AN ACT REQUIRING A STUDY OF BUDGETED STATE AGENCIES WITH RESPECT TO THE EXPENDITURES OF SUCH AGENCIES IN RELATION TO PROGRAMS ADMINISTERED OR SERVICES PROVIDED BY SUCH AGENCIES.

AN ACT REQUIRING A STUDY OF BUDGETED STATE AGENCIES WITH RESPECT TO THE EXPENDITURES OF SUCH AGENCIES IN RELATION TO PROGRAMS ADMINISTERED OR SERVICES PROVIDED BY SUCH AGENCIES.

The bill entitles Voluntown to an additional $ 60,000 annually to offset property tax revenue lost due to tax-exempt status of a state-owned forest in the town. It also entitles New London to $ 1,000,000 annually to offset lost tax revenue for the U. S. Coast Guard Academy.

In each case, the bill requires the funding to come from the annual General Fund appropriation for reimbursements to towns for taxes lost on private tax-exempt property. The bill requires the state to make the payment to the towns by September 30^th each year. The towns do not have to file the property's assessed value with the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) as the law requires for towns seeking reimbursement for lost tax revenues for state-owned real property or for hospitals and colleges.

1. develop expertise in the law regarding taking private property;

2. assist public agencies, when they request it;

3. provide property owners, upon request, assistance concerning eminent domain procedures;

4. identify government actions with potential eminent domain implications and advise agencies;

5. inform the public;

6. mediate disputes between private property owners and public agencies concerning the use of eminent domain or relocation assistance if requested by a private property owner and, within available appropriations, hire an independent real estate appraiser to assist in mediation; and

7. recommend changes in eminent domain laws to the legislature.

The office is within the Office of Policy and Management for administrative purposes only. Each state and local agency must comply with the office's reasonable requests for information and assistance and participate in mediation if requested to do so by the office.

The bill allows the office to apply for and accept grants, gifts, and bequests of funds from states, federal and interstate agencies and independent authorities, private firms, individuals, and foundations in order to carry out its responsibilities. It creates a property owners ombudsman account as a separate nonlapsing account in the General Fund and any funds received are credited to that account for the office's use in performing its duties.

Under the bill, the ombudsman is appointed by the governor with the consent of either house of the General Assembly. He is designated a department head and serves at the governor's pleasure for up to four years, unless reappointed. He must be an elector who is an attorney with expertise or experience in real estate law or land use regulation. He may not represent a private property owner or a public agency in any dispute before the courts or a public agency.

1. being employed or holding a position in any other public agency;

2. receiving or having the right to receive, directly or indirectly, remuneration under a compensation arrangement with respect to an eminent domain procedure; and

3. knowingly accepting employment with a public agency for one year after terminating services with the office.

The bill requires the ombudsman to adopt regulations for mediation procedures for requests it receives. The regulations must specify criteria to determining whether to accept or reject a request to mediate eminent domain or relocation assistance disputes.

The bill sets conditions under which the court can stay a court action related to a taking or relocation assistance. The court must do this for cause if any party to the dispute asked the ombudsman for mediation. They can ask the court to stay the action while the ombudsman decides whether to mediate the dispute or while the ombudsman is mediating the dispute.

The court must order the stay, but in doing, specify the conditions under the the stay must end. Under the bill, the stay ends if either party moves to end or earlier of two events:

1. the mediation resolves the dispute or

2. the regulatory time period for conducting the mediation expires or the ombudsman denies the request for mediation, which ever is sooner.

The bill requires a public agency seeking to acquire property by eminent domain to make a reasonable effort to negotiate with the property owner to buy the property before starting an eminent domain action.

The agency must also provide the property owner with (1) information on the bill's mediation provisions including the ombudsman's name, address, and phone number and (2) a written statement explaining that oral representations or promises during negotiations are not binding on the agency. This information must be on a form prescribed by the ombudsman and given to the owner as early as practicable in the negotiation process but at least 14 days before filing the eminent domain action (unless the court allows a shorter period for good cause).

The bill expands the range of projects that qualify for corporate business tax credits under the Urban and Industrial Sites Reinvestment Program. Under this program, a business qualifies for up to $ 100 million in credits for investing in a project that builds, expands, or rehabilitates facilities. A business qualifies for credits based on a project's location, total investment, and economic benefits.

Under current law, businesses investing in a project in a large city or an economically distressed town qualify for credits if the project meets investment and economic benefit criteria. They also qualify for credits for projects in other towns if they are situated on contaminated sites that will be cleaned up and redeveloped. Projects in these towns must also meet the investment and economic benefit criteria.

Under the bill, a project on clean sites in these towns also qualify for benefits if the economic and community development commissioner determines that it involves an operation relocating from another state or a minimum $ 50 million expansion of an existing facility.

Current law's minimum investment criteria depend on whether a business intends to invest directly in the project or through a state-registered fund manager. Businesses making direct investments qualify for credits if they invest at least $ 5 million for most types of projects. But the investment threshold drops to $ 2 million for projects that preserve or redevelop historic properties. Businesses that invest through a fund manager can invest any amount as long as the fund's total asset value is at least $ 60 million in the year that the business

This bill makes the section of the budget act (HB 5845) dealing with FY 06 anticipated surplus appropriations effective upon passage, rather than July 1, 2006.

The bill requires the labor commissioner, in consultation with the education and economic and community development commissioners, to establish a job skills training program to (1) sustain high growth occupations and economically vital industries the commissioners identify and (2) assist workers in obtaining skills to start or move up their career ladder. Employers requesting training must pay at least 50% of the training's cost. The bill names the program, the Twenty-First Century Skills Training Program, and requires it be established within available appropriations.

The program can include training to increase the basic skills of employees, including, but not limited to, training in written and oral communication, mathematics or science, technical and technological skills, and other training as the commissioners determine is necessary to meet the needs of the employer.

Under the bill, (1) no more than 5% of the program's appropriation can be used for administrative purposes and (2) the labor commissioner is authorized to adopt regulations required to carry out the program.

The bill provides that the appropriations to the Labor Department for the federal Workforce Investment Act shall not lapse.

The bill creates a juvenile jurisdiction planning and implementation team. It must plan for the implementation of any charges needed to extend juvenile court jurisdiction over delinquency matters to 16- and 17-year-olds. Current law limits juvenile court jurisdiction to youth age 15 and under.

The team must submit a report to the Appropriations and Judiciary committees by February 1, 2007 containing (1) its findings and (2) recommendations for appropriate legislation.

1. six legislative members, one each appointed by the top six House and Senate leaders;

2. the chief court administrator, Office of Policy and Management secretary, chairpersons and ranking members of the Judiciary and Human Services committees, chief public defender, child advocate, chief state's attorney, and departments of Children and Families and Correction commissioners, or their designees;

3. a juvenile court judge, appointed by the chief justice; and

4. four members of the advocacy community, two each appointed by the co-chairs of the Juvenile Court Jurisdiction Committee.

All appointments must be made not later than 30 days after the bill passes. The appointing authority fills vacancies.

The House speaker and Senate president pro tempore's appointees are the committee co-chairs. They must schedule the first meeting not later than 60 days after the bill passes.

The bill replaces the State-wide Cooperative Crime Control Task Force in the Department of Public Safety (DPS) with the State Urban Violence and Cooperative Crime Control Task Force. It requires the task force to conduct and coordinate investigations of violent crimes and other criminal activity that local authorities lack ability to contain. The current task force is authorized to conduct authorized investigations without regard to local considerations.

Current law allows the task force to conduct investigations statewide, as it deems necessary. The bill requires that investigations and task force deployments be made pursuant to agreements between the municipal chief elected official or police chief and under the direction of the DPS commissioner or his designee.

In order to use the task force, a municipality must petition the commissioner. Under current law, the petition must contain plans for continuing community programs. The bill requires the petition to describe the problem, identify efforts made to solve it, and ask that the task force be deployed. Participating municipalities must assign local resources and personnel to the extent of their ability.

Under existing law, unchanged by the bill, the commissioner may select municipal police or police personnel from the Housing and Urban Development Agency as he deems necessary to act temporarily as special state police officers to carry out task force duties. The bill allows him to select personnel (apparently not just police officers). As under CGS § 29-179h, which the bill does not repeal, municipal police officers on the task force working at the commissioner's direction and acting within the scope of their authority have the same powers, duties, privileges and immunities as state police officers.

