July 10, 2009 |
2009-R-0256 | |
2009 REGULAR AND JUNE 19 SPECIAL SESSION BILL TRACKING REPORT | ||
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By: Rute Pinho, Research Analyst II Ryan O'Neil, Research Assistant | ||
This report lists the bills considered during the General Assembly's 2009 regular session and June 19 Special Session (JSS) whose provisions were enacted under another bill number. The provisions of many bills that die in committee or on the calendar in fact become law after (1) the original committee incorporates them in another bill that receives a favorable report or (2) a member offers the concept as an amendment that is adopted and incorporated in another bill. This report includes bills whose language may have changed in the final enactment from that of the original committee bill or file, but that represent the legislature's final action on the matter taken during one of the sessions referenced above.
During the 2009 regular session and JSS, the content or concept of 169 bills that started as separate legislation was later incorporated in other bills that passed. Of those, the governor vetoed two. Table 1 lists the original bills in numeric order and shows the public act that included their provisions. Table 2 lists the bills by the committee to which they were first referred.
Table 1: Bill Tracking by Original Bill Number
Originated As Bill # |
Enacted as Public Act # |
Brief Explanation of Concept |
Requires defibrillators in schools | ||
Requires newborn screening for cystic fibrosis | ||
Requires direct billing for pathology services | ||
Requires the Department of Economic and Community Development commissioner to annually evaluate Connecticut's competitiveness as a place to do business | ||
● Requires the Board of Governors of Higher Education to adopt policies regulating credit card issuer marketing practices on Connecticut's public college campuses ● Prohibits credit card issuers from taking any debt collection action against a student's parent or legal guardian unless they have agreed in writing to be liable for the student's debts | ||
Broadens what a group health insurance policy must cover with respect to autism spectrum disorders. | ||
09-188 §§ 5-6 (VETOED) |
Expands insurance coverage for hearing aids for children by requiring coverage for children under age 19, up from age 13. | |
09-186 §§ 14-31 & 50 (VETOED) |
Designates various commemorative and memorial road and bridge names and requires erection of certain location signs: ● “Vincent DiPietro Memorial Bridge” (§ 14) ● “John L. Levitow, S/Sgt. U. S. Air Force and Medal of Honor Recipient Memorial Bridge” (§ 15) ● “Rev. Dr. William O Johnson Memorial Highway” (§ 16) ● “Sergeant Felix M. Del Greco, Jr. Memorial Highway” (§ 17) ● “Amvets Post No. 9 Memorial Highway” ( § 18) ● “Officer Timothy Foley Memorial Highway” (§ 19) ● “Governor William A. O'Neill Memorial Highway” (§ 20) ● “Julia 'Nana” Coppola Memorial Highway” (§ 21) ● “Trooper James savage Memorial Bridge” (§ 22) ● “Beverly D. Tulli Memorial Highway” (§ 23) ● “Officer H. David Cordell Memorial Highway” (§ 24) ● Marine Sgt. David Coullard Memorial Bridge” (§ 25) ● “Captain Patrick Reeves Memorial Highway” (§ 26) ● “Colonel Everett H. Kandarian Memorial Highway” (§ 27) ● “Antique Radio Museum” on I-91 Exit 37 (§ 28) ● “Connecticut River Museum” in Essex on I-95 (§ 29) ● “Veterans Memorial Green” in Waterford on Routes 1 and 156 (§ 30) ● “Connecticut Antiques Trail” on I-84 at Exit 15 (§ 31) ● “Robert Mugford Memorial Bridge” (§ 50) | |
09-187 §§ 62-64 |
Decreases from . 08% to . 04% the presumptive level for determining a driver of a commercial motor vehicle is driving under the influence of alcohol; broadens the scope of the “zero tolerance” law (. 02% of more) for anyone under age 21 to apply it anywhere, rather than only on a highway; and makes several other changes to the laws on driving under the influence of alcohol | |
09-187 § 47 |
Encourages state and municipal police and the Police Officer Standards and Training Council to provide training on highway work zone safety in the basic and review police training program they conduct or administer and requires the Highway Work Zone Safety Advisory Council to develop a program curriculum | |
Allows importation in Connecticut, from Thanksgiving Day until the following New Year's Day, of reindeer that are certified disease free | ||
09-188 §§ 9-10 (VETOED) |
Requires insurance coverage for bone marrow testing. | |
Broadens the information a contracting organization (e. g. , managed care organization or preferred provider network) must give to contracted health care providers; limits an organization's ability to (1) make material changes to a provider's fee schedule and (2) cancel, deny, or demand a refund for payment of an authorized covered service | ||
Requires (1) the Insurance Department's annual consumer report card on health insurance to include the medical loss ratio for each HMO and insurer included in the report and (2) each company to disclose its reported medical loss ratio to applicants | ||
Establishes Fibromyalgia Awareness Day | ||
Makes several changes to the law banning employers from discriminating based solely on gender in the amount of compensation paid to employees | ||
Allows municipalities the option of delaying property tax revaluations for a specified period of time | ||
Establishes radiologist assistant licensure | ||
09-186 § 53 (VETOED) |
Requires DOT commissioner to adopt regulatory criteria for designation of control cities on Interstate Highway System signs | |
09-186 § 13 (VETOED) |
Requires DOT to develop, within existing budgetary resources, an analysis of the potential impact of establishing electronic tolls on Connecticut highways | |
09-186 § 3 (VETOED) |
Permits DOT to sell certain property acquired for potential use as the Route 7 expressway between Danbury and Norwalk | |
09-187 §§ 37-38 |
Modifies procedures and requirements for issuing and receiving handicapped parking credentials | |
Permits municipal acquisition of abandoned cemeteries | ||
Permits students' use of epipens at school | ||
09-187 § 28 |
Permits the DMV commissioner to issue special number plates to antique, rare, or special interest vehicles that have been modified from original manufacturer's specifications | |
