2021 Major Public Acts
By: Heather Poole, Principal Analyst| 2021-R-0106

June 30, 2021
Connecticut General Assembly
860-240-8400 | www.cga.ct.gov/olr

Notice to Readers
These summaries, composed by the Office of Legislative Research (OLR) with the assistance of
the Office of Fiscal Analysis (OFA), briefly describe the most significant, far-reaching, andpublicly debated acts adopted by the General Assembly in its 2021 regular session and June
Special Session. Acts that the secretary of the state has assigned a public act (PA), special act(SA), or resolution act (RA) number are identified by that number; otherwise, we refer to the billor resolution number.
Not all provisions of the acts are included. More detailed summaries can be found a t
https://cga.ct.gov/olr/. Summaries of the major acts and all other public acts will be provided inour 2021 Public Act Summary Book, which will be available later this year.
OLR also produces a number of “Acts Affecting” reports highlighting legislation in the following
policy areas: agriculture, banks, business and jobs, children, criminal justice and public safety,
education, energy, environment, first responders, health professionals, housing and real estate,
insurance, municipalities, people with disabilities, seniors, taxes, town clerks and elections,transportation, and veterans and military. These reports will be available online in August.

Contents
Aging ..................................................................................................................................................... 3
Alcohol .................................................................................................................................................. 4
Banks .................................................................................................................................................... 4
Biennial Budget.................................................................................................................................... 5
Bonding................................................................................................................................................. 6Children and Families .......................................................................................................................... 6
Criminal Justice and Public Safety ...................................................................................................... 9
Economic and Community Development ......................................................................................... 12
Education and Higher Education ...................................................................................................... 13
Elections ............................................................................................................................................. 16
Energy and Environment ................................................................................................................... 18
Gaming and Entertainment............................................................................................................... 19
Government Administration .............................................................................................................. 20
Housing and Real Estate ................................................................................................................... 21
Insurance ............................................................................................................................................ 22
Labor and Public Employees ............................................................................................................. 222021-R-0106

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Municipalities ..................................................................................................................................... 24
Public Health ...................................................................................................................................... 25
Social Services ................................................................................................................................... 27
Taxes ................................................................................................................................................... 28
Transportation .................................................................................................................................... 29
Veterans.............................................................................................................................................. 30

Aging
Age Discrimination in the Workforce
A new law prohibits age discrimination during the employment application process. Specifically,
the act generally makes it a discriminatory employment practice for employers to request or
require a prospective employee’s age, birth date, or graduation date on an initial employment
application (PA 21-69, effective October 1, 2021).

Property Tax Relief
A new law expands eligibility for the local option Elderly Tax Freeze Program by decreasing the
program’s minimum age requirement from 70 to 65 years. But the act allows a municipality, by
vote of its legislative body, to set the program’s minimum age requirement at older than 65
years. A municipality that voted to limit program eligibility to individuals ages 70 and older prior
to this date is not required to take another vote unless it seeks to lower the program’s minimum
age requirement (PA 21-84, effective October 1, 2021, and applicable to assessment years
beginning on and after that date).

Virtual Monitoring and Virtual Visitation in Nursing Homes
The legislature expanded the nursing home patients’ bill of rights to include the right ofresidents to treat their living quarters as their own home, including purchasing and using virtual
visitation and virtual monitoring technology. Additionally, the new law (1) establishes related
notification, use, and consent requirements for this technology (e.g., obtaining a roommate’s
consent and paying associated costs) and (2) requires nursing homes to provide residents withfree internet access, electricity, and a power source for this technology, under certain conditions(PA 21- 55, effective October 1, 2021, except that the right to use technology is effective July 1,2021).
Another new law requires nursing homes to give their employees, or their contractor’s
employees, access to a resident’s virtual monitoring or virtual visitation technology if the (1)employee is the subject of a proposed disciplinary action by the nursing home based on
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evidence obtained from the technology and (2) access is granted for the employee to defend
him- or herself against the disciplinary action (PA 21-160, effective October 1, 2021).

Alcohol
Beer Excise Tax
Beginning July 1, 2023, a new law decreases the excise tax on beer (other than beer for offpremises consumption sold on premises covered by a manufacturer’s permit) from $7.20 to $6
per barrel (SB 1202, June Special Session (JSS), as amended, § 473, effective upon passage).

Liquor Control Act Changes
The legislature made various changes to the Liquor Control Act this session, including thefollowing:1.

allowing an alcoholic liquor permittee that sells for on-premises consumption to sell up
to two drinks at once;2.

establishing a seasonal outdoor open-air permit that allows alcohol sales in outdoor
spaces under certain conditions;3.

allowing, for three years following the act’s effective date, certain alcohol permittees tosell and deliver alcoholic liquor for off-premises consumption that they currently sell foron-premises consumption;4.

allowing self-pour automated machines to serve beer, certain ciders, and wine undercertain conditions; and5.

allowing the sale of alcohol-infused confections (e.g., chocolate), including in package
stores (PA 21-37 & PA 21-50, various effective dates).

Banks
Bank Executions
Under a new law, banks and financial institutions must automatically apply the “wildcard
exemption,” leaving an aggregate of up to $1,000 in a debtor’s bank account subject to a bankexecution. Prior law required a debtor to file an exemption from execution with the court toclaim this exemption. The new law also eliminates the maximum amount of money depositedfrom exempt sources that is protected from bank executions (PA 21-131, effective October 1,2021).

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Remote Work for Licensed Banking Activities
A provision in the budget implementer allows the Department of Banking (DOB) commissioner
to establish a process for people to conduct licensed activities from a location other than aregistered office. Prior law generally required anyone conducting DOB-licensed or -regulated
activities to do so at a registered office (SB 1202, JSS, as amended, § 205, effective July 1,2021).

Biennial Budget
Appropriations
The budget act includes: (1) General Fund appropriations of $20.8 billion in FY 22 and $21.7
billion in FY 23, (2) Special Transportation Fund (STF) appropriations of $1.8 billion in FY 22 and$1.9 billion in FY 23, (3) other appropriated funds (seven funds) of $275.1 million in FY 22 and$277.4 million in FY 23, and (4) revenue estimates adopted by the Finance, Revenue andBonding Committee on June 7, 2021 (SA 21-15, most provisions effective July 1, 2021).

Spending Cap. The act is under the spending cap by $22.2 million in FY 22 and $35.7 million
in FY 23.

Growth Rate. The FY 22 growth rate for all appropriated funds is 2.6% over the FY 21
appropriation. The FY 23 growth rate for all appropriated funds is 3.9% over the FY 22
appropriation.

Deficiency Appropriations. The act eliminates FY 21 deficiencies in four agencies totaling$62.1 million by transferring funds from various agencies that otherwise would have lapsed.

Carryforwards. The act carries forward a total of $494.2 million in funding for initiatives fromnumerous accounts that otherwise would have lapsed.