Each municipality is responsible for paying the compensation of its personnel temporarily assigned to the task force and must pay their salaries while they are on task force duty (This provision has major elements of CGS § 29-179g(b), which the bill does not repeal. )

Assigned municipal personnel are deemed to be state employees for purpose of indemnification of the personnel and the municipalities for damages, losses, or liabilities arising out of their task force service. (This provision is the same as in CGS § 29-179g(c), which the bill does not repeal. )

The bill exempts residential weatherization and energy efficiency products and energy efficient heating equipment from the sales tax for 13 months, from June 1, 2006 through June 30, 2007. An earlier exemption for these items expired on April 1, 2006.

The exemption applies to insulation; programmable thermostats; water heater blankets; window film; window and door weather strips; caulking; water heaters, gas furnaces, and windows that meet federal Energy Star standards; and oil furnaces that are at least 85% efficient.

If it sponsors a qualifying “employment expansion project,” this bill allows a partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, or other type of pass-through business in which one or more corporations have or had an interest as general or limited partners, members, or otherwise, to pass through to these constituent corporations any corporation tax credits for which the pass-through business (“sponsor”) would qualify if it were a corporation.

An employment expansion project under the bill is one that (1) will create at least 400 permanent, full-time jobs new to Connecticut over a maximum of five income years following a commencement date approved by the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) commissioner in an eligibility certification; (2) needs the corporation tax credit pass-through to locate in Connecticut; (3) will be economically viable and provide direct and indirect economic benefits to the state; and (4) is, in the commissioner's judgment, consistent with the state's strategic economic development priorities and those of any town where the jobs are to be created.

Under the bill, a new job is one that is full-time and that did not exist in the state before the sponsor's application for an eligibility certificate. To qualify as full-time, a job must provide at least 35 hours of work per week and not be temporary or seasonal. The job must be filled by someone hired by either the project's sponsor or one of its constituent corporations. Jobs shifted from a sponsor's or constituent corporation's other Connecticut locations, and any employees who worked for a “related person” to the sponsor during the previous 12 months, do not count.

Under the bill, two entities are “related persons” if (1) one controls the other, (2) one of the two is a business or trust controlled by another person or entity that the other controls, or (3) they are members of the same controlled group as the taxpayer. A corporation is considered to be “controlled” by an entity if that entity directly or indirectly owns more than 50% of the combined voting power of all classes of its stock. In the case of a trust, control means owning 50% or more of the beneficial interest of the trust's principal or income. Ownership is defined as it is in federal income tax law.

To be eligible for the pass-through credits in any particular year, the project must meet annual job targets. The number of new jobs the project creates must be determined at the end of each of the five full income years after its commencement date by subtracting the aggregate number people employed on the project commencement date from the number employed at the end of each income year. New jobs at the sponsor and all its constituent corporations are counted.

Although the bill requires the aggregate five-year job increase to be at least 400, the sponsor may qualify to pass through credits for any given income year if the project creates at least 90% of the annual number of new jobs called for in the DECD eligibility certificate for that year. If the project misses this target, the sponsor cannot pass through any credits attributable to its activities for that year, but it is still eligible to pass through credits for prior or subsequent years for which it meets the annual targets.

By the first day of the fourth month of each income year, the sponsor must certify the aggregate number of new jobs created as of the end of the preceding year to the DECD commissioner. By the first day of the seventh month, the commissioner must review the certification and issue a continuing eligibility certificate for that year, if the sponsor has met at least 90% of its annual target.

Sponsors must apply to the DECD commissioner to approve an employment expansion project. The application must have enough information about the project to show that it meets the bill's requirements for such a project, as well as information about (1) where the new jobs will be located; (2) the number of new jobs the project will create in each of the five years to be covered by the eligibility certificate; (3) any physical infrastructure the project might create, renovate, or expand; (4) feasibility studies or business plans; and (5) whatever other information the commissioner needs to judge the project's financial viability. The bill allows the commissioner to charge an appropriate application fee and requires the sponsor to reimburse him for some or all of his costs for reviewing the application.

The commissioner must act on the application within 90 days of receiving it. If he rejects it, he must explain why and identify its defects. The commissioner may combine approval of the application with the exercise of his other powers, including providing other financial assistance. Upon approval, the commissioner must issue an eligibility certificate that includes a project commencement date and any other requirements he considers appropriate.

If the sponsor qualifies, its constituent corporations are entitled to share the corporation tax credits attributable to its activities on a pro rata basis according to their distributive shares of the sponsor's profit or loss for the income year. Pass-through credits are subject to the aggregate corporation tax credit limit of 70% of tax liability without credits. They can be used by companies joining a combined corporate return. One constituent corporation may assign its share of pass-through credits to another corporate constituent of the same sponsor. But, the assignee can use the credits only in same the income year that the assigning corporation could have used them and cannot assign them further.

If a corporation assigns its credits, it and the assignee must jointly submit a written notification to the DECD commissioner within 30 days after the transition. The notice must include the credit certificate number, assignment date, amount of the credit assigned, assignor and assignee's tax identification numbers, and any other information the commissioner requires. If the parties fail to comply with the notice requirement, the tax credit is disallowed until they do. The DECD commissioner must give the DRS commissioner a copy of the assignment notice if she requests it.

Each constituent corporation that claims pass-through credits for any income year must retain copies of the overall and annual continuing eligibility certificates for the project for as long as its return is subject to audit.

EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage and applicable to projects with commencement dates on or after September 1, 2005.

§§ 20 - 21 – PETROLEUM PRODUCTS GROSS RECEIPTS TAX REVENUE TRANSFERS TO SPECIAL TRANSPORTATION FUND

HB 5844, as amended and passed by both chambers, increases the amounts of the petroleum products gross receipts tax subject to quarterly transfer to the Special Transportation Fund. Currently, the petroleum products tax receipts subject to transfer are those attributable to sale of motor vehicle fuel. This bill eliminates this limitation on the source of the tax receipts. It also makes technical changes to HB 5844.

The bill requires the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) commissioner to study the feasibility of establishing a registry in which Connecticut residents could register email and Internet messaging addresses and fax, wireless telephone, and pager numbers that they do not want to receive unsolicited electronic messages.

The commissioner must consult with the attorney general and submit a report to the Judiciary, General Law, and Children's committees by January 1, 2007.

The bill requires the DCP study and report to describe how the registry would be established and maintained, including procedures for adding, removing, and verifying registrants' information. It must also address at a minimum:

1. whether a registry would unduly burden interstate or foreign commerce,

2. how it could be implemented without violating the U. S. Constitution or federal law,

3. whether it should be limited (a) to registrants under age 18 or (b) based on the message's content,

4. how much it would cost and potential funding sources,

5. whether criminal or civil liability should attach to unsolicited messages sent intentionally and inadvertently,

6. the feasibility of identifying violators, and

7. other states' experience with similar registries.

Current law requires that the chief child protection attorney (CCPA), by July 1, 2006, establish a system to deliver (1) legal services to indigent respondents in family contempt and paternity matters and (2) legal services and guardians ad litem to children and indigent parents in juvenile proceedings before the Superior Court. (A guardian ad litem is a person the court appoints to protect a child's best interests in a legal proceeding. )

1. guardians ad litem to children and indigent respondents in family matters;

2. legal services to indigent respondents in any family matter, instead of only contempt and paternity matters; and

3. legal services and guardians ad litem to indigent parties instead of indigent parents in juvenile matters.

But it specifies that the duty to provide a guardian ad litem to children and indigent respondents in family matters is limited to situations in which a judge has ordered the state to pay.

It also requires the CCPA to provide initial and in-service training for guardians ad litem provided under the bill. It also makes conforming technical changes.

The bill also makes clear that the judge appoints the CCPA to provide legal representation, who in turn assigns the case to an attorney under contract with him.

By law, “family relations matters” includes, among other things, (1) dissolution of marriage; (2) legal separation; (3) annulment of marriage; (4) alimony, support, custody and change of name incident to dissolution of marriage, legal separation, and annulment; and (5) applications for court protective orders because of physical abuse by family or household members (CGS § 46b-1).

The bill transfers boxing regulation from the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) commissioner to the Department of Public Safety (DPS) commissioner. It transfers to the DPS commissioner all the DCP commissioner's authority pertaining to boxing, except subpoena powers. It also transfers the Connecticut Boxing Promotion Commission to DPS and changes its name to the Connecticut Boxing Commission. The members and appointment procedures remain the same.

The bill requires DPS to regulate sparring, and it gives the DPS commissioner sole jurisdiction over sparring matches. It requires organizations, gymnasiums, or independent clubs hosting sparring matches to register with DPS and pay a $ 50 fee.