09-186 § 17 (VETOED) |
Designates the “Sergeant Felix M. Del Greco, Jr. Memorial Highway” | |
Makes the foreclosure mediation program established under PA 08-176 mandatory, rather than optional, for actions with return dates on and after July 1, 2009 | ||
Specifies that the Department of Children and Families (DCF) must keep written documentation of every effort it makes to reunify a child with a parent | ||
09-188 §§ 11-12 (VETOED) |
Prohibits insurance policies from imposing a coinsurance, copayment, deductible, or other out-of-pocket expense for a second or subsequent colonoscopy a physician orders for the person in a policy year | |
Requires cultural competency continuing education for physicians | ||
Requires pregnant women to be informed about umbilical cord blood and cord blood banks | ||
09-187 § 27 |
Authorizes a local traffic authority to permit operation of golf carts, during daylight hours, on any roads under its jurisdiction with a posted speed limit of 25 miles per hour or less | |
09-187 § 36 |
Expands the special employment driving permit program to include permits for attending classes at higher education institutions | |
09-186 § 12 (VETOED) |
Permits Troop 24 of East Lyme to operate an annual Labor Day weekend coffee stop at the Waterford weigh station if certain conditions are met | |
Requires improvements in bicycling and pedestrian transportation infrastructure, creates a bicycle and pedestrian advisory board, and requires expenditure of certain portions of state and municipal highway funding on facilities improving bicycle and pedestrian access | ||
09-186 § 14 (VETOED) |
Designates the “Vincent DiPietro Memorial Bridge” | |
09-186 § 30 (VETOED) |
Requires DOT to erect a signs on Routes 1 and 156 for the Veterans Memorial Green in Waterford | |
Increases the value of the letter of credit a new private occupational school must file with the Department of Higher Education (DHE) commissioner, requires it be issued by a bank with an office in the state, and extends the period of time for which DHE holds it | ||
Prohibits Student Protection Account funds from being used to refund federal student loans if a private occupational school becomes insolvent or ceases operating. | ||
Requires the Department of Public Health (DPH) to submit a health information technology plan | ||
Prohibits the DHE commissioner from issuing a private occupational school certificate of authorization if the school does not have a director at its main campus and each branch | ||
Revises the process for a private occupational school to appeal the DHE commissioner's decision to deny or revoke its authorization or assess an administrative penalty | ||
Authorizes the Board for State Academic Awards to award undergraduate and graduate credits and degrees through courses offered by Charter Oak State College | ||
Requires a private occupational school, when renewing its certificate of authorization, to submit documentation that it has a passing financial ratio score, as is required for schools participating in federal student aid programs | ||
Conforms to current practice the annual fee, change of ownership fee, and other fees a private occupational school must pay in applying for or renewing its certificate of authorization | ||
Expands DPH/DCF information sharing | ||
843 § 61 |
Allows certain State Supplement Program (SSP) applicants and recipients residing in residential care homes to transfer excess income to “special needs trusts” without affecting their eligibility for SSP assistance | |
Sets conditions exempting mill projects from floodplain certification requirements | ||
Limits what auto insurers can tell insureds with respect to necessary auto repairs and requires a motor vehicle repair shop to obtain a customer's written acknowledgement that he or she is aware of his or her right to choose a repair shop | ||
● Makes several changes in teacher training, qualifications, and professional development (§§ 1-9) ● Adds to the crimes requiring automatic revocation or denial of teaching credentials (§ 2) ● Extends for an additional year, until July 1, 2010, the temporary certification requirements that override dual certification for bilingual education teachers (§ 4) ● Requires student teachers to undergo the same criminal background checks as other school personnel (§ 8) ● Bars anyone whose teaching credential is revoked from working in a public school in any capacity while the revocation remains in force (§ 2) ● Requires the attorney general, in consultation with the education and higher education commissioners, to report to the Education Committee by January 1, 2010 on any investigation performed in Connecticut regarding behavior analysis services for children with autism spectrum disorder (§ 12) ● Establishes a five-year pilot program to require students who live within a half-mile radius of a K-8 charter school to be operated in the former Timothy Dwight School building in New Haven to attend the school (§ 12) ● Allows certain towns to amend adopted local budgets for FY 10 to reduce their education appropriations by up to the amount of funding their local or regional boards of education will receive directly from the federal State Fiscal Stabilization Fund program, according to the 2009 federal stimulus act (§ 19) | ||
09-1, JSS § 24 |
Starting by May 15, 2010, requires each interdistrict magnet school operator annually to notify school districts, in writing, of the estimated number of students from those districts who have been placed at the magnet school for the following school year | |
09-188 §§ 13 – 16 (VETOED) |
Requires group health insurers to offer health behavior wellness, maintenance, or improvement programs that offer insureds participation incentives | |
Modifies certificate of need requirements for healthcare facilities | ||
09-1, JSS § 15 |
Eliminates the education commissioner's authority to grant waivers from the requirement that substitute teachers have at least a bachelor's degree | |
Prohibits payments for hospital-acquired conditions (“Never Events”) | ||
Prohibits physician self-referral for imaging services | ||
09-186 §1 (VETOED) |
Authorizes the State Traffic Commission executive director to certify copies of documents and records | |
09-186 § 2 (VETOED) |
Modifies methods DOT must use to advertise for consultant services | |
