The 2022 legislative session is coming to a close at midnight on Wednesday, May 4 with much still left to be decided.
The biggest piece of remaining business is the budget, though significant measures originating in the House or Senate are awaiting final action in the other chamber.
Governor Lamont and Democratic legislators announced this week that they reached a broad agreement on a revised, one-year state budget proposal. However, reducing the agreement to a legislative document typically takes about three days, so certain specifics remain to be seen.
The $24.2 billion proposal includes nearly $500 million in tax reductions, including the continuation of the 25cent-per-gallon gas tax cut until December 1. The gas tax suspension is currently scheduled to end June 30.
Lamont and the Democrats have not yet settled how much of the state’s share of federal COVID-19 funds will be spent in this budget, including how much of that money will be set aside for pandemic pay for essential workers and to reduce the $493 million debt in the state’s unemployment trust fund. Nevertheless, they have expressed confidence the budget will be approved before the May 4 deadline.
Senate and House Republicans countered with a $1.2 billion tax relief plan that would cut income taxes, reduce sales taxes, and also extend the gas tax holiday to the end of the year.
Among other things, the Republican plan proposes to cut the highway use tax and add diesel fuel to the gas tax suspension. The plan would also reduce tax burdens on employers by paying back the state’s federal loan for the Unemployment Trust Fund.
This week we also witnessed the passage of numerous bills, including data privacy (SB 6). SB 6 allows consumers to see which companies are collecting their data and opt out of sales or sharing that information. Companies with data on at least 100,000 Connecticut residents generally fall under the bill’s requirements; however, it excludes businesses that have that information based solely on payment transactions.
Cash refunds for gift card balances (SB 179) also passed. Under current law, anyone accepting a gift card as payment must give the purchaser cash for the remaining balance on the card after the purchase if the (1) balance is under $3 and (2) purchaser requests it and provides the proof of purchase or a gift receipt for the gift card. This bill increased the balance limit from $3 to $5 and eliminates the requirement to provide the proof of purchase or a gift receipt.
Fair workweek (HB 5353), warehouse workers (SB 314), and a number of bills repealing the highway use tax all died.
We are keeping an eye on the captive audience bill (SB 318), which was recently voted out of the Senate. The bill drastically restricts what employers can and cannot say in the workplace by outlawing “captive audience” meetings, a tool that companies use to thwart labor organizing and convince their employees to vote against union drives.
Passage of this bill would make Connecticut the second state in the country to ban such meetings, alongside Oregon. It is unclear whether it will make it to the House floor for a vote in the next few days.
We will continue to keep you informed of important developments at the Capitol as the session winds down.