The bill terminates the regulation of professional wrestling, the only form regulated under current law.

The bill transfers this commission to DPS. Under current law, the commission is in DCP for administrative purposes only.

The bill expands the specified recommendations that the commission must make in its required reports to include the health and safety of boxers. By law, it must recommend ways to encourage, develop, and promote boxing to the governor, the legislature, the DCP commissioner, and the economic and community development commissioner. Currently, the recommendations must, at a minimum, identify (1) legal or administrative impediments to boxing development, (2) ways to improve state and local boxing support and promotion services, (3) ways to develop young boxers through amateur clubs and other programs, and (4) strategies to help promoters of small professional boxing events and create a market for large professional events.

With exceptions, current law gives the DCP commissioner sole jurisdiction over boxing matches and wrestling exhibitions. The exceptions are amateur school-based matches and matches held under the auspices of any amateur athletic association that the commissioner determines capable of ensuring participants' health and safety.

The bill (1) eliminates wrestling from state regulation, (2) transfers the DCP commissioner's jurisdiction over boxing to the DPS commissioner, (3) specifies that jurisdiction over nonexempt boxing applies to both professional and amateur boxing, and (4) subjects sparring to DPS regulation. It exempts amateur school-based sparring matches and matches held under the auspices of amateur athletic associations that the commissioner determines capable of ensuring participants' health and safety.

Under current law, the DCP commissioner must adopt boxing regulations necessary for the conduct, supervision, and safety of boxing. The bill requires the DPS commissioner to adopt the regulations in consultation with the commission.

The bill requires organizations, gymnasiums, or independent clubs hosting sparring matches to register with DPS. The commissioner must register ones he deems qualified to host matches. The registration fee is $ 50, and the applicant must include it with the application. The commissioner or a designee may inspect the applicant's facility to enforce the law.

The bill requires the owner of any location where a serious physical injury or death from boxing or sparring occurs to report it to the commissioner or his designee within four hours after it happens. The DPS commissioner or his designee must investigate the incident within four hours of receiving the report to determine the cause. He or his designee may enter any registered or licensed premises to further his investigation or inspection.

The bill allows the DPS commissioner or his designee to (1) investigate the location, paraphernalia, equipment, and other matters for boxing or sparring matches; (2) determine whether the match will be reasonably safe for participants and spectators; and (3) make reasonable orders for altering or improving the equipment or paraphernalia and addressing seating, means of egress, lighting, firefighting appliances, fire and police protection, and such other provisions to make matches reasonably safe from fire and casualty hazards.

The bill eliminates the authority that the DCP commissioner or his designee has under current law to (1) issue subpoenas to anyone involved in a wrestling or boxing investigation, (2) subpoena documents pertinent to the investigation, (3) administer oaths or affirmations, (4) conduct investigatory hearings, or (5) apply to the Superior Court to enforce the subpoenas.

The attorney general, at DPS request, may apply to the Superior Court for a temporary or permanent order to restrain any entity from operating in violation of the laws pertaining to boxing or sparring, or regulations pertaining to registration. The commissioner, in consultation with the commission, must adopt necessary regulations for the conduct, supervision, and safety of sparring matches.

The commission's nine members are appointed by the governor (three members) and the House speaker, Senate president pro tempore, and majority and minority leaders of both chambers (one member each). Members are not compensated.

The bill adds various nanotechnology development initiatives to the grant programs PA 05-198 required the Office of Workforce Competitiveness (OWC) to establish to promote research collaborations between academia and industry. It provides for matching grants to support students working on nanotechnology projects and university teams working with businesses to apply research and create product prototypes. All grants must be provided within available appropriations.

The bill also calls for OWC to study the feasibility of developing a center for nanoscale sciences and development. And it requires OWC to provide technical assistance to help businesses apply for nanotechnology-related Small Business Innovation Research funds.

It transfers $ 50,000 from the FY 07 appropriation to OWC to establish a Nanotechnology Collaboration Initiative to the Department of Higher Education to identify model nanotechnology curriculum and assess its application to Connecticut colleges and universities.

As part of OWC's research funding grant program, the bill establishes three types of grants to promote collaboration on nanotechnology projects. The grants can go to colleges, universities, and technology-focused organizations.

1. Discovery grants, up to $ 50,000, support graduate or post-doctoral students working with industry under the supervision of faculty. The grants must be matched equally by money or in-kind services from business.

2. Collaborative grants, up to $ 150,000, support university research teams collaborating with industry on research focused on specific application development. These grants must be matched equally by industry funds.

3. Prototype grants, up to $ 250,000, enable universities and businesses to demonstrate (a) whether a prototype is functional and can be manufactured and (b) the cost-effectiveness of the nanotechnology application. Industry must match each state dollar with two dollars.

As part of OWC's grant program to promote collaborative research applications between industry and academia, the bill authorizes grants to colleges and universities, technology-focused organizations, and businesses to develop a Connecticut Center for Nanoscale Sciences and Development. The center is to provide (1) a shared-use laboratory to advance academic research, industry application development, and education involving the synthesis, characterization, and fabrication of nanoscale materials, intermediates, and devices and (2) related activities. The laboratory may be located in a single or multiple sites.

The bill requires OWC to conduct a feasibility study and business planning model leading to the center's creation. The study must include strategies for obtaining investments from federal and private sources. OWC must report its findings to the Higher Education Committee by January 1, 2007.

As part of OWC's grant program to promote commercialization of academic research, the bill authorizes grants to colleges, universities, and businesses to provide specialized technical assistance to advance nanotechnology awards to businesses and the Small Business Innovation Research Program. The grants go through the state's Small Business Innovation Research Office, which is operated by the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology. The technical assistance can include workshops, seminars, grant preparation and marketing help, services related to matching grants, and other assistance to help business make nanotechnology-related applications for SBIR funds.

SBIR is a federally funded program to assist small, technology-based business research, develop, and commercialize new products. The program has two phases. Phase one provides up to $ 100,000 for a small business to determine the feasibility of an innovative technology. Phase two provides up to $ 750,000 for prototype development.

The bill authorizes OWC to make grants to higher education institutions to establish a nanotechnology post-secondary education program and clearinghouse for curriculum development, scholarships, and student outreach.

The law requires OWC to use the following priority order in awarding its existing grants and the ones the bill establishes. Grants that:

1. focus on key technology areas to give Connecticut a competitive advantage in the knowledge economy;

2. create certificate and degree programs to encourage talent generation;

3. promote collaboration between public and private colleges and universities;

4. involve multiple activities, enhance research capabilities, promote applied research collaboration, and find commercial uses for academic research; and

5. match funds from businesses, technology-focused organizations, or colleges and universities.

Nanotechnology is cross-disciplinary science that combines chemistry and engineering to manipulate individual atoms and molecules to produce a desired structure. It can be applied to organic and inorganic matter. Nanotechnology is potentially applicable to material, manufacturing processes, alternate energy production, electronics, and health care products and processes.

The bill reduces, from life to 10 years, the mandatory registration period for violators of several statutory rape offenses. It requires additional offenders to register for 10 years by including them in the definition of “nonviolent offender. ” It corrects a disparity in registration terms for offenders released before and after October 1, 1998 (the date the current registration law took effect).

It establishes a Risk Assessment Board and requires it to develop a scale using various factors to determine a sex offender's likelihood of reoffending. It requires an annual report on registrants' supervision.

The bill requires the court to give the Department of Public Safety (DPS) a written summary whenever someone is convicted or found not guilty by reason of mental defect or disease of a sex crime that requires registration. The summary must include a specific description of each offense and the age and sex of the crime victim. DPS must add the summary to the sex offender registry information available to the public on the Internet.

It adds activities that trigger a registrant's obligation to update his registry information and requires the Department of Correction (DOC) commissioner to ensure that sex offenders in his custody are registered before he releases them. It changes the timeframe for out-of-state offenders to register and for reporting changes to reported information. It requires the DPS to establish a protocol for notifying state agencies and local police of such changes.

The bill specifies that courts may order criminal defendants to submit to monitoring by a global positioning system.

Updated Reporting Requirements for Recently Enacted Statutory Rape Offenses (§§ 31 & 33)

The bill makes statutory rape offenses involving coaches, mentors, and custodians in positions of trust or power who engage in sexual intercourse with underage victims “criminal offenses against a victim who is a minor,” requiring perpetrators to comply with sex offender registry laws for 10 years. Currently, they are “violent sexual offenses,” which require lifetime registration. This change makes the registration period for these offenses consistent with that for other similar offenses (e. g. , a statutory rape offense committed by a teacher).

