5 CT Laws That Can Change Your Life Jan. 1

CONNECTICUT — A New Year means new laws go into effect in Connecticut. Several of them could have life-changing consequences for some residents.

Below is a summary of five laws that go into effect Jan. 1.

Gas tax comes back, slowly

Legislators extended the full gas tax pause to Dec. 31 during a November special session. The gas tax is back come Jan. 1, well a nickel of it anyway.

Connecticut will add five cents of the tax back each month until it reaches the full 25 cents in May.

State legislators first paused the gas tax back in April amid skyrocketing prices. The cost of gas has dropped in recent weeks and stands at about $3.15 per gallon as of Dec. 29 in Connecticut; the price is about 50 cents cheaper than a month ago, according to AAA.

Bottle bill expanded

New bottles of sports drinks, juices and seltzer will be subject to the five-cent bottle deposit come Jan. 1.

Lawmakers made a change in November that will give stores a six-month grace period to sell non-compliant bottles that were already purchased, however, the deposit still needs to be collected Jan. 1 whether the bottle is compliant or not.

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Heavy truck highway mileage fee begins

Jan. 1 marks the beginning of the heavy truck highway user fee in Connecticut.

The user fee applies to trucks between Class 8 and Class 13, which have a gross weight of 26,000 pounds or more.

The per-mile fee is based on a vehicle’s weight. It ranges from 2.5 cents for vehicles between 26,000 and 28,000 pounds to 17.5 cents for vehicles with a gross weight of 80,000 pounds or more. There is an exemption for trucks that haul milk from a farm.

Carriers must file returns and remit the tax to the state Department of Revenue Services on a monthly basis, according to the state Office of Legislative Research.

The fee is expected to bring in $45 million in fiscal year 2023 and $90 million in fiscal year 2024, according to the state Office of Fiscal Analysis. Revenue will be deposited into the state's Special Transportation Fund.

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Trucking associations have decried the bill as bad policy. American Trucking Associations President Chris Spear wrote in an op-ed that the cost will get passed on to consumers and that the weight per mile model was antiquated.

Marijuana record clearing, clean slate
About 44,000 low-level marijuana possession cases will be fully or partially erased Jan. 1.
Convictions for possession of under four ounces of marijuana that occurred between Jan. 1, 2000 and Sept. 30, 2015 will automatically be erased, according to Gov. Ned Lamont's office. People who fall under this scenario don't have to do anything for their record to be erased. They may legally tell employers, landlords and others that the conviction never occurred.

Separately, the state had to delay the automatic clean erasure law for certain other crimes due to IT issues.

People eligible for criminal conviction erasure if they don't have any other criminal convictions for seven or 10 years, depending on the crime. Eligible offenses include most misdemeanors and some lower-level felonies. Offenders need to complete their sentences and meet certain other eligibility standards.

Pay bump for legislators

State legislators will get their first pay increase in more than 20 years come Jan. 1. Salaries will increase from $28,000 to $40,000 and future raises will be tied to the employment cost index.

The law will also raise the salaries of constitutional officers. The governor's salary would be tied to that of the chief justice of the state Supreme Court, which is about $226,000. Gov. Ned Lamont announced that he won’t take a salary.

The lieutenant governor, treasurer, attorney general, secretary of the state and comptroller would make as much as a Superior Court judge, which would bring pay from $110,000 to about $189,000.

Legislators technically are part-time employees, with the session running from January to June in odd-numbered years and February to May in even-numbered years. However, several legislators have said the job becomes a full-time duty between the session, ongoing constituent service and other duties.