Revenue
General Fund revenue adjustments over the April Consensus Revenue estimates total
approximately $1.042 billion in FY 22 and $1.622 billion in FY 23 (SB 1202, JSS, as amended,various sections and effective dates).

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Bonding
The FY 22-23 bond act authorizes up to $1.8 billion for FY 22 and $1.7 billion for FY 23 in new
general obligation (GO) bonds for state capital projects and grant programs, including school
construction, economic and community development project grants, housing development andrehabilitation programs, and municipal aid. It cancels or reduces $143.6 million in prior GO
bond authorizations for specified projects and grants. The act authorizes up to $836.9 million in
new special tax obligation bonds in FY 22 and $929.6 million in FY 23 for Department ofTransportation projects. And it authorizes up to $281.0 million in Clean Water Fund revenue
bonds for FY 22 and $237 million for FY 23.
Accounting for these changes, the treasurer has certified that the state will be below 83.10% of
the statutory debt limit at the start of FY 22 and below 83.11% at the start of FY 23; the state is
expected to be approximately $2 billion below the 90% debt limit threshold to start each fiscal
year.
The act also authorizes approximately $1.4 billion in GO bonds from FY 24 through FY 34,
including authorizations for the Connecticut Baby Bond Trust program and the Community
Investment Fund 2030 (described below), as well as other programs (crumbling foundations,
CTNext, port improvements, and UConn research funding).
Among other things, the act also authorizes 15 school construction state grant commitments
totaling $393 million toward total project costs of $637.7 million (PA 21-111, as amended by
SB 1202, JSS, as amended, various sections and effective dates). (Debt limit calculations
include $50 million of bonds in FY 22 authorized in SB 1201.)

Children and Families
Adoptee Access to Original Birth Certificate
A new law expands access to birth certificates for adopted persons age 18 and older and theiradult children or adult grandchildren. It allows them to obtain an uncertified copy of the
adoptee’s original birth certificate upon request, regardless of when the adoption occurred.
Prior law provided this access only for adoptions finalized on or after October 1, 1983. For
adoptions before then, prior law allowed access to the original certificate by these individuals
only through a court order, and if the birth parents are alive, the court generally could issue theorder only with their consent.

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Among other things, the new law also transfers, from the Department of Public Health (DPH) to
municipalities, the responsibility to issue the original birth certificates upon an eligible
individual’s request (PA 21-21, effective July 1, 2021).

Birth-to-Three Program
The legislature eliminated the requirement that the Office of Early Childhood (OEC)commissioner charge a fee on a sliding scale for the Birth-to-Three program, making it cost- free
to Connecticut families. It also expanded the program to enrolled children who are eligible forcertain preschool programs but turn three before the program begins and generally extended tothese children certain group and individual health insurance coverage for medically necessary
early intervention services (PA 21-46, §§ 24 & 28, effective upon passage; SB 1202, JSS, as
amended, §§ 455-457, effective July 1, 2021).

Children’s Mental Health
The legislature passed several measures aimed at addressing the impact COVID-19 has had on
children’s mental health. They include the following:1.

requiring the Youth Suicide Advisory Board and the Office of the Child Advocate toadminister evidence-based youth suicide prevention training in each local and district
health department at least once every three years;

2.

allowing minors to receive as many outpatient mental health treatment sessions asnecessary without the consent or notification of a parent or guardian, rather than being
limited to six sessions as under prior law;3.

requiring (a) the Department of Children and Families to develop and update documents
listing the behavioral and mental health evaluation and treatment resources available tochildren in each mental health region and (b) emergency departments and hospitals,
among others, to distribute the documents as specified;4.

expanding the continuing education requirements for certain healthcare professionals to
include education on (a) screening for post-traumatic stress disorder, suicide risk,
depression, and grief and (b) suicide prevention training;5.

requiring school boards to integrate social-emotional learning principles and practices
into their districts’ professional development programs; and6.

allowing students in grades kindergarten through 12th grade to take two mental healthwellness days during the school year (PA 21-46, various sections, and PA 21-116, mostprovisions effective upon passage).

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Connecticut Baby Bond Trust
The bond act establishes the Connecticut Baby Bond Trust program, administered by the statetreasurer, and authorizes up to $600 million in bonds for the program from FYs 23 through 34.
Under this program, the treasurer must create accountings for babies born on or after July 1,
2021, whose births were covered under HUSKY (i.e., designated beneficiaries) and may deposit
up to $3,200 into each designated beneficiary’s accounting at birth. Once they have reachedage 18, designated beneficiaries that meet the act’s eligibility requirements may receive thefunds, including any investment earnings, to be used for an eligible expenditure. Eligible
expenditures generally include those for education, home-buying, business investments, andpersonal financial investments (PA 21-111, §§ 103-111, as amended by SB 1202, JSS, as
amended, §§ 532 & 533, effective July 1, 2021).

Uniform Parentage Act
The legislature adopted the Uniform Parentage Act, cited as the Connecticut Parentage Act(CPA). Among other things, the act:1.

provides for equal treatment under the law for children born to same-sex couples by,among other things, removing certain gender-specific references (e.g., changing“maternity” and “paternity” to “parentage”);

2.

expands recognition of non-biological parents;

3.

provides guidance on adjudicating parentage (e.g., creates best interest of the childfactors the court must consider);4.

creates processes to establish presumptive, de facto, acknowledged, and genetic
parentage and parentage through surrogacy; and5.

generally allows individuals conceived through assisted reproduction to access medical
and identifying information about gamete donors (PA 21-15, most provisions effective
January 1, 2022).

Youth Camps and Youth Sports Comprehensive Background Check
Requirement
Starting October 1, 2022, a new law generally requires OEC-licensed youth camps andoperators of youth athletic activities (e.g., municipalities) to require comprehensive backgroundchecks for prospective employees or volunteers age 18 or older applying for a position (1) thatinvolves unsupervised access to children or (2) as coach, instructor, or athletic trainer,
respectively (PA 21-82, effective October 1, 2021).

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Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Criminal Record Erasure
Starting in 2023, a new law provides for the erasure of certain criminal conviction records after
a specified period following the person’s most recent conviction. Under the new law, eligible
convictions are generally subject to erasure seven years (for misdemeanors) or 10 years (forfelonies) after the person’s most recent conviction. Among other things, the act also prohibits
discrimination in various contexts based on someone’s erased criminal history record
information.
Under the act, this erasure does not apply to (1) class A, B, or C felonies; (2) unclassified
felonies with longer than five-year prison terms; (3) family violence crimes; (4) certain crimes
requiring sex offender registration; (5) specified class D felonies and class A misdemeanors;and (6) any offense for which the person has not completed serving the sentence, including
probation or parole (PA 21-32, as amended by PA 21-33, § 10, erasure provisions are effective
January 1, 2023, various effective dates for other provisions).