“Nonviolent Sexual Offense” Classification and Voyeurism (§§ 32, 35, & 42)

The bill expands the criminal activities that trigger the 10-year registration requirement. It does this by expanding the current definition of “nonviolent sexual offense” to include (1) voyeurism committed for the offender's or a third person's sexual gratification or arousal and (2) an attempt to commit, conspiring to commit, and aiding and abetting the commitment of voyeurism or fourth-degree sexual assault. Under current law, voyeurism does not trigger registration unless one of the reasons for the voyeuristic act was to engage in nonconsensual sexual contact or sexual intercourse with another person. And only the principal actor has to register for fourth-degree sexual assault violations.

The bill allows a court to exempt a voyeur from the registration requirement if it finds that registration is not necessary for public safety.

By law, a person is guilty of voyeurism if he knowingly photographs, films, videotapes, or otherwise records the image of another person with malice or for his or a third person's sexual gratification or arousal and (1) without the subject's knowledge or consent, (2) while the subject is not in plain view, and (3) under circumstances where the subject has a reasonable expectation of privacy. It is these voyeurs that the bill requires to register. Voyeurism is a class D felony, punishable by up to five years in prison, a $ 5,000 fine, or both.

Under PA 97-183, sexual offenders released into the community after incarceration or probation were required to register for 10 years. PA 98-111 required these same offenders to comply with its provisions and register for life; however offenders convicted of the same crimes now classified as “criminal offenses against a victim who is a minor” and released after the passage of PA 98-111 were required to register for only 10 years.

The bill corrects the disparity in registration terms by requiring the pre-1998 registrants to register for 10 years, rather than life.

Members. The bill establishes a 18-member board consisting of a forensic psychiatrist experienced in sex offender treatment appointed by the governor; a person trained in the identification, assessment, and treatment of sex offenders appointed by the governor; and the following state officials or their designees:

1. correction, mental health and addiction services, and public safety commissioners;

2. chief state's attorney;

3. chief public defender;

4. chairperson of the Board of Pardons and Parole;

5. victim advocate;

6. executive director of the Judicial Department's Court Support Services Division; and

7. chairmen and ranking members of the Judiciary and Public Safety committees.

Duties. The board must develop a risk assessment scale and use it to assign a risk level of high, medium, or low to each sex offender required to register based on his likelihood to reoffend. The board must include the assessment, and assign a risk level for, incarcerated offenders within one year of their release date.

The risk assessment scale must assign weights to various risk factors, including:

1. the seriousness of the offense;

2. the offender's prior criminal history and characteristics;

3. the availability of community supports;

4. whether the offender, or credible evidence in his record, indicates that he will reoffend if released into the community; and

5. whether the offender demonstrates a physical condition that minimizes his risk of reoffending.

By February 1, 2007, the board must submit recommendations to the Judiciary Committee regarding:

1. information about sex offenders that should be available to the public through the Internet, including (a) their names, residential addresses, physical descriptions, photographs; (b) the crime they committed; (c) a brief description of the facts and circumstances of each crime; (d) any history of prior sex offenses that would require registration; and (e) the names of their supervising correctional, probation, or parole officers and the officers' contact information;

2. the level assigned to offenders whose information should be available to the public through the Internet;

3. the need for additional restrictions on registrants, such as curfews and intensive monitoring on holidays; the need to require high-risk offenders to register regardless of when they were convicted or released into the community; and

4. any high-risk offenders who meet the criteria for civil commitment.

Existing law permits the involuntary commitment of people with psychiatric disabilities who are either dangerous to themselves or others or gravely disabled.

The bill requires DOC, the Board of Pardons and Parole, and the Judicial Department's Court Support Services Division to submit an annual report, by January 15^th, on the number of registered sex offenders they supervise who are electronically monitored and any additional resources they need to ensure that registrants are supervised.

The law, unchanged by the bill, requires residents to register in this state if they were convicted of crimes in another jurisdiction that if committed in Connecticut would require their registration. The bill also requires these offenders to register if they are subject to a registration requirement in the other jurisdiction. Current law subjects these foreign registrants to the registration periods applicable to offenders convicted under Connecticut law. The bill specifies that the registration period is that of the jurisdiction that convicted the offender.

The bill adds name changes to the events triggering updated reports to the Sex Offender Registry Unit. Registered offenders must register their new names without undue delay after the change is finalized. It changes the time period for reporting changes in address and status and for registering as an out-of-state offender from five and 10 days, respectively, to without delay.

By law, people who violate sex offender registration laws are guilty of a class D felony. The bill specifies that a person who fails to register as an out-of-state offender or report a change in name, address, status, or other reportable event is subject to the penalty only if the failure continues for five business days.

By law, DPS must retake pictures of registrants at least once every five years. The bill requires the department to include the most recent photograph of each registrant in the registry taken by DOC, DPS, a law enforcement agency, or the Judicial Department's Court Services Division.

The bill requires the DPS commissioner to develop a protocol for notifying other state agencies, the Judicial Department, and local police departments when a registrant registers a name change or the commissioner determines that a registrant has changed his name.

The bill specifies that courts may order that a defendant be electronically monitored by a global positioning system (GPS) as a condition of probation or conditional discharge.

The bill raises the maximum daily cost of electronic monitoring services from $ 5 to $ 6 plus inflation. By law, courts may require offenders subject to monitoring to pay for it.

Fourth degree sexual assault is the only crime designated a non-violent sexual offense. It generally involves sexual contact without the victim's permission or sexual contact with a victim who is (1) unable to give consent because of age or physical or mental circumstances, (2) helpless, or (3) vulnerable because the actor holds a special position of trust or power over them.

The bill gives State Police Bureau of Identification (SPBI) the option of maintaining fingerprints in either electronic or paper format. It applies to fingerprints (1) SPBI receives from police departments for people convicted of crimes of moral turpitude and (2) from people who submit to criminal history record checks required by law.

The bill makes it sexual assault for a hypnotist to have consensual sexual intercourse or contact with a client or former client under the same circumstances that currently apply to people performing or purporting to perform psychotherapy.

In addition, the bill requires anyone practicing hypnosis, or holding himself out to be a hypnotist, to register with the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP). It defines “hypnosis” as an artificially induced altered state of consciousness characterized by heightened suggestibility and receptivity to direction.

The bill requires a registration applicant to state that he is not required to register as a sexual offender and requires the DCP commissioner to revoke, after notice and hearing, the registration of anyone required to register as one. It sets application, complaint handling, and disciplinary procedures. It authorizes the DCP commissioner to impose a civil penalty of up to $ 100 for practicing hypnosis without being registered and to adopt regulations in consultation with the public health commissioner.

Applications. The application must be on a DCP-provided form with information and attestation required by the DCP commissioner that must include the applicant's full name, business and residential addresses, and a written representation that the applicant is not a sexual offender under Connecticut law. The bill requires registrants to notify the commissioner of any change in these facts within 30 days after they occur. The application and annual renewal fees are $ 50.

Complaints and Discipline. Under the bill, DCP receives and investigates complaints about hypnotists and may cause a prosecution to begin based on its investigation. Grounds for complaints include physical or sexual abuse; misappropriation of property; and fraud or deceit in obtaining, or attempting to obtain, a registration as a hypnotist. The bill requires DCP to give a hypnotist a written notice by certified mail of a complaint. A hypnotist who wants to appeal must file a request for a hearing within 30 days after DCP's notice is mailed. Hearings must be conducted in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedure Act. The DCP commissioner must make a finding on the complaint and enter it in the registry. He may do so regardless of whether the individual is already on the registry or has obtained a registration as a hypnotist.

The bill gives the DCP commissioner the authority to deny a registration to, but not revoke the registration of, a hypnotist who has been the subject of a finding. The bill requires the registry to include information about anyone denied a registration and a brief statement by the individual disputing the denial, if any.

A hypnotist may ask the commissioner to have a finding removed from the registry if the commissioner determines that the hypnotist's employment and personal history does not reflect a pattern of abusive, deceitful, or fraudulent behavior, and the conduct involved in the original finding was a singular occurrence. The bill prohibits removing a finding less than one year after it was entered.

Exemptions. The bill exempts anyone licensed in this state to provide medical, dental, nursing, counseling, or other health care, substance abuse, or mental health services from its hypnotist registration provisions.

Sexual Assault by a Hypnotist. Sexual assault by a hypnotist is 2^nd-degree sexual assault when it involves sexual intercourse:

1. with a client during a treatment session for a mental or emotional illness, symptom, or condition;

2. the hypnotist represents to be for legitimate treatment purposes; or

3. with a client or former client the hypnotist has reason to know is unable to withhold consent because of her emotional dependence on him.

