1. Bills listed as of 5.4.18 | For latest information, check Bill Tracker at bit.ly/CTbills
LEGISLATIVE STATUS REPORT
7
Bioscience
SB 195 Features changes to pharmacy
and drug control statutes including
requiring manufacturers to operate a
system for identifying and reporting
suspicious orders of controlled
substances and requiring manufacturers
to provide updated inventory records of
controlled substances every year instead
of every two years. Awaiting action
House; CBIA monitoring.
SB 197 Adds biological products to
existing laws governing substitution
of generic drugs. This bill with certain
modifications (especially regarding mail
order delivery) would be beneficial for
patients and the industry. Awaiting
action Senate; CBIA evaluating.
SB 213 Creates a quasi-public state entity
to identify high-growth, high-demand
jobs in the state in fields including
finance, computer science, engineering,
manufacturing, healthcare, insurance,
and biomedicine. Awaiting action Senate;
CBIA supports (with changes).
SB 266 Encourages the growth of
bioscience venture capital in the state
by providing a personal income tax
exemption for income earned by active
managers of venture capital funds.
Awaiting action Senate; CBIA supports.
SB 379 Limits when insurers can change
prescription drug formularies during
insurance policy terms. Awaiting action
Senate; CBIA monitoring.
SB 446 Requires Connecticut Innovations
and the Department of Economic and
Community Development to develop a
short- and long-term strategic plan for
the state’s bioscience sector, along with
a marketing and promotional plan to
complement the strategic plan. Awaiting
action Senate; CBIA supports.
SB 539 Gives a microbiome working
group the state established to develop
a plan to foster the microbiome sector
more time to submit and present a
report to lawmakers Awaiting action
Senate; CBIA supports.
SB 541 Establishes various initiatives to
promote innovation, entrepreneurship,
and intrapreneurship in the state and
specifies that Connecticut Innovations
shall constitute the subsidiary
corporation of CTNext. Awaiting action
Senate; CBIA supports.
HB 5273 Requires the commissioner of
Economic and Community Development
to conduct an overview of issues relating
to economic development in the state.
Awaiting action House; CBIA monitoring.
HB 5275 Requires the Department of
Economic and Community Development
to study issues related to the state’s
bioscience industry with emphasis on
efforts to build a bioscience jobs pipeline.
Awaiting action House; CBIA supports.
HB 5290 Makes statutory changes to
establish the Office of Health Strategy
as per 2017 state budgetary legislation.
Awaiting action Senate; CBIA monitoring.
HB 5384 Imposes additional disclosure
and reporting requirements on drug
manufacturers regarding rebates and
drug costs. Awaiting action House;
CBIA evaluating.
HB 5439 Requires the Department of
Economic and Community Development
to revise its website to include
information about the bioscience sector
and resources for crowdfunding
opportunities. Awaiting action Senate;
CBIA supports.
HB 5589 Requires the commissioners of
Economic and Community Development
and Revenue Services to study the
finance policies of surrounding states.
Awaiting action House; CBIA evaluating.
Budgets (State & Local)
SB 10 Initially contained $190 million in
tax incentives to implement Governors
budget. Now contains delays in various
fund transfers. Awaiting action Senate;
CBIA evaluating.
SB 11 Imposes a tax on pass-through
entities that would be offset by a credit
for partners aimed at addressing federal
SALT deductions cap, modifies the
dividends received deduction for
corporations that deem expenses
related to deductible dividends to be
an uncompetitive 10% of all dividends
received, decouples from certain federal
depreciation/expensing provisions.
Awaiting action Senate; CBIA supports
in part.
SB 367 Implements a review of the
employment and retirement benefits for
state employees and elected or appointed
officials to determine the long-term
impact on the state’s economy. Awaiting
action Senate; CBIA supports.
HB 5034 Implements the governor’s
budget recommendations. Awaiting
action House; CBIA monitoring.
HB 5327 Reviews the process by which
appropriations are made from the
General Fund in the state budget.
Awaiting action House; CBIA evaluating.
