Lamont Signs Several Flagship Bills, Some Controversial

by Hudson Kamphausen CTNewsJunkie

HARTFORD, CT – Gov. Ned Lamont has signed several of the legislature’s flagship bills into law this week, including the controversial expansion of the state’s paid sick days program and the Senate’s priority healthcare legislation.
Of the bills signed by the governor, several were considered major priorities for the General Assembly during the short session that ended May 8.
Public Act 24-8, formerly substitute House Bill 5005, will incrementally expand the number and size of businesses that are legally required to provide their employees with paid days off, or “sick days” during the year. The change will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025.

Current statute includes only businesses with 50 or more employees, but will slowly grow to encompass businesses with 25 or more, then 11 or more, and finally ending with requiring all businesses – including those with one employee – to provide paid sick days.
Qualifying employees – which does not include seasonal workers – will accrue one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. Employees will have to work 120 days for their employer to qualify, and will only be able to use 40 hours – or the equivalent of one work week – of paid sick time per year.
The change has been heralded by Democrats as protective of part-time and low-income workers, who they say should not have to choose between paying their bills and staying home from work sick.

Republicans opposed the change to the current statute on the grounds that it would only make it tougher for small businesses in Connecticut to grow, and that it takes control out of the hands of the employer and the employee.
Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding and Sen. Rob Sampson – a ranking member on the Labor and Public Employees Committee – said in a statement that each Democrat in the legislature who voted for the bill has added to Connecticut’s reputation of being bad for business.
“This new law will crush jobs and small businesses. This will hurt employers and employees by eliminating their ability to negotiate employment terms themselves. Rather than nurturing our small mom and pop businesses, this onerous mandate does just the opposite,” the statement read.

The Health And Safety Of Connecticut Residents
Public Act 24-19, formerly Senate Bill 1, contains multiple provisions and sections taken from other bills, and is geared toward increasing the safety of healthcare workers in the state as well as expanding certain kinds of care, such as hospice care for children.
It garnered strong bipartisan support in both the House and Senate, with legislators from both sides of the aisle speaking in support of the legislation.
One of the main provisions in the bill is geared toward increasing protections and training for home healthcare workers, 

Sen. Saud Anwar, a Democrat from South Windsor who co-chairs the Public Health Committee, said on the floor of the Senate that the bill is good for all the residents of the state. 
“Everyone in the state of Connecticut who needs care, should be provided care, will be provided care, and nothing in this bill suggests that they should not be provided care,” he said.
The law also had support from healthcare workers and organizations across the state and will go into effect Oct. 1, 2024.

Education And Disconnected Youth
The issue of at-risk or “disconnected” youth has been a hot-button topic over the past year, with several commissions, statewide associations, and educational nonprofit groups dedicating resources to figuring out how to get an estimated group of about 119,000 young people back on track. 
While the main bill centered around that issue – House Bill 5213 – did not get through the legislature during the short session, another piece of legislation that was signed by Lamont this week addresses the issue.
Public Act 24-45 contains multiple provisions focused on education and the growing at-risk youth population. Specifically, it creates the new Education Mandate Review Advisory Council, which will annually report to the General Assembly on the cost of implementing new education-related mandates passed down from the legislature.

It also takes an important provision from 5213 in charging a state organization – the Connecticut Preschool Through Twenty and Workforce Information Network – with creating an action plan to address issues of disconnected and at-risk youth in the state, as well as submitting an annual report containing data on the issue.
The legislation goes into effect July 1, 2024. 
Increasing Access To Solar Energy
Another, smaller bill signed by Lamont this week deals with the placement and growth of solar energy in Connecticut.
Public Act 24-31 encourages the development of solar power across the state, and puts in place several studies of the feasibility of certain energy-related taxes. 
Republicans in the House decried the bill as an unfunded mandate that would require municipalities to amend planning and zoning laws to allow for a “simplified” process to build solar canopies.