Hartford Business Journal

4 Hartford Business Journal • May 14, 2018 • www.HartfordBusiness.com Briefs Sweeping energy reforms clear legislature The House of Representatives and Senate approved wide-ranging changes to the state's energy policy that drew mixed reviews from environmental advocates. Senate Bill 9 now heads to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who hailed passage of the legislation, saying it takes "real steps toward reducing our overall emissions and creating good jobs in the green economy." The bill doubles the amount of renewable energy that Connecticut utilities will be required to purchase over the next decade, from 20 percent in 2020 to 40 percent in 2030. That is expected to increase electricity costs for ratepayers, but it's not clear by exactly how much. S.B. 9 also extends for another year $8 million in renewable incentives for commercial users. The low-emission (L-REC) and zero-emission (Z-REC) programs allow commercial users to sell their electricity output to utilities in 15-year contracts. One provision that environmental groups decried is the sunset next year of a program that provides energy credits to residential solar owners, instead setting up a process for the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to determine what price utilities should pay owners for their electricity. Advocates and some lawmakers worry that the process will almost certainly lead to owners receiving less than retail rates for their solar output. Drug-price transparency bill passes legislature with no dissent A bill designed to help Connecticut officials peer into the black box of drug pricing won final approval from both the House and Senate. Proponents of the measure called it a necessary first step toward curbing expensive prescription drug prices. The bill, which is expected to be signed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and goes into effect Jan. 1 , 2020, requires industry players to disclose a wide range of information to the state. Those affected include drug companies, health insurers, and lesser-known entities called pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, which manage drug benefits for insurers. Drug companies will have to justify increases when a drug's price jumps more than 20 percent in one year or 50 percent over three years to the new Office of Health Strategy. Insurance companies, when filing rate requests for their health plans each spring, will have to tell the state Insurance Department the 25 drugs with the highest cost to the plan. Mackenzie Rigg | CT Mirror Spieth returning to Travelers Championship to defend title Jordan Spieth. Jordan Spieth, who won last year's Travelers Championship in dramatic fashion when he holed a bunker shot on the first hole of a playoff with Daniel Berger, is returning next month to defend his title at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, the tournament announced. The event is June 18-24. Spieth followed his win at the Travelers Championship with a victory at the 2017 British Open, the third major win of his career. With 11 PGA Tour victories, Spieth has been one of the world's best players since he turned professional in 2012. Week in Review TOP STORY State lawmakers overwhelmingly enact bipartisan CT budget T he legislature overwhelmingly approved a new state budget May 9 that restores aid for towns; reverses healthcare cuts for the elderly, poor and disabled; and defers a transportation crisis — at least for another year. The $20.86 billion package, which now moves to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's desk, does not increase taxes, though it does raise the maximum tax rate cities and towns can levy on motor vehicles. It also would spend rather than save more than $300 million from this April's $1 billion surge in income tax receipts. It does not include several major changes sought by Republicans to collective bargaining rules regarding state and municipal employees. And while state finances are projected to face multibillion-dollar deficits after the next election tied in part to legacy debt costs amassed over eight decades, the new budget would leave Connecticut with $1.1 billion in its emergency reserves. The budget boosts General Fund spending about 1.6 percent over the adopted budget for the current fiscal year, and is 1.1 percent higher than the preliminary 2018-19 budget lawmakers adopted last October. In a related matter, legislators also passed several state tax changes aimed at protecting Connecticut households and businesses that may face higher federal taxes under the tax plan passed this past winter by Congress. Keith Phaneuf | CT Mirror BY THE NUMBERS 10 The number of "essential benefits" Connecticut would require health insurers to continue covering, should Congress repeal Obamacare. 20% A price increase threshold that would require pharmaceutical companies to justify to the state Office of Health- care Strategy why they are increasing a drug's cost, under new legislation headed to Gov. Dannel Malloy's desk. 0.2% The percentage that Connecticut's economy shrank in 2017, the second consecutive year the state's econom- ic output contracted, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. $20.86B The total value of the fiscal 2019 state budget approved by lawmakers May 9. TOP 5 MOST READ On HartfordBusiness.com • 1. FuelCell Energy pushes for bigger clean-power buy • 2. Sweeping energy reforms clear House • 3. Pratt St. building offered at $2.9M • 4. Spieth returning to Travelers Championship to defend title • 5. Feds: CT's economic output fell in 2017 STAY CONNECTED For breaking and daily Greater Hartford business news go to www.HartfordBusiness.com HBJ on Twitter: @HartfordBiz HBJ on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HartfordBiz HBJ on Linkedln: www.linkedin.com/company/ the-Hartford-Business-Journal Daily e-newsletters: HBJ Today, CT Morning Blend www.HartfordBusiness.com/ subscribe Weekly e-newsletters: CT Health Care Weekly www.HartfordBusiness.com/ subscribe State lawmakers closed out this year's legislative session passing a $20.86 billion budget. PHOTO | HBJ FILE PHOTO | CONTIBUTED

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