HB 5588 Revised 2018-2019 $20.9 billion
state budget plan increases spending by
$216 million over original budget.
Exceeds expected revenues by $375
million and the state’s spending cap by
$31 million. Adds almost $100 million
in education funding (including free
community college tuition), mitigates
Medicare Savings Program cuts,
increases transportation funding,
restores some municipal aid. Awaiting
action House; CBIA evaluating.
Continued on Page 8
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8
Business Law & Liability
SB 193 Creates a mechanism by which
the Department of Consumer Protection
may process a consumer complaint made
against anyone in an area over which
DCP has jurisdiction. Bill was amended
to require the DCP to provide notice to
the person about whom the complaint
was made via certified mail and require
that person respond within 14 days or
be subject to a $250 fine. Fines may be
waived if respondent demonstrates good
cause for failure to respond. Awaiting
action Senate; CBIA opposes.
SB 327 Establishes Connecticut as a
Continuing Professional Education
reciprocity state with respect to CPA
license renewal requirements. Awaiting
action House; CBIA supports.
HB 5191 Allows post-sale warranty work
reimbursements to power equipment deal-
ers. Awaiting action House; CBIA opposes.
HB 5251 Allows for the establishment of
benefit limited liability companies. Awaiting
action Appropriations; CBIA supports.
HB 5252 Allows indirect purchasers of
products to pursue economic damages
for antitrust violations. Awaiting action
Senate; CBIA supports.
HB 5258 Modernizes and streamlines
arbitration procedures by adopting
the Revised Uniform Arbitration Act.
Awaiting action Senate; CBIA supports.
HB 5412 Allows additional time for a limited
liability company or foreign LLC to file its
annual report by extending the time frame
from April to July 1st of the year in which
the LLC was formed or the foreign LLC
registered to conduct business in the state.
Awaiting action Senate; CBIA supports.
HB 5467 Sets a burdensome and high
standard for a business’s retention of
video surveillance footage, and demands
a higher standard of proof by a
defendant in objecting to production of
surveillance in premises liability claims.
Awaiting action House; CBIA opposes.
HB 5491 Significantly and unfairly
expands upon a myriad of exemptions
currently used to shield money from a
bank execution after an individual fails
to pay a court-ordered judgment.
Awaiting action House; CBIA opposes.
Campaign Finance & Ethics
SB 499 Requires the disclosure of the
name, home address, occupation, and
employer of anyone who gives any size
contribution to any candidate, political
party, or political committee. Awaiting
action Senate; CBIA evaluating.
SB 500 Allows legislative candidates to
use the name of a statewide candidate
in their campaign ads without it being
deemed a campaign contribution to
that candidate in most circumstances.
Awaiting action Senate; CBIA evaluating.
HB 5173 Suppresses speech by prohibiting
the use of public voter registration
information for any personal, private,
or commercial use by private entities,
including for grassroots issue advocacy.
Awaiting action House; CBIA opposes.
HB 5522 Redefines “coordination” to
the point that many activities that
nonprofits and other groups engage in
would be deemed campaign activity.
Awaiting action House; CBIA evaluating.
HB 5526 Requires overly burdensome
secondary levels of campaign contribu-
tion disclosures and listing of campaign
expenditure vendor’s sub-vendors.
Awaiting action House; CBIA evaluating.
Commerce/Economic
Development
HB 5273 See Bioscience
Education & Workforce
Development
SB 51 Requires Board of Regents for
Higher Education to provide grants to
support and expand advanced manufac-
turing certificate programs, funded by
a portion of the average income tax
liability from graduates of the program.
Awaiting action Senate; CBIA evaluating.
SB 213 See Bioscience
SB 352 Extends by two more years
the ability of the state’s independent
colleges and universities to create new
and modified programs without approval
from the Office of Higher Education,
as long as specific financial and
accreditation guidelines are met.
Awaiting action Senate; CBIA supports.
SB 369 Requires the Department of
Economic and Community Development
and Department of Labor to review job
development and training programs
and recommend revisions to make the
programs more effective. Awaiting
action Senate; CBIA supports.
