Beginning on New Year’s Day, a slate of new laws will go into effect in Connecticut. Among the 10 most notable changes to occur in 2024 are the following:
Birthing Center Licensing: The Department of Public Health is creating a new license category for independent birthing centers, with goal of improving the health outcomes of pregnant women and their babies. Birth center will not be able to operate without this license, and a new program will begin to review data surrounding infant deaths in order to reduce health care disparities.
Broadway Touring Show Incentives: A 30% tax credit will be available beginning January 1, 2024 to entertainment companies that tech their Broadway tours to Connecticut theaters. The phrase “teching” is when a theater is used for cast rehearsals and production coordination before a show is launched in new touring productions.
Bottle Deposits: The minimum beverage container deposit fee collected by people redeeming empty beverage containers is increasing from five to 10 cents.
Contraceptive Prescriptions: In 2024, Connecticut pharmacists will have the ability to prescribe emergency or hormonal contraception to a patient. Pharmacists will need to undergo an educational training program and follow specific procedures that include patient counseling and notifying the patient’s health care provider.
Criminal Record Erasures: Connecticut residents with certain low-level offenses will become eligible to have their criminal records erased. Eligibility involves having a clean record for at least seven years since the last conviction, which must be on or after January 2000. This action will prevent the access of those records through background checks, which are often required by individuals seeking employment, housing or credit.
Early Voting: Connecticut will begin to offer a 14-day early voting period for general elections, a seven-day period for most primaries and a four-day period for special elections and presidential preference primaries. Each locality must have at least one early voting venue.
Firefighter Cancer Relief Funding: All localities in the state will be required to make annual contributions to the firefighters’ cancer relief account, which provides wage replacement benefits for paid and volunteer firefighters who are diagnosed with cancer. The donations are $10 for all firefighters in the local fire districts.
Minimum Wage: Connecticut’s current minimum wage of $15 per hour will be increased to $15.69 per hour.
Tax Cuts: For the first time since the mid-1990s, Connecticut’s state income tax rate will be reduced. The new tax cuts are capped at $150,000 for single filers and $300,000 for joint filers.
Workers’ Compensation: The workers’ compensation benefits eligibility for post-traumatic dress injuries is being expanded to include all employees covered by the workers’ compensation law. Previous, the law only covered first responders diagnosed with post-traumatic stress injury from their work-related duties.
All of the new 2024 laws in Connecticut can be found online.