09-187 § 67 |
For two years, until June 30, 2011, permits the DMV commissioner to reissue or renew commercial driver's license instruction permits more than once | |
1073 §§ 1-15, 17-31, and 33-39 |
09-187 §§ 1-9, 11-33, 41, 44, 45-46, and 68-69 |
Makes various changes to motor vehicle laws and DMV operations (§11 of SB 1073 eliminated implementation of vision screening for driver's license renewal applicants. This was changed to a two-year postponement of the requirement in §10 of PA 09-187) |
1085 § 2 |
Requires the Department of Social Services to provide personal care assistance services under the Connecticut Homecare Program for Elders | |
09-186 § 8 (VETOED) |
Requires DOT to identify, as part of its zero emission bus implementation plan, locations for hydrogen refueling stations along state highways or at other locations | |
Regarding the Transfer Act: ● Imposes a deadline for remediating property (six years under SB 1106; eight years under 09-235) ● Allows interim verifications which allows property to be used if the soil is remediated and the groundwater is being remediated under a long-term clean up plan | ||
Establishes additional requirements for Medicaid nonemergency medical transportation brokers | ||
Permits strict foreclosure judgments to be reopened under certain circumstances | ||
Alters funding for legal services for the poor and low-income law school scholarship applicants by extending participation requirements in the Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts | ||
Authorizes an academic detailing program | ||
09-186 § 21 (VETOED) |
Designates the “Julia 'Nana' Coppola Memorial Highway” | |
Authorizes state bid preference for businesses purchasing goods or services from a business whose gross revenue in the most recent fiscal year does not exceed $ 3 million (i. e. , “micro businesses”) | ||
09-188 §§ 3-4 (VETOED) |
Requires insurance coverage for prosthetic devices that is at least equivalent to the coverage Medicare provides for such devices | |
Permits students' use of asthmatic inhalers | ||
Provides access to retail store employee bathrooms for people with certain diseases | ||
Establishes Arnold-Chiari Malformation Awareness Day | ||
Establishes Self-Injury Awareness Day | ||
09-186 § 23 (VETOED) |
Designates the “Beverly D. Tulli Memorial Highway” | |
Establishes a baseline of state land on which hunting is permitted to ensure that there is no net loss of such land in the future | ||
Specifies timeframes and procedures concerning sextons' vital record duties | ||
09-186 § 22 (VETOED) |
Designates the “Trooper James Savage Memorial Bridge” | |
Requires motorists to slow down and, when possible and feasible, move over one lane when approaching certain types of emergency and service vehicles on a highway | ||
Establishes Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Day | ||
Requires DCF to provide notice to every attorney in a child protection case when it seeks to move a child or youth in its care or supervision to an out-of-state placement | ||
Requires a property seller to include on the residential condition report given to prospective buyers information concerning (1) leased items on the premises, including propane tanks, water heaters, major appliances, and alarm systems and (2) whether the real property is located in a designated historic zone | ||
Allows DCF and adoption agencies to release information identifying a biological parent if such parent provides written consent | ||
Creates a grant program for dairy farmers | ||
Specifies procedures for submitting cremation certificates to subregistrars | ||
Permits optometrists and ophthalmologists to prescribe therapeutic contact lenses | ||
09-187 §51 |
Requires rather than permits DMV to conduct a second knowledge test before issuing a driver's license to anyone under age 18 | |
09-187 §29 |
Modifies requirements governing how antique, rare, or special interest motor vehicles can qualify for the $ 500 municipal property tax assessment cap | |
09-188 §§ 7-8 (VETOED) |
Expands insurance coverage for wigs by requiring coverage for people with hair loss caused by alopecia areata, except androgenetic alopecia (e. g. , male-pattern baldness), in addition to people with hair loss due to chemotherapy | |
Prohibits anyone directly or indirectly involved in securities sales from falsely expressing or implying that they have special training, education, or experience in providing financial advice or services to seniors | ||
09-187 §60 |
Requires DMV to issue, within existing budgetary resources, a special “Share the Road” license plate | |
09-186 § 29 (VETOED) |
Requires DOT to place signs on I-95 at an appropriate location for the Connecticut River Museum in Essex | |
Requires disclosures by foreclosure rescue and debt reducer services | ||
Reforms the probate court system | ||
Specifies rules for care of bodies awaiting burial | ||
09-186 § 4 (VETOED) |
Prohibits DOT from beginning any phase of the Stamford Transportation Center parking garage demolition until an equal or greater number of alternate parking spaces is provided in the vicinity | |
09-186 § 20 (VETOED) |
Designates the “Governor William A. O'Neill Memorial Highway” | |
09-186 § 16 (VETOED) |
Designates the “Rev. Dr. William O. Johnson Memorial Highway” | |
09-186 § 28 (VETOED) |
Requires DOT to erect signs on I-91 at Exit 37 for the “Antique Radio Museum” | |
09-186 § 19 (VETOED) |
Designates the “Officer Timothy Foley Memorial Highway” | |
09-186 § 5 (VETOED) |
Requires DOT to study the feasibility of providing commuter bus service from commuter parking lots to Bridgeport Train Station | |
Increases penalties for (1) speeding up in order to escape from or elude a police officer and (2) assaulting public transit personnel | ||
09-186 § 24 (VETOED) |
Designates “H. David Cordell Memorial Highway” | |
09-186 § 18 (VETOED) |
Designates “Amvets Post No. 9 Memorial Highway” | |
Eliminates (1) several reports issued by DCF, (2) the Connecticut Juvenile Training School advisory group, and (3) the advisory committee on adoption and provision of services to minority children | ||
09-186 § 15 (VETOED) |
Revises memorial designation to “John L. Levitow, S/Sgt. U. S. Air Force and Medal of Honor Recipient Memorial Bridge” | |
