members of students, faculty, and employees when these family members are enrolled in the institution’s health plan. Under current state law and regulation, these facilities provide evaluation and treatment for routine health problems and, in some cases, short-term overnight accommodations (for example, when someone is recovering from surgery or requires observation) only for students, faculty, and employees (Conn. Agencies Regs., § 19-13-D43a(a)(15)).

§ 4 Requires health care providers, starting by January 1, 2027, to notify patients in writing at their initial intake, about the amount of time the law requires the provider to keep their medical records and how the patient can request copies of them.

Effective October 1, 2026.

CT HB 5003, PA 26-12

AN ACT CONCERNING WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND WORKING CONDITIONS IN THE STATE

§§ 1 & 75 These sections allow certain teachers, health care providers, and related employees to receive enhanced workers’ compensation benefits if they are unable to work, totally or partially, as a result of a physical or negligent assault upon them while performing their duties within the scope of their employment. For teachers and other education employees, the Act substitutes this for an existing similar benefit, which the Act repeals, that is outside of workers’ compensation. More specifically, the Act requires these teachers, health care providers, and employees to receive a workers’ compensation benefit that equals 100% of their average weekly earnings as of the date of the injury, calculated using the same process that applies to other workers’ compensation claimants, with no cap on the benefit amount, plus their expenses reasonably incurred for medical or other services needed due to the assault, and any lost wages due to an absence for a court appearance connected to the assault.

Effective October 1, 2026.

§ 3 The Act establishes a working group to study the feasibility of and considerations needed to implement a system for health care providers to report incidents of violence that a patient directs at a provider to the Statewide Health Information Exchange, known as “Connie,” and that alerts providers when they accept a new patient or have a scheduled visit with an existing patient who has a documented history of any of those incidents. Under the Act, the guidance applies to health care providers with an electronic health record system capable of connecting to and participating in Connie. The Public Health Committee’s chairpersons must each appoint three members to the working group, and the committee’s ranking members must each appoint two members. The Public Health Committee’s chairpersons must appoint the working group’s chairpersons from among its members. The working group must report its findings to the Public Health Committee by January 1, 2027.

Effective from passage.

§ 33 The Act requires the Department of Public Health (DPH) commissioner, by January 1, 2027, and in consultation with an organization that represents hospitals in the state, to create a report on the number of variations from the nurse staffing plans that the law requires hospitals to develop. The report must include the number of times

A hospital-wide variation from the nurse staffing plans occurred and
There was a unit level variation from the nurse staffing plans by a hospital.

The commissioner must submit the report to the Public Health and Labor and Public Employees committees.

Effective October 1, 2026.

CT HB 5165, SA 26-29

AN ACT REQUIRING AN EVALUATION OF THE APPOINTMENT OF A RECEIVER TO MANAGE HOSPITALS IN FINANCIAL DISTRESS OR OPERATIONAL CRISIS.

This Act requires the Department of Public Health (DPH) Commissioner to evaluate whether the Attorney General should be authorized to petition the Superior Court to appoint a receiver to manage hospitals in financial distress or operational crisis. The department has the necessary expertise to conduct the evaluation and reporting required by the Act.

Effective from passage.

CT HB 5354, PA 26-143

AN ACT CONCERNING MEDICAID PROVIDER AUDITS.

This Act modifies the circumstances in which the Department of Social Services (DSS) can determine overpayment or underpayment by extrapolation when auditing Medicaid provider claims. By law, extrapolation means determining an unknown value by projecting the results of a review of a sample of claims to the entire population of claims from which the sample was drawn. More specifically, the bill prohibits DSS from finding that an overpayment or underpayment was made to a Medicaid provider based on extrapolated projections unless:

The provider has a sustained or high level of payment errors,
The DSS commissioner determines in good faith that the provider is engaging in vendor fraud, or
Documented educational intervention failed to correct the error levels.

Effective October 1, 2026.

CT HB 5377, PA 26-56

AN ACT CONCERNING RETURN OF HEALTH CARE PROVIDER PAYMENTS.

This Act makes changes to laws regarding claim payments and appeals between health care providers (for example, physicians).

§ 1:

Reduces, from 18 months to 12 months, the time period after receiving a clean (complete and error-free) claim during which a contracting health organization may generally cancel, deny, or demand full or partial return of payment from a health care provider due to an administrative or eligibility error;
Allows organizations to use a secure electronic provider portal or electronic clearinghouse used for claims or remittance communications to give providers the 30-day minimum advance notice of a payment cancellation, denial, or demand, notice required by law;
Specifies that if the above notice is sent by (a) mail, it must be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, or (b) email, it must be sent to an email address the provider designates; and

§§ 1 & 2 Requires the organization to notify the provider of its appeal determination within 30 business days after receiving the provider’s appeal, otherwise the appeal must be construed in the provider’s favor. It also applies the provider claim payment and appeals provisions that apply to contracting health organizations, under existing law and the Act, to health insurance carriers that deliver, issue, renew, amend, or continue certain individual or group health insurance policies in Connecticut on or after January 1, 2027.

Effective January 1, 2027.

CT HB 5421, PA 26-36

AN ACT ESTABLISHING AN ACCOUNT TO PROVIDE PATIENT LIFTS TO CERTAIN HEALTH CARE OFFICES AND FACILITIES.

The Act creates the health care facility patient lift account as a separate, non-lapsing account administered by the State Treasurer. The account must contain:

Relevant appropriations or funding otherwise made available by the state;
Any money required by law to be deposited in the account; and
Relevant gifts, grants, donations or bequests.

Any investment earnings credited to the assets of the account must also be included in the assets of the account. Under the Act, the Department of Public Health (DPH) must use the account’s funds to provide grants to licensed physician offices, radiological facilities, imaging centers or health care facilities to purchase patient lifts. These lifts are to be used to transfer elderly persons, persons with disabilities or persons with injuries or chronic health conditions from facility beds to wheelchairs or other equipment. DPH may deduct and retain an amount equal to the costs incurred to award such grants, up to two percent of the account's balance annually.

Effective July 1, 2026.

CT HB 5514, PA 26-13

AN ACT CONCERNING VARIOUS REVISIONS TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH STATUTES.

Among other things, this Act:

§ 11 Requires hospitals, when conducting a community health needs assessment, to consider including the nutritional needs of community members with diabetes and congestive heart failure, if warranted by available data. They must also, to the extent federal law allows, include these community members’ nutrition needs in their assessment. To maintain tax-exempt status under federal law, a nonprofit hospital must, among other things,

Conduct a community health needs assessment at least once every three years and
Adopt an implementation strategy to meet the needs identified in the assessment.

Federal regulations set various steps that hospitals must take in completing these requirements (26 C.F.R. § 1.501(r)-3).

§ 12 Generally allows hospitals to

Administer buprenorphine or methadone to someone who comes to the emergency department with symptoms of opioid use disorder without requiring them to be admitted;
Offer these patients an opioid antagonist prescription when discharged and refer them to outpatient care; and
Give these patients, when discharged, either a bridging dose or last dose letter (depending on the medication).

§ 13 Establishes a 20-member endometriosis working group in the Legislative Department to evaluate and make recommendations on endometriosis diagnosis, treatment, research, education, and public awareness in Connecticut. The Act requires the working group, starting by January 1, 2027, to annually report to the governor and the Human Services and Public Health committees on its evaluation and recommendations, including any legislation needed to implement them. Among others, the working group includes: one Connecticut-licensed physician experienced in diagnosing and treating endometriosis.

§ 14 Establishes a 20-member advisory council on CAR T-cell therapy to advise and make recommendations to DPH and other state agencies related to these therapies; requires the council to report annually to the Insurance and Real Estate and Public Health committees. Among others, the advisory council includes: one hematologist or oncologist serving adults, one specialist in emerging cellular and genetic therapy and one pharmacology expert.

§ 18 The Act requires UConn Health Center’s Health Disparities Institute, within available appropriations, to develop a menopause toolkit that provides practical, evidence-based, and culturally appropriate guidance on best practices for screening, identifying, clinically assessing, diagnosing, and treating symptoms of perimenopause, menopause, and post-menopause. Under the Act, the toolkit is for Connecticut health care providers who diagnose or treat people with symptoms of these conditions, as the institute determines, including those in the fields of obstetrics, gynecology, family medicine, internal medicine, emergency medicine, psychiatry, mental health, social work, dentistry, dental hygiene, and community health. The institute must develop the toolkit in consultation with DPH, people who have experienced symptoms of these conditions, and providers who treat them.

