Connecticut’s Three Branches: Three Jobs – One Government

Connecticut’s Three Branches: Three Jobs – One Government – Recent Legislation

Some Recent Legislation related to student proposals:

The following list should not be considered exhaustive. For other legislation, visit: http://search.cga.state.ct.us/

“Make it a crime to kill animals on purpose.”

1993 sHB 5178 - “AN ACT CONCERNING KILLING A POLICE ANIMAL” (This bill makes it a crime to intentionally kill an animal while it is working under a peace officer's supervision. Violation is punishable by imprisonment for up to five years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.)

2000 sHB 5673 - “AN ACT CONCERNING DOMESTIC ANIMALS, LICENSURE FOR THE CONTROL OF NUISANCE WILDLIFE AND ANIMALS IN AGRICULTURAL EVENTS.” (requires regional animal control officers to have a valid Nuisance Wildlife Control license.)

2001 sHB 5832 “AN ACT CONCERNING DAMAGES FOR THE UNLAWFUL KILLING OR INJURING OF COMPANION ANIMALS.” (This bill makes those who intentionally or recklessly kill or injure a companion animal, except as authorized by law, liable to the animal's owner for economic damages and non-economic damages up to the jurisdictional level established for small claims court (currently $ 3,500). Under the bill, non-economic damages include, but are not limited to, mental and emotional suffering and loss of the reasonably expected society, companionship, affection, and services of the companion animal. Connecticut common law does not currently allow the recovery of non-economic damages for intentionally or recklessly killing or injuring an animal.)

“Speed limits on the highways should be higher than 55 MPH.”

1995 sHB 5130 “AN ACT INCREASING THE SPEED LIMIT ON LIMITED ACCESS HIGHWAYS” (allows the State Traffic Commission to set a speed limit of more than 55 MPH on highways that are eligible under federal law.)

1997 sHB 5262 “AN ACT INCREASING THE SPEED LIMIT ON CERTAIN HIGHWAYS” (allows the State Traffic Commission to increase the posted speed limit to 60 miles per hour (mph) on five specific sections of state limited access highway and on any other limited access highway that is suitable for a 60 mph limit after considering relevant factors, including design, area population, and traffic flow.)

“Violent movies and TV shows should be banned.”

-proposals for restricting access to R-rated movies.

“Swearing in public should not be allowed.”

-none found.

“Train and hire more teachers for our school.”

2000 HB 5272 “AN ACT CONCERNING A TASK FORCE ON MINORITY TEACHER RECRUITMENT.” (no analysis or information available for this special act.)

2000 sHB 5320 “AN ACT CONCERNING A TASK FORCE ON THE TEACHER SHORTAGE.” (no analysis or information available for this special act.)

2000 sSB 75 “AN ACT ESTABLISHING A PILOT PROGRAM OF HOME PURCHASING ASSISTANCE FOR TEACHERS.” (This bill requires the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) to implement a pilot program to help public school teachers in certain districts buy homes where they work.)

2000 sSB 204 “AN ACT CONCERNING THE TEACHER SHORTAGE” (This bill provides grants and other incentives to address the shortage of teachers in certain subjects and in certain districts.)

2003 sHB 6427 “AN ACT CONCERNING PROGRAMS TO ADDRESS THE TEACHER SHORTAGE” (requires the State Board of Education (SBE) to issue the highest level state teaching certificate to experienced, national-board-certified teachers from out-of-state without further testing or coursework unless the person does not qualify for a Connecticut certificate because of fraud, misrepresentation, criminal conviction, or similar cause; allows the education commissioner to give a teacher more time to successfully complete the required beginning educator support and training (BEST) program; requires the Department of Higher Education (DHE), the State Department of Education (SDE), regional community-technical colleges (CTCs), and four-year colleges and universities to design a so-called "2+2" program to allow CTC students interested in teaching to be jointly accepted into a CTC and a teacher preparation program at a four-year institution.)

“Guns should be outlawed.”

1990 sHB 5758 “AN ACT CONCERNING COMPLIANCE OF RETAIL GUN SALES ESTABLISHMENTS WITH ZONING REQUIREMENTS” (This bill requires anyone who applies for a retail handgun sale permit to submit documents showing that he meets local zoning requirements.”

1993 sHB 6782 “AN ACT PROHIBITING GUNS IN BARS” (This bill prohibits anyone from carrying a firearm in an establishment that holds a permit to sell alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption.)

1997 sSB 1257 “AN ACT CONCERNING GUNS AND CHILDREN” (This bill requires the owner of a pistol or revolver (handgun) to report its theft to law enforcement authorities within 72 hours after discovery.)

“Drinking and driving laws need to be stricter.”

1990 sSB 332 “AN ACT CONCERNING SUBSTANCE ABUSE EDUCATION AND THE

REPORTING OF VIOLATIONS OF ALCOHOL AND DRUG LAWS THAT

OCCUR ON SCHOOL PROPERTY” (This bill increases the requirements for substance abuse education; sets up reporting procedures regarding the use or sale of alcohol or drugs on school property; and requires school boards' procedures for dealing with students' drug or alcohol involvement to include, by July 1, 1991, a process for working with agencies to which such students may be referred.)