Domestic Violence and Coercive Control
The legislature made several changes related to domestic violence, civil restraining orders,family violence, assistance programs, and certain crimes. They include (1) establishing ageneral definition of domestic violence; (2) allowing victims subject to coercive control by afamily or household member to be eligible for civil restraining orders; (3) creating a grant
program to provide free legal assistance for certain restraining order applicants; (4) expand ing“best interest of the child” factors to include the child’s physical and emotional health; (5)providing victims easier access to certain assistance programs; and (6) establishing additional
protections for tenants protected by certain orders of protection (PA 21-78, most provisions
effective October 1, 2021).

Free Phone Calls for Incarcerated Individuals
The legislature passed a law requiring the Department of Corrections, beginning July 1, 2022, toprovide free phone services to incarcerated individuals in correctional facilities. The
commissioner may supplement phone services with other telecommunications services,
including video communication and email, as long as the service is free to the inmates and topeople initiating or receiving the communication. Each incarcerated person is eligible to use
telephone services for at least 90 minutes each day he or she is confined, as long as doing sodoes not interfere with the facility’s standard operations (PA 21-54 and SB 1202, JSS, as
amended, §§ 52 & 53, effective upon passage).
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Isolated Confinement, Seclusion, and Restraints
A new law would have limited the use of isolated confinement, seclusion, and restraints andplaced a new requirements on their use (e.g., limiting the amount of time and who can orderthese methods and requiring various evaluations, documentation, and specific reporting when
they are used). It also would have generally required that each incarcerated person have theopportunity to be outside his or her cell for at least 6.5 hours a day (PA 21-110, § 2, effective
July 1, 2022). (This act was vetoed June 30, 2021.)

Law Enforcement Use of Force
The legislature delayed, from April 1, 2021, to January 1, 2022, the effective date of 2020
legislative changes affecting law enforcement use of force (PA 20-1, JSS, § 29). Among otherthings, these provisions limit the circumstances under which an officer’s use of deadly physicalforce is justified and establish factors to consider when evaluating whether the officer’s action
was objectively reasonable.
The legislature also modified these circumstances established under the 2020 act, by, among
other things, (1) basing the objective reasonableness standard on the officer’s given
circumstances at that time; (2) requiring officers to have reasonably determined that noreasonable alternatives exist, rather than having exhausted those alternatives, if using deadly
force when making an arrest or preventing escape; and (3) establishing the condition that theescaping person poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to others (PA 21-4,
effective March 31, 2021, for the effective date provision and January 1, 2022, for theprovision modifying the use of deadly force justification).

Recreational Cannabis
A new law legalizes the possession of cannabis (marijuana) for adult recreational use (age 21 orolder) up to a specified possession limit and establishes a regulatory structure for cannabis
businesses. It erases certain cannabis-related criminal convictions and allows for home growwithin certain limits, starting this October for medical marijuana patients age 18 or older andstarting in July 2023 for anyone else age 21 or older.
The act establishes a Social Equity Council to promote and encourage full participation in thecannabis industry by people from communities disproportionately harmed by cannabis
prohibition. It requires the council to establish criteria and review social equity applications.
Under the act, the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) must reserve 50% of the
maximum number of applications for these applicants, who generally pay 50% of the fees forthe first three years.
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The act establishes various DCP licensing and registration requirements for individuals andentities to work in the cannabis industry (e.g., age requirements and criminal history checks). It
also sets cannabis establishment licensure requirements for each license type.
The act establishes guidelines, rules, and protections for employers and employees regarding
recreational cannabis use. It also requires (1) each cannabis establishment licensee to enter
into a labor peace agreement with a bona fide labor organization and (2) cannabis
establishment facility construction projects of $5 million or more to have a project labor
agreement between the project contractors and the establishment.
The act establishes state and municipal taxes on retail sales of cannabis that apply in addition
to the state’s 6.35% sales and use tax. The state cannabis tax rate is 0.625 cents per milligramof total THC for cannabis plant material, 2.75 cents per milligram of total THC for cannabis
edible products, and 0.9 cents per milligram of total THC for cannabis, other than cannabis
plant material or cannabis edible products. The municipal cannabis tax rate is 3%. (Cannabis forpalliative use is exempt from all three taxes under the act.)
The act modifies the state’s driving under the influence and boating under the influence laws toenhance enforcement against those who are drug impaired but do not have an elevated blood
alcohol content.
The act addresses several other topics related to cannabis legalization, such as criminal
penalties for illegal actions (e.g., sales to minors), school discipline related to cannabis use,municipal regulation of cannabis businesses, state bonds for specified financial assistance andworkforce training programs, and prohibited locations for smoking cannabis (SB 1201, JSS, as
amended, provisions on legal possession effective July 1, 2021, various other effective dates).

Risk Warrants and Risk Protection Orders
Existing law allows any two police officers or a state’s attorney or assistant state’s attorney,
under limited circumstances, to apply to court for a warrant (“risk warrant”) to seize firearms
and ammunition from someone who poses an imminent risk of injuring himself or herself orsomeone else. This year, the legislature expanded this law’s scope to (1) apply to other deadly
weapons; (2) allow these officials to apply for a risk protection order prohibiting such a personfrom acquiring or possessing firearms, other deadly weapons, or ammunition; and (3) allow
adult family or household members or medical professionals to apply to court for a risk
protection order investigation.

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Under the new law, if a judge issues a risk protection order and there is probable cause tobelieve that the person possesses firearms or other deadly weapons, the judge must issue arisk warrant along with or following that order, under specified procedures. The new law makesother changes to risk warrant procedures, such as removing the one-year maximum period on
the state’s hold of items seized under a risk warrant (PA 21-67, effective June 1, 2022).

Economic and Community Development
Community Investment Fund 2030
The bond act authorizes up to $875 million in bonds for a five-year bonding program to fundqualifying projects and grants in eligible municipalities that are designated as public investmentcommunities or alliance districts. It establishes a 21-member board, the Community Investment
Fund 2030 board, within the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), to
accept applications for funding under the program from municipalities, community development
corporations, and nonprofits undertaking eligible projects. The act establishes a process bywhich the board reviews the applications and submits them to the governor for his review. Eacheligible project for which the governor recommends a bond allocation must be considered at a
Bond Commission meeting within two months after the board’s recommendation to thegovernor (PA 21-111, § 112, as amended by SB 1202, JSS, as amended, § 601, effective July
1, 2021).

Small Business Express Program
As part of the FY 22-23 budget implementer, the legislature passed various changes to DECD’s
Small Business Express program (EXP), generally increasing flexibility in the department’s
administration of the program and allowing for increased participation by private lenders.
Among its changes, the act does the following:
1.

expands the types of assistance that may be provided from the revolving loan fund andeliminates related requirements on the uses, amounts, rates and terms, andprioritization of these loans;2.

allows the DECD commissioner, in consultation with Connecticut Innovations (CI), toestablish a new EXP component;

3.

eliminates the job creation incentive and matching grant components;

4.

removes the requirement that there be no more than two minority business revolving
loan funds, instead requiring a minimum of one, and increases the maximum size ofloans these funds can provide;

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5.

makes changes to the administration and funding allocation of the EXP component
operated in collaboration with Connecticut-based banks; and6.

establishes a goal for the department that by July 1, 2026, EXP (a) will be self-fundedand (b) have a default rate of 20% or less for small businesses receiving assistance (SB1202, JSS, as amended, §§ 317-320, most provisions effective July 1, 2021).