The guidance may include:

A comprehensive description of the symptoms of perimenopause, menopause, and post-menopause;
Evidence-based guidelines for identifying and treating these symptoms, including hormone replacement therapy and testosterone therapy;
Available insurance coverage for the therapies; and
Short education models on the guidance that qualifies as continuing education for these providers.

§ 18 Under the Act, the Health Disparities Institute must distribute the toolkit to providers by June 1, 2028. The institute must then evaluate any provider feedback it receives on the toolkit’s effectiveness, revise the toolkit to address this feedback, and distribute any revised toolkit to providers by January 1, 2029.

§§ 33-36 Under certain conditions, the Act allows dentists to administer cosmetic injections on patients’ faces; eliminates the requirement that dentists remain on-site when delegating to dental assistants the taking of dental x-rays; adds to the list of topics from which dentists must select for certain hours of continuing education.

Effective October 1, 2026.

CT SB 196, PA 26-22

AN ACT CONCERNING HOSPITAL SALE-LEASEBACK TRANSACTIONS AND ATTESTATIONS CONCERNING LACK OF A CONTROLLING INTREST OF A HOSPITAL OR OF INTERFERENCE WITH THE PROFESSIONAL JUDGMENT AND CLINICAL DECISIONS OF CERTAIN HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS OF A HOSPITAL BY A PRIVATE EQUITY ENTITY

This Act prohibits hospitals from entering into sale-leaseback transactions on or after July 1, 2027. These are agreements a hospital enters into with another person or entity for the hospital to sell and lease back the real property comprising its main campus. The Act also requires hospitals, starting by February 15, 2027, to annually submit to the Department of Public Health (DPH) a document with an attestation that no private equity entity:

Has a controlling interest in the hospital (in relation to its main campus) or ultimate governance control over any asset or activity of the hospital’s main campus, including (among other things) any clinical matters, and
Is allowed to direct the hospital’s adoption of any policy or procedure that would interfere with clinicians’ professional judgment or clinical decisions. Subject to certain procedures, the Act allows the DPH commissioner to impose a civil penalty of up to $2,000 on a hospital that fails to submit the required attestation.

The Act applies to DPH-licensed short-term acute care general or children’s hospitals, including UConn’s John Dempsey Hospital. Under the Act, a “private equity entity” is any entity that collects.

Effective from passage.

CT SB 298, PA 26-1

§ 8 UCONN HEALTH NEUROMODULATION CENTER

This Act limits treatments at UConn Health’s Neuromodulation Center to disabled veterans, and specifically allows for research at the center. Last year’s budget implementer required UConn Health to establish a Center of Excellence for Neuromodulation Treatments and allowed UConn Health to collaborate with an in-state hospital to provide neuromodulation treatments at this center. This Act limits the treatments to disabled veterans (in line with UConn Health’s current plans for the center, which is set to launch next year). It also specifically allows for neuromodulation research at this center. By law, “neuromodulation” is the alteration of nerve activity through targeted delivery of a stimulus, including electrical stimulation or chemical agents, to specific neurological sites in the body. In practice, neuromodulation can be used in various treatments, such as for stroke recovery, Parkinson’s Disease, and chronic pain.

Effective from passage.

§§ 65 & 66 CERTIFICATE OF NEED EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN INPATIENT BEHAVIORAL HEALTH LICENSED BEDS

Generally, existing law requires certain health care facilities to apply for and receive a certificate of need (CON) from the Office of Health Strategy’s Health Systems Planning Unit when proposing to

Establish a new facility or provide new services,
Change ownership,
Purchase or acquire certain equipment, or
Terminate certain services.

The Act exempts from CON requirements an increase in licensed beds at a state-owned or -operated hospital (e.g., Albert J. Solnit Children’s Center) if the additional beds are

Added prior to July 1, 2026, and
Dedicated to inpatient behavioral health services.

Under the Act, if any of these additional licensed beds are converted to another inpatient service, a CON is required.

These sections are effective from passage.

CT SB 391, PA 26-117

AN ACT CONCERNING THE AVAILABILITY OF BREAST CANCER SCREENING, DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT SERVICES FOR WOMEN COMMITTED TO THE CUSTODY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION.

Effective July 1, 2026.

CT SB 430, PA 26-150

AN ACT ADOPTING THE INTEGRATED SETTING STANDARD OF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT FOR PUBLIC ENTITIES

This Act requires state agencies, local departments, and other public entities to administer services, programs, and activities in the most integrated setting appropriate to the needs of people with disabilities who are eligible to receive them. Under the Act, public entities are:

Executive, legislative, and judicial branch state agencies, including any office, department, board, council, commission, institution, higher education constituent unit, or technical education and career school; or
Local governments or departments, agencies, special purpose districts, or other local government instrumentalities.

An integrated setting is one that enables people with disabilities to interact with nondisabled people as described in federal regulations that set similar requirements. Under the Act, violations are a discriminatory practice and anyone aggrieved by an alleged violation may file a complaint with the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO). Under existing state law, it is a discriminatory practice to deprive someone of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by Connecticut or federal laws or constitutions, or cause such a deprivation, because of various characteristics, including mental or physical disability, and CHRO may receive, initiate, investigate, and mediate discriminatory practice complaints.

Effective July 1, 2026.

CT HB 5044, PA 26-3

AN ACT ESTABLISHING CONNECTICUT VACCINE STANDARDS. ITS PURPOSE IS TO IMPLEMENT THE GOVERNOR'S BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS.

This Act makes various changes to state laws on immunizations.

Principally, it:

§§ 1-7, 11, 12, 15 & 16 Requires the Department of Public Health (DPH) commissioner to establish an immunization standard of care for adults, in addition to children as under current law, and authorizes her to (a) consider recommended vaccine schedules from an additional organization when doing so and (b) include passive immunizations, in addition to active immunizations as allowed under current law;

§ 2 Requires the Connecticut Vaccine Program (CVP) to give all children’s vaccines included under DPH’s standard of care, instead of only those recommended by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), and allows DPH to purchase the vaccines by means other than through CDC under certain conditions;

§ 4 Requires DPH, in consultation with the Department of Social Services (DSS), to adopt regulations for nursing homes on immunization requirements for respiratory viral diseases (such as flu and pneumonia), according to DPH’s immunization standard of care instead of the CDC recommendations as under current law (and allows DPH to adopt related policies and procedures while in the process of adopting regulations);

§ 8 Allows the governor, during a public health emergency, to authorize the DPH commissioner or her designee to issue a standing order to allow medical interventions (including vaccines) needed to respond to the emergency;

§§ 9 & 10 Establishes, within available appropriations, a DPH-administered Vaccines for Adults Program that purchases and distributes vaccines to eligible health care providers to administer to underinsured and uninsured adults ages 19 and older;

§§ 11 & 12 Requires health insurance policies that cover prescription drugs to also cover immunizations for children, adolescents, and adults included in DPH’s standards of care within the schedules the standards prescribe;

§ 13 Authorizes licensed pharmacists to order, prescribe, and administer vaccines listed in DPH’s immunization standards of care, instead of CDC-recommended vaccines, for adult patients and patients between ages 12 and 18 (with parental consent or proof the minor is emancipated); and

§ 14 Expressly provides that the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) does not apply to immunization requirements for (a) public and private schools, including higher education institutions and (b) child care centers and group and family day care homes.

Effective from passage, except that provisions on

Insurance coverage for vaccines take effect January 1, 2027, and
RFRA take effect upon passage and apply to any civil action pending on or filed after that date.

CT HB 5515, PA 26-38

AN ACT CONCERNING THE DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTION SERVICES' RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING ACCESS TO OPIOID OVERDOSE REVERSAL MEDICATION AND VARIOUS REVISIONS TO MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTION STATUTES.