Requires a private occupational school, when renewing its certificate of authorization, to submit financial reports or audits as the DHE commissioner, or his designee, prescribes | ||
Designates the DHE grant program for state residents pursuing veterinary medicine degrees as the Kirklyn M. Kerr grant program | ||
Specifies penalties for adulterated milk | ||
Makes a number of changes regarding consumer credit licensees, specifies how licenses must be surrendered, allows the banking commissioner to deny an application for a period after a prior application has been withdrawn, requires license applicants to provide a history of criminal convictions and allows the commissioner to deny the application on that basis | ||
Creates the crime of residential mortgage fraud | ||
Implements the 2008 federal Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing (S. A. F. E. ) Act by imposing conditions on licensing for mortgage professionals, including education and testing | ||
09-1, JSS § 23 |
Establishes a board to set up a pilot program to allow students to complete courses at J. M. Wright Technical High School for college credit at Norwalk Community College | |
● Adds a recreational marine (saltwater) fishing license requirement ● Requires marine fishing and hunting license fees be used for fish and game preservation | ||
09-1, JSS § 2 |
Requires a school board or approved private special education facility to report to the education commissioner when it dismisses an employee who holds a State Board of Education credential for moral misconduct under the teacher employment law | |
Requires any state agency proposing a regulation to identify how it affects small businesses and include the analysis as part of the fiscal note it must submit to the Regulations Review Committee | ||
Allows certain organizations to hold wine festivals | ||
Allows farm wineries to sell until 9: 00pm | ||
Changes the process for determining eligibility for the Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program and expands eligibility for the CT FAMILIES refinancing program | ||
Requires boards of education to include information about truancy in their annual strategic school profile reports | ||
Requires Education Department to provide specified student data to full-time permanent employees of nonprofit tax-exempt organizations organized and operated for educational purposes and imposes a deadline for department to respond to request for such data | ||
Eliminates specific content requirements for the regulations under which the DMV currently issues special collegiate license plates and establishes a second set of requirements under which the commissioner, within available appropriations, may issue a second type of collegiate “commemorative” plates | ||
09-188 (VETOED) |
Applies insurance coverage requirements for ostomy supplies, treatment of tumors and leukemia, reconstructive surgery, nondental prosthesis, chemotherapy, and wigs for chemotherapy patients, to insurance policies amended, renewed, or continued in Connecticut | |
● Postpones, from March 1, 2009 to March 1, 2011, the deadline for revising the five-year State Plan of Conservation and Development (State Plan of C&D) ● Suspends provision disqualifying municipalities from state discretionary funds for failing to update their plans of conservation and development at least once every 10 years until the next time the state adopts the revised Plan of C&D ● Requires Continuing Legislative Committee on State Planning and Development to study how the State Plan of C&D is prepared and used and report to the legislature by February 1, 2010 | ||
09-197 §§ 30-31 |
For purposes of registration and mechanical inspection, requires that the model year of a composite motor vehicle be determined as the model year that the vehicle body most closely resembles | |
09-197 § 43 |
Permits vehicle owners to apply to DMV for a maximum weight limit tolerance for an auxiliary power or idle reduction technology unit on a commercial motor vehicle | |
09-187 § 32 |
Exempts Safe Ride programs sponsored by certain organizations from the passenger restrictions that apply to drivers under age 18 during their first year of licensure | |
09-187 §§ 45-46 |
Specifies procedures owners of self-storage rental facilities may follow to dispose of motor vehicles left at the facility by a defaulting renter | |
09-187 § 55 |
Requires DEP to evaluate whether the present system for conducting motor vehicle emissions inspections could be replaced and remain in compliance with federal requirements when the current contract expires by a system that tests only 1996 and newer vehicles through their on-board diagnostic systems | |
09-186 § 8 (VETOED) |
Requires DOT to develop a plan for implementing zero-emission buses throughout the state | |
09-187 § 33 |
Establishes a procedure for wreckers who tow or remove motorized personal property at the direction of police to dispose of the property after certain requirements are met | |
09-187 § 48 |
Modifies and broadens the exceptions to the prohibition on television screens or other similar devices that may be installed in a motor vehicle where they may be viewed by the driver | |
09-1, JSS § 13 |
Establishes a one-year resident teacher certificate allowing a qualified person to teach in Connecticut while enrolled in an alternate route to certification program | |
09-1, JSS §§ 20-22 |
Allows charter schools to enter into cooperative arrangements to the same extent as boards of education, if the education commissioner approves | |
09-1, JSS § 11 |
Establishes a three-year, renewable adjunct instructor permit allowing a person with specialized training, experience, or expertise in the arts to teach in certain interdistrict arts magnet high schools for up to 15 classroom instructional hours per week | |
● Allows a person seeking certification to teach in a subject shortage area to substitute an “excellent” score on the appropriate subject area test for regular subject area certification requirements (§ 10) ● Allows a person who holds a valid teaching certificate in another state to be awarded a Connecticut certificate without completing Connecticut's teacher testing requirements if he or she meets certain standards and teaches successfully in Connecticut for one year under a temporary certificate (§ 3) | ||