Education and Higher Education
Alliance District Minority Teacher Recruitment and Retention
A new law creates a teacher residency and certification program for minority teacher
certification candidates and requires each alliance district to partner with a residency program
operator. Beginning in FY 23, it requires the State Department of Education (SDE) to (1)withhold from each alliance district 10% of any increase in alliance aid and (2) use the funds for
grants to cover residency program costs. Enrolled candidates will have a 10-month residency inthe participatiing school district. Minority candidates are individuals who are racial or ethnic
minorities and are employed as school paraprofessionals or associate instructors with a local orregional board of education (SB 1202, JSS, as amended, §§ 414-415, effective July 1, 2021).

Automatic Admissions Program
As part of this year’s budget implementer, the legislature required the Board of Regents forHigher Education (BOR) to establish, by April 1, 2022, the Connecticut Automatic Admissions
Program. It generally allows graduating Connecticut high school students meeting certain
academic thresholds to gain automatic admissions to a bachelor’s degree program at one of
the Connecticut State Universities (CSUs) and any participating private Connecticut college anduniversities (SB 1202, JSS, as amended, § 291, effective July 1, 2021).

College Application and Graduation Fees
A new law requires BOR and the UConn Board of Trustees (BOT) to jointly establish an annual"Fee-Free Day" on which high school students may apply for admission to institutions governedby the boards without paying an application fee. The student must have already completed theFree Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
Starting July 1, 2021, another new law prohibits assessing or charging a graduation fee tostudents enrolled in (1) a regional community-technical college, (2) the Connecticut State
University System, (3) Charter Oak State College, or (4) UConn (SB 1202, JSS, as amended, §§54-57 & 89, fee-free day is effective upon passage and graduation fee provisions are effective
July 1, 2021).
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Debt-Free Community College Funding
The legislature established a dedicated funding stream for the debt-free community college
program enacted in the 2019 legislative session. Starting in FY 24, the Connecticut Lottery
Corporation must transfer up to $14 million from certain online lottery revenue (see “Gaming”
below) to a dedicated debt-free community college account to be used for the program (SB1202, JSS, as amended, §§ 81-86, effective July 1, 2021).

Model CurriculumThis session, the legislature passed a requirement that SDE, in conjunction with the State
Education Resource Center, create a model curriculum for grades kindergarten to eight (K-8)
instruction. The model must (1) be rigorous, age-appropriate, and aligned with curriculum
guidelines and content standards adopted by the State Board of Education and (2) include all
subjects in the K-8 program of studies required under state law, as well as integrate additional
topics throughout all subjects and grade levels. The curriculum must be completed by January
1, 2023, and made available to all boards of education and on SDE’s website (SB 1202, JSS, as
amended, §§ 410-411, effective July 1, 2021).

Office of Dyslexia and Reading Disabilities
A new law establishes the Office of Dyslexia and Reading Disabilities in SDE. Among otherthings, the office (1) must verify whether teacher preparation programs and certification
applicants comply with state law’s requirements on dyslexia instruction and training and (2) may
partner with a public college or university to establish a data center to guide the department
and boards of education in how to effectively use reading. assessments. In addition, the law
requires SDE to revise previously-developed reading assessments for grades kindergarten
through three to include new methodologies for measuring reading proficiency (PA 21-168, as
amended, effective July 1, 2021).

Reading Curriculum Models and Literacy Center
A new law creates the Center for Literacy Research and Reading Success within SDE andcharges it with, among other things, approving reading curriculum models or programs forprekindergarten to grade three by July 1, 2022. By July 1, 2023, the law requires boards ofeducation to implement an approved program or model, unless granted a waiver or additional
implementation time. The models or programs must be focused on the following reading areas:oral language, phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, rapid automatic name orletter name fluency, and reading comprehension (SB 1202, JSS, as amended, §§ 430-431 &
438, effective July 1, 2021).
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Remote Learning
Following over a year of school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s budget
implementer act contains three provisions relating to schools’ primary method of delivering
instruction during quarantine: remote learning. It requires SDE to do the following:1.

establish the Connecticut Remote Learning Commission to analyze and report on remotelearning’s impact on students’ educational attainment, physical and emotional
development, and access to special services, as well as the quality of its instruction;2.

develop a plan to create and implement a K-12 statewide remote learning school; and3.

conduct a comprehensive audit of the remote learning provided in public schools during
the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years due to the pandemic (SB 1202, JSS, as
amended, §§ 423-425, effective July 1, 2021, for the commission, July 1, 2022, for thestatewide remote school plan, and upon passage for the audit).

School Lunch Debt
Starting with the 2021-2022 school year, a new law requires school boards to prohibit publicly
identifying or shaming a child for any unpaid meal charges. Prohibited acts include (1) delaying
or refusing to serve a meal to the child, (2) designating a specific meal for the child, or (3) taking
disciplinary action against the child. Under the new law, school boards (1) must develop a
procedure for communicating with parents or guardians about collecting a child's unpaid meal
charges and (2) may accept donations or grants to pay off unpaid meal charges (PA 21-46, §20, effective July 1, 2021).

Sexual Misconduct on College Campuses
The legislature made various changes related to the handling of sexual misconduct at higher
education institutions, including the following:1.

requiring institutions to conduct a sexual misconduct climate assessment every two
years, distribute it to enrolled students, and report to the Higher Education and
Employment Advancement Committee on its results;2.

establishing a Council on Sexual Misconduct Climate Assessments and requiring it to,among other things, develop assessment guidelines and a list of data points for higher
education institutions to collect in these assessments; and3.

generally prohibiting a higher education institution from taking disciplinary action against
students or employees for violating its drug or alcohol policy if they report alleged sexual
misconduct that occurred during, or was connected to, the policy violation (PA 21-81,
effective July 1, 2021).

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Student Athlete Compensation
A new law generally allows student athletes, beginning January 1, 2022, to (1) earncompensation through an endorsement contract or employment in an activity unrelated to any
intercollegiate athletic program and (2) obtain the legal or professional representation of an
attorney or sports agent through a written agreement. Athletes must comply with their higher
education institution’s policy on student athlete endorsement contracts and employment
activities, which each institution must adopt under the act (PA 21-132, § 14, as amended by SB
1202, JSS, as amended, § 160, effective July 1, 2021).