This Act expands the instances an opioid antagonist (used to treat opioid overdose, such as Narcan) may be administered to students in public schools. It updates education statutes on administering opioid antagonists to reflect federal Food and Drug Administration changes to these medications’ designation. Prior to 2023, all opioid antagonists were legend drugs, meaning a prescription was required to access them, but this Act makes changes to reflect the recent availability of a non-legend (over-the-counter) version. (The non-legend version is a nasal spray whereas legend versions are typically administered by injection.) The Act also more broadly allows any person (for example, an individual, governmental entity, or business) to give someone a non-legend opioid antagonist to treat or prevent an opioid drug overdose, including in a school, and gives them immunity from civil and criminal liability for doing so. The Act exempts anyone who distributes these medications for free from needing a non-legend drug permit to do so. Existing law already generally immunizes anyone who, in good faith, believes that another person is experiencing an opioid-related drug overdose and administers an opioid antagonist to the other person.

Effective Date: July 1, 2026, except the provisions on the

General non-legend opioid antagonist immunity, deploying mental health professionals after mass shootings, and advisory boards for DMHAS-operated facilities are effective upon passage and
Catchment area councils are effective October 1, 2026.

CT SB 298, PA 26-1

§ 8 UCONN HEALTH NEUROMODULATION CENTER

Effective from passage.

CT HB 5514, PA 26-13

AN ACT CONCERNING VARIOUS REVISIONS TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH STATUTES.

Among other things, this Act:

§ 12 Generally allows hospitals to

Administer buprenorphine or methadone to someone who comes to the emergency department with symptoms of opioid use disorder without requiring them to be admitted;
Offer these patients an opioid antagonist prescription when discharged and refer them to outpatient care; and
Give these patients, when discharged, either a bridging dose or last dose letter (depending on the medication).

Effective October 1, 2026.

HB 5374, PA 26-33

AN ACT CONCERNING HEALTH COVERAGE MANDATES FOR CERTAIN HEALTH CONDITIONS

This Act addresses benefit mandates under certain individual and group health insurance policies.

§§ 2 & 3 The Act generally requires applicable individual and group health insurance policies to provide coverage for Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections (PANDAS) and Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS) treatment;

§§ 4 & 5 Scalp cooling systems used in connection with chemotherapy, at least equivalent to the coverage Medicare provides for them; and

§§ 6 & 7 Prosthetic devices designed exclusively for athletic purposes;

§§ 8-11 Infertility diagnosis and treatment under an expanded definition of “infertility” that, among other things, establishes various ways in which infertility can be determined.

Effective January 1, 2027.

CT HB 5003, PA 26-12

AN ACT CONCERNING WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND WORKING CONDITIONS IN THE STATE

§ 57 By October 1, 2026, the Act requires the UConn Board of Trustees and Board of Regents for Higher Education (BOR) to jointly identify the qualities and best practices of a high-quality internship program, using at least six of the eight National Association of Colleges and Employers career readiness competencies. This was previously included in House Bill 5478- see testimony for that bill below. The boards must create a syllabus for employers’ online training using these qualities and best practices by January 1, 2027, and BOR must use the syllabus to offer asynchronous online training through Charter Oak State College by July 1, 2027. The Act allows the college to charge a training enrollment fee and requires it to give employers a credential for completing the training. The boards must conspicuously post on their websites information about the qualities and best practices and a link to the online training registration for employers. The Act also requires the following reports to the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee: annually, beginning by July 1, 2028, BOR must report on the number of employers receiving the credential in the prior fiscal year; by January 1, 2027, each higher education institution in the state must report on the internship opportunities available to their students through their career services offices, including the types of employers offering internships, quality measures used to ensure students have a valuable experience, and other relevant information; by February 1, 2027, the Department of Administrative Services must survey state agencies, other than public higher education institutions, and report on their internship programs, including whether an agency has paid internships and high-quality internship programs according to the qualities and best practices established by the Act; and by January 1, 2028, the Department of Revenue Services (DRS) must consult with the Office of Policy and Management and study the revenue impact of expanding the human capital investment tax credit to cover intern compensation paid by employers who earned the online training credential and certain business entities that earned the credential.

Effective July 1, 2026, except the provision on the DRS study is effective October 1, 2026, and the provisions on offering and reporting on the online training program are effective January 1, 2027.

UConn Testimony (as submitted under HB 5478 which included similar provisions)

§§ 69-71 The Act waives all mandatory fees for eligible National Guard members enrolled at CT State, CSCU, or UConn under the existing tuition waiver program. By law, to be eligible for the program, a National Guard member must be certified by the adjutant general or his designee as a member in good standing and enrolled or accepted in one of those institutions on a full-time or part-time basis in an undergraduate degree-granting program, or graduate program for CSCU and UConn. Currently, the program covers eligible National Guard members’ tuition and extension fees.

Effective July 1, 2027.

CT HB 5004, PA 26-26

AN ACT CONCERNING CHILD WELFARE ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY.

This Act

§ 5 Requires Connecticut’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) to establish a

First-year social worker mentorship program for their newly hired social workers and
Prospective social worker internship program for people enrolled in a bachelor’s or master’s degree program in a relevant field.

Effective October 1, 2026.

§§ 9 & 10 Requires DCF to establish a postsecondary education grant program for young people who were adopted before turning 18 and those who consent to stay in DCF care after turning 18 years old; requires the state auditors to audit the program; and establishes reporting requirements.

Effective July 1, 2026.

CT SB 1, PA 26-68

§ 324 CHANGES TO STUDENT LOAN PROGRAM Modifies the purpose of a bond-funded nursing student loan subsidy program and changes the program’s administrator. Current law authorizes $10 million in General Obligation (GO) bonds to the Connecticut Higher Education Supplemental Loan Authority for a nursing student loan subsidy program. The Act changes the administrator of these bond proceeds to the Office of Higher Education and changes their purpose so they go towards a DOC nurse and social worker student loan reimbursement program.

Effective July 1, 2026.

Effective from passage.

UConn Testimony & UConn Testimony (as submitted under SB 85 and SB 8 which included similar provisions)

$344 CHESLA Bonds Increases, from $300 million to $750 million, the aggregate amount of outstanding Connecticut Higher Education Supplemental Loan Authority (CHESLA ) bonds that may be secured by special capital reserve funds.

Effective from passage.

§ 380 ROBERTA B. WILLIS SCHOLARSHIP FUNDING CONTRACTS WITH HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS Permits Office of Higher Education (OHE), with Office of Policy and Management (OPM) approval, to enter contracts with higher education institutions to commit funds for Roberta B. Willis needs-based scholarships The Act permits the OHE, with the OPM’s) approval, to enter contracts with Connecticut higher education institutions on and after January 1 annually to commit funds for Roberta B. Willis needs-based scholarships in the following fiscal year. The total amount committed cannot exceed the appropriation for this purpose for the

Current fiscal year if no budget has been adopted for the following fiscal year or
Following fiscal year as approved in the state budget.

Effective July 1, 2026.

§ 382 PROMISE PROGRAMS The Act requires the Office of Higher Education (OHE) to establish a program to support the creation of new promise programs throughout the state. The program must prioritize programs serving students in alliance districts and maintain a goal of establishing eight new promise programs by January 1, 2031.

Effective July 1, 2026.

UConn Testimony (as submitted under SB 380 which included similar provisions)

§ 470 FINISH LINE SCHOLAR PROGRAM MODIFICATIONS The Act modifies the qualifying student and reporting requirements under the Finish Line Scholars program. The Act modifies the student qualification and reporting requirements under the Finish Line Scholars program. By law, the Finish Line Scholars program awards grants to students who enrolled at CT State and received a Mary Ann Handley program award and then enroll in a bachelor’s program at the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) or Charter Oak State College.

To be eligible for an award under the program, students must also

Be classified as an in-state student,
Meet certain enrollment and academic progress requirements,
Complete the Federal Application for Student Aid,
Accept all available financial aid.

Effective July 1, 2026.

CT SB 5, PA 26-15

AN ACT CONCERNING ONLINE SAFETY.

Among other things, this Act:

Effective from passage.

§ 33 Requires Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) to develop and administer a pilot program to evaluate the use of an independent Verification program administered by third parties to ensure compliance with state laws on AI and data privacy; allows DCP to approve up to five entities for the pilot program.