SB 444 Provides funding for advanced
manufacturing training programs
administered by the regional workforce
development boards; makes space
available on the campus of Three Rivers
Community College for plastics
manufacturing training; and requires
the Commissioner of Economic and
Community Development to conduct
a comprehensive review of the capital
needs of the submarine industry every
three years. Awaiting action Senate;
CBIA supports.
SB 448 Requires the state Department of
Economic and Community Development
to pursue public-private partnership
opportunities for operating mobile man-
ufacturing training labs; requires state
Department of Education to solicit input
from the manufacturing community in
developing manufacturing-related stan-
dards and curricula; and adds one man-
ufacturing representative to the advisory
council of the Community-Technical
Colleges Board of Trustees. Awaiting
action Senate; CBIA supports.
Continued on Page 9
3. LEGISLATIVE STATUS REPORT (Continued)
9
Education & Workforce
Development (continued)
SB 455 Modernizes the process for
educators to obtain professional
certification by eliminating obstacles,
and increasing competitiveness with
other states. Also requires the Office
of Higher Education to recommend
performance-based standards for future
exemptions. Awaiting action House;
CBIA supports.
SB 535 Establishes the Apprenticeship
Connecticut initiative to develop
workforce pipeline programs and provide
bond funding for such programs, and
dedicates economic development and
manufacturing bonds for capital
improvements to a facility located in
the state that is engaged in the design,
construction, and lifecycle support of
submarines for the United States Navy.
Awaiting action Senate; CBIA supports
(with changes).
SB 536 Requires the University of
Connecticut to undertake a variety of
initiatives to better realign its objectives
and focus with creating and fostering
innovation and entrepreneurship in
the state and establishing itself as a
leading institution of higher education
in those areas. Awaiting action Senate;
CBIA evaluating.
SB 537 Requires the Secretary of the
Office of Policy and Management to
conduct a study of the economic
development and workforce training
needs of the state and related bonding.
Awaiting action Senate; CBIA evaluating.
Energy & Technology
SB 7 Implements recommendations
from the Governor’s Council on Climate
Change, including further incorporating
climate change concerns into local,
regional, and state planning documents.
It also establishes a new mandate for a
45% reduction in greenhouse gas
emissions by 2030, and changes the
current requirement for a
Comprehensive Energy Strategy every
three years to a Comprehensive Climate
and Energy Strategy every four years.
Awaiting action Senate; CBIA monitoring.
SB 9 Implements the Department of
Energy and Environmental Protection’s
revised Comprehensive Energy Strategy;
creates new, aggressive annually
increasing Renewable Portfolio Standard
requirements; reduces penalties for non-
compliance with RPS standards; calls for
additional charges on ratepayers to fund
clean energy and energy efficiency
programs. The bill also seeks to reduce
the burden of shared solar programs
on ratepayers and stabilize funding
for clean energy and energy efficiency
programs. Awaiting action Senate;
CBIA supports (with changes).
Environment & Land Use
SB 103 Eliminates requirement for
the state Department of Energy and
Environmental Protection to adopt
regulations concerning fracking wastes,
thus creating a total ban on the practice,
and expands the scope of the ban to
include natural gas and oil wastes.
Awaiting action Senate; CBIA opposes.
SB 109 The original bill that required the
state Department of Energy and
Environmental Protection to report to
the legislature on the need to increase
fines for pollution has been replaced
with a proposal concerning wildlife
refuges. Awaiting action Senate.
SB 265 Requires DEEP to modify permit
application forms to indicate if the
application relates to a new business,
business expansion, or new product line
and to give priority to such applications.
Awaiting action Senate; CBIA supports.
SB 268 Extends the maximum loan
term under the targeted brownfield
development loan program from
20 to 30 years. Awaiting action Senate;
CBIA supports.
SB 269 Directs the Connecticut
Department of Energy and
Environmental Protection to not assess a
fine or other penalty on a small business
for a minor, first-time violation that is
corrected within a reasonable period of
time not to exceed six months. Awaiting
action Senate; CBIA supports.