09-1, JSS §§ 20-22 |
Allows boards of education to agree to establish cooperative arrangements to provide special education and health care services | |
Establishes a pilot program to increase public access to juvenile court proceedings concerning abused, neglected, or dependent children or those petitioning for termination of parental rights |
Table 2: Bill Tracking by Committee
Originated As Bill # |
Enacted as Public Act # |
Brief Explanation of Concept |
AGING | ||
1085 § 2 |
Requires the Department of Social Services to provide personal care assistance services under the Connecticut Homecare Program for Elders | |
Prohibits anyone directly or indirectly involved in securities sales from falsely expressing or implying that they have special training, education, or experience in providing financial advice or services to seniors | ||
BANKS | ||
Makes the foreclosure mediation program established under PA 08-176 mandatory, rather than optional, for actions with return dates on and after July 1, 2009 | ||
Requires disclosures by foreclosure rescue and debt reducer services | ||
Makes a number of changes regarding consumer credit licensees, specifies how licenses must be surrendered, allows the banking commissioner to deny an application for a period after a prior application has been withdrawn, requires license applicants to provide a history of criminal convictions and allows the commissioner to deny the application on that basis | ||
Creates the crime of residential mortgage fraud | ||
Implements the 2008 federal Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing (S. A. F. E. ) Act by imposing conditions on licensing for mortgage professionals, including education and testing | ||
Changes the process for determining eligibility for the Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program and expands eligibility for the CT FAMILIES refinancing program | ||
CHILDREN | ||
Specifies that DCF must keep written documentation of every effort it makes to reunify a child with a parent | ||
Requires DCF to provide notice to every attorney in a child protection case when the department seeks to move a child or youth in its care or supervision to an out-of-state placement | ||
Eliminates (1) several reports issued by DCF, (2) the Connecticut Juvenile Training School advisory group, and (3) the advisory committee on adoption and provision of services to minority children | ||
COMMERCE | ||
Requires the Department of Economic and Community Development commissioner to annually evaluate Connecticut's competitiveness as a place to do business | ||
Exempts the U. S. Navy and Defense departments and their eligible contractors from certain requirements when using state funds for improving the infrastructure at the U. S. Naval Submarine Base—New London | ||
Sets conditions exempting mill projects from floodplain certification requirements | ||
Authorizes state bid preference for businesses purchasing goods or services from a business whose gross revenue in the most recent fiscal year does not exceed $ 3 million (i. e. , “micro businesses”) | ||
Requires any state agency proposing a regulation to identify how it affects small businesses and include the analysis as part of the fiscal note it must submit to the Regulations Review Committee | ||
EDUCATION | ||
● Makes several changes in teacher training, qualifications, and professional development (§§ 1-9) ● Adds to the crimes requiring automatic revocation or denial of teaching credentials (§ 2) ● Extends for an additional year, until July 1, 2010, the temporary certification requirements that override dual certification for bilingual education teachers (§ 4) ● Requires student teachers to undergo the same criminal background checks as other school personnel (§ 8) ● Bars anyone whose teaching credential is revoked from working in a public school in any capacity while the revocation remains in force (§ 2) ● Requires the attorney general, in consultation with the education and higher education commissioners, to report to the Education Committee by January 1, 2010 on any investigation performed in Connecticut regarding behavior analysis services for children with autism spectrum disorder (§ 12) ● Establishes a five-year pilot program to require students who live within a half-mile radius of a K-8 charter school to be operated in the former Timothy Dwight School building in New Haven to attend the school (§ 12) ● Allows certain towns to amend adopted local budgets for FY 10 to reduce their education appropriations by up to the amount of funding their local or regional boards of education will receive directly from the federal State Fiscal Stabilization Fund program, according to the 2009 federal stimulus act (§ 19) | ||
09-1, JSS § 24 |
Starting by May 15, 2010, requires each interdistrict magnet school operator annually to notify school districts, in writing, of the estimated number of students from those districts who have been placed at the magnet school for the following school year | |
09-1, JSS § 15 |
Eliminates the education commissioner's authority to grant waivers from the requirement that substitute teachers have at least a bachelor's degree | |
09-1, JSS § 23 |
Establishes a board to set up a pilot program to allow students to complete courses at J. M. Wright Technical High School for college credit at Norwalk Community College | |
09-1, JSS § 2 |
Requires a school board or approved private special education facility to report to the education commissioner when it dismisses an employee who holds a State Board of Education credential for moral misconduct under the teacher employment law | |
Requires boards of education to include information about truancy in their annual strategic school profile reports | ||
Requires Education Department to provide specified student data to full-time permanent employees of nonprofit tax-exempt organizations organized and operated for educational purposes and imposes a deadline for department to respond to request for such data | ||
09-1, JSS § 13 |
Establishes a one-year resident teacher certificate allowing a qualified person to teach in Connecticut while enrolled in an alternate route to certification program | |
09-1, JSS §§ 20-22 |
Allows charter schools to enter into cooperative arrangements to the same extent as boards of education, if the education commissioner approves | |
