Matt Blumenthal

A number of new laws that were passed during the 2023 legislative session went into effect on Sunday, October 1st. These laws address various issues and aim to enhance our great state.

New laws include wrong-way driving prevention with a test program on 120 highway exit ramps determined high risk for wrong-way drivers, gun violence prevention, and prohibiting hand-harvesting of ecologically important horseshoe crabs or their eggs from state waters.
 
Additionally, we prohibited deceptive and coercive interrogation methods and implemented proper notification of inmates’ families and any associated victims of related crime(s) when they transfer them from one facility to another.

Please see below for additional laws that took effect on October 1st: 

• PA 23-97- This law supports patients and families, increases treatment for opioid addiction, and grows the professional healthcare workforce.
  • Supports patients and families by:
    • Ensuring access to fertility treatment
    • Expanding Medicaid coverage for long-term contraceptives
    • Creating mental health toolkits for new patients 
    • Requiring trained EMTS to carry and use EpiPens in an emergency
    • Required faster transfer of patient records between healthcare facilities
  • Increases treatment for opioid addiction by:
    • Creating a harm reduction pilot to prevent overdoses- allowing people to access fentanyl and xylazine tests, receive counseling and other services- under the care of licensed providers
    • Establishes a dedicated funding source for the bulk purchase of Narcan for towns, schools, local police, and health departments and EMS companies
  • Grows the professional healthcare workforce by: 
    • Encouraging careers in our k-12 schools, offering nursing licenses at our colleges, and creating opportunities among our existing personal care attendant workforce. 
    • Incentivizing licensed providers with 10 years of experience to become adjunct faculty at CT colleges and universities
    • Limiting the use of non-compete agreements for physicians, nurses, and physician assistants 
    • Improving licensing for nurses and physical therapists who move to CT
    • Partnering with other states for clinical training opportunities. 
       
• PA 23-101- This law supports behavioral health care providers and patients, the needs of young children, and promotes healthy families and communities. 
  • Supports behavior health care providers and patients by:
    • Establishing the Office of the Behavioral Health Advocate to help providers and patients navigate our insurance system for behavior health care. 
    • Providing parity of licensing fees and schedule for certain mental health professionals. 
  • Supports the needs of young children by: 
    • Requiring the study of post-pandemic needs of children to help us learn how to close the gaps between children's existing conditions and desired outcomes.
    • We made the general administrative payments (GAP) to birth-to-three programs permanent at the $200 level.
    • Requiring individualized family service plans to be translated into Spanish and gives a child whose primary language is Spanish the right to receive intervention services in Spanish. 
  • Promotes healthy families and communities by: 
    • Requiring the Department of Social Services to collaborate with nonprofits to enroll eligible children in HUSKY Health.
    • Allowing service workers to use paid sick time to take a mental wellness day or attend to the needs of a child who is a victim of family violence or sexual assault.
    • Requiring a collaborative study of community-based bereavement and counseling resource centers serving children and families.
    • We discouraged book-banning by prohibiting any public library from receiving a state grant if their governing board does not adopt and follow a policy to offer residents a clear process to request a reconsideration of library materials. 

For more information on legislation that took effect on October 1st, click here.