SB 336 Abandons the current state policy
of implementing a pilot shared solar
plan and calls for implementing a
statewide solar, ratepayer-supported,
shared solar program. Awaiting action
Senate; CBIA evaluating.
SB 343 Requires the updating of safety
plans for certain chemical facilities in
the state deemed to be at risk of flooding
and other events associated with climate.
Awaiting action Senate; CBIA evaluating.
SB 422 Provides tax incentives to
developers for the remediation of
brownfields. Awaiting action Senate;
CBIA evaluating.
SB 428 Requires the state Department
of Energy and Environmental Protection
to develop a strategy to ensure plastic
beverage bottles sold in the state contain
25% post-consumer recycled content
by 2025. Awaiting action Senate;
CBIA evaluating.
HB 5454 Changes current requirements
for 90-day permit processing for certain
permits at the state Department of
Energy and Environmental Protection
to a “best efforts” standard. Also
requires DEEP to establish a pilot
program for using private experts to
assist with permit processing at the
expense of the applicant. Awaiting
action Senate; CBIA supports.
Continued on Page 10
4. LEGISLATIVE STATUS REPORT (Continued)
10
HB 5457 Increases the handling fee paid
to bottle redemption centers by reducing
the bottle deposit returned to consumers
from 5 cents to 4 cents. Awaiting action
House; CBIA supports.
Healthcare
SB 16 Implements the governor’s budget
recommendations related to public
health, including: the Office of Health
Strategy’s operations; the administration
and collection of the hospital providers
tax; administration of the Tobacco
and Health Trust Fund; the funding,
planning, and administration of the all-
payer claims database; implementation
and administration of the state’s health
information technology strategy.
Awaiting action Senate; CBIA monitoring.
SB 206 Permits certain pregnant
individuals to enroll in a health
insurance policy or plan no later than
30 days after the pregnancy has been
certified by a licensed health care
provider. Awaiting action House;
CBIA opposes.
SB 208 Requires health insurance policies
that provide coverage for prescription
drugs to provide coverage for
intravenously administered drugs on
a basis no less favorable than orally
administered drugs. Awaiting action
Senate; CBIA opposes.
SB 209 Decreases the time frame for
certain adverse determination review
requests from 72 to 48 hours. Typically,
the insurer is delayed in making a
determination while awaiting records
from the insured/patient physician.
Shortening the time allowed for the
insurer to act could have the reverse
effect and increase denials due to lack
of necessary information from any third
parties, including the patient’s physician.
Awaiting action House; CBIA opposes.
SB 213 See Bioscience
SB 376 Requires insurance coverage for
certain prosthetic devices. Insurance
coverage for a prosthetic device must
be at least equivalent to the coverage
Medicare provides for such devices. It
also requires policies to cover repairs or
replacements of prosthetic devices that
the patient’s healthcare provider
determines are medically necessary.
Awaiting action Senate; CBIA opposes.
SB 379 Limits when insurers can change
prescription drug formularies during
insurance policy terms. Awaiting action
Senate; CBIA monitoring.
SB 380 Requires health insurers to cover
a prescribed drug during the duration
of grievance/review procedures.
Awaiting action House; CBIA opposes.
SB 384 Requires certain health insurance
policies to cover, at an annual physical,
screenings for mental or nervous
conditions. Also expands reporting
requirements for the insurance
commissioner, and changes to the data
that must be included in the Consumer
Report Card. Awaiting action Senate;
CBIA monitoring.
HB 5039 Preserves a number of elements
of the federal Affordable Care Act,
including the individual mandate.
Awaiting action House; CBIA supports.
HB 5208 Creates caps on copayments
for patients accessing certain
radiological services. However, capping
cost sharing for any one service only
means shifting that cost into another
insurance payment, such as premiums,
deductibles, or coinsurance. Awaiting
action House; CBIA opposes.
HB 5210 Mandates that as of January 1,
2019, individual and group health
insurance policies issued in Connecticut
cover conditions listed as “essential
health benefits” by the federal
Affordable Care Act. Awaiting action
Senate; CBIA opposes.