1990 sSB 478 “AN ACT IMPOSING A PENALTY ON PERSONS UNDER THE AGE OF

TWENTY-ONE WHO OPERATE MOTOR VEHICLES WITH A BLOOD

ALCOHOL RATIO EXCEEDING FOUR-HUNDREDTHS OF ONE PERCENT

OR WHO PURCHASE OR ATTEMPT TO PURCHASE LIQUOR” (This bill reduces, for people under age 21, the blood alcohol content (BAC) that makes a person guilty of driving while intoxicated from .10% to .04%.)

1995 sSB 1105 “AN ACT DISQUALIFYING PERSONS WHO FAIL DRUG OR ALCOHOL

TESTS AUTHORIZED BY STATE OR FEDERAL LAW FROM RECEIPT

OF UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION BENEFITS” (This bill denies unemployment compensation

benefits for life to anyone who is suspended or fired from his job because he was disqualified from performing his duties for failing a drug or alcohol test required by state or federal law.)

1998 HB 5699 “AN ACT CONCERNING THE ILLEGAL SALE OR POSSESSION OF

DRUGS, ALCOHOL AND CIGARETTES NEAR YOUTH OR TEEN CENTERS” (This bill imposes a mandatory minimum prison sentence on anyone convicted of manufacturing, distributing, selling, prescribing, offering, transporting, possessing with intent to sell, or simply possessing illegal drugs at or near a youth or teen center. It also increases the maximum penalty for (1) delivering or giving liquor or (2) selling, giving, or delivering tobacco to a minor at or near an elementary or secondary school, licensed day care center, or youth or teen center.

1999 sSB 1115 “An Act Concerning Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol” (This bill: (1) lowers the blood-alcohol content (BAC) under the criminal driving under the influence law and the administrative license suspension law from .10% to .08%; (2) creates a different set of criminal and license suspension penalties for drunk driving convictions when a person's BAC is .16% or above that are more stringent in most respects, but less in some others than current penalties; (3) makes the pretrial alcohol education program unavailable to anyone charged with drunk driving with a BAC of .16% or more; and (4) requires someone whose license or nonresident operating privilege is suspended for any violation of driving with a BAC of .16% or more, including a first violation, to satisfactorily complete a treatment program approved by the motor vehicles commissioner before reinstatement of the license or privilege. The bill retains the current law's requirements for treatment program participation for suspensions following second or subsequent drunk driving and implied consent (refusing a BAC test) violations.)

2000 sSB 374 “AN ACT INCREASING PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS INVOLVING UNDERAGE DRINKING AND MAKING OTHER CHANGES TO THE LIQUOR CONTROL ACT.” (This bill makes several changes in the laws concerning liquor and minors. It (1) increases the criminal penalty in the Liquor Control Act for which no other penalty is specified from a maximum fine of $1,000, up to one year in prison, or both, to a maximum fine of $2,000, up to two years in prison, or both; (2) authorizes the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) to require a liquor permittee or permittee's employee, at their own expense, to attend an agency-approved liquor server training course as a penalty for serving liquor to a minor, intoxicated person, or known habitual drunkard; and (3) adds community service to the penalty for a minor who purchases, attempts to purchase, or makes a false statement to purchase alcohol. A minor who does this is now subject to a fine of between $200 and $500 and a driver's license suspension of 150 days.)

2002 sSB 570 “AN ACT CONCERNING UNDERAGE DRINKING” (Current law makes it illegal for anyone under age 21 to possess alcohol on any street or highway or in a public place or place open to the public, including any club open to the public. Violators are subject to a mandatory fine of $ 200 to $ 500, and the motor vehicle commissioner must suspend their operator's license for 150 days. This bill expands this prohibition by making it illegal for minors to possess alcohol anywhere. It authorizes the court to sentence violators to up to 180 days of community service in addition to, or instead of, the fine. It also authorizes the court to suspend the violator's operator's license or non-resident operating privilege for up to 180 days, order him to attend an alcohol education program, or require him to receive mental health or substance abuse counseling. Since the bill does not eliminate or refer to the motor vehicle commissioner's current duty to suspend the operator's license for 150 days, both suspensions appear to apply to the same offense.)

“Stricter penalties for air and water pollution are needed, especially in Long Island Sound.”

1990 sHB 5223 “AN ACT CONCERNING WATER POLLUTION FINES” (This bill doubles the fines for violating various environmental laws, principally those dealing with water and solid waste. It also dedicates 50% of any revenue collected for violation of these laws to the Long Island Sound clean-up account of the Clean Water Fund.)

1990 sHB 5846 “AN ACT CONCERNING WATER POLLUTION CONTROL” (This bill requires a court, in assessing civil penalties against a violator of state water pollution control laws, to consider whether the violator is a persistent one.)

1990 sSB 111 “AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE

LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM REVIEW AND INVESTIGATIONS COMMITTEE CONCERNING PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH ORDERS TO ABATE AIR POLLUTION” (This bill requires the environmental protection commissioner to request the attorney general to sue any person failing to comply within six months with any air pollution order.)