The Act requires DCP, by December 31, 2028, and in consultation with UConn’s Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy (IMRP), to evaluate the pilot program and recommend legislation based on the evaluation to modify or extend the program. The evaluation must assess the pilot program’s performance and impact, including the extent it advanced its purpose. It must specifically include

A landscape analysis of other states’ legislation, laws, and executive actions that similarly seek to recognize independent third-party entities to verify the safety of AI and
Recommended legislation to establish reciprocity between Connecticut and other states, where appropriate and advantageous.

IMRP must develop appropriate evaluation criteria and methodologies, which may cover:

The program’s structure, requirements, and implementation;
Whether the pilot program effectively met its goals, including its target harm mitigation or prevention levels, the program’s metrics, and metric’s target levels;
The extent of industry participation in the pilot program;
The program’s impact on innovation and economic growth;
The verification standard’s effectiveness for participating in the pilot program; and
Whether the pilot program should be continued, expanded, modified, or established as a permanent program, and, if so, which state agency should administer the program and what information should be reported to the state agency to ensure that the program is effective.

By January 31, 2029, IMRP must submit a report to the General Law Committee with the evaluation results.

Effective July 1, 2027.

§ 33 REPEALED

Now in HB 5222 see §47 and §67 and replaced with the same language on evaluation piece by IMRP. See HB 5222

CT SB 150, PA 26-4

AN ACT CONCERNING THE LEGISLATIVE COMMISSIONERS' RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TECHNICAL REVISIONS TO THE HIGHER EDUCATION STATUTES.

This Act eliminates a requirement that at least $100,000 of available funding for the Roberta B. Willis Scholarship Program be for a Charter Oak grant, which conforms to the elimination of the Charter Oak grant as of July 1, 2026 (see CGS § 10a-173, as amended by PA 25-168, § 263). The Act also makes technical changes.

Effective July 1, 2026.

CT SB 307, PA 26-122

AN ACT CONCERNING THE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT'S ECOMMENDATIONS FOR REVISIONS TO THE COMMERCE STATUTES AND PROHIBITING SCHOLARSHIP DISPLACEMENT FOR CERTAIN STUDENTS AT PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Among other things, this Act:

§ 27 Prohibits public higher education institutions participating in the Roberta B. Willis Scholarship program from reducing institutional, state, federal, grant, or scholarship aid for students who receive a federal Pell Grant or Roberta B. Willis grant solely because the student also receives a private scholarship. The restriction is intended to prevent “scholarship displacement.” Institutions may reduce aid only if the student’s total financial aid meets or exceeds the cost of attendance, or if a reduction is needed to comply with athletic association or conference financial aid limits for student athletes. For students whose aid package remains below the cost of attendance, private scholarship funds must first be applied to unmet need and then to reduce student loans.

Effective July 1, 2026.

UConn Testimony (as submitted under HB 5158 which included similar provisions)

CT SB 346, PA 26-99

AN ACT CONCERNING THE MODIFICATIONS TO THE GOVERNOR'S WORKFORCE COUNCIL

This Act changes the membership of the Governor’s Workforce Council to comply with federal law, which requires a majority of the governor’s appointments to the council to be business representatives. It does so by increasing the number of the governor’s appointments of business representatives from 24 to 30. It also changes the qualifications for these members and requires at least one of them to be an expert in residential construction and another in unionized construction. Relatedly, the Act eliminates a separate gubernatorial appointment of a residential construction expert who, under current law, is not subject to those qualifications.

Effective from passage.

CT SB 383, PA 26-85

AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE OFFICE OF WORKFORCE STRATEGY RELATED TO HIGHER EDUCATION

§ 1 This Act eliminates the requirement that the chief workforce officer, in consultation with various others, establish a human services career pipeline program.

§ 2 The Act extends, from January 1, 2025, to January 1, 2027, the deadline for the Office of Workforce Strategy (OWS) to implement a program to support individuals pursuing training for a commercial driver’s license (CDL).

§ 3 The Act also eliminates the requirement for OWS to establish a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system pipeline training pilot program.

Effective July 1, 2026 §§ 1 & 3; Effective from passage § 2.

CT SB 423, PA 26-49

AN ACT CONCERNING OVERSIGHT OVER HIGHER EDUCATION

This Act makes several changes to reporting requirements related to the public higher education system. The Act changes existing requirements and adds new ones for the Board of Regents for Higher Education’s (BOR) annual report on consolidating the community colleges into Connecticut State Community College.

Effective from passage.

CT SB 427, PA 26-18

AN ACT CONCERNING DUAL ENROLLMENT PROGRAMS

This Act requires the state Department of Education (SDE) to appoint a dual and concurrent enrollment course coordinator by January 1, 2027, to track establishment of these courses and student outcomes, such as completion rates and grades, by school district. Dual and concurrent enrollment courses are a type of advanced course or program offered by high schools in collaboration with higher education institutions. Existing law, beginning in FY 27, creates a high-need student fee waiver grant program to expand opportunities for high-need high school students to access advanced courses or programs. Currently, only a school board can apply to SDE for reimbursement for fees, such as tuition, paid on behalf of a high-need student. The Act also allows higher education institutions to apply for reimbursement for fee waivers given to a high-need student in an advanced class or program. But the Act specifies that higher education institutions that receive a grant cannot charge the student’s parents any course or program enrollment costs.

Effective July 1, 2026.

UConn Testimony

CT HB 5003, PA 26-12

AN ACT CONCERNING WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND WORKING CONDITIONS IN THE STATE

Effective October 1, 2026.

Effective from passage.

§ 33 The Act requires the DPH commissioner, by January 1, 2027, and in consultation with an organization that represents hospitals in the state, to create a report on the number of variations from the nurse staffing plans that the law requires hospitals to develop. The report must include the number of times

A hospital-wide variation from the nurse staffing plans occurred and
There was a unit level variation from the nurse staffing plans by a hospital.

The commissioner must submit the report to the Public Health and Labor and Public Employees committees.

Effective October 1, 2026.

§§ 41-43 UCONN SPECIAL POLICE FORCES AND FIRE DEPARTMENT: The Act requires UConn’s president, by July 1, 2027, to establish a recruitment and retention program for the UConn special police forces and fire department to address critical staffing shortages and high resignation rates. As part of the program, the president must develop salary schedules for all sworn members of the university’s special police forces and all members of the fire department, referred to as UConn’s first responders, and an education benefit for those members. It also requires the president, beginning by January 1, 2027, to annually submit a report on the recruitment and retention status of UConn’s first responders to certain committees and entities. Lastly, the Act expands the objective job-based criteria the president must use to establish classifications for UConn’s special police forces.

Effective from passage.

§ 73 The Act establishes a task force to study recruitment and retention issues for public safety personnel. The study must examine the feasibility and fiscal impact of the state providing:

Tuition waivers, mortgage assistance, and tax credits to correction officers and judicial marshals;
Tuition waivers to dependent children of police officers, uniformed members of paid or volunteer fire departments, and EMS personnel;
Tuition waivers for undergraduate and graduate degree programs at UConn to police officers, uniformed members of paid or volunteer fire departments, and EMS personnel; and
Tuition vouchers for public safety personnel to any accredited higher education institution in Connecticut.

Effective from passage.

CT HB 5385, SA 26-34

AN ACT ESTABLISHING A TASK FORCE TO STUDY UNDUE DELAY IN WORKERS' COMPENSATION CLAIMS BY POLICE OFFICERS AND FIREFIGHTERS

This Act establishes a task force to study causes of undue delay in workers' compensation claims made by police officers and firefighters. Such study shall include, but need not be limited to, an examination of delays caused by

Administrative processing of such claims,
Medical provider availability and schedule limitations, and
Insurer authorization requirements.

Effective from passage.

CT SB 470, PA 26-118

AN ACT CONCERNING THE LEGISLATIVE COMMISSIONERS' RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TECHNICAL AND MINOR REVISIONS TO THE GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION STATUTES

This Act allows certain contracts entered into or amended by a constituent unit of the state’s higher education system on or after the Act’s passage, instead of on or after July 1, 2026, to include either

The text required by the state’s general nondiscrimination contract compliance law or
A specific nondiscrimination affirmation.