HB 5384 See Bioscience
HB 5463 Establishes a study group to
explore whether and how the state
should create a public option for
Medicaid, including premium
assessments, covered benefits, and
provider reimbursement rates.
Awaiting action Senate; CBIA opposes.
Labor & Employment
SB 15 Prohibits employers from
inquiring about a prospective employee’s
salary history until a job offer with
compensation has been accepted by
the prospective employee, unless a
prospective employee has voluntarily
disclosed such information. Awaiting
action Senate; CBIA monitoring.
SB 132 Expands Connecticut’s workplace
sexual harassment prevention training
requirements, mandating businesses
with 20 or more workers to provide
training to employees every 10 years.
Companies with three or more workers
must train supervisors. Maintains
affirmative defenses for companies.
Awaiting action House; CBIA supports
(with changes).
SB 318 Amended with language from
SB 321, which previously failed in two
legislative committees. Mandates the
restaurant, retail, lodging, and other
select industries to pay one-half of an
employer’s pay if a shift is canceled or
reduced within 24 hours of its scheduled
start. Died in Senate; CBIA opposes.
SB 472 Section 3 prohibits employers,
other than financial institutions,
from using credit reports on employees
who have access to non-financial
assets—unless those assets are library
or museum collections, or prescription
drugs. Awaiting action House;
CBIA opposes.
5. 11
HB 5043 Expands current state law to
require all employees at businesses with
15 or more workers to undergo sexual
harassment prevention training every
five years while broadening the
definition of workplace harassment
to include that based on race, color,
religious creed, age, sex, gender identity
or expression, marital status, and
national origin. Awaiting action House;
CBIA evaluating.
HB 5044 Expands the state’s paid sick
leave mandate to businesses with 20
or more employees—including
manufacturers and certain nonprofits,
which were previously exempt. All
employees, not just service workers,
would be provided up to five days of
leave annually to care for their own or
a child’s illness. Also broadens the
definition of a child from an individual
who is under 18 years old to one who
is under 26. Awaiting action House;
CBIA opposes.
HB 5386 Prohibits employers or third
parties from inquiring about prospective
employee salary histories. Awaiting
action Senate; CBIA monitoring.
HB 5387 Establishes a new costly,
unsustainable paid FMLA mandate
that will apply to businesses with two
or more employees. The benefit is
funded by taking employee wages, but
businesses will be required to continue
to provide nonwage benefits to
employees on leave, and taxpayers will
be responsible for the 120-plus new
state employees needed to run the
program. Further, it extends the right
to use paid FMLA to care for extended
family members—including siblings,
grandparents, grandchildren, or “anyone
close to you that is related by blood or
any whose close association with the
employee is equivalent to that of a
family member.” Awaiting action House;
CBIA opposes.
HB 5388 Adds to the cost of doing
business in the state by increasing the
minimum wage in steps to $15 per hour
by 2021, and then calling for automatic
annual increases beginning in 2023.
A fiscal analysis has determined the bill
will cost state taxpayers at least
$50 million. Awaiting action Senate;
CBIA opposes.
HB 5473 Prohibits employers from
requiring employee attendance at
meetings that may involve an employer’s
view on political matters, defined so
broadly that it includes discussions on
legislation, regulation, candidates for
office, or unionization of the workplace.
Awaiting action House; CBIA opposes.
HB 5480 Makes long overdue
unemployment benefit reforms,
including: requiring that employees
earn at least $2,000 per year to qualify
for benefits; freezing the maximum
benefit rate in any year in which the
Unemployment Compensation Trust
Fund has not attained 70% solvency;
requiring individuals to exhaust their
severance pay before receiving
unemployment benefits; and clarifying
that one instance of unexcused absence
means one day of no call, no show, not
two consecutive days. Awaiting action
House; CBIA supports.
Manufacturing
SB 11 See Budgets (State & Local)
SB 51 See Education & Workforce
Development
SB 213 See Bioscience
SB 261 Expands the scope of companies
that can take advantage of the
manufacturing apprenticeship tax credit
to pass-through entities. Awaiting action
Senate; CBIA supports.
