Here's Some Of Life-Changing CT Bills Being Considered

HARTFORD, CT — It’s been a whirlwind at the state capitol as most legislative committees wrap up business and bills move toward full votes. Tolls and legal recreational marijauna are far from the only major changes that Connecticut residents could face in the near future as legislators move into the final phase of the session.

Gov. Ned Lamont and State Senate Democrats laid out their priority pieces of legislation Wednesday. Here are some of the biggest proposals.

21 To Smoke
A bill that would raise the age to purchase tobacco and other smoking products to 21 received bipartisan committee approval by a 20-1 margin. A large number of advocates including representatives from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and American Heart Association came in support of the measure.
Studies show that 95 percent of current smokers started before they were 21-years-old,said State Sen. Saud Anwar (D- East Hartford) who is a medical doctor who specializes in the treatment of lung diseases. He said he was excited at the prospect of becoming one of the first few states in the nation to raise the age.
It can become very difficult for young people who start to smoke to ever stop said State Sen. Mary Daugherty Abrams.
“There is no reason not to be supporting this bill,” she said. “Our children are in harm's way.”

Connecticut, like other states across the country has seen an uptick in youth smoking as vaping products become more popular.

Read more here.

Debt-Free Community College

A bill that passed committee could lead to debt-free community college for permanent Connecticut residents. The Office of Fiscal Analysis pegs the cost at $10.7 million annually and wouldn’t stop community colleges from benefiting from federal Pell grants.

“Moving forward with a debt-free college plan without an expected family contribution is going to dramatically increase the number of students who sign up for courses and thereby increase the revenue into a community college system that is as we’ve seen in the papers is struggling financially,” said State Sen. Will Haskell (D-Wilton)

Healthcare Reform
House Bill 7267 would open the State's Partnership 2.0 Plan to small businesses and nonprofits. The state currently offers group insurance to non-state public employees. It would lead to better insurance options and increased competition in the small business health insurance market, said State Sen. Matt Lesser.

The Office of Fiscal Analysis estimated the cost at $1.5 million to the state for the first year for things including consulting and actuarial services. Lesser said that cost could be reduced to $1 million under some changes.

OFA also noted that the bill that allows certain small employees to pool with the state plan could result in a fiscal impact to the current plan and municipalities who participate in the Partnership Plan.

“The impact will depend on the risk of the pooled participants as reflected in the premiums/premium equivalents established in accordance with the bill and current law,” OFA stated in its report.

The state employee health plan is self-insured and includes state employees, retirees, unionized UConn graduate assistants, non state public employers participating in the Partnership Plan. Opening the plan to small businesses could affect risk and the state currently doesn’t have stop-loss insurance, which sets a maximum cap on the amount of claims that have to be paid.
Lesser said legislators and the State Comptroller’s Office are looking into the possibility of stop-loss insurance.

The bill if passed would cause the state plan to lose its exemption under the Employee Retirement Income Security Impact.

Lamont said in a Wednesday morning press conference he is looking at other options to help small businesses with exorbitant health insurance costs and that the state would have to be careful about opening plans up to a greater pool of people. Read about the initial proposal here.

Another proposal would put limits on certain high deductible health insurance plans. It would require insurers to apply deductibles on a calendar year basis and pro-rate deductibles if coverage starts after Jan. 1. It would also prohibit HDHP plans from having different deductibles based on family size.

Paid Family Medical Leave
The bill would allow up to 12 weeks of family or medical leave over a 12 month period with up to 100 percent coverage of the employee’s salary with a maximum benefit of $1,000 per week.

The program would begin paying benefits by July 1, 2021 with deductions to employees starting a year before that. Up to $20 million in state bond money can be used for startup funds under the bill with the money being reimbursed once employee funds are collected.

The bill caps employee contributions at .5 percent up to the maximum Social Security earnings of $132,900. The state legislature could increase the amount of employee earnings subject to contributions if the program heads toward insolvency.

The Family Medical Leave Act would cover private sector employers with at least one employee instead of the current 75 employee cutoff.

