Round-Up of Bills Passed in House as of May 21

Rep. Palm speaks on the House floor
May 24, 2021

We are at that stage in the legislative session where the House is referring bills it passed to the Senate, and vice versa. (A bill must pass in both chambers before it is sent to the Governor to be signed into law.)  While some of the recent round-ups I have sent you have contained bills which, while still important, tend not to make news, this week we debated and passed three major pieces of legislation in the House. I voted “yes” on all of them.

Bills we voted on in the House this week include:

H.B. 6107, AN ACT CONCERNING THE REORGANIZATION OF THE ZONING ENABLING ACT AND THE PROMOTION OF MUNICIPAL COMPLIANCE.
Connecticut's zoning law is almost 100 years old. It's time to make an investment to grow infrastructure responsibly while advancing housing choices across the state and correcting decades of economic and racial segregation.

HB 6107, just passed by the House yesterday, reorganizes, simplifies, and clarifies existing law to empower our communities to accurately and efficiently plan for their futures while maintaining local control.

CLICK HERE for more information about this bill.

H.B. 6451, AN ACT CONCERNING THE AUTHORIZATION, LICENSING AND REGULATION OF ONLINE CASINO GAMING, RETAIL AND ONLINE SPORTS WAGERING, FANTASY CONTESTS, KENO AND ONLINE SALE OF LOTTERY TICKETS.
States across the country have been moving towards the future, making critically needed expansions to their gaming industry by investing in new online technology. Today, Connecticut has taken a significant step towards joining that future as HB 6451 moves through the House chamber to modernize Connecticut's gaming landscape. 

CLICK HERE for more information about this bill.
S.B. 835, AN ACT CONCERNING DECEPTIVE ADVERTISING PRACTICES OF LIMITED SERVICES PREGNANCY CENTERS.
Click above to watch the video.
SB 835 is a truth-in-advertising bill. It will prohibit “limited service pregnancy centers” (also known as “crisis pregnancy centers”) from using deceptive or false advertising to attract pregnant women seeking reproductive care. Although many of these centers provide valuable resources to our community – and this bill in no way attempts to shut them down – some of them falsely claim or imply in their advertising that they provide abortion services. Many open similarly named practices near full service pregnancy centers, and give unproven – and sometimes dangerous – medical advice. These practices can be harmful to women by delaying critical reproductive care.

There are 25 limited services pregnancy centers in Connecticut, some of which are associated with national anti-choice organizations which strategically use these centers to limit access to abortion services. According to the Guttmacher Institute, they prey on poor, young or poorly educated women during a very vulnerable time. Currently, centers that charge patients for services are subject to the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA), which prohibits unfair or deceptive acts. However, many centers offer services for free, and therefore are not subject to CUTPA. This bill would hold them to the same standards, for the protection of women.

To see my remarks on this bill on the House floor, click the video above.