Town Education Funding and Budgeting Requirements
Under a new law, each town will receive at least the same Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grantamount in FYs 22 and 23 as it did in FY 21. Under an established 2017 schedule, towns thatare overfunded were due to receive a decrease in each of the next two years. But the new law“holds harmless” overfunded towns while increasing the funding for all other towns as per the2017 schedule. The same law increases the (1) weighting for need students in the ECS formulafor English language learners and concentrated poverty and (2) ECS bonus for towns that send
students to regional schools. Finally, the law expands the regional bonus to include towns that
send students to endowed academies that function as a public high school.
The same act also renews, for FY 22 and each following year, the minimum budget requirement(MBR) for local education budgeting, which limits education appropriation reductions. The law
also expands the types of funding excluded from each town’s MBR to include federal funds
related to COVID-19 expenses and state school security grants (SB 1202, JSS, as amended, §§382-386, effective July 1, 2021).

Elections
Constitutional Amendment to Allow for Early Voting
The legislature adopted a resolution proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing theGeneral Assembly to provide by law for in-person, early voting before an election or referendum.
In 2019, an identical resolution passed by a majority of each house of the General Assembly but
less than three-fourths; it was thus referred to the 2021 session (RA 21-1, which will appear on
the November 8, 2022, general election ballot).

Constitutional Amendment to Allow for No-Excuse Absentee VotingThis year the General Assembly took a step toward allowing no-excuse absentee voting inConnecticut. It passed a resolution that proposes to amend the state constitution by removing
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its current restrictions on absentee voting. Under these restrictions, the legislature may pass a
law allowing electors to cast their vote by absentee ballot if they are unable to appear at theirpolling place because of absence from the town where they reside, sickness or physicaldisability, or the tenets of their religion prohibit secular activity on election day (Article VI, § 7).
The resolution passed by a majority of each house of the General Assembly but less than threefourths; it will thus be referred to the 2023 session of the legislature. If it passes in that session
by a majority of each house, it will appear on the 2024 general election ballot (RA 21-2).

COVID-19 Absentee Voting Provisions
A new law extends, to November 2, 2021, certain changes affecting absentee voting eligibility
and procedures implemented for the 2020 state election as a result of COVID-19. This includes,
for a state or municipal election, primary, or referendum occurring on or before this date, (1)expanding the reasons for which electors may vote by absentee ballot to include COVID-19; (2)allowing municipalities to conduct certain absentee ballot pre-counting procedures; and (3)extending, generally by 48 hours, numerous processing and reporting deadlines (SB 1202, JSS,
as amended, §§ 113-114 & 141-157, effective upon passage).

Redistricting
Under a new law, U.S. census population data must be adjusted to count most prison inmatesat their address before incarceration, instead of where they are imprisoned. The new law
requires that this adjusted data, as well as the unadjusted data, serve as the basis fordetermining state legislative districts and municipal voting districts. The new law excludes fromthe adjusted data inmates serving a life sentence without the possibility of release (PA 21-13,
effective upon passage).

Voting Rights for Individuals Convicted of a Felony
A new law (1) eliminates a requirement that individuals convicted of a felony forfeit theirelectoral privileges if they are committed to Department of Correction custody (or a state or
county correction department outside of Connecticut) for confinement in a community
residence (e.g., halfway house, group home, or mental health facility) and (2) allows convicted
felons to regain their electoral privileges upon release from confinement in a correctional
institution or facility. It eliminates prior law’s requirements that these individuals also, asapplicable, be released from a community residence, be discharged from parole, and pay all
felony conviction-related fines (SB 1202, JSS, as amended, §§ 110-112, effective July 1, 2021).

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Energy and Environment
Bottle Bill
This session, the legislature revamped the state’s beverage container redemption law (“bottlebill”). Among other things, the new law does the following:
1.

expands, beginning January 1, 2023, the list of beverages subject to the bottle bill to
include such things as hard cider, juice, tea, coffee, and sports or energy drinks, andexempts containers of less than 150mL;

2.

increases, beginning January 1, 2024, the beverage container deposit amount to at least
10 cents, rather than five cents;

3.

increases to 2.5 cents or 3.5 cents per beverage container, depending on its type, thehandling fee that distributors must pay to dealers and redemption centers beginning
October 1, 2021;

4.

incrementally reduces the amount of unclaimed deposits that distributors must remit to
the General Fund from 100% to 45% by FY 26, and allows the distributors to keep theremainder; and5.

requires certain retailers, beginning October 1, 2021, to have at least two reverse
vending machines at their place of business.

The new law also establishes a five-cent surcharge on the sale of spirit or liquor beveragecontainers of 50mL or less (commonly referred to as “nips”), which must be provided tomunicipalities for certain environmental purposes (PA 21-58, various effective dates).

Broadband Internet
A new law contains several provisions aimed at expanding access to broadband Internet service
throughout the state. Among other things, it generally requires (1) the Office of Policy andManagement (OPM) to develop an up-to-date broadband map with data showing the availability
and adoption of broadband service; (2) the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
to establish a grant program to support broadband deployment in certain unserved areas,
subject to federal funding availability; and (3) broadband providers to notify each other when
they apply to build certain underground facilities, to reduce the potential for future excavationsin the same location (PA 21-159, effective July 1, 2021).

New Restrictions on Electric Suppliers
A new law expands the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority’s (PURA) oversight of electric
suppliers by authorizing PURA to condition a supplier’s license on terms the authority
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determines to be just and reasonable. For residential customers, the new law prohibits
termination fees and early cancellation fees and deems any electric supplier contract null andvoid if it contains variable rates (PA 21-117, effective July 1, 2021).

PA 490 Program Extended to Aquaculture
A new law extends Connecticut’s PA 490 program to certain aquaculture operations, including
underwater farmlands and waterfront property used for commercial shellfishing. The PA 490
program allows farm, forest, open space, and maritime heritage land to be assessed forproperty tax purposes based on current use value rather than fair market value. In exchange forthe reduced assessment, the property owner cannot change the land’s use for a period of time.
By law, if the use changes within 10 years of ownership or classification, a conveyance tax
penalty is charged to the owner (PA 21-24, effective October 1, 2021, and applicable to tax
assessments on and after that date).

PFAS Restrictions
The legislature passed a law restricting the use of certain products with perfluoroalkyl or
polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS). First, the new law prohibits using class B firefighting foam withintentionally added PFAS except in certain circumstances. It also bans offering for sale orpromotional purposes food packaging with PFAS that was intentionally introduced during
manufacturing or distribution (PA 21-191, the restrictions for firefighting foam are effective
upon passage, and those for food packaging take effect October 1, 2021).

Gaming and Entertainment
Admissions Tax Elimination
The budget implementer act eliminates the admissions tax beginning July 1, 2021, for all placesof amusement, entertainment, or recreation, except movie theaters (SB 1202, JSS, as
amended, § 470, effective June 30, 2021).