09-1, JSS § 11 |
Establishes a three-year, renewable adjunct instructor permit allowing a person with specialized training, experience, or expertise in the arts to teach in certain interdistrict arts magnet high schools for up to 15 classroom instructional hours per week | |
● Allows a person seeking certification to teach in a subject shortage area to substitute an “excellent” score on the appropriate subject area test for regular subject area certification requirements (§ 10) ● Allows a person who holds a valid teaching certificate in another state to be awarded a Connecticut certificate without completing Connecticut's teacher testing requirements if he or she meets certain standards and teaches successfully in Connecticut for one year under a temporary certificate (§ 3) | ||
09-1, JSS §§ 20-22 |
Allows boards of education to agree to establish cooperative arrangements to provide special education and health care services | |
ENVIRONMENT | ||
Allows importation in Connecticut, from Thanksgiving Day until the following New Year's Day, of reindeer that are certified disease free | ||
Regarding the Transfer Act: ● Imposes a deadline for remediating property (six years under SB 1106; eight years under 09-235) ● Allows interim verifications which allows property to be used if the soil is remediated and the groundwater is being remediated under a long-term clean up plan | ||
Establishes a baseline of state land on which hunting is permitted to ensure that there is no net loss of such land in the future | ||
Creates a grant program for dairy farmers | ||
Specifies penalties for adulterated milk | ||
● Adds a recreational marine (saltwater) fishing license requirement ● Requires marine fishing and hunting license fees be used for fish and game preservation | ||
GENERAL LAW | ||
Requires a property seller to include on the residential condition report given to prospective buyers information concerning (1) leased items on the premises, including propane tanks, water heaters, major appliances, and alarm systems and (2) whether the real property is located in a designated historic zone | ||
Allows certain organizations to hold wine festivals | ||
Allows farm wineries to sell until 9: 00pm | ||
HIGHER EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT ADVANCEMENT | ||
● Requires the Board of Governors of Higher Education to adopt policies regulating credit card issuer marketing practices on Connecticut's public college campuses ● Prohibits credit card issuers from taking any debt collection action against a student's parent or legal guardian unless they have agreed in writing to be liable for the student's debts | ||
Increases the value of the letter of credit a new private occupational school must file with the Department of Higher Education (DHE) commissioner, requires it be issued by a bank with an office in the state, and extends the period of time for which DHE holds it | ||
Prohibits Student Protection Account funds from being used to refund federal student loans if a private occupational school becomes insolvent or ceases operating. | ||
Prohibits the DHE commissioner from issuing a private occupational school certificate of authorization if the school does not have a director at its main campus and each branch | ||
Revises the process for a private occupational school to appeal the DHE commissioner's decision to deny or revoke its authorization or assess an administrative penalty | ||
Authorizes the Board for State Academic Awards to award undergraduate and graduate credits and degrees through courses offered by Charter Oak State College | ||
Requires a private occupational school, when renewing its certificate of authorization, to submit documentation that it has a passing financial ratio score, as is required for schools participating in federal student aid programs | ||
Conforms to current practice the annual fee, change of ownership fee, and other fees a private occupational school must pay in applying for or renewing its certificate of authorization | ||
Requires a private occupational school, when renewing its certificate of authorization, to submit financial reports or audits as the DHE commissioner, or his designee, prescribes | ||
Designates the DHE grant program for state residents pursuing veterinary medicine degrees as the Kirklyn M. Kerr grant program | ||
Eliminates specific content requirements for the regulations under which the DMV currently issues special collegiate license plates and establishes a second set of requirements under which the commissioner, within available appropriations, may issue a second type of collegiate “commemorative” plates | ||
HUMAN SERVICES | ||
843 § 61 |
Allows certain State Supplement Program (SSP) applicants and recipients residing in residential care homes to transfer excess income to “special needs trusts” without affecting their eligibility for SSP assistance | |
Establishes additional requirements for Medicaid nonemergency medical transportation brokers | ||
INSURANCE AND REAL ESTATE | ||
Broadens what a group health insurance policy must cover with respect to autism spectrum disorders. | ||
09-188 §§ 5-6 (VETOED) |
Expands insurance coverage for hearing aids for children by requiring coverage for children under age 19, up from age 13. | |
09-188 §§ 9-10 (VETOED) |
Requires insurance coverage for bone marrow testing. | |
Broadens the information a contracting organization (e. g. , managed care organization or preferred provider network) must give to contracted health care providers; limits an organization's ability to (1) make material changes to a provider's fee schedule and (2) cancel, deny, or demand a refund for payment of an authorized covered service | ||
Requires (1) the Insurance Department's annual consumer report card on health insurance to include the medical loss ratio for each HMO and insurer included in the report and (2) each company to disclose its reported medical loss ratio to applicants | ||
09-188 §§ 11-12 (VETOED) |
Prohibits insurance policies from imposing a coinsurance, copayment, deductible, or other out-of-pocket expense for a second or subsequent colonoscopy a physician orders for the person in a policy year | |