Employees can take leave for immediate family members along with “...the employee's siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, and anyone else related by blood or whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family member,” according to the Office of Legislative Research

Marijuana
Lamont wants to work with Rhode Island and Massachusetts to come up with some regionalized rules for how to handle recreational marijuana.

He supports legalization, but isn’t one of the main forces pushing it.

“There is a sense that it’s time,” he said. “I support the resolution that is coming out of [the legislature], but most of the energy is coming out of the legislature on that one.”
Tolls

Gov. Ned Lamont announced some changes to the Connecticut toll proposal Wednesday as the clock strikes closer to a full vote. Republicans were quick to criticize the plan and bills that would leave exact details up to bureaucrats instead of legislators.

Lamont confirmed that there would be no more than 50 toll gantries and they would be placed every six to seven miles on I-84, I-95, I-91 and Route 15. Connecticut EZ-Pass holders, who also have a frequent user discount, would pay about 25 to 30 cents per gantry, which works out to 4.4 cents per mile during peak travel times. There is still room for negotiation on the finer points of the toll proposal, but the key number to hit is $800 million in revenue per year from tolls. (See below for example trip costs.)

Lamont also announced that controversial language about the bill being approved automatically after 15 days would be removed, which means tolls would have to come for a full vote if they are to become a reality.

The state is also looking for ways to alleviate some toll costs through income tax credits or other means. Currently no states provide an income tax credit for tolls paid, according to OLR, but Massachusetts and West Virginia allow taxpayers to deduct a portion of toll expenses from overall taxable income. A handful of states have made income tax deduction proposals, but the never became law.

“Our proposal is supported by a broad coalition of local, business, labor, and legislative leaders and improves our transportation system without passing 100 percent of the cost on Connecticut taxpayers and future generations,” Lamont said.

Republicans were quick to criticize Lamont. Republican State Senate leader Len Fasano said that current bills would leave the exact details up to bureaucrats.

"They know when the real numbers come out and the real hard study is done this fictitious model they have… is nothing but a cartoon sketch at best," Fasano said.
He also criticized Lamont's office of being tone deaf to the wishes of Connecticut residents who don't want tolls and said the Republican Prioritize Progress plan has specific hard numbers, while the toll plan does not.

"This should have pure transparency," he said. "If it goes through at the very least have the courage and the respect for the people of the State of Connecticut and bring forth a plan that shows a firm law and allows people to vote who represent the people who are going to be taxed."

State Senate President Martin Looney (D-New Haven) said Wednesday he believes that tolls will pass the legislature this year as there is no other real alternative to fixing Connecticut’s transportation woes.

Lamont was joined by General Assembly Transportation Committee co-chairs in making the toll push.
“As a Fairfield County resident, I am surrounded by out-of-state drivers daily that do damage to our roads, bridges and highways,” Senator Carlo Leone (D-Stamford) said. “Our infrastructure needs substantial work to ensure the safety of the individuals and families who use them every day. It is irresponsible and unwise to continue to kick the can down the road until a catastrophic event occurs, which would cost our state immensely.”

The governor recently spoke with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao who gave him assurances that the federal approval process would only be two or three years and not six or seven, he said. Connecticut would also be able to borrow money in the present time against anticipated tolling revenues in order to get infrastructure projects moving immediately.

Once again Lamont criticized the Republican legislative Prioritize Progress plan which would prioritize bonding for transportation over other progress. He said that would cost Connecticut residents another $600 million per year in debt service by 2030 while tolls would be covered 40 percent by out-of-state drivers.

“Out of staters won’t pay for that, you and your kids will pay 100 percent of that,” he said.
Looney also criticized the Republican plan and said it would tie up so much bonding capacity that things like school construction would be severely hampered.

The Connecticut Office of Police Management released an analysis of the Prioritize Progress plan that concluded the state’s school construction plan would be in jeopardy and that municipalities would have to fend for themselves if they want a new school construction.

$120 million in IT investment projects would be in jeopardy as well along with $30 million inTown Aid Road grants and $66 million in municipal aid.

Trip examples for peak times:
Stamford to New Haven: $1.80
New Haven to Hartford: $1.72
Danbury to Waterbury $1.28
Milford to New Haven: 44 cents