New In-Person and Online Gaming and Off-Reservation Casino
Suspension
The legislature established new frameworks for legalizing and regulating (1) in-person andonline sports wagering, (2) online casino gaming, (3) in-person and online keno, (4) online
lottery draw games other than keno, and (5) fantasy contests. These frameworks are subject toseveral conditions, principally that the governor must first enter into specific contractual
agreements with the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes, which must then be approvedby the U.S. Department of Interior secretary.
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The act generally authorizes the tribes and the Connecticut Lottery Corporation (CLC) to operatethese games subject to specific requirements, including limiting the authorizations to an initial
10-year period with an option for a five-year renewal. It requires (1) monthly payments from thetribes and CLC to the General Fund ranging from 13.75% to 20% of gross revenues from sports
wagering, online casino gaming, and fantasy contests and (2) new annual payments of$500,000 from each tribe and $1 million from CLC towards certain problem gambling accounts
or programs. The act also delays the authorization for an off-reservation casino gaming facility inEast Windsor for 10 years (PA 21-23, most provisions effective July 1, 2021).

Government Administration
Governor's Emergency Powers
The governor declared public health and civil preparedness emergencies on March 10, 2020, in
response to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently renewed the declaration four times,
most recently through July 20, 2021.
This year the legislature enacted several measures in response to the governor's exercise of
emergency powers. It ratified his original emergency declaration and the first two renewals while
also expressly authorizing him to issue the latter two renewals. For any renewals from July 21,
2021, through March 1, 2022, the legislature (1) required that they be approved by a majority
vote of each chamber and (2) allowed a committee of the six legislative leaders, by majority
vote, to disapprove any executive order issued under the renewal within 36 hours of the order’sfiling.
Lastly, the legislature established a five-member commission to review the statutes governing
public health and civil preparedness emergencies and make recommendations on how theyshould be amended to provide greater legislative oversight of emergency declarations and theexercise of executive authority under those statutes. The commission must report its findings to
the Government Administration and Elections Committee by January 1, 2022 (SA 21-2, as
amended by SA 21-4 and SA 21-5, most provisions effective upon passage).

Remote Meetings
A new law explicitly allows public agencies, until April 30, 2022, to hold meetings under theFreedom of Information Act (FOIA) that are accessible to the public through electronicequipment, or through electronic equipment in conjunction with an in-person meeting. (FOIA’s
existing definition of “meeting” includes those held by electronic equipment, but it does not
explicitly authorize, or establish procedures for, telephone or other remotely held meetings.) The
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law establishes several requirements for meetings held using electronic equipment, includingthat agencies provide at least 48 hours’ notice of the meeting and that members of the public
have the same participation opportunities as they would for an in-person meeting (SB 1202,
JSS, as amended, § 163, effective July 1, 2021).

Housing and Real Estate
Crumbling Concrete Foundations
A new law addressing the state’s crumbling foundations problem makes the Connecticut
Foundation Solutions Indemnity Company (CFSIC) permanent by eliminating the June 30, 2022,
termination date in prior law. It also requires CFSIC to study the impact of pyrrhotite-related
foundation damage in nonresidential buildings. For affected homeowners, the new law
eliminates the five-year cap on reduced property tax assessments for homes with failingfoundations and makes certain government-maintained information about crumbling
foundations confidential in perpetuity.
To address concerns about similar problems arising in the future, the new law also requires theoperator of each quarry that produces concrete aggregate to (1) prepare and quadrennially
update a geological source report and submit it to the state and (2) annually provide anoperations plan and a report to the state containing the results of a third-party test of theaggregate’s sulfur content and further testing for pyrrhotite, if applicable (PA 21-120 and SB
1202, JSS, as amended, §§ 58-60, effective July 1, 2021, except the property tax provision iseffective upon passage).

Foreclosure Mediation and Emergency Lien Assistance
The legislature extended the Ezequiel Santiago Foreclosure Mediation Program for six years,
until June 30, 2029. By law, this program brings together judicial branch mediators, lenders,and borrowers or owner-occupants of certain properties in foreclosure.
The act also establishes an emergency lien assistance program, within the Connecticut Housing
Finance Authority’s Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program. The new program will provide
loans to homeowners who are facing foreclosure due to liens from (1) municipal water or sewer
charges, (2) municipal tax debt, or (3) condominium or common interest associationassessments and fines (PA 21-44, effective October 1, 2021).

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Right to Counsel in Eviction Proceedings
A new law establishes a statewide “right to counsel program” to provide free legal
representation to income-eligible tenants, lessees, and occupants of any residential building or
land in eviction or certain administrative proceedings initiated on or after July 1, 2021. The
judicial branch must (1) use available federal funds to enter into an agreement with an entity toadminister the program and (2) approve a one-page, plain-language notice to inform individualsof their rights under the program. The new law also establishes an 11-member working group toadvise on matters and policies affecting the program (PA 21-34, § 1, effective July 1, 2021).

Insurance
Covered Connecticut
A new law establishes the Covered Connecticut program, which primarily provides healthinsurance premium and cost-sharing assistance sufficient to fully subsidize health coverage for
eligible individuals. Generally, to be eligible, a person must have a silver-level qualified healthplan and be (1) above the Medicaid income limits and (2) below 175% of the federal poverty
level. The program also requires the Department of Social Services to provide certain eligible
individuals additional non-emergency medical transportation and dental benefits after July 1,
2022 (SB 1202, JSS, as amended, §§ 15-19, effective upon passage).

Prescription Drug Formulary Changes
The legislature enacted a law that generally prohibits certain health carriers from removing acovered prescription drug from a formulary (i.e., a list of covered drugs) or moving it to a higher
cost sharing tier during a plan year. The new law provides exceptions allowing health carriers to(1) remove a prescription drug from a formulary with at least 90 days’ advance notice if the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration questions the drug’s clinical safety or approves it for over-thecounter use and (2) move a drug to a higher cost-sharing tier if it is available in-network for $40
or less per month in any tier (PA 21-96, effective January 1, 2022).

Labor and Public Employees
Discrimination Based on Hairstyles
A new law makes it an illegal practice to (1) discriminate based on a person’s hair texture orprotective hairstyle in employment, public accommodations, housing, credit practices, union
membership, and state agency practices or (2) deprive any person of any rights secured orprotected by either the state or federal constitution. It does so by specifying that the term “race”
under the state’s human rights law includes ethnic traits historically associated with race,
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including hair texture and protective hairstyles. Under the law, “protective hairstyles” include
wigs, headwraps, and hairstyles such as individual braids, cornrows, locs, twists, Bantu knots,
afros, and afro puffs (PA 21-2, effective upon passage).

Gender Wage Discrimination
This session, the legislature sought to reduce gender wage discrimination by enacting a new lawthat generally requires employers to provide equal pay for “comparable,” rather than equal,
work. It also requires employers to provide job applicants and employees with the wage range
for their positions (PA 21-30, effective October 1, 2021).

Public Employee Unions
A new law requires public employers to provide public employee unions with certain information
about new and current employees (e.g., their contact information) and access to new employee
orientations and government buildings to conduct meetings. Among other things, the new law
also requires public employers to (1) rely on a union’s certification that it has the necessary
employee payroll deduction authorizations (e.g., to deduct union dues) and (2) direct employee
requests to cancel or change their deductions to the union rather than the employer (PA 21-25,
effective October 1, 2021).

