New Laws Effective January 1st

On January 1st, SEVERAL new laws will take effect that could have an impact on you, your business, or our community. I have highlighted some of them below. An expanded list, along with summaries, can be accessed here: https://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/content/aeauto.asp.

Some of these new laws include:

𝐂𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐍 𝐒𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐒𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍
Serious changes to the way our state handles criminal prosecutions and convictions, including the automatic erasure of criminal records for certain crimes, take effect on January 1. Under recently passed "clean slate" legislation, up to 80,000 people convicted of certain low-level offenses will automatically have their criminal records cleared. House Republicans opposed the initial broad policy and worked to implement common sense restrictions to prevent violent criminals, sexual predators and others from being automatically included in these erasures.

Thanks to public outcry and pressure, during the 2023 legislative session, we were able to get legislation passed that prohibited pieces of this far-reaching automatic erasure; now, automatic erasure does NOT apply to ANY sex crime that requires registration on a state registry, and we were able to shift DUI convictions from the original 7 year term to10 years.

𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐈/𝐃𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐘
Several provisions of a comprehensive bill concerning resources and support services for residents with an intellectual or developmental disability (I/DD) take effect in the new calendar year. More businesses could be eligible for credits for hiring the disabled. The Connecticut JOBSCT Tax Rebate Program will lower the threshold for businesses who hire 25 new full-time employees, down to 15 to retain eligibility for 50-percent income tax rebates for the new employees, if one employee has an intellectual disability.

The new law also requires annual reports from the Department of Social Services on the size of the waiting list for the Medicaid waiver program for those with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Public Act 23-137 also requires the state to create and acquire sensory kits for emergency services workers to give to autistic children and adults to help them during emergency encounters.

𝐁𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐋
The deposit cost for certain beverage containers will increase from $.05 to $.10 on January 1. Initially passed during the 2022 session with a phased roll out, the cost of deposits on (generally) hard cider, plant water or plant infused drink, juice or juice drink, tea, coffee, kombucha, sports or energy drinks, and any beverages identified as one of these products with letters, words, or symbols on their labels will increase.

𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐀𝐅𝐄𝐓𝐘
We passed a bill last session to bring some safety measure to online dating. Under the new law, online dating companies will be required to have safety centers and reporting procedures to respond to unwanted behaviors, links to report sexual harassment, and safety advice for online dating, including alerts to romance scams.

Other major acts include:
-An Act Concerning Maternal Health
-An Act Concerning Adoption of the Recommendations of the Task Force to Study Cancer Relief Benefits for Firefighters
-An Act Ensuring Timely Scheduling of Temporary Financial Support Hearings in Divorce and Custody Proceedings

The new year also brings the start of a new legislative session - the second year of the biennium which is known colloquially as the "short session" - which begins on February 7, 2024. Due to the truncated timeline of the short session, with limited exceptions, only bills that come directly from one of the legislative committees will make it to the full General Assembly.

Please feel free to share this information with anyone you believe may benefit from it.