Effective from passage.

CT SB 472, PA 26-73

AN ACT CONCERNING THE ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE OF EMPLOYEES

This Act requires employers who electronically monitor their employees to:

Include the specific workplace locations that may be monitored in the notice they are already required to post about the types of monitoring they conduct;
Post the notice in the locations where monitoring may occur; and
Give prospective employees, hired beginning October 1, 2026, a written, plain-language statement on prohibited activities that may be monitored without prior written notice.

Effective October 1, 2026.

CT HR 11

RESOLUTION PROPOSING APPROVAL OF A COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT BOARD OF TRUSTEES AND THE GRADUATE EMPLOYEE UNION LOCAL 6950 - INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AEROSPACE AND AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AMERICA.

UConn Testimony

CT HR 12

RESOLUTION PROPOSING APPROVAL OF AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT AND THE STATE EMPLOYEES BARGAINING AGENT COALITION (SEBAC).

UConn Testimony

CT SR 11

UConn Testimony

CT SR 12

RESOLUTION PROPOSING APPROVAL OF AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT AND THE STATE EMPLOYEES BARGAINING AGENT COALITION (SEBAC).

UConn Testimony

CT HB 5039, PA 26-27

AN ACT REQUIRING TRANSPARENCY AND ADDITIONAL OVERSIGHT OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF CERTAIN LEGISLATIVELY DIRECTED FUNDS AND APPROPRIATIONS FOR OTHER EXPENSES

This Act addresses the management and oversight of legislatively directed funds (LDFs) and agencies’ “Other Expenses” appropriations by creating requirements for LDF recipients and subrecipients, administering state agencies (defined as executive branch entities other than public higher education institutions), and the Office of Policy and Management (OPM). This act specifically excludes any constituent unit of the state system of public higher education.

Effective July 1, 2026.

CT SB 83, SA 26-1

AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE FEDERAL CUTS RESPONSE FUND

This Act establishes a fund to be known as the "Federal Cuts Response Fund". The Act requires the state treasurer to transfer this $330.8 million from the BRF to the Federal Cuts Response Fund. For FY 26, it appropriates this same amount from the Federal Cuts Response Fund to OPM to

Respond to the policy impacts of the federal FY 25 Reconciliation Law (commonly referred to as H.R. 1 or the One Big Beautiful Act Act (P.L. 119-21)) and
Mitigate federal funding reductions for state programs.

The Act authorizes the OPM secretary to transfer any part of this appropriation to any agency in any appropriated fund to carry out the appropriation’s intent. It allows the legislative leaders, by majority vote, to disapprove any expenditure or transfer of these appropriated funds. Any unspent funds remaining in the Federal Cuts Response Fund after FY 27 must be returned to the BRF, after which the former fund terminates.

Effective from passage.

CT HB 5354, PA 26-143

AN ACT CONCERNING MEDICAID PROVIDER AUDITS

The provider has a sustained or high level of payment errors,
The DSS commissioner determines in good faith that the provider is engaging in vendor fraud, or
Documented educational intervention failed to correct the error levels.

Effective October 1, 2026.

CT HB 5561, PA 26-146

AN ACT CONCERNING A FIVE-YEAR MEDICAID RATE REVIEW, DENTAL REPRESENTATION ON A MEDICAL ASSISTANCE OVERSIGHT COUNCIL, BIOMARKER TESTING AND OPIOID PRESCRIPTION COVERAGE REQUIREMENTS AND A STUDY CONCERNING PAYMENT OF SPOUSES FOR STATE-SUBSIDIZED HOME CARE

This Act makes various unrelated changes affecting Medicaid services and provider reimbursement, including the following:

§ 1 Requiring the Department of Social Services (DSS) commissioner to create a five-year process for reviewing Medicaid reimbursement rates that examines provider reimbursements and generally benchmarks rates to those for the same services paid by Medicare;

§ 2 Adds a representative of the Connecticut Dental Health Partnership’s Dental Policy Advisory Council to the membership of the Council on Medical Assistance Program Oversight (MAPOC);

§ 3 Requires the DSS commissioner to report to the Human Services Committee on prior authorization requirements for Medicaid coverage of biomarker testing and how many beneficiaries were approved for this testing in FY 26;

§ 4 Requires opioid prescribers to consider the feasibility of nonopioid pain treatment options for Medicaid beneficiaries; and allows DSS to adopt implementing regulations; and

§ 5 Establishes a working group to study the feasibility of allowing spouses to be compensated for providing personal care assistance for spouses enrolled in Medicaid home care programs.

Effective dates vary.

CT SB 1, PA 26-68

Various Grants (New Legislatively Directed) at UConn Health: $1.8m for Medicaid population health pilot

§ 211 Revenue Diversion to UConn Health - Starting in FY 26, this requires DSS, in consultation with OPM, to divert up to a maximum of $15 million for each hospital the UConn Health Center Joint Venture Initiative owns and operates at any time during the fiscal year. Under the Act, this revenue must be diverted and transferred to UCHC to support UCHC-JVI’s operational costs. DSS and UCHC must enter into a memorandum of understanding to implement this transfer. For FY 27, DSS, with OPM’s approval, will establish receivables for anticipated hospital tax revenue.

Effective from passage.

§ 452 Requires UConn Health Center to submit a report by January 15, 2027 (to the Governor and relevant legislative committees) on payer mix, efforts to increase Medicaid days (including adolescent psychiatric unit and DOC inpatient services), and increasing specialist access for Medicaid members. Must consult with stakeholders, including medical professionals, community groups, and labor unions.

Effective from passage.

CT SB 429, PA 26-88

AN ACT CONCERNING MEDICAID REIMBURSEMENT FOR EMERGENCY MEDICAL TRANSPORTATION.

This Act sets requirements for how the Department of Social Services (DSS) calculates mileage to reimburse ambulance services under the state medical assistance program (which includes Medicaid). Specifically, the Act requires the DSS commissioner to calculate out of district mileage for these services based on an ambulance’s distance traveled with the patient onboard from the point of patient pickup to the destination, rounded to the nearest one-tenth of a mile.

Effective July 1, 2026.

CT HB 5044, PA 26-3

AN ACT ESTABLISHING CONNECTICUT VACCINE STANDARDS. ITS PURPOSE IS TO IMPLEMENT THE GOVERNOR'S BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS.

§ 13 Among other things, this Act authorizes licensed pharmacists to order, prescribe, and administer vaccines listed in DPH’s immunization standards of care, instead of CDC-recommended vaccines, for adult patients and patients between ages 12 and 18 (with parental consent or proof the minor is emancipated).

Effective from passage.

CT HB 5375, PA 26-47

AN ACT CONCERNING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE INSURANCE AND REAL ESTATE COMMITTEE WORKING GROUPS

Among other things, this Act generally requires health carriers, third-party administrators, and pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) covering benefits under a health benefit plan in Connecticut to

Reimburse pharmacists for covered clinical services and
Include them in reimbursement processes and provider networks.

It authorizes the insurance commissioner to adopt regulations to implement its provisions on pharmacists’ compensation.

Effective January 1, 2028.

CT HB 5003, PA 26-12

AN ACT CONCERNING WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND WORKING CONDITIONS IN THE STATE

§§ 41-43 UCONN SPECIAL POLICE FORCES AND FIRE DEPARTMENT: The Act requires UConn’s president, by July 1, 2027, to establish a recruitment and retention program for the UConn special police forces and fire department to address critical staffing shortages and high resignation rates. As part of the program, the president must develop salary schedules for all sworn members of the university’s special police forces and all members of the fire department, referred to as UConn’s first responders, and an education benefit for those members. It also requires the president, beginning by January 1, 2027, to annually submit a report on the recruitment and retention status of UConn’s first responders to certain committees and entities. Lastly, the Act expands the objective job-based criteria the president must use to establish classifications for UConn’s special police forces.

Effective from passage.