By law, people convicted of this crime are subject to lifetime sex offender registration.

The bill also makes it 4^th-degree sexual assault to have sexual contact with a client or former client under the circumstances listed above. By law, people convicted of this crime are subject to 10-year sex offender registration.

The table below lists penalties and fines for 2^nd- and 4^th-degree sexual assault.

The bill establishes a lobster trap (pot) allocation buy-back program and an economic assistance program for resident commercial lobster fishermen. It bases funding for these programs on whether the Atlantic State Marine Fisheries Commission establishes a v-notch program with equivalent conservation value to the approved or future requirements for management Area 6 (Long Island Sound) by November 1, 2006. By law, the state is required to abide by the commission's area lobster management plan (e. g. , conservation measures). Under the bill, if the commission adopts a v-notch program that would allow the state to manage its lobster population by following such a program, 100% of any lobster conservation appropriation for FY 07 goes to fund the program. If not, 60% goes to fund the buy-back program and 40% to the economic assistance program.

The bill establishes a Lobster Restoration Advisory Committee to advise the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) commissioner on the development of a lobster v-notch conservation program, which is meant to enhance recovery and rebuilding of lobster stock in the Long Island Sound.

Current law prohibits anyone from buying, selling, giving away, offering for sale, or possessing, regardless of where taken, any lobster with a body shell (carapace) length less than 3 and 9/32 inches, as required by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's American Lobster Fishery Management Plan for Lobster Management Area 6 and adopted by state regulation. Under the bill, a seafood dealer, wholesaler, or shipper may possess and sell lobsters less than that length under certain conditions.

Under the bill, if the Lobster Management Board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission approves a lobster v-notch restoration program with equivalent conservation value to the approved or future requirements for management Area 6 (Long Island Sound) by November 1, 2006, 100% of any appropriations made for FY 2006 for lobster stock recovery and conservation goes to implement the v-notch program. If the Lobster Management Board does not approve such a lobster restoration program by November 1, 2006, then 60% of the aforementioned appropriation goes to implement the lobster buy-back program and the 40% to fund the economic assistance program for resident commercial lobster fishermen, both of which the bill establishes. (Connecticut's v-notch program, under PA 05-281, requires the tails of mature female lobsters that licensed commercial fishermen land be marked with a V-shaped notch and then released in order to increase lobster egg production. It is currently unfunded and has not been implemented. )

The bill requires the DEP commissioner to establish a lobster pot allocation buy-back program, within available appropriations, to permanently retire lobster traps from the lobster fishery. It also requires the program to provide a $ 15 payment for each lobster pot allocation permanently retired from the lobster fishery.

Under current law, to conserve and manage American lobster populations, the DEP commissioner must adopt regulations (1) governing lobster taking in state waters and (2) lobsters possession in the state regardless of where taken.

The bill additionally allows the commissioner to adopt regulations by April 1, 2007, to implement the lobster pot allocation buy-back program established under it. The regulations must include provisions for the $ 15 lobster pot buy-back. The regulations must stipulate that the buy-back program is limited to the buy-back of lobster pots of resident commercial lobster fishermen holding lobster trap allocations issued by the commissioner (1) who have reported lobster landings between January 1, 1999 and December 31, 2005, as determined by the commissioner, based on required reports or (2) who have received license transfers with trap allocations. The regulations cannot require the buy-back of lobster traps.

The DEP commissioner must establish an economic assistance program for resident commercial lobster fishermen. She may adopt regulations by April 1, 2007 to implement the economic assistance program, which is for any resident commercial lobster fisherman who (1) held a Connecticut license to take lobsters in 2006 and a lobster trap allocation issued by the commissioner or (2) who has received a license transfer with a trap allocation, and who, not later than January 24, 2006, reported the landing of lobsters between January 1, 2004, and December 31, 2005, as determined by the commissioner, based on reports required by law.

The regulations must include provisions for direct payment to such lobstermen based on the contribution his lobster catch made to the total qualifying catch of all qualifying lobster fishermen from Long Island Sound with any gear between January 1, 2004, and December 31, 2005, provided, in cases in which more than one fisherman has reported on the same catch report form, catches are attributed and payments made to the lead license holder indicated on the form.

1. the DEP commissioner and Agriculture Commissioner or their designees;

2. the state's administrative commissioner, legislative commissioner, and the governor appointed commissioner to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission; and

3. representatives of the (a) Southern New England Fishermen's and Lobsterman's Association, (b) Connecticut Commercial Lobstermen's Association, (c) Long Island Western End Lobstermen's Association, (d) state vocational aquaculture school known as the Sound School in New Haven, (e) state vocational aquaculture school in Bridgeport, and (f) Connecticut Seafood Council.

The DEP and Agriculture commissioners jointly appoint committee members, after receiving nominations from the above listed groups. They must do so no later than 30 days after the sections effective date, which is upon passage. The committee elects its own chairman and any other officers and adopts procedural rules, as necessary. Committee members are not compensated for their services, but are reimbursed for necessary expenses in the performance of their duties.

Current law prohibits anyone from buying, selling, giving away, offering for sale, or possessing, regardless of where taken, any lobster with a body shell (carapace) length less than 3 and 9/32 inches. Under the bill, a seafood dealer, wholesaler, or shipper may possess and sell lobsters less than the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's American Lobster Fishery Management Plan Lobster Management Area 6 (Long Island Sound) minimum legal length, as defined in regulation, provided:

1. the lobsters are not taken from said Lobster Management Area 6 waters or landed in this state, regardless of where such lobsters were taken;

2. the lobsters are (a) not less than the minimum legal length in effect in the waters of the Lobster Management Area or nation of origin where taken and not less than three and one-quarter inches carapace length regardless of where taken, and (b) not bartered, exchanged, sold, or offered for sale to retail consumers in this state; and

3. the seafood dealer, wholesaler, or shipper in possession of such lobsters possesses a manifest, bill of lading, invoice, purchase order, or other written documentation identifying the state, Lobster Management Area, or nation of origin, as applicable, where such lobsters were received, the number of such lobsters received that are less than said Lobster Management Area 6 minimum legal length, and the date such lobsters were received.

The seafood dealer, wholesaler, or shipper must keep this documentation for a period of six months from the date the lobsters were received and must make it available to law enforcement officers upon request.

The bill requires homemaker-companion agencies to register annually with the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP). It specifies application procedures and gives the DCP commissioner authority to suspend, revoke, or deny the certificate of registration or take other disciplinary measures in response to violations of the bill. It sets the registration fee at $ 300.

Under the bill, the agencies must maintain a surety bond, require employees hired on or after October 1, 2006 to undergo comprehensive background checks, and require these employees to complete and sign a form containing questions about their criminal convictions or certain disciplinary actions against them. They must provide their clients with written individualized contracts or service plans that identify the anticipated services' scope, type, frequency, and duration. They must also make their records accessible to DCP. The bill imposes penalties on agencies that provide such services without registering or make certain misrepresentations.

The bill requires the DCP commissioner to adopt implementing regulations and to report on the implementation to the Aging Committee and the governor by January 1, 2008.

The bill defines a “homemaker-companion agency” as any public or private organization with one or more employees that is engaged in the business of providing companion or homemaker services. The term excludes a home health care agency or a homemaker-home health aide agency, both of which must already be licensed by the Department of Public Health (DPH) and consequently are exempt from the bill's DCP registration requirement (see BACKGROUND).

Under the bill, “companion services” mean nonmedical, basic supervision services to ensure a person's well-being and safety in his home. “Homemaker services” mean nonmedical, supportive services that ensure a safe and healthy environment for an individual in his home, including assistance with personal hygiene, cooking, household cleaning, laundry, and other household chores.

The bill defines “employee” as anyone employed by, or who enters into a contract to perform services for, a homemaker-companion agency, including temporary employees, pool employees, and independent contractors.

The bill prohibits anyone acting individually or jointly with another person from establishing, conducting, operating, or maintaining a homemaker-companion agency in the state without first obtaining a DCP registration certificate. To obtain the certificate, an applicant must apply to the DCP commissioner in writing, on a form the commissioner provides. The application must include the applicant's name, residence and business addresses, business telephone number, and other information the commissioner requires.

