CT New Laws Call For Working Groups and Task Forces Galore

CONNECTICUT — An extraordinary number of bills finally made their way to Gov. Ned Lamont's desk in the closing days of June. A few of the higher profile and more impactful bits of new legislation include:

A provision included in Public Act 21-132, signed June 30, permits college student-athletes in Connecticut to be compensated for their name and likeness by engaging in paid advertisements, something that is now forbidden by the NCAA. The students will also be permitted to hire the professional representation of an attorney or sports agent. It takes effect Sept 1.

Senate Bill 883 allows candidates for state office to draw from public financing to pay for childcare costs related to campaign activity. It also creates a statutory requirement for appointing authorities to consider recommendations from organizations that represent the interest of gender and racial diversity when seeking people to serve on state boards and commissions. The law went into effect July 1.

Special Act 21-17 calls for a task force to take a deep dive into the state Constitution and ferret out any gendered language and make recommendations for a re-drafting.

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Ageism was in the crosshairs of Senate Bill 56. As of Oct. 1, it's illegal for an employer to request a prospective employee's age, birthdate, or graduation date on an initial employment application unless it is for a bona fide occupational qualification or required by state or federal law.

Current state law entitles police officers or a state's attorney to apply for a warrant to seize firearms and ammunition from someone who poses an imminent risk of injuring themselves or someone else. Beginning in October 2022, family members and medical professionals may apply for the warrant to prohibit someone from acquiring or possessing firearms or ammunition. Under current law, the state can hold firearms or ammunition seized under this type of warrant for a maximum of one year. The new law will extend the hold period indefinitely, until the person can prove they are no longer a threat.

Under most circumstances, a veteran who was not honorably discharged from service is ineligible for state veterans' benefits. A new law extends those benefits to veterans whose other-than-honorable discharge was due to a mental health condition or as a result of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. It goes into effect Oct. 1.

Another new task force will study the shortage of employees in various tourism-related businesses in the state. The legislation will also allow two or more municipalities to jointly appoint one representative to a regional tourism board of directors.

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An education task force, created by House Bill 6621, will study special education services and funding. The cost effect of special education on districts' budgets, and creative ways to reduce it, will all be grist for the group's mill.

Lottery winners have a right to privacy, too. That's the gist of House Bill 6038, signed on June 24. The new law prohibits the Connecticut Lottery Corporation from publishing on its website a lottery winner's photograph without his or her prior written consent, and also requires the corporation to remove a lottery winner's name from the list of winners published on
its website within five days of receiving the person's request to be excluded.

Following the Department of Motor Vehicles' successful embrace of online technology during the coronavirus pandemic, it's not surprising to see a giddy abandonment of many regulations requiring motorists to show up at their local office in person. The DMV's new Online Era is reflected in a number of provisions in Senate Bill 261, most of which went into effect July 1.

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Under Senate Bill 660, emergency medical services personnel, all Department of Correction employees and 9-1-1 emergency dispatchers, and health care providers (under certain circumstances related to COVID-19) are now eligible for post-traumatic stress injury-related workers' compensation benefits.

Following the signing of House Bill 6113, a gubernatorial task force has until Dec. 1 to develop guidelines for youth coaches on best practices for appropriate interaction with young athletes. These will include child sexual abuse informational guidelines that describe abusers' grooming techniques and victim behavior.

In the same spirit, effective Oct. 1, 2022, youth camps licensed by the Office of Early Childhood will require prospective employees age 18 or older to submit to comprehensive background checks if they are applying for positions that provide care or involve unsupervised access to any child in the youth camp.

House Bill 6637 establishes a bill of rights for individuals in need of mental health services who are deaf, deafblind, or hard of hearing.

Another new law establishes a 22-member Council on Sexual Misconduct Climate Assessments on college campuses. The council will provide the schools with the guidance needed to conduct a sexual misconduct climate assessment and distribute it to students, and report back to the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee on the results. The first of the mandatory biennial surveys must be distributed by March 1, 2023.

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A few groups in the state may be getting a break on their property taxes with the passage of some new legislation.

House Bill 6420 increases by $1,000 an optional property tax exemption for certain volunteer firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and other similar volunteers. House Bill 6458 expands eligibility for the Elderly Tax Freeze Program by decreasing the program's minimum age requirement from 70 to 65 years. Implementation for both these acts is determined at the municipal level. Another new law raises the maximum total property tax bill that a municipality’s legislative body may waive, from $25 to $100. It also allows municipalities to establish programs allowing taxpayers to defer payments for 90 days, and lower the interest rate on late payments.

House Bill 6483 establishes a Purple Star School Program to designate schools that provide specific support services, assistance, and initiatives for military-connected students and their families. These programs recognize schools that show a major commitment to students and families connected to the United States military.

A number of animal welfare provisions are laid out in House Bill 6504, most notably a new requirement of animal shelters to have dogs and cats examined regularly by a licensed veterinarian and maintain records of veterinary services rendered. Also effective Oct. 31, regional animal control facilities will be bound by the same construction, maintenance, and sanitation standards as municipal pounds.

By July 1, 2022, each local or regional school district and private school must have implemented an emergency action plan to respond to serious and life-threatening sports-related injuries during interscholastic or intramural athletic events.

Another new plan, this one created by a working group under the auspices of the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development, will outline how the state can best support and facilitate efforts by local historical societies and the like to preserve buildings, structures, objects, sites and landmarks. The group's first report is due Feb. 1, 2022.

House Bill 6564 allows secondhand dealers and precious metals or stones dealers who are also licensed pawnbrokers to pay for property by cashing a check, the same way pawnbrokers do.

Senate Bill 1091 expands the definition of "domestic violence" to include threats, humiliation, and intimidation. It also creates a grant program to provide free legal assistance to indigent restraining order applicants, and forbids insurance companies from refusing coverage based on a person’s status as a victim of domestic violence.

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Effective Jan 1, 2022, health carriers with plans that cover prescription drugs will be tightly restricted regarding what meds they can remove, or goose up in price, during the plan year.

House Bill 6634 loosens restrictions on who may visit nursing home and managed residential community residents. The law also requires the Department of Public Health to establish a statewide policy for visitation with long term care residents.

Previously, before there could be an agreement between the state and a private entity, the shared project's estimated revenue had to be able to fund its operating costs, and the state's contribution could not exceed 25 percent of the total cost. Upon the signing of Senate Bill 920, those restrictions were lifted.

Police departments are now required to be trained in using opioid antagonists, such as Narcan, and maintain a supply of these medications for use by their police officers when responding to a medical emergency.