Limits what auto insurers can tell insureds with respect to necessary auto repairs and requires a motor vehicle repair shop to obtain a customer's written acknowledgement that he or she is aware of his or her right to choose a repair shop | ||
09-188 §§ 13 – 16 (VETOED) |
Requires group health insurers to offer health behavior wellness, maintenance, or improvement programs that offer insureds participation incentives | |
09-188 §§ 3-4 (VETOED) |
Requires insurance coverage for prosthetic devices that is at least equivalent to the coverage Medicare provides for such devices | |
09-188 §§ 7-8 (VETOED) |
Expands insurance coverage for wigs by requiring coverage for people with hair loss caused by alopecia areata, except androgenetic alopecia (e. g. , male-pattern baldness), in addition to people with hair loss due to chemotherapy | |
09-188 (VETOED) |
Applies insurance coverage requirements for ostomy supplies, treatment of tumors and leukemia, reconstructive surgery, nondental prosthesis, chemotherapy, and wigs for chemotherapy patients, to insurance policies amended, renewed, or continued in Connecticut | |
JUDICIARY | ||
Permits strict foreclosure judgments to be reopened under certain circumstances | ||
Alters funding for legal services for the poor and low-income law school scholarship applicants by extending participation requirements in the Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts | ||
Allows DCF and adoption agencies to release information identifying a biological parent if such parent provides written consent | ||
Reforms the probate court system | ||
Establishes a pilot program to increase public access to juvenile court proceedings concerning abused, neglected, or dependent children or those petitioning for termination of parental rights | ||
LABOR AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES | ||
Makes several changes to the law banning employers from discriminating based solely on gender in the amount of compensation paid to employees | ||
PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT | ||
Allows municipalities the option of delaying property tax revaluations for a specified period of time | ||
● Postpones, from March 1, 2009 to March 1, 2011, the deadline for revising the five-year State Plan of Conservation and Development (State Plan of C&D) ● Suspends provision disqualifying municipalities from state discretionary funds for failing to update their plans of conservation and development at least once every 10 years until the next time the state adopts the revised Plan of C&D ● Requires Continuing Legislative Committee on State Planning and Development to study how the State Plan of C&D is prepared and used and report to the legislature by February 1, 2010 | ||
PUBLIC HEALTH | ||
Requires defibrillators in schools | ||
Requires newborn screening for cystic fibrosis | ||
Requires direct billing for pathology services | ||
Establishes Fibromyalgia Awareness Day | ||
Establishes radiologist assistant licensure | ||
Permits municipal acquisition of abandoned cemeteries | ||
Permits students' use of epipens at school | ||
Requires cultural competency continuing education for physicians | ||
Requires pregnant women to be informed about umbilical cord blood and cord blood banks | ||
Requires the Department of Public Health (DPH) to submit a health information technology plan | ||
Expands DPH/DCF information sharing | ||
Modifies certificate of need requirements for healthcare facilities | ||
Prohibits payments for hospital-acquired conditions (“Never Events”) | ||
Prohibits physician self-referral for imaging services | ||
Authorizes an academic detailing program | ||
Permits students' use of asthmatic inhalers | ||
Provides access to retail store employee bathrooms for people with certain diseases | ||
Establishes Arnold-Chiari Malformation Awareness Day | ||
Establishes Self-Injury Awareness Day | ||
Specifies timeframes and procedures concerning sextons' vital record duties | ||
Establishes Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Day | ||
Specifies procedures for submitting cremation certificates to subregistrars | ||
Permits optometrists and opthamologists to prescribe therapeutic contact lenses | ||
Specifies rules for care of bodies awaiting burial | ||
TRANSPORTATION | ||
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§§ 14-31 & 50 (VETOED) |
Designates various commemorative and memorial road and bridge names and requires erection of certain location signs: ● “Vincent DiPietro Memorial Bridge” (§ 14) ● “John L. Levitow, S/Sgt. U. S. Air Force and Medal of Honor Recipient Memorial Bridge” (§ 15) ● “Rev. Dr. William O Johnson Memorial Highway” (§ 16) ● “Sergeant Felix M. Del Greco, Jr. Memorial Highway” (§ 17) ● “Amvets Post No. 9 Memorial Highway” ( § 18) ● “Officer Timothy Foley Memorial Highway” (§ 19) ● “Governor William A. O'Neill Memorial Highway” (§ 20) ● “Julia 'Nana” Coppola Memorial Highway” (§ 21) ● “Trooper James savage Memorial Bridge” (§ 22) ● “Beverly D. Tulli Memorial Highway” (§ 23) ● “Officer H. David Cordell Memorial Highway” (§ 24) ● Marine Sgt. David Coullard Memorial Bridge” (§ 25) ● “Captain Patrick Reeves Memorial Highway” (§ 26) ● “Colonel Everett H. Kandarian Memorial Highway” (§ 27) ● “Antique Radio Museum” on I-91 Exit 37 (§ 28) ● “Connecticut River Museum” in Essex on I-95 (§ 29) ● “Veterans Memorial Green” in Waterford on Routes 1 and 156 (§ 30) ● “Connecticut Antiques Trail” on I-84 at Exit 15 (§ 31) ● “Robert Mugford Memorial Bridge” (§ 50) | |
09-187 §§ 62-64 |
Decreases from . 08% to . 04% the presumptive level for determining a driver of a commercial motor vehicle is driving under the influence of alcohol; broadens the scope of the “zero tolerance” law (. 02% of more) for anyone under age 21 to apply it anywhere, rather than only on a highway; and makes several other changes to the laws on driving under the influence of alcohol | |
09-187 § 47 |
Encourages state and municipal police and the Police Officer Standards and Training Council to provide training on highway work zone safety in the basic and review police training program they conduct or administer and requires the Highway Work Zone Safety Advisory Council to develop a program curriculum | |
09-186 § 53 (VETOED) |
Requires DOT commissioner to adopt regulatory criteria for designation of control cities on Interstate Highway System signs | |
09-186 § 13 (VETOED) |