1. complies with the bill's employee comprehensive background check requirements;

2. provides all individuals receiving homemaker or companion services with a written individualized contract or service plan (see below) that specifically identifies the services' anticipated scope, type, frequency, and duration;

3. maintains a surety bond (but does not specify a minimum amount); and

4. will keep the records it maintains open for inspection, copying, or audit by DCP at all reasonable hours.

The bill defines “service plan” as a written document provided by a homemaker-companion agency to a client specifying the anticipated scope, type, frequency, and duration of homemaker or companion services that are to be provided by the agency to the client. The Connecticut Home Care Program for Elders currently requires such a written service plan for its clients who receive Medicaid or state assistance.

If an agency fails to comply with the bill's registration requirements, the bill authorizes the attorney general, at the DCP commissioner's request, to apply to the Superior Court for a temporary or permanent order to stop the agency from continuing to do business in the state.

After receiving a completed application and the $ 300 fee, the commissioner must either issue and deliver the certificate of registration or deny it. The bill allows the commissioner to suspend, revoke, or refuse to issue or renew such a certificate; place a registrant on probation; or issue a letter of reprimand. It prohibits the commissioner from accepting an application to reinstate a revoked certificate within one year after the revocation date. If the commissioner refuses to issue or renew a certificate, he must notify the applicant of the denial and of the applicant's right to request a hearing within 10 days after receiving the denial notice. If the applicant requests such a hearing within the 10 days, the commissioner must give notice of the grounds for his refusal and conduct the hearing in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedure Act (UAPA). If the denial is sustained after the hearing, the applicant must wait one year after the date the denial was sustained before he can reapply.

Registration certificates cannot be transferred or assigned to someone else. They expire annually and are renewable for a $ 300 fee, which is the same as the fee for the original certificate. The fees collected must be deposited in the General Fund and credited to DCP for personal services. Failure to receive an expiration notice or a renewal application does not exempt an agency from the obligation to renew the registration.

The bill gives the DCP commissioner the right to inspect, copy, or audit all of the agency's records at all reasonable hours. It allows the commissioner to conduct investigations and hold hearings on any matter under this bill and to issue subpoenas, administer oaths, compel testimony, and order the agency to produce books, records, and documents. If anyone refuses to appear or otherwise comply with the commissioner's orders, a Superior Court judge, on the commissioner's application, may make an order appropriate to aid in enforcing the bill. The attorney general, at the commissioner's request, may apply to the Superior Court for a temporary or permanent order restraining and enjoining anyone from violating the bill.

The bill allows the commissioner to (1) revoke, suspend, or refuse to issue or renew a certificate of registration; (2) place an agency on probation; or (3) issue a letter of reprimand. He can take any of these actions for (1) agency conduct (or that of an agency employee in the course of employment) likely to mislead, deceive, or defraud the public or the commissioner or (2) untruthful or misleading advertising. It prohibits the commissioner from revoking or suspending a certificate of registration except on notice and hearing consistent with the UAPA.

The bill requires anyone obtaining a certificate of registration to (1) show it at the request of any interested party and (2) state the fact that the agency is registered and disclose its registration number in advertising.

1. presenting or trying to present someone else's certificate as his own;

2. knowingly giving the commissioner false evidence of a material nature in order to procure a certificate;

3. representing himself or herself falsely as, or impersonating, a registered homemaker-companion agency;

4. using or trying to use an expired, suspended, or revoked certificate;

5. offering to provide homemaker or companion services without having a current certificate of registration; or

6. representing in any way that registration constitutes the commissioner's endorsement of the quality of services the person provides.

In addition to other remedies elsewhere in the bill, anyone who violates these specific provisions is subject to a criminal penalty of up to six months in prison, up to a $ 1,000 fine, or both.

Employee Background Checks and Statement on Criminal Convictions and Disciplinary Actions

Under the bill, a homemaker-companion agency must require an employee hired on or after October 1, 2006 (including temporary and pool employees and independent contractors) to submit to a comprehensive background check. (“Comprehensive background check” is not defined in the bill or in statute. It appears that this could be a separate procedure from the one delineated under CGS § 29-17a, which says, if a “criminal history records check” is required by statute, it must be requested through the State Police Bureau of Identification and prescribes procedures for “state criminal history records checks” and “national criminal history records checks” (FBI checks, which can involve fingerprints). The bill, instead, just requires comprehensive background checks, but specifies no particular procedures for them nor identifies who would do them. Some private companies currently offer computerized in-state and sometimes out-of-state background checks, which include publicly available criminal records they have compiled in their own private databases, as well as other types of non-criminal background information. )

In addition, under the bill, each agency must require that employees hired on or after October 1, 2006 complete and sign a form containing questions about whether they were convicted of a crime involving violence or dishonesty in a state or federal court in any state or were subject to any decision imposing disciplinary action by a licensing agency in any state, the District of Columbia, a U. S. possession or territory, or a foreign jurisdiction. If an employee makes a false written statement about his prior criminal convictions or disciplinary action, the bill makes him guilty of a Class A misdemeanor, for which the penalty is up to one year imprisonment, up to a $ 2,000 fine, or both.

The bill requires that, within seven days after beginning to provide homemaker or companion services to anyone, a homemaker-companion agency must give the client or his authorized representative a written contract or service plan that prescribes the services' anticipated scope, type, frequency, duration, and cost. It also requires the contract or service plan to provide notice (1) of the individual's right to request changes to it or to review it, (2) of the agency's employees who must submit to a comprehensive background check under this bill, and (3) that the agency's records are available for DCP inspection or audit.

Under the bill, no such contract or service plan is valid against the person who receives the services or his authorized representative unless the contract or service plan has been signed by the agency's authorized representative and the person who receives the services or his authorized representative.

The bill exempts from its contract and service plan requirements homemaker or companion services provided under the Connecticut Home Care Program for Elders administered by the Department of Social Services.

Regulations

The bill requires the DCP commissioner to adopt regulations to carry out the bill's requirements. But it allows him to implement policies and procedures needed to administer its provisions while in the process of adopting such policies and procedures as regulations, as long as he prints notice of the intent to adopt regulations in the Connecticut Law Journal within 20 days after the date of implementation. Such policies and procedures are valid until the time final regulations are adopted.

By January 1, 2008, the bill requires the DCP commissioner to report on its implementation to the Aging Committee and to the governor. The report may include recommended revisions to the statutes or other changes the commissioner deems necessary or advisable to enhance the bill's implementation.

Background—DPH-Licensed Home Health Care Agencies and Homemaker-Home Health Aide Agencies Defined

Homemaker-companion agencies provide a different mix of services than DPH-licensed home health care agencies and homemaker-home health aide agencies, which are defined under the public health statutes. A home health care agency is a public or private organization that provides professional nursing services as well as homemaker-home health aide services, physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, or medical social services available 24 hours a day, in the patient's home or an equivalent environment.

A homemaker-home health aide agency is a public or private organization, other than a home health care agency, that provides supportive services such as assistance with personal hygiene, dressing, feeding, and incidental household tasks essential to achieving adequate household and family management in the patient's home or in an equivalent environment. These supportive services must be provided under the supervision of a registered nurse. Homemaker-home health aide services do not include services provided to assist individuals with activities of daily living for people who have a disease or condition that is chronic and stable as determined by a physician (e. g. , in an assisted living facility, where services can be provided only by a DPH-licensed assisted living services agency).

The bill requires the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) to establish a Connecticut Hydrogen-Fuel Cell Coalition. DECD must do this in consultation with the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, a federally funded nonprofit organization focused on developing the next generation of technological systems for military and civilian applications.

The bill requires the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) to contract with the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology to prepare a plan for developing a fuel cell economic development. DECD must do this in consultation with, the Connecticut Hydrogen-Fuel Cell Coalition, the Renewable Energy Investment Fund, and other appropriate state agencies to help prepare the plan.

1. help commercialize fuel cells and hydrogen-based technologies;

2. enhance energy reliability and security;

3. promote ways to make transportation and electric generation systems more efficient, reduce their effects on the environment, and increase their use of renewable and sustainable fuels;

4. facilitate the installation of infrastructure for hydrogen production, storage, transportation, and fueling capability;

5. disseminate information about the benefits of hydrogen-based technologies and fuel cells; and

6. develop ways to retain and expand the state's hydrogen and fuel cell industries.

The strategy must also identify how hydrogen-based and fuel cell technologies could benefit the state's transportation and electric and natural gas distribution systems. DECD must consult with the Department of Transportation to identify areas where the state could integrate hydrogen or natural gas and hydrogen mixture refueling stations with mass transit and fleet locations.