SB 266 See Bioscience
SB 528 Requires the Commissioner of
Revenue Services to study the tax
policies of the state. Awaiting action
Senate; CBIA evaluating.
SB 535 See Education & Workforce
Development
Regulatory Reform
SB 265 See Environment & Land Use
SB 269 See Environment & Land Use
HB 5264 Requires the attorney general
to issue opinions when requested by
businesses that have a dispute with a
state agency regarding its regulations.
Awaiting action Appropriations;
CBIA supports.
HB 5266 Authorizes state agencies to
suspend any civil penalty assessed
against any business entity for certain
minor, first-time violations of any
regulation upon written request where
such violations are promptly corrected.
Awaiting action House; CBIA supports.
Taxes (State & Local)
SB 541 See Bioscience
HB 5574 Allows certain persons to file
for a property tax exemption,
notwithstanding certain statutory
deadlines. Awaiting action House;
CBIA supports.
HB 5581 Allows bonus depreciation and
asset expensing deductions to be taken
over two years and to phase out the
capital stock tax over three years.
Awaiting action House; CBIA supports.
HB 5584 Establishes a tax credit for
employers who provide paid family and
medical leave benefits and authorizes the
state treasurer to establish a family and
medical leave benefits account program.
Awaiting action House; CBIA supports.
HB 5585 Requires the Commissioner of
Economic and Community Development
to develop specific benchmarks to assess
enterprise zone benefits recipients,and
allows the commissioner to negotiate
certain property tax exemptions with
a business seeking enterprise zone
benefits and the chief elected official
of the municipality in which such
enterprise zone is located. Awaiting
action House; CBIA evaluating.
Continued on Page 12
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12
HB 5586 Waives certain initial
occupational licensing fees for certain
individuals. Awaiting action House;
CBIA evaluating.
HB 5588 See Budgets (State & Local)
HB 5589 See Bioscience
HB 5590 Delays the inclusion of certain
bond covenants for bonds issued during
certain time periods and excludes
refunding bonds and temporary
borrowings from the calculation of the
bond issuance cap. Awaiting action
House; CBIA opposes.
HB 5591 Diversifies municipal revenue
options and phases out the motor vehicle
property tax. Awaiting action House;
CBIA evaluating.
Transportation
SB 389 Creates the Connecticut
Transportation Authority, a quasi-public
agency charged with implementing and
maintaining highway tolls. Awaiting
action Senate; CBIA monitoring.
HB 5046 Allows the Department of
Transportation to charge, collect, retain,
and fix the amount of all tolls on state
highways. Toll revenues will be used for
implementing and administering electronic
tolling and highway maintenance,
construction, and administration costs,
including debt service. Awaiting action
House; CBIA monitoring.
HB 5309 Allows the Connecticut Port
Authority to make and enter into all
contracts and agreements necessary
to conduct business; enter into joint
ventures, invest in and participate with
any person or entity; receive and accept
from any source, aid, or contributions,
including money, property labor, and
other things of value; award grants and
subsidies, make loans, and provide other
forms of financial assistance; and charge
reasonable fees for its services. Awaiting
action House; CBIA supports.
HB 5391 Implements tolls on interstate
highways and parkways through a two-
step process, beginning with a
Department of Transportation study on
overhead gantry locations and anticipated
revenues. The department then submits
a report to the legislature in the 2019
session. If the House and Senate fail to
act within 30 days of receiving the
report, tolls would be deemed approved.
Awaiting action House; CBIA monitoring.
HB 5393 Creates the Connecticut
Transportation Finance Authority,
a quasi-public agency charged with
implementing and maintaining highway
tolls. Awaiting action House; CBIA
monitoring.
C B I A 2 0 1 8
E N E R G Y &
E N V I R O N M E N T
C O N F E R E N C E WHEN & WHERE
Friday, May 18, 2018
Check-in & breakfast: 7 am
Program: 8 am–2:30 pm
Hartford Marriott Farmington
15 Farm Springs Road
Farmington
Register today at
cbia.com/events