Housing, education, paid sick days, police and more: Bills that passed in CT’s 2024 legislative session

Hundreds of bills came before Connecticut lawmakers in the 2024 session on dozens of subjects from the state insect to solving the state’s housing crisis but only a few will become law. Though many bills were put on the calendar for a vote, a lack of political will or time, as legislators worked down to the last few minutes before the mandatory session ended at midnight Wednesday, limited what was approved. Here is a look at what passed.

Budget Stabilization and Bonding

In lieu of opening up the state budget for revision, lawmakers approved a $360 million spending package that doles out millions of unspent federal pandemic aid to fund higher education, children’s mental health, municipalities and nonprofits, among others.

The legislature also authorized nearly $2.5 billion in bonding for capital projects next year. The package includes up to $625 million in bonding through 2031 for the UConn 2000 development project, on the condition that the university’s philanthropic commitments total at least $100 million over the next eight years.

Paid sick days, strikes

All employees will soon be entitled to paid sick days under House Bill 5005.

The legislation paves the way for a three-year phase-in of Connecticut’s sick leave requirements for companies with fewer than 50 employees. Under the bill, employees will accrue one hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked. Employees become eligible for this time after working for their employer for 120 calendar days. They can use up to a maximum of 40 hours off each year.

Gov. Ned Lamont said the paid sick days expansion “makes Connecticut one of the leaders.”

“You’ve got to work hard in this day and age. Make sure that you keep your workers and make sure they’re able to stay. I don’t want people showing up to work sick. We got that done, and hats off there,” Lamont said.

The governor was not so keen on another labor win, the creation of a state fund to pay striking workers.

Lamont told reporters he would not support House Bill 5431, which would establish a $3 million fund under the direction of the State Comptroller to provide financial assistance to workers who go on strike.

“I support the right to organize, I support defined benefit plans, I support expanded healthcare and I want to make sure that we have a strong labor,” Lamont said. “Does that mean I want the taxpayers subsidizing striking workers? I don’t think I do.”

Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney said Lamont’s opposition to the bill is something that Democratic lawmakers “regret and hope he’ll change his mind on.”

Nurses

Lawmakers passed Senate Bill 1, an expansive health care bill that strengthens protections for nurses and home health care providers.

The legislation was inspired by the death of Joyce Grayson, a 63-year-old visiting nurse who was found dead in the basement of a halfway house following an at-home visit with a registered sex offender.

“S.B. 1 was really significant,” Looney said. “It provides protection for home health care workers and tries to have a system for building up security so that people who need home care can get it, but that the workers who provide it have greater protection. That’s important.”

The legislature also passed House Bill 5058, which would allow Connecticut to enter into the Nurse Licensure Compact. The move would ensure that nurses can acquire a multistate license to practice in any state that is a party to the compact.

Housing

This session, House Speaker Matt Ritter, a Hartford Democrat, said the legislature made “incremental progress” on housing but accomplished “certainly, not all that people perhaps had hoped for.”

The highlight was House Bill 5474, a proposal that incorporates numerous concepts from the Majority Leaders Affordable Housing Roundtable to encourage affordable housing development.

It requires municipalities to allow developers to convert vacant nursing homes into multifamily housing. Additionally, it allows cities and towns to regulate short-term rentals like Airbnb and Vrbo rentals. The bill also requires landlords to provide a written notice of proposed rent increases to tenants 45 days in advance.

“I think we made some progress on housing,” Lamont said. “We’ve added population over the last few years, that’s a good thing. The one thing that can slow us down and put us at risk (is if) there’s not a place for people to live.”

Lamont said he is a fan of the provisions in H.B. 5474.

“I like the fact that it gives the added incentives for workforce, housing, and affordable housing in downtown areas. I like the fact it gives a little incentive in terms of why you want to do that. I like the fact you get an extra credit if you zone it accordingly and you get some relaxed relief on 8-30g. I think these are all ways that we work with our municipalities and communities to get more housing out there,” Lamont said.

Elder care reform

Ritter said Connecticut lawmakers had “a really good year in terms of focus on elder care and aging in place type legislation.”

House Bill 5001 makes sweeping changes to the state’s elder care system by increasing oversight, streamlining Medicaid access and requiring the state to maintain a virtual registry of home care providers.

Starting July 1, 2026, H.B. 5046 prohibits new nursing home residents from being admitted to a room with more than two beds. The bill also sets penalties for health care institutions who fail to comply with corrective action plans, among other measures.

Education

After a report from Dalio Education found that one in five youth are at risk of not graduating or already disconnected from education and employment, the legislature will now require the state’s data system to submit annual reports on disconnected youth in Connecticut.

The provision is wrapped into House Bill 5437, a large education package that also takes steps to address school climate and place restrictions on the number of days schools can place students on in or out of school suspensions, among other measures.

House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora of North Branford said the data collection component was “definitely a big highlight” for Republicans.

“For us what was important is a lot of the educational reform bills, for ECS (Education Cost Sharing), for creating a more fair funding stream for our communities, but also starting the pathway of data collection and to begin trying to engage getting our youth reconnected to the classroom,” Candelora said.

Lawmakers also passed Senate Bill 327, a proposal that will establish a task force to study the effects of hate speech and bullying on children’s mental wellbeing, physical health and academic achievement.

House Bill 5436 simplifies the certification process for teachers in the state, among other wide-ranging changes.

Charlene Russell-Tucker, the commissioner of the Connecticut State Department of Education, said the certification regulations were last updated in 1998.

“We are extremely pleased with the passage of H.B. 5436 and believe this is a giant step in the right direction for modernizing our certification laws, breaking down barriers, and recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce,” Russell-Tucker said in a statement Thursday.

Russell-Tucker said the creation of the Connecticut Educator Preparation and Certification Board “will bring the expertise of skilled and veteran educators, together with the State Board of Education, to continuously develop standards and proposals resulting in long-term, meaningful change.”

‘Line of duty’ deaths

This session, state lawmakers passed legislation to expand the definition of a “line of duty” death and extend more benefits to the families of fallen officers.

House Bill 5279 grants police, fire and emergency medical service chiefs the authority to declare that that an officer, firefighter or EMS personnel died in the line of duty “if the death was caused by a cardiac event, stroke, or pulmonary embolism within 24 hours after … a shift or training.” For some surviving families, the broadened definition will unlock access to cash benefits, tuition waivers, health insurance and pension benefits.

Senate Bill 341 codifies a “Fallen Officer Fund” under the office of the state comptroller to provide “a lump sum death benefit totaling $100,000 to a surviving family member or beneficiary of a police officer who was killed in the line of duty or sustained injuries that were the direct and proximate cause of the officer’s death.”

It also allows family members to maintain coverage under the late officer’s health insurance policy for up to five years after the officer’s death.

Candelora said the legislation was an important initiative for the Republican caucus, which pushed for the creation of the fund last year.

“The Fallen Officer’s Fund … now will extend health care benefits to families where an officer is killed on duty,” Candelora said. “I was pleased to see that go through with the comptroller also pushing that agenda and working to keep that bill moving.”

Most of the 2,000 bills CT lawmakers proposed in 2024 failed. Here are the highlights