Hartford Business Journal

20 Hartford Business Journal | January 25, 2021 | HartfordBusiness.com FOCUS: Lobbying By Greg Bordonaro gbordonaro@hartfordbusiness.com Each year the Office of Legislative Research identifies major policy issues that will be debated during the legislative session. Here are the policies that are expected to be debated and impact businesses during the 2021 session, which runs through early June, according to OLR. Age discrimination in the workforce Like many states, Connecticut is experiencing an aging workforce. Last session, the Aging Committee favorably reported legislation (Senate Bill 85) that prohibited age discrimination during the employment application process. Specifically, the bill generally made it a discriminatory employment practice for employers to request or require a prospective employee's age, birth date, or graduation date on an initial employment application. Transportation cap-and- trade program In Dec. 2020, Gov. Ned Lamont signed a memorandum of understanding agreeing to work with other states and jurisdictions — including Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C. — to cap and reduce transportation greenhouse gas emissions. The Transportation and Climate Initiative Program (TCI-P) will have a declining cap on carbon dioxide pollution from gasoline and on-road diesel fuel and require fuel suppliers to buy auctioned allowances to cover the fuel's fossil fuel-based emissions. Proceeds from the auction, which could lead to higher gas prices in the state, must be reinvested in clean transportation and infrastructure. State lawmakers still need to take action on TCI-P before it can actually be implemented. Electric rates In September, the legislature enacted a new law that requires the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to begin implementing a performance-based regulatory framework for electric distribution companies (Eversource and United Illuminating) that will ultimately make their electric rates hinge on certain performance metrics and standards (e.g., reliability, emergency response, customer satisfaction). This year the legislature may explore additional measures related to electric rates, including provisions related to decoupling rates from usage and equity in renewable energy policies. Solid waste management Solid waste management is a perennial issue before the legislature. During the 2020 session, the Environment Committee held public hearings on more than 10 bills related to solid waste. The bills, which could come up again in 2021, included provisions on restricting the use of certain products (e.g., helium balloons, polystyrene products, plastic straws), revising the state's beverage container redemption law ("bottle bill") and using multi-stream recycling. This year, the quasi-public Material Innovations and Recycling Authority (MIRA) announced that it intends to close its Hartford trash- to-energy plant by July 1, 2022, and operate as a transfer station for the waste it receives. MIRA serves more than 50 Connecticut towns with most having contracts through 2027. The legislature will likely debate the impact of this move. Health insurance reform Over the past few years, the Insurance and Real Estate Committee has considered several major health insurance reforms, including a "public option" health insurance program, a health reinsurance program, and programs to reduce the cost of prescription drugs by leveraging state purchasing power or importing them from Canada. Consideration of these proposals was postponed last session. Democratic lawmakers and Comptroller Kevin Lembo have already pledged to propose a public health insurance option in 2021. Recreational marijuana Gov. Ned Lamont is positioning lawmakers for a robust debate this year on legalizing and taxing the sale of marijuana for recreational use. The administration has begun seeking agency feedback on a draft bill that would tax dry cannabis flowers at $1.25 per gram, trimmed marijuana plants at 50 cents per gram; and wet cannabis at 28 cents per gram. In addition to applying the standard sales tax of 6.35% to marijuana transactions, a 3% surcharge would be added and the revenue from this shared with municipalities. The bill would also automatically erase convictions for possession of less than four ounces of cannabis that occurred prior to Oct. 1, 2015. — Keith M. Phaneuf, CT Mirror Criminal histories and employment Lawmakers in 2019 established the Council on the Collateral Consequences of a Criminal Record to develop legislative recommendations to reduce or eliminate discrimination based on a person's criminal history. In 2020, the Labor and Public Employees Committee heard House Bill 5389, which would have made it a discriminatory practice to take certain actions against someone because of his or her criminal history. The committee may revisit the issue this session, particularly regarding discriminatory employment practices. Unemployment compensation With the COVID-19 pandemic significantly increasing unemployment, the state's unemployment compensation trust fund, which is paid via an employer tax, recently became insolvent. According to the Department of Labor, as of Dec. 16, 2020, the state had borrowed $402 million from the Federal Unemployment Account in order to continue paying unemployment benefits. This session, the legislature may explore various ways to limit the tax liability of employers related to the federal loans, which must be repaid, likely through higher fees on businesses. Telehealth In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, policymakers temporarily expanded access to telehealth services in various ways including by expanding the types of health professionals authorized to provide such services. Lawmakers this year, given the growing popularity of telehealth, could decide to make some of those changes permanent. Gaming expansion Before the 2020 session was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the legislature considered several proposals for expanding gaming in Connecticut. These included legalizing and taxing wagers on sports, authorizing the sale of lottery tickets for lottery draw games over the internet, and establishing online casino gaming. Those issues are likely to come up again in 2021. The state Capitol will largely be empty during the 2021 legislative session as a result of the pandemic, but key issues like recreational marijuana legalization and expansion of telehealth services will still be debated. CREDIT | HBJ FILE PHOTOS Key 2021 legislative issues to watch for

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