UConn Testimony (as submitted under HB 5455 which included similar provisions)

§§ 65-72 This Act requires CT State and CSCU to waive tuition for eligible police officers, firefighters, and EMS personnel, referred to as first responders; requires CHFA to develop and administer a mortgage assistance program for these first responders; and requires POST, the Commission on Fire Prevention and Control, and DPH to establish eligibility requirements for these programs. The Act requires the Board of Regents for Higher Education to waive CT State and Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) tuition for

Eligible police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical service (EMS) personnel who submit compliance certifications certifying their eligibility and are enrolled or accepted for admission, and
Students attending the state fire school who are enrolled in a program offered together with the respective college or university that accredits courses in the program.

The Act caps the total number of these waivers at CT State and CSCU at 200 per school year, respectively. The Act also requires the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) to develop and administer a mortgage assistance program for these eligible first responders who submit a compliance certification and are buying a home as their principal residence in the community where they serve. Under the Act, this mortgage assistance must be provided under CHFA-established guidelines. In doing so, CHFA may use down payment assistance or any other appropriate housing subsidies and allow the mortgagee to realize a reasonable portion of the property’s equity gain when it is sold.

Effective

July 1, 2026, for the compliance certification provisions;
October 1, 2026, for the eligibility requirement provisions;
July 1, 2027, for the tuition waiver provisions; and
January 1, 2027, for the mortgage assistance program provisions.

§ 73 The Act establishes a task force to study recruitment and retention issues for public safety personnel. The study must examine the feasibility and fiscal impact of the state providing:

Tuition waivers, mortgage assistance, and tax credits to correction officers and judicial marshals;
Tuition waivers to dependent children of police officers, uniformed members of paid or volunteer fire departments, and EMS personnel;
Tuition waivers for undergraduate and graduate degree programs at UConn to police officers, uniformed members of paid or volunteer fire departments, and EMS personnel; and
Tuition vouchers for public safety personnel to any accredited higher education institution in Connecticut.

Effective from passage.

§ 74 The Act requires the chief workforce officer to develop a plan to establish a police officer and firefighter career pipeline program that at least includes

A strategy to increase the number of state residents pursuing careers as police officers or firefighters and
Estimated funding needed to support a police officer and firefighter career pipeline program. The chief workforce officer must submit a report on the plan to the Public Safety and Security and Labor and Public Employees committees by January 1, 2027.

Effective from passage.

CT HB 5291, PA 26-45

AN ACT CONCERNING THE DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY SERVICES AND PUBLIC PROTECTION'S RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING VARIOUS STATUTES RELATING TO PUBLIC SAFETY

§ 1 MUNICIPAL FIRE CHIEF APPOINTMENTS Requires municipal fire departments to notify DESPP about their appointments of a new or interim fire chief within 10 business days after the appointment.

§§ 2 & 3 BLOOD AND URINE TEST RESULTS TIMING Limits, to chemical breath tests, which DUI-related test results must be sent to defendants within a specified timeframe.

§§ 4 & 5 DNA TESTING Requires certain convicted felons and others to submit to DNA testing within six months after sentencing or entering into specific supervision or custody; requires the DESPP commissioner to conduct a study on the DNA obtained

§ 6 POLICE OFFICER STANDARDS AND TRAINING COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP Replaces, on the Police Officer Standards and Training Council, the State Police Academy commanding officer with the State Police deputy commissioner.

§ 7 NUMBER OF STATE POLICE Eliminates the requirement that the DESPP commissioner appoint and maintain a number of sworn State Police personnel according to the recommended standards developed by the Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee in 2013.

§ 8 SCHOOL SECURITY INFRASTRUCTURE COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM Transfers authority over bond proceeds for the school security infrastructure competitive grant program from SDE to DESPP.

§§ 9 & 10 FIREWORKS AND SPECIAL EFFECTS CERTIFICATES OF COMPETENCY Conditions certificates of competency to handle or fire certain fireworks and special effects displays on applicants submitting to state and national criminal history record checks and providing evidence of good moral character and competence in the control and handling of the respective devices.

§ 11 DESTRUCTION OF RISK PROTECTION ORDER ITEMS Generally allows firearms, deadly weapons, and ammunition held under a risk protection order to be destroyed after two years instead of one year and requires the DESPP commissioner or local police department to notify the owner in writing at least 90 days before they are destroyed.

§ 12 SECURITY OFFICER TRAINING WAIVERS Requires the DESPP commissioner to waive security officer training requirements for certain correction, parole, and police officers, and judicial marshals who present proof of completing equivalent training.

§ 13 ELECTRONIC DEFENSE WEAPON TRAINING Prohibits professional bondsmen, surety bail bond agents, and bail enforcement agents from carrying an electronic defense weapon unless they obtain a special permit

§ 14 CIVIL AIR PATROL YOUTH CAMP Authorizes a Civil Air Patrol youth camp.

§ 15 DASHBOARD CAMERAS AND POLICE PATROL VEHICLES Specifies, for the purposes of the law requiring police patrol vehicles to use dashboard cameras, what a police patrol vehicle is not.

§§ 16-18 STATE CIVIL PREPAREDNESS PLAN AND PROGRAM AND LOCAL EMERGENCY OPERATIONS PLANS Requires the state civil preparedness plan and program to have provisions on targeted violence and terrorism prevention and allows local emergency operations plans to include them; eliminates the requirement that local emergency operations plans have a domestic terrorism strategy

§ 19 POLICE TRAINING CENTER Requires DESPP to establish a police training center at any CSCU institution, instead of Central Connecticut State University.

Effective dates vary.

CT HB 5349, PA 26-128

AN ACT CONCERNING A POLICE OFFICER TRAINING PROGRAM AND THE ROUNDING OF CERTAIN CASH PURCHASES

Among other things, this Act establishes a new training program- beginning October 1, 2026, it requires the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, in consultation with the Police Officer Standards and Training Council, to coordinate with an independent higher education institution with a campus in West Haven to create a statewide, one-day police officer training program by January 1, 2028. The program is intended to improve law enforcement retention and readiness and must include expert instruction, scenario-based exercises, de-escalation skills, practical planning, and online platform access. The DESPP commissioner must report annually on the program’s status beginning January 1, 2029.

Effective October 1, 2026.

CT SB 397, PA 26-14

AN ACT CONCERNING DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY AND THE USE AND RETENTION OF DATA DERIVED FROM AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE READER SYSTEMS

§§ 1 & 2 ACTIONS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS Creates an individual cause of action, including against a federal or state officer or employee, for alleged civil rights violations; expands the attorney general’s authority to bring actions based on alleged civil rights violations.

§§ 3-5 INSPECTOR GENERAL USE OF FORCE INVESTIGATIONS Changes when there must be an investigation of a peace officer’s use of physical force on someone that results in the person’s death or the death of a person in custody by

(1) limiting the investigations to deaths that occur in physical custody and

(2) requiring an investigation when the officer is any federal law enforcement officer;

(3) requiring investigators to have unrestricted access to the scene and to collect evidence;

(4) requiring the inspector general’s post-investigation report to recommend actions for the law enforcement agency involved and allows the inspector general to issue a report after a DOC custody death investigation.

§ 6 PROHIBITED FACIAL COVERINGS Prohibits, subject to several exceptions, peace officers from wearing a facial covering or personal disguise when interacting with the public and performing law enforcement duties; makes a violation a class D misdemeanor.

§ 6 BADGE AND NAME TAG IDENTIFICATION Generally, requires peace officers to be clearly identified by their badge and name tag when making a planned, authorized arrest or interacting with the public in an official capacity; makes an intentional violation a class D misdemeanor.

§§ 7 & 8 TAKING INTO CUSTODY IN STATE OR MUNICIPAL FACILITIES OR PROTECTED AREAS Prohibits peace officers from taking someone into custody on the basis of a civil offense in a state or municipal facility or certain other locations such as schools, hospitals, and houses of worship (“protected areas”) without a judicial warrant for the person; applies the definition of “civil offense” to the existing restrictions on taking people into custody on courthouse grounds.

§ 9 POST CERTIFICATION OF POLICE OFFICERS Prohibits POST from waiving the basic training program requirements to be certified as a police officer for peace officers unless they give evidence of satisfactorily completing a substantially equivalent training or education program with at least 480 training hours.

