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, and publicly 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 bill or resolution number. Not all provisions of the acts are included. More detailed summaries can be found at https://cga.ct.gov/olr/. Summaries of the major acts and all other public acts will be provided in our 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 ................................................................................................................................................. 6 Children 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 ............................................................................................................. 22 2021-R-0106 June 30, 2021 Page 2 of 30 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 of residents 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 with free 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 2021-R-0106 June 30, 2021 Page 3 of 30 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 off- premises 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 the following: 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 to sell and deliver alcoholic liquor for off-premises consumption that they currently sell for on-premises consumption; 4. allowing self-pour automated machines to serve beer, certain ciders, and wine under certain conditions; and 5. 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 bank execution. Prior law required a debtor to file an exemption from execution with the court to claim this exemption. The new law also eliminates the maximum amount of money deposited from exempt sources that is protected from bank executions (PA 21-131, effective October 1, 2021). 2021-R-0106 June 30, 2021 Page 4 of 30 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 a registered 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 and Bonding 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