Lastly, the strategy must identify areas in the electric and natural gas distribution system where hydrogen and fuel cell technology could be used to generate energy distribution. In doing so, the strategy must show how the technology could be used as a reliable way to control voltage, secure the grid, make the system more reliable, or provide uninterruptible service at customer sites. DECD must develop this part of the strategy in consultation with electric and natural gas service providers.

DECD must report to the Commerce Committee about the plan. It must submit a progress report to the committee by January 1, 2007 and a final report by January 1, 2008.

Universities, businesses, and state and federal agencies established the center in 2002 with a $ 1. 5 million grant from the U. S. Air Force. The center focuses on developing the next generation of technological systems for military and civilian applications. Its initiatives include creating center to (1) develop and deploy advanced technologies; (2) help entrepreneurs launch new, technology-based businesses; (3) encourage colleges and universities to train students for advanced technology fields.

The quasi-public Connecticut Innovations, Inc. administers the fund, whose purpose is to promote investments in renewable energy resources, stimulate demand for them, and encourage their deployment.

By law, the agriculture commissioner must establish and administer a program to market farm products grown and produced in Connecticut to encourage state agricultural development. The commissioner may provide grants to anyone engaged in promoting and marketing these farm products, provided the words “Connecticut-Grown” are clearly incorporated in such promotional and marketing activities. The bill adds “CT-Grown. ”

Under the bill, the commissioner must also design, plan, and implement a multiyear, statewide marketing and advertising campaign, which must include television and radio advertisements and promoting the availability and advantages of purchasing Connecticut-grown farm products.

The bill requires the commissioner to establish and continuously update a web site connected with the advertising campaign. The website must include a comprehensive listing of Connecticut farmers' markets, pick-your-own farms, roadside and on-farm markets, farm wineries, garden centers, and nurseries selling predominantly Connecticut-grown horticultural products, and agri-tourism events and attractions.

The commissioner must promote business relationships and interaction between farmers and restaurants, grocery stores, institutional cafeterias, and other potential institutional purchasers of Connecticut-grown farm products. This includes (1) linking farmers and potential purchasers through a separate feature of the web site the bill establishes and (2) organizing statewide or regional events promoting Connecticut-grown farm products, where farmers and potential institutional customers are invited to participate.

The commissioner must, to the best of his ability, solicit cooperation and participation from the farm, corporate, retail, wholesale, and grocery communities in advertising, Internet-related, and event planning efforts, including soliciting private sector matching funds.

The agriculture commissioner must annually use $ 100,000 of the funds collected from the $ 30 recording fee established by PA 05-228 for marketing. Under current law, the commissioner must use that amount for encouraging the sale of Connecticut-Grown food to school, restaurants, retailers, and other state businesses and institutions.

The commissioner must deposit the recording fee money into the expand and grow Connecticut agriculture account. It is a separate, nonlapsing account within the General Fund that is funded from 75% of an annual fee the agriculture commissioner imposes of 40 cents per linear foot on the owner of certain facilities that cross any grounds of the Sound within Connecticut's jurisdiction.

Under current law, the commissioner may make payments from the expand and grow Connecticut agriculture account for programs that allow grocery stores, schools, and restaurants to be certified as using certain percentages of Connecticut-grown or produced farm products. Under the bill, the commissioner must make payments from the account to fund the bill's marketing, advertising campaign, and other requirements and the existing statutory certified store, school, and restaurant programs. He also must seek private matching funds.

The commissioner must report annually to the Environment Committee on issues with respect to the bill's requirements, including the amount of private matching funds received and expended by the department. By law, the commissioner may adopt regulations as necessary to carry out the Connecticut-Grown program.

By law, only farm products grown and eggs produced in Connecticut can be advertised or sold in Connecticut as “Connecticut-Grown. ” Farm products grown and eggs produced in Connecticut may also be advertised or sold in Connecticut as “Native,” “Native-Grown,” “Local,” or “Locally-Grown” (CGS § 22-38).

§§ 67 - 69 – MEMBERS OF THE STATE ELECTIONS ENFORCEMENT COMMISSION, THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION COMMISSION AND THE CITIZEN'S ETHICS ADVISORY BOARD

The bill increases, from $ 50 to $ 200, the per diem payable to Freedom of Information Commission, State Elections Enforcement Commission, and Office of State Ethics Citizens' Advisory Board members for attending a commission or board meeting or hearing. Members continue to be reimbursed for necessary or reasonable expenses associated with attendance.

The bill requires state facility construction projects financed by the state on or after January 1, 2007 to meet specified energy/environmental standards. The requirement applies to new facilities, other than school construction projects, salt sheds, parking garages, or maintenance facilities, costing $ 5 million or more and renovation projects costing $ 2 million or more.

By January 1, 2007, the OPM secretary, in consultation with the public works, environmental protection, and public safety commissioners, must adopt regulations adopting construction standards that meet or exceed the silver building rating of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design's (LEED) rating system for new commercial construction and major renovation projects or an equivalent standard. The alternative standard must at least include a two globe rating under the Green Globes USA design program. The secretary must update the regulations as he considers necessary. The secretary, in consultation with public works commissioner and the Institute for Sustainable Energy, must exempt a facility from the regulations if the Institute for Sustainable Energy finds, in a written analysis, that the cost of compliance significantly outweighs the benefits of compliance.

Both rating systems give projects points for their environmental characteristics, such as energy and water efficiency, and use of recycled materials and renewable energy. Based on the number of points a project receives, it can be given a silver, gold, or platinum award under the LEED system and one to four globes under the Green Globes system.

1. the Senate and House clerks, from $ 18,000 to $ 25,000;

2. the Senate and House assistant clerks, from $ 16,800 to $ 23,350;

3. the Senate and House chaplains, from $ 7,200 to $ 10,000; and

4. Senate and House messengers, from $ 3,900 to $ 5,425.

These officials also receive per diem payments that are unchanged by the bill when the General Assembly convenes for special session days.

The bill also increases the rate for earning compensatory time for permanent, full-time legislative employees to one hour of compensatory time for every one hour, rather than two hours, of overtime an employee works. Such an employee must receive one hour of compensatory time for each hour of overtime worked after January 1, 2006.

The bill establishes a separate, nonlasping account within the General Fund to fund the implementation of the state-wide tourism marketing plan and makes a conforming technical change. The account must contain any funds appropriated to it by law.

The bill permits the Department of Children and Families (DCF) to disclose otherwise-confidential records relating to abused and neglected children to employees of the Commission on Child Protection. Disclosure of copies of court, service provider, and law enforcement records and medical, psychological, psychiatric, and social welfare studies and reports is authorized to those who need access to perform their jobs. The chief child protection attorney or his designee may obtain copies DCF records to ensure competent representation and accurate billing records of attorneys he contracts with to provide legal and guardian ad litem services for abused and neglected children.

Delinquency records are not subject to disclosure under existing law or the bill.

Under current law, the Revenue Services Commissioner must set-aside $ 2 million of the cable television companies tax each fiscal year for the Office of Legislative Management (OLM) to defray the costs of providing Connecticut Television Network coverage of state government deliberations and public policy events. The bill requires the Comptroller, rather than the commissioner, to deposit the funds with the treasurer, who makes them available to OLM. The bill raises the set-aside to $ 2. 5 million, beginning FY 07 and each fiscal year thereafter.

Providing start-up financing is way one the quasi-public Connecticut Innovations, Inc. (CII) invests in people and businesses developing new technologies. Under current law, a company qualifies for this financing if it has been operating for less than one year and has developed a commercially viable product. The company can show if its product is commercially viable by performing market studies, assembling key managers, developing a business plan, or by other means that are acceptable to CII.

The bill specifies that the company also qualifies for start-up financing if it uses other means CII deems appropriate to demonstrate its product's viability.

§ 79 – REGULATIONS IMPLEMENTING TAX CREDITS FOR MOVIE AND DIGITAL MEDIA PRODUCTION

SB 702 authorizes corporate tax credits for eligible companies that produce qualified films and other types of television, video, or digital entertainment in Connecticut. This bill duplicates a change already made in § 83 of the budget bill (HB 5845) that requires Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, rather than the revenue services commissioner, to adopt implementing regulations and requires the commissioner to consult with DRS rather than vice versa.

§ 80 – SALES TAX EXEMPTION FOR SERVICES PROVIDED BY PARTICIPANTS IN CERTAIN JOINT VENTURES

The bill expands eligibility for, and extends the duration of, a sales tax exemption for specified business services rendered between participants in certain kinds of joint ventures under a joint venture agreement. The exemption applies to personnel; commercial or industrial marketing, development, testing, and research; and business analysis and management services. To qualify, (1) a joint venture's purpose must relate directly to producing or developing new or experimental products or systems and supporting and marketing them and (2) one of its corporate participants must have been actively engaged in business in Connecticut for at least 10 years. The company providing the service must own at least 25% of the joint venture.