Requires DOT to develop, within existing budgetary resources, an analysis of the potential impact of establishing electronic tolls on Connecticut highways | |
09-186 § 3 (VETOED) |
Permits DOT to sell certain property acquired for potential use as the Route 7 expressway between Danbury and Norwalk | |
09-187 §§ 37-38 |
Modifies procedures and requirements for issuing and receiving handicapped parking credentials | |
09-187 § 28 |
Permits the DMV commissioner to issue special number plates to antique, rare, or special interest vehicles that have been modified from original manufacturer's specifications | |
09-186 § 17 (VETOED) |
Designates the “Sergeant Felix M. Del Greco, Jr. Memorial Highway” | |
09-187 § 27 |
Authorizes a local traffic authority to permit operation of golf carts, during daylight hours, on any roads under its jurisdiction with a posted speed limit of 25 miles per hour or less | |
09-187 § 36 |
Expands the special employment driving permit program to include permits for attending classes at higher education institutions | |
09-186 § 12 (VETOED) |
Permits Boy Scout Troop 24 of East Lyme to operate an annual Labor Day weekend coffee stop at the Waterford weigh station if certain conditions are met | |
Requires improvements in bicycling and pedestrian transportation infrastructure, creates a bicycle and pedestrian advisory board, and requires expenditure of certain portions of state and municipal highway funding on facilities improving bicycle and pedestrian access | ||
09-186 § 14 (VETOED) |
Designates the “Vincent DiPietro Memorial Bridge” | |
09-186 § 30 (VETOED) |
Requires DOT to erect a signs on Routes 1 and 156 for the Veterans Memorial Green in Waterford | |
09-186 §1 (VETOED) |
Authorizes the State Traffic Commission executive director to certify copies of documents and records | |
09-186 § 2 (VETOED) |
Modifies methods DOT must use to advertise for consultant services | |
09-187 § 67 |
For two years, until June 30, 2011, permits the DMV commissioner to reissue or renew commercial driver's license instruction permits more than once | |
1073 §§ 1-15, 17-31, and 33-39 |
09-187 §§ 1-9, 11-33, 41, 44, 45-46, and 68-69 |
Makes various changes to motor vehicle laws and DMV operations (§11 of SB 1073 eliminated implementation of vision screening for driver's license renewal applicants. This was changed to a two-year postponement of the requirement in §10 of PA 09-187) |
09-186 § 8 (VETOED) |
Requires DOT to identify, as part of its zero emission bus implementation plan, locations for hydrogen refueling stations along state highways or at other locations | |
09-186 § 21 (VETOED) |
Designates the “Julia 'Nana' Coppola Memorial Highway” | |
09-186 § 23 (VETOED) |
Designates the “Beverly D. Tulli Memorial Highway” | |
09-186 § 22 (VETOED) |
Designates the “Trooper James Savage Memorial Bridge” | |
Requires motorists to slow down and, when possible and feasible, move over one lane when approaching certain types of emergency and service vehicles on a highway | ||
09-187 §51 |
Requires rather than permits DMV to conduct a second knowledge test before issuing a driver's license to anyone under age 18 | |
09-187 §29 |
Modifies requirements governing how antique, rare, or special interest motor vehicles can qualify for the $ 500 municipal property tax assessment cap | |
09-187 §60 |
Requires DMV to issue, within existing budgetary resources, a special “Share the Road” license plate | |
09-186 § 29 (VETOED) |
Requires DOT to place signs on I-95 at an appropriate location for the Connecticut River Museum in Essex | |
09-186 § 4 (VETOED) |
Prohibits DOT from beginning any phase of the Stamford Transportation Center parking garage demolition until an equal or greater number of alternate parking spaces is provided in the vicinity | |
09-186 § 20 (VETOED) |
Designates the “Governor William A. O'Neill Memorial Highway” | |
09-186 § 16 (VETOED) |
Designates the “Rev. Dr. William O. Johnson Memorial Highway” | |
09-186 § 28 (VETOED) |
Requires DOT to erect signs on I-91 at Exit 37 for the “Antique Radio Museum” | |
09-186 § 19 (VETOED) |
Designates the “Officer Timothy Foley Memorial Highway” | |
09-186 § 5 (VETOED) |
Requires DOT to study the feasibility of providing commuter bus service from commuter parking lots to Bridgeport Train Station | |
Increases penalties for (1) speeding up in order to escape from or elude a police officer and (2) assaulting public transit personnel | ||
09-186 § 24 (VETOED) |
Designates “H. David Cordell Memorial Highway” | |
09-186 § 18 (VETOED) |
Designates “Amvets Post No. 9 Memorial Highway” | |
09-186 § 15 (VETOED) |
Revises memorial designation to “John L. Levitow, S/Sgt. U. S. Air Force and Medal of Honor Recipient Memorial Bridge” | |
09-197 §§ 30-31 |
For purposes of registration and mechanical inspection, requires that the model year of a composite motor vehicle be determined as the model year that the vehicle body most closely resembles | |
09-197 § 43 |
Permits vehicle owners to apply to DMV for a maximum weight limit tolerance for an auxiliary power or idle reduction technology unit on a commercial motor vehicle | |
09-187 § 32 |
Exempts Safe Ride programs sponsored by certain organizations from the passenger restrictions that apply to drivers under age 18 during their first year of licensure | |
09-187 §§ 45-46 |
Specifies procedures owners of self-storage rental facilities may follow to dispose of motor vehicles left at the facility by a defaulting renter | |
09-187 § 55 |
Requires DEP to evaluate whether the present system for conducting motor vehicle emissions inspections could be replaced and remain in compliance with federal requirements when the current contract expires by a system that tests only 1996 and newer vehicles through their on-board diagnostic systems | |
09-186 § 8 (VETOED) |
Requires DOT to develop a plan for implementing zero-emission buses throughout the state | |
09-187 § 33 |
Establishes a procedure for wreckers who tow or remove motorized personal property at the direction of police to dispose of the property after certain requirements are met | |
09-187 § 48 |
Modifies and broadens the exceptions to the prohibition on television screens or other similar devices that may be installed in a motor vehicle where they may be viewed by the driver | |
RP/RO: ts