Unemployment System Reform
The legislature made numerous reforms to the state’s unemployment insurance (UI) systemthat start in 2024. For UI benefits, among other things, the new law generally (1) increases theminimum weekly UI benefit from $15 to $40 and correspondingly increases the minimum
earnings needed to qualify for the minimum benefit from $600 to $1,600 and (2) freezes the
maximum benefit allowed from 2024 through 2027.
For UI taxes paid by employers, among other things, the law (1) increases employers’ taxablewage base from $15,000 to $25,000 per employee and requires it to be annually adjusted for
inflation; (2) expands the range of UI experience tax rates from 0.5% - 5.4% to 0.1% - 10%; and(3) generally reduces the maximum fund balance rate from 1.4% to 1.0% (HB 6633, as
amended; effective January 1, 2022).

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Municipalities
Land Use Reform and the Commission on Connecticut's
Development and Future
A new law addresses varied aspects of municipal land use regulation, including housing
opportunities in municipalities that exercise zoning authority under the statutes. It prohibitsmunicipal zoning regulations from establishing minimum floor area requirements exceeding
those in an applicable safety code and requires regulations to provide for varied housing
opportunities and affirmatively further the federal Fair Housing Act’s purposes. Unless amunicipality opts out, the new law also (1) requires regulations to allow accessory apartments
as of right on the same lot as single-family homes and (2) prohibits them from requiring morethan one parking space for each studio or one-bedroom dwelling or more than two parking
spaces for other dwellings.
The new law also establishes a commission within the Legislative Department to evaluate
policies related to land use, conservation, housing affordability, and infrastructure. Among otherthings, the commission must (1) look at existing law’s municipal affordable housing planningrequirement and the state’s sewer and septic system oversight and (2) develop model design
guidelines for buildings and streets (PA 21-29, various effective dates).

Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) Program Changes
A new law establishes a minimum reimbursement rate for PILOT grants and a method forprorating the grants when appropriations are not enough to fund the full grant amounts. This
new proration method is based on each municipality’s equalized net grand list per capita,
designation as an alliance district, and percentage of state-owned property. It requires thatmunicipalities and districts be divided into three tiers, based on these criteria, and ties their
PILOT grant percentage (ranging from 30% to 50%) to the tiers (PA 21-3, §§ 5-8, effective July 1,2021).

Use of Native American Mascots or Team Names
Beginning in FY 23, a new law makes municipalities ineligible for grants from the Mashantucket
Pequot and Mohegan Fund if a school or athletic team under its board of education’s
jurisdiction bases its mascot, team name, or logo on Native American individuals, customs, ortraditions without tribal consent. It provides a grace period until FY 24 for any municipality that
notifies OPM that, among other things, it intends to either change its mascot, team name, or
logo or seek tribal permission to continue using it (SB 1201, JSS, as amended, § 63, effective
July 1, 2021).
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Public Health
Limited Services Pregnancy Centers
A new law prohibits deceptive advertising by limited services pregnancy centers, which it defines
as pregnancy services centers that do not directly provide, or provide referrals for, abortions or
emergency contraception. Generally, the act applies to public statements about pregnancyrelated services, or the provision of them, that the center knows or reasonably should know are
deceptive.
The law allows the attorney general to bring court action against a center for a violation,
provided he notifies the center in advance and allows 10 days for them to comply before doing
so. Among other things, the court can order the center to pay for and disseminate appropriate
corrective advertising. If the court finds that the center violated the above prohibition, the stateis entitled to civil penalties and reasonable attorney’s fees (PA 21-17, effective July 1, 2021).

Long-Term Care
The legislature made several changes concerning long-term care services provided by nursing
homes and dementia special care units. Among other things, the new law requires:
1.

these homes and units to employ a full-time infection and prevention control specialist;

2.

nursing homes to maintain at least a two-month supply of personal protective equipment
for their staffs;

3.

DPH, by January 1, 2022, to modify minimum nursing home daily staffing levels torequire at least three hours of direct care per resident; and4.

nursing homes, by January 1, 2022, to take certain actions to ensure residents haveregular opportunities for in-person and virtual visitation with family members and friends(PA 21-185, as amended, effective October 1, 2021).

The legislature also enacted a law to allow nursing home and assisted living facility residents todesignate an “essential support person” who may visit the resident even when there are
general visitation restrictions (e.g., during a public health emergency). An essential support
person is someone who assists with activities of daily living and provides physical, emotional,
psychological, and socialization support. The new law also requires DPH to establish a statewide
policy for visitation with long-term care residents (PA 21-71, effective upon passage).

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Racial Disparities in Public HealthA new law includes various provisions on racial disparities in public health, pandemic
preparedness, and related topics. For example, it:1.

declares racism as a public health crisis and creates a Commission on Racial Equity in
Public Health to (a) make recommendations to decrease racism’s effect on public healthand (b) create a strategic plan to eliminate health disparities and inequities acrossseveral sectors;

2.

requires DPH to study (a) the state’s COVID-19 response and (b) developing a program torecruit and retain health care workers of color in the state; and3.

establishes a committee to advise the Public Health and Human Services committees on
establishing a Commission on Gun Violence Intervention and Prevention (PA 21-35, mostprovisions effective upon passage).

School Immunization Requirements
A new law eliminates the state’s religious exemption from immunization requirements forindividuals attending (1) public and private schools, including higher education institutions, and(2) child care centers and group and family day care homes. It grandfathers in students enrolled
in grades kindergarten or higher who submitted a religious exemption prior to April 28, 2021,
and continues to do so if they transfer to another public or private primary or secondary schoolin the state.
Children with prior religious exemptions who are enrolled in pre-kindergarten or other preschool
programs generally must comply with immunization requirements by September 1, 2022, orwithin 14 days after transferring to a different public or private program, whichever is later. But
the act allows these children to extend the timeframe if they present a written declaration fromthe child’s physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse that analternative immunization schedule is recommended (PA 21-6, effective upon passage).

TelehealthIn response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the governor issued several executive orders in thespring of 2020 to modify the practice of telehealth to ensure residents had continued access tocare. During the July 2020 Special Session, the legislature enacted PA 20-2, which temporarily
codified several provisions of the governor’s orders until March 15, 2021. A new law extends
these telehealth provisions until June 30, 2023.

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Among other things, the law continues to (1) expand the types of health professionals
authorized to provide telehealth services, (2) expand allowable service delivery methods (e.g.,
telephone-only services), (3) establish requirements for telehealth providers seeking payment
from underinsured and uninsured payments, and (4) expand requirements for insurance
coverage of telehealth services (PA 21-9, effective upon passage).

Social Services
Expanded Postpartum Care
A new law extends Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage forpostpartum care to 12 months after a woman gives birth. Under prior law, the Department ofSocial Services (DSS) generally provided coverage for 60 days after birth. The recently passed
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (P.L. 117-2) allows states to implement this type of
expansion. The law requires DSS to extend coverage beginning April 1, 2022 (SB 1202, JSS, as
amended, §§ 371 & 372, effective upon passage).