Under current law, to be tax-exempt, the entity receiving services must be either a corporation or partnership and the one giving services must be its corporate shareholder or partner, respectively. The bill also allows a limited liability company to receive exempt services from a corporate member.

In addition, the bill extends the exemption's duration from 10 to 20 consecutive years and specifies that it starts from the date the joint venture is formed, incorporated, or organized. An existing 30-year exemption term for aircraft industry joint ventures that existed before January 1, 1986 remains unchanged.

The bill exempts charges for yoga instruction provided by a yoga studio, from the 6% sales tax. Under current law, health and athletic club services are taxable unless (1) they are provided by a municipality or a nonprofit organization or (2) the charges for them are included in club dues or fees already subject to the dues tax.

The bill extends to the Connecticut Center for Science and Exploration an existing sales and use tax exemption for items or service used, incorporated into, or otherwise consumed in building the Hartford convention center, Rentschler Field, and related parking facilities and infrastructure improvements.

The bill specifies that the Connecticut Center for Science and Exploration refers to the science center facility constructed and operated in the Adriaen's Landing site. PA 98-179 authorized up to $ 300 million in bonds for the Adriaen's Land project. The science center addresses that element of the original plan that called for a major but unspecified attraction.

The bill authorizes the Board of Pardons and Paroles to issue provisional pardons to relieve offenders of certain barriers or forfeitures due to their conviction of crimes named in the provisional pardon. The bill allows the board to issue a provisional pardon anytime after sentencing to a person who applies for one or who is under the board's jurisdiction if (1) the person was convicted of a crime in Connecticut or another jurisdiction and resides in the state, (2) the relief in the provisional pardon may promote the public policy of rehabilitating ex-offenders through employment, and (3) the relief in the provisional pardon is consistent with the public's interest in public safety and protecting property.

It prohibits employers from denying employment to a prospective employee or discharging or discriminating against an employee solely on the basis of a conviction that occurred before his employment for which the person received a provisional pardon. Under current law, these prohibitions apply to prior arrests, criminal charges, or legally erased records of convictions (for delinquencies, families with service needs, youthful offenders, criminal charges that were dismissed or nolled, criminal charges resulting in not guilty verdicts, and pardoned convictions).

Under the bill, the provisional pardon can apply to all of the eligible barriers or forfeitures or it can specify particular ones. It can limit the provisional pardon to specific types of employment or licenses for which the offender is otherwise qualified.

A “barrier” is the denial of employment or a license because of a criminal conviction without considering whether the nature of the crime bears a direct relationship to the employment or license. A “forfeiture” is a disqualification or ineligibility for employment or a license by reason of law based on the offender's criminal conviction.

“Employment” is any remunerative work, occupation, vocation, or any form of vocational training but not employment with law enforcement.

A “license” is any license, permit, certificate, or registration the state or any of its agencies require to pursue, practice, or engage in an occupation, trade, vocation, profession, or business.

The provisional pardon cannot apply to eligibility for or the right to retain public office.

To determine whether to issue a provisional pardon, the board can have its staff investigate the applicant and submit a report. If written, the report is confidential and cannot be disclosed except as required or permitted by statute or on the board's specific authorization.

A provisional pardon issued while an offender is on probation or parole is temporary and the board can revoke it for a probation or parole violation.

At any time, the board can follow the same procedures the bill establishes for original provisional pardons to issue new ones that enlarge the initial relief granted.

The board creates the forms and prescribes the contents for provisional pardons and their applications, investigative reports, and revocations.

When it grants a provisional pardon, the bill requires the board to provide written notification to the clerk of the court where the person was convicted. This does not erase the conviction record and the person must still disclose the conviction as may be required.

The bill transfers $ 4 million to the Labor Department for distribution to the state's five workforce investment boards. The funds come from OPM's FY 06 urban youth employment appropriation.

The bill requires each board to allocate at least 75% of the amount it receives to one or more distressed municipalities in its region and the rest to other towns for summer youth employment. It allows the boards to allocate up to 25% of their appropriation, or any unspent money allocated for summer youth employment, for year-round workforce development programs for 14- to 19-year-olds whose family incomes make them eligible for free or reduced-price school meals.

The bill requires OWC to appropriate the following amounts: $ 1. 3 million to Capital Workforce Partners; $ 900,000 to the Workforce Alliance; $ 900,000 to the Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board, Inc. ; $ 500,000 to The Workplace, Inc. ; and $ 400,000 to the Eastern CT Workforce Investment Board.

The bill requires Connecticut Innovation, Inc. to pay Connecticut United for Research Excellence $ 1. 5 million for the operation of its BioBus. The amount must be paid over five years from available appropriations beginning July 1, 2006.

The bill requires the Agriculture Experiment Station to transfer $ 300,000 during FY 07 from the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) account to the UConn to develop and implement:

1. nonagricultural IPM programs, which must include programs for trees, shrubs, turf, and structural IPM applications and

2. agricultural IPM programs, including programs for vegetables, fruit, forage crops, and nurseries.

The bill repeals provisions of SB 153, as amended and passed by both chambers, that (1) appropriates $ 25,000 and $ 50,000 for FY 07 to the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women and the Police Officer Standards and Training Council, respectively, to implement a training program on trafficking in persons and (2) appropriates $ 25,000 for FY 07 to the Judicial Department and directs the Office of Victim Services to use it to contract with a community provider for shelter and other services for trafficking victims.

It transfers from the Judicial Department's Victim Security Account $ 75,000 for FY 07 to the Criminal Justice Division for witness protection services for protecting trafficking victims at risk of harm.

The bill specifies that up to $ 234,000 in the Child Protection Commission account will not lapse at the end of FY 06 and may be used in FY 07.

The bill requires the Department of Public Safety to transfer $ 50,000 of appropriated FY 07 Other Expenses funds to the Department of Consumer Protection for Other Expenses.

§ 95 – DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION'S BEACH EROSION PILOT PROJECT FUNDING

The bill moves a $ 450,000 FY 06 General Fund appropriation for the DEP's Beach Erosion Pilot Project from Payment to Local Governments to Other Current Expenses within the department for the project.

For FY 08 and each fiscal year thereafter, this bill distributes $ 1. 6 million of the appropriation to the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Fund to towns that are members of the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments and to distressed municipalities that are members of the Northeastern Connecticut Council of Governments or the Windham Area Council of Governments. The distribution must be proportional based on the payments each received in the previous fiscal year.

Both the distribution of one-third of the FY 08 increase and the allocation to the five towns are in addition to the grants already paid to the municipalities from the fund, are paid before other grants from the fund, and must not be reduced proportionately if the total payable to each municipality is more than the amount appropriated for the grants that year.

The fund is a separate, nonlapsing fund that receives revenue derived from casino gaming and provides grants to towns based on different criteria. It provides:

1. $ 20 million based on the criteria for making payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs) for state-owned property,

2. $ 20. 1 million based on the PILOT criteria for private hospitals and colleges,

3. $ 35 million based on the formula for providing property tax relief grants, and

4. $ 5. 47 million to certain designated municipalities distributed according to the property tax relief fund.

These four types of grants and the impact grants the five towns currently receive must be proportionately reduced when the total grant for all towns exceeds the appropriated amount.

The member towns are: Bozrah, Colchester, East Lyme, Franklin, Griswold, Groton, Ledyard, Lisbon, Montville, New London, North Stonington, Norwich, Preston, Salem, Sprague, Stonington, Voluntown, and Waterford.

Killingly, Putnam, and Windham have been designated as distressed municipalities and are members of the Northeastern Connecticut Council of Governments or the Windham Area Council of Governments.

*Offense*	*Classification*	*Range of Sanctions*
2^nd-degree sexual assault; victim under age 16	Class B felony	At least 9 months and up to 20 years imprisonment, a fine of up to $ 20,000, or both
2^nd-degree sexual assault; victim at least age 16	Class C felony	At least 9 months and up to 10 years imprisonment, a fine of up to $ 10,000, or both
4^th-degree sexual assault; victim under age 16	Class D felony	Up to 5 years imprisonment, a fine of up to $ 5,000, or both
4^th-degree sexual assault; victim at least age 16	Class A misdemeanor	Up to 1 year imprisonment, a fine of up to $ 2,000, or both