§ 10 OFFICER INTERFERENCE WITH PHOTO OR VIDEO TAKING Makes federal law enforcement agencies liable when their officers interfere with someone taking a photo, digital still, or video image of them or another officer performing their duties; makes an immunity defense unavailable in a civil liability action for an intentional tort committed while interfering with the taking of the photo, digital still, or video image.

§ 11 PROSECUTORIAL IMMUNITY FOR FEDERAL ACTIONS Limits the circumstances under which a federal officer, employee, or agent has immunity when prosecuted for an offense based on an action taken under color of law.

§ 12 POLICE OFFICER HIRING PROHIBITION Extends to all peace officers the current prohibition on hiring police officers who

(1) were dismissed for malfeasance or serious misconduct or

(2) resigned or retired during an investigation for this conduct.

§§ 13-15 AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE READER SYSTEMS Sets various conditions and restrictions on how law enforcement agencies and other public agencies may use ALPR systems or associated data, including limits on (1) when they can use these systems or data or share the data and (2) how long they can keep the data; sets related requirements and restrictions for private vendors contracting with public agencies for these purposes; allows the attorney general (as to vendors) or private parties to seek related court relief and POST to discipline law enforcement officers for certain malicious conduct; requires POST to adopt a model ALPR usage policy and DESPP to adopt related regulations for implementation by law enforcement agencies; requires POST, in consultation with UConn’s Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy, to develop a standardized form for reporting ALPR system usage and sets related reporting requirements.

Effective from passage except §7 is effective October 1, 2026.

CT HB 5222, PA 26-100

AN ACT CONCERNING CONSUMER PROTECTION, CANNABIS, DATA PRIVACY, FIRE INSPECTIONS, CRIMINAL MISCHIEF AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Among other things, this Act requires Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) to develop and administer a pilot program to evaluate the use of an independent verification program administered by third parties to ensure compliance with state laws on AI and data privacy. In § 67, the Act repeals § 33 in SB 5 and replaces it with similar provisions in § 47. The Act requires DCP, by December 31, 2028, and in consultation with the Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy (IMRP), to evaluate the pilot program and recommend legislation based on the evaluation to modify or extend the program. The evaluation must assess the pilot program’s performance and impact, including the extent it advanced its purpose. It must specifically include a landscape analysis of other states’ legislation, laws, and executive actions that similarly seek to recognize independent third-party entities to verify the safety of AI and recommended legislation to establish reciprocity between Connecticut and other states, where appropriate and advantageous. IMRP must develop appropriate evaluation criteria and methodologies, which may cover the program’s structure, requirements, and implementation; whether the pilot program effectively met its goals, including its target harm mitigation or prevention levels, the program’s metrics, and the metrics’ target levels; the extent of industry participation in the pilot program; the program’s impact on innovation and economic growth; the verification standards’ effectiveness for participation in the pilot program; and whether the pilot program should be continued, expanded, modified, or established as a permanent program, and, if so, which state agency should administer the program and what information should be reported to the state agency to ensure that the program is effective. By January 31, 2029, IMRP must submit a report to the General Law Committee with the evaluation results.

Effective October 1, 2027.

CT HB 5247, PA 26-131

AN ACT CONCERNING A TEST BED TECHNOLOGIES PROGRAM

This Act creates a process for state agencies to administer pilot test programs to test the effectiveness of certain technologies, products, or processes (“projects”) at reducing operating costs. The Act creates an application process for small contractor or minority business enterprise applicants to submit projects for consideration, and allows an agency to temporarily use any project that the Department of Administrative Service (DAS) commissioner evaluates and recommends, subject to certain criteria. Under the Act, if an agency implements a pilot test program, the project applicant must pay any costs associated with the agency acquiring and using the project. The Act also establishes a (1) process for procuring projects that a pilot test program has shown to promote operational cost reduction, including a waiver of competitive bidding or proposal requirements, and (2) way for agencies to ask the DAS commissioner to evaluate and recommend projects that have been tested by a municipality and shown to promote operational cost reduction.

Effective October 1, 2026.

CT HB 5464, PA 26-63

Among other things, in §§ 15 & 16 this Act delays, from July 1, 2025, to October 1, 2026, the due date for the UConn Department of Natural Resources and the Environment’s final report on its study of carbon sequestration by trees and other vegetation along highways and other areas in Connecticut. (Under existing law, its interim report was due by January 1, 2025, but, in practice, the department published that report on February 1, 2026.) Along with the final report, the Act also requires the UConn department to submit its study results and any related recommendations to DOT, which is in addition to the Transportation and Environment committees as existing law requires. Relatedly, the Act requires the DOT commissioner, by February 1, 2027, to consider the results of UConn’s study and determine whether DOT’s vegetation management guidelines need to be accordingly revised. If the commissioner determines that the guidelines do not need to be revised, he must report to the Transportation and Environment committees explaining why. Alternatively, if he revises the guidelines based on UConn’s study, he must submit them to these legislative committees and the committees may hold a joint public hearing for the commissioner to present on the revised guidelines.

Effective October 1, 2026, except the provisions related to UConn’s study are effective July 1, 2026.

UConn Testimony (as submitted under SB 414 which included similar provisions)

CT HB 5514, PA 26-13

AN ACT CONCERNING VARIOUS REVISIONS TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH STATUTES

Among other things, this Act:

§ 13 Establishes a 20-member endometriosis working group in the Legislative Department to evaluate and make recommendations on endometriosis diagnosis, treatment, research, education, and public awareness The Act establishes a 20-member endometriosis working group within the Legislative Department to evaluate and make recommendations on endometriosis diagnosis, treatment, research, education, and public awareness in Connecticut. The Act requires the working group, starting by January 1, 2027, to annually report to the governor and the Human Services and Public Health committees on its evaluation and recommendations, including any legislation needed to implement them. Among others, the working group includes: one Connecticut-licensed physician experienced in diagnosing and treating endometriosis.

§ 18 The Act requires UConn Health Center’s Health Disparities Institute, within available appropriations, to develop a menopause toolkit that provides practical, evidence-based, and culturally appropriate guidance on best practices for screening, identifying, clinically assessing, diagnosing, and treating symptoms of perimenopause, menopause, and post-menopause. Under the Act, the toolkit is for Connecticut health care providers who diagnose or treat people with symptoms of these conditions, as the institute determines, including those in the fields of obstetrics, gynecology, family medicine, internal medicine, emergency medicine, psychiatry, mental health, social work, dentistry, dental hygiene, and community health. The institute must develop the toolkit in consultation with DPH, people who have experienced symptoms of these conditions, and providers who treat them.

The guidance may include:

A comprehensive description of the symptoms of perimenopause, menopause, and post-menopause;
Evidence-based guidelines for identifying and treating these symptoms, including hormone replacement therapy and testosterone therapy;
Available insurance coverage for the therapies; and
Short education models on the guidance that qualifies as continuing education for these providers.

Under the Act, the Health Disparities Institute must distribute the toolkit to providers by June 1, 2028. The institute must then evaluate any provider feedback it receives on the toolkit’s effectiveness, revise the toolkit to address this feedback, and distribute any revised toolkit to providers by January 1, 2029.

Effective October 1, 2026.

CT SB 5, PA 26-15

AN ACT CONCERNING ONLINE SAFETY

Among other things, this Act:

§ 29 The Act requires UConn’s Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy (IMRP) to conduct a study to understand and track AI’s impact on the state’s workforce and develop a comprehensive strategy to address the impact. The study must:

Involve research partners with expertise in AI, economics, workforce development, and related fields;
Assess
1. Available methods to track AI-associated layoffs and job displacements,
2. AI’s impact on entry-level employment and women and underrepresented populations in the state’s workforce, and
3. The data elements Department of Labor(DOL) and other relevant state agencies collect that may be used to understand and track AI’s impact on the state’s workforce; and
Include scenario planning across a range of potential AI adoption; and
Impact levels.

The comprehensive strategy must include recommendations on:

Ways the state can
1. Support the collection, analysis, and dissemination of data needed to understand and track AI’s impact on the state’s workforce and
2. Track AI-associated layoffs and job displacements;
Additional data elements for DOL and other relevant state agencies to collect to understand and track the AI’s impact on the state's workforce;
A framework for recurring analyses to understand, track, and public report on AI’s impact on the state’s workforce; and
Changes in state policies and programs (such as workforce training and reskilling programs) to mitigate adverse AI- associated employment impacts in the state. The Act requires state agencies to cooperate with IMRP when it is conducting the study and developing the strategy. IMRP must submit the study’s results and the comprehensive strategy to the General Law Committee by January 1, 2027.