Healthcare Regardless of Immigration Status
Under a new law, certain people may be eligible for medical assistance (e.g., HUSKY Health)regardless of their immigration status. The act requires DSS to extend eligibility for medical
assistance, subject to income limits and within available appropriations, to (1) children underage 9, beginning January 1, 2023, and (2) women for 12 months after giving birth, beginning
April 1, 2023. It also requires the state to cover prenatal care for certain women under CHIP by
April 1, 2022. Under the act, the Office of Health Strategy must study expanding coverage toolder children too (PA 21-176 and SB 1202, JSS, as amended, § 380, both effective October 1,
2021, except the study requirement is effective upon passage).

Limits on Public Assistance Liens
In February, the legislature passed a law prohibiting the state from recovering cash and medical
assistance from liens placed on real property, unless required to do so by federal law. In
addition, the act requires the state to deem any certificate or lien previously filed on theproperties released if the recoveries of the assistance are not required under federal law.
In the budget implementer act, the legislature further expanded these lien restrictions anddeemed additional previously filed claims released. Among other things, the act (1) generally
limits the state’s claim against lawsuit proceeds and inheritances to the amount of theassistance paid that the state is required to recover under federal law and (2) expands thetypes of previously filed claims that must be deemed released to include any kind of claim filed
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by or on behalf of the state, including state claims against property interests, estates, orproceeds from a lawsuit or estate, if the recovery is not required by state and federal law (PA21-3, §§ 2-4 and SB 1202, JSS, as amended, §§ 497-500, both effective July 1, 2021).

Taxes
Highway Use Tax
Beginning January 1, 2023, a new law imposes a highway use tax (HUT) on every carrier for theprivilege of operating, or causing to be operated, certain heavy, multi-unit motor vehicles on any
public road in the state. The HUT is charged at a per-mile rate that increases based on avehicle’s weight, ranging from (1) 2.5 cents for vehicles weighing 26,000-28,000 pounds (lbs.)
to (2) 17.5 cents for vehicles weighing more than 80,000 lbs. Revenue from the tax must be
deposited into the Special Transportation Fund (PA 21-177, as amended, effective upon
passage and applicable to calendar months beginning on or after January 1, 2023).

State Tax Changes
The FY 22-23 biennial budget implementer included a number of state tax changes. Among its
most significant changes to the personal income tax, the act does the following:1.

increases the earned income tax credit (EITC) from 23% to 30.5% of the federal EITC,
beginning with the 2021 tax year;2.

phases out, over four years, the tax on income from IRAs (other than Roth IRAs) for
taxpayers with qualifying incomes, starting with the 2023 tax year; and3.

extends, to the 2021 and 2022 tax years, the limits on eligibility for the property tax
credit against the personal income tax.

Among its business tax provisions, the act does the following:
1.

extends the 10% corporation business tax surcharge for two additional years, to the2021 and 2022 income years;

2.

delays the start date of the capital base tax phase out by three years and extends thephase out period; and3.

increases the cap on the amount of R&D tax credits corporations may claim each year
from 50.01% to 70% of their annual tax liability, phased in over two years.

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1.

allows certain businesses (e.g., hotels, restaurants, and bars) to keep 100% of the
7.35% sales tax they collect on sales of meals and beverages during one of three
specified weeks in FY 22;

2.

exempts breast pumps and certain related parts, supplies, kits, and repair services fromthe sales and use tax beginning July 1, 2021;

3.

requires the Department of Revenue Services (DRS) to establish a tax amnesty programfor individuals, businesses, or other taxpayers that owe Connecticut state taxes; and4.

beginning July 1, 2023, replaces the current 6% gross receipts tax on ambulatory
surgical centers (ASCs) with a 3% net revenue tax on ASC services, subject to certain
exclusions (SB 1202, JSS, as amended, various sections and effective dates).

Transportation
Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety
The legislature passed several laws addressing pedestrian and bicyclist safety, generally, andthe safety of specific vulnerable road users. Major provisions include:1.

allowing for local control of speed limits and the establishment of pedestrian safetyzones in certain areas;2.

creating a Vision Zero Council to develop a statewide policy to eliminate alltransportation-related fatalities and severe injuries;

3.

expanding the circumstances under which drivers must yield to pedestrians at
uncontrolled crosswalks;

4.

establishing safety equipment requirements and operating rules for ice cream trucks
and requiring drivers passing ice cream trucks that are vending to stop and proceedslowly; and5.

authorizing a two-year pilot program for speed camera enforcement in up to threehighway work zones (PA 21-28, PA 21-20, and SB 1202, JSS, as amended, §§ 330-339,
most provisions effective October 1, 2021).

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Car Sharing
A new law imposes regulatory requirements on “P2P car sharing,” which is when people share
their vehicles for compensation through a platform operated by a P2P car sharing company(e.g., Turo and Getaround). The law covers insurance requirements, certain consumer
protections, and airport operation agreements, among other things, and requires DRS to issue
guidance on the sales tax treatment of P2P car sharing (PA 21-106, §§ 52-65, most provisions
effective January 1, 2022).
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Public Private Partnerships (P3)This session, the legislature reestablished, through January 1, 2027, the governor’s authority toapprove up to five P3 projects and made various changes to the P3 law, including (1) limiting its
application to transportation projects only and (2) eliminating provisions restricting P3 projects
to revenue-generating facilities and limiting the state’s share of project costs. The legislature
also established the Office of Innovative Finance and Project Delivery within the Department ofTransportation to, among other things, recommend P3 opportunities to the commissioner (PA21-99 and PA 21-175, § 503, effective upon passage).

Veterans
Expanded Definition of Veteran and Establishment of a Qualifying
Review Board
This session, the legislature extended state veterans benefits to individuals released fromservice with an other than honorable (OTH) discharge whose sexual orientation, gender identity,
or gender expression is determined to be more likely than not the primary reason for the OTH
discharge.
The law establishes a Qualifying Review Board to determine whether the veteran’s discharge
meets the law’s criteria. Veterans whose applications are approved through the review board
process are eligible to apply for state-based veterans benefits, including bonus points on state
civil service exams, property tax exemptions, and tuition waivers at the state’s public colleges
and universities (PA 21-79, effective October 1, 2021).

Public School Enrollment and Services for Military-Connected
Students
Under a new law, boards of education must accept certain military orders indicating a member’stransfer to the state as proof-of-residency for public school enrollment purposes, enabling
military members’ children to meet registration and application deadlines in advance of their
physical relocation to the state. The law additionally requires the State Board of Education,
within available appropriations, to establish a Purple Star School Program to designate schoolsthat provide specific support services and assistance for military-connected students and theirfamilies (e.g., a designated military liaison, a student-led transition program, and staff training)(PA 21-86, effective July 1, 2021).

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