Effective from passage.

§ 33 Requires Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) to develop and administer a pilot program to evaluate the use of an independent verification program administered by third parties to ensure compliance with state laws on AI and data privacy; allows DCP to approve up to five entities for the pilot program.

A landscape analysis of other states’ legislation, laws, and executive actions that similarly seek to recognize independent third-party entities to verify the safety of AI and
Recommended legislation to establish reciprocity between Connecticut and other states, where appropriate and advantageous.

IMRP must develop appropriate evaluation criteria and methodologies, which may cover:

The program’s structure, requirements, and implementation;
Whether the pilot program effectively met its goals, including its target harm mitigation or prevention levels, the program’s metrics, and metric’s target levels;
The extent of industry participation in the pilot program;
The program’s impact on innovation and economic growth;
The verification standard’s effectiveness for participating in the pilot program; and
Whether the pilot program should be continued, expanded, modified, or established as a permanent program, and, if so, which state agency should administer the program and what information should be reported to the state agency to ensure that the program is effective.

By January 31, 2029, IMRP must submit a report to the General Law Committee with the evaluation results.

Effective July 1, 2027.

§ 33 REPEALED

Now in HB 5222 see §47 and §67 and replaced with the same language on evaluation piece by IMRP. See HB 5222

Effective July 1, 2027.

CT SB 90, PA 26-77

AN ACT REVISING AND CONSOLIDATING THE HATE CRIMES STATUTES

Among other things, this Act in § 40 expands the Statewide Hate Crimes Advisory Council membership by adding the director of the Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy at UConn. Current law allows the governor to appoint 30 representatives of organizations committed to decreasing hate crimes, improving diversity, or representing the interest of groups within the state protected by the laws on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree intimidation based on bigotry or bias. The Act also requires the governor’s appointees to be committed to representing the interest of groups within the state protected by all the crimes the Act labels as hate crimes.

CT HB 5343, PA 26-140

AN ACT CONCERNING THE REPORTING OF ADVERTISING PURCHASED BY THE STATE

Beginning by November 1, 2026, this Act requires each state agency, which includes any department, board, council, commission, or other executive branch state agency (but not public higher education institutions), to annually give the Department of Administrative Services commissioner a summary of all advertising it purchased during the preceding fiscal year, including the amounts spent. The information must be given in a form and way set by the commissioner. The Act then requires, beginning by January 1, 2027, and within available appropriations, the commissioner to annually give the Government Administration and Elections Committee a report that summarizes the:

Advertising spending by each state agency during the preceding fiscal year;
Names of each advertising vendor that received an individual advertising contract from a state agency and the contract amount;
Advertising method, categorized by media type, such as Internet search platforms, national news outlets, digital platforms, and local news outlets; and
General subject matter of the advertising.

In doing so, the commissioner may accept voluntary assistance from in-state higher education institutions or other neutral third parties with relevant experience to assist the state agencies in preparing reports. The Act also requires, beginning January 1, 2027, and within available appropriations, the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities chancellor and University of Connecticut president to annually give the Government Administration and Elections Committee a report that summarizes, for the preceding fiscal year, the:

Amount spent on advertising;
Names of each advertising vendor paid more than $50,000;
Advertising method, categorized by media type, such as Internet search platforms, national news outlets, digital platforms, and local news outlets; and
General subject matter of the advertising.

Effective July 1, 2026.

CT SB 449, PA 26-137

AN ACT CONCERNING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL POLICY AND PLANNING DIVISION WITHIN THE OFFICE OF POLICY AND MANAGEMENT

This Act makes several technical and administrative changes recommended by the Office of Policy and Management’s (OPM) Intergovernmental Policy and Planning Division. The Act changes the annual date by which OPM must notify public school operators of certain education grant allocations from March 1 to April 1. It also requires OPM, in coordination with state agencies, to identify state-owned or state-held real property that qualifies as farm land, forest land, open space land, or maritime heritage land and notify municipal assessors so the property can be classified and valued accordingly for local grand list purposes. The Act removes a requirement that municipalities annually submit sworn zoning-compliance statements to OPM regarding family and group child care homes. It also revises the regional performance incentive program by removing references to grants under section 4-66m and repeals section 4-66m entirely. Overall, the Act streamlines certain OPM-related reporting and administrative processes, updates timing for education funding notifications, and creates a process for classifying certain state-owned conservation or heritage lands for municipal assessment purposes.

Effective dates vary.

CT HB 5003, PA 26-12

AN ACT CONCERNING WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND WORKING CONDITIONS IN THE STATE

Effective July 1, 2027.

CT HB 5001, PA 26-42

AN ACT CONCERNING ABSENTEE VOTING FOR ALL AND VARIOUS OTHER REFORMS RELATED TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF ELECTIONS

This Act makes various changes to the state’s election laws, as well as technical and conforming changes.

Among other things, the Act:

§§ 44-56 Implements risk-limiting audits (RLAs) for state elections but, generally, maintains the existing post-election audit process for federal and state primaries and municipal elections. RLAs are publicly verifiable auditing procedures that manually examine a statistical sample of paper ballots and guarantee a specified risk limit, which the Act caps at 5%.

To accomplish this, the Act establishes the general scope and procedures for RLAs, such as by

(1) Outlining election officials’ duties and the affected public offices,

(2) Requiring the creation of ballot manifests, and

(3) Applying existing provisions for post-election audits to RLAs (such as those on using electronic equipment and voting tabulators and how to address election contests).

The Act requires Office of the Secretary of the State (SOTS) to set instructions and procedures for the audits. It also allows her to adopt related regulations.

§ 13 The Act establishes a pilot program to do RLAs of state elections in 2026. It requires SOTS to randomly select three municipalities for the program, with one for each of the following population ranges, as estimated in the most recent State Register and Manual:

(1) Less than 20,000;

(2) 20,000-89,999; and

(3) 90,000 or greater.

Additionally, current law requires regular post-election audits for municipal elections and primaries to occur no earlier than five days after an election and no later than two business days before the town clerk’s canvass for votes. Instead, under the Act, the audits for municipal elections must occur at least 15 days after the election or primary instead of five.

Lastly, the bill makes minor, technical, and conforming changes to existing election audit statutes, such as requiring a copy, rather than the original, of UConn’s analysis to be submitted to State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC).

Effective January 1, 2027, except the pilot program is effective upon passage.

§ 70 Establishes a task force to study absentee ballot access in certain cities and boroughs in the state that are unconsolidated with the towns where they are located. The bill creates a nine-person task force to study absentee ballot access in certain cities and boroughs in the state that are unconsolidated with the towns where they are located. For elections, primaries, and referenda in these cities and boroughs, the task force must examine possible absentee ballot application procedures and delivery methods (including having absentee ballots include the ballot items to be voted on by both the

Unconsolidated city or borough and
Town where it is located.

The task force’s membership consists of seven appointed members as well as State Elections Enforcement Commission (SOTS) and UConn’s Center for Voting Research Technology director, or their designees.

Effective from passage.

UConn Testimony (as submitted under SB 394 and HB 5001 which included similar provisions)

NEW REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR UCONN AND UCONN HEALTH, TASK FORCES AND WORKING GROUPS OF INTEREST

AGRICULTURE

ATHLETICS

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

BUDGET & BONDING

CONSTRUCTION

CONTRACTING

CORRECTIONS

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

EDUCATION K-12

ENERGY

ENVIRONMENT

ETHICS

FACILITIES MANAGEMENT

HEALTH CARE – ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE

HEALTH CARE-CLINICAL

HEALTH INSURANCE

HIGHER EDUCATION

HUMAN RESOURCES

LEGISLATIVE PROCESS

MARINE SCIENCES

MEDICAID

PHARMACY

PUBLIC SAFETY & EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES

RESEARCH

STATE AGENCIES

VETERANS ISSUES

VOTING ISSUES