1991 sSB 839 “AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL

PROTECTION TO ADOPT REGULATIONS CONCERNING OPERATING

PERMITS FOR SOURCES OF AIR POLLUTION UNDER THE FEDERAL

CLEAN AIR ACT” (This bill authorizes the commissioner of environmental protection to refuse to issue an air discharge permit if the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency objects to its issuance in a timely manner in accordance with the federal Clean Air Act. The bill also restates the commissioner's authority to require a permit for construction, installation, enlargement, or establishment of any air pollution source regulated under federal law.)

1994 sHB 5122 “AN ACT CONCERNING WATER POLLUTION CONTROL AND HARBOR MANAGEMENT” (This bill requires the person responsible for the vehicle, vessel, or other source that causes an oil spill or hazardous waste discharge to report the accident to the environmental protection commissioner rather than the state police.)

“Smoking in public places should be banned.”

1991 sHB 6369 “AN ACT CONCERNING SMOKING IN THE WORKPLACE” (This bill extends to smaller workplaces the law requiring all employers, including the state and municipalities, to establish nonsmoking work areas for employees who ask for them. The law already applies to enclosed facilities and parts of facilities where at least 50 people work. This bill makes the law apply as well to facilities where between 20 and 49 people work.)

1993 sHB 5275 “AN ACT PROHIBITING SMOKING IN PUBLIC BUILDINGS” (This bill broadens the restrictions on smoking in government buildings, health care facilities, and school buildings. It prohibits smoking in any room in a government building, except public college dormitory rooms and state correctional facilities unless otherwise designated. Current law prohibits smoking in any room of a building leased or owned by the state or any of its political subdivisions while a government meeting is in progress in that room. Smoking is also prohibited in any room of a government building which is open to the general public and is used primarily as a reception or waiting room.)

2001 sHB 5250 “AN ACT CONCERNING SMOKING IN DORMITORIES OF PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.” (This bill prohibits smoking in public college and university dormitory rooms. It does so by removing an exemption for dormitory rooms from the ban on smoking in any building or portion of a building owned or leased and operated by the state. The bill thereby restricts student smoking in dormitories to designated areas of the facility only.)

2001 SB 91 “AN ACT REDUCING THE HAZARDS OF SECONDHAND SMOKE IN PUBLIC PLACES.” (This bill (1) expands state prohibitions on smoking in restaurants and (2) prohibits smoking in any area within 25 feet of the outside of a public entrance to any public building, educational institution, child care facility, or place where food is served or sold to the public.

Current law prohibits smoking in any public area of a restaurant seating at least 75 people, unless a sign is posted allowing smoking in a designated area. But such a restaurant may prohibit smoking in the entire restaurant and in rooms used for private social functions. Beginning October 1, 2002, this bill prohibits smoking in restaurants or other establishments serving food to the public, regardless of size, except in a physically separate smoking area that is fully ventilated to prevent secondhand smoke from entering the nonsmoking area.

Current law also prohibits smoking in any (1) building or portion of it owned or leased and operated by the state or any political subdivision, except in a smoking area; (2) area of a health care institution other than a smoking area, as long as it is not the facility's only waiting room; (3) area of a retail food store open to the public; (4) a public school building while school is in session or student activities are taking place; and (5) passenger elevator.)

2001 sSB 1025 “AN ACT PROHIBITING SMOKING IN PUBLIC PLACES.” (This bill extends state prohibitions on smoking to (1) any area open to the public and (2) dormitory rooms in public higher education institutions.)

2002 HB 5292 “AN ACT CONCERNING SMOKING IN RESTAURANTS” (This bill prohibits smoking in any public area of a restaurant. Current law allows smoking in restaurants (1) with seating capacities of fewer than 75 people and (2) in larger restaurants, if they post signs in areas where smoking is permitted and at the entrance indicating that a nonsmoking area is available. A restaurant that fails to post these signs commits an infraction. Existing law, which the bill does not change, exempts restaurants from its lettering requirements for signs in buildings where smoking is prohibited.)

2003 SB 578 “AN ACT CONCERNING LOCAL REGULATION OF SMOKING IN PUBLIC BUILDINGS” (This bill allows municipalities, by ordinance, to place greater restrictions on smoking in buildings open to the public than state law does. And it repeals the state law's preemption of local smoking ordinances that were in effect on or after October 1, 1993.)

2003 sSB 908 “AN ACT CONCERNING SECONDHAND SMOKE IN WORK PLACES.” (This bill generally tightens restrictions on smoking in workplaces and public buildings. It bans smoking in workplaces where more than 10 people work; restaurants, cafés, and taverns; state and municipal buildings; and health care institutions, except in designated smoking rooms. And it extends the current ban on smoking in public areas of retail food stores to the entire store. Smoking rooms, under the bill, must be completely separated from nonsmoking areas by floor-to-ceiling walls and a door and ventilated in way that prevents smoke from entering nonsmoking areas. Food and beverages may not be served or distributed in them.

The bill reverses the current scheme of regulating smoking in workplaces and restaurants, which generally permits smoking in these places except in designated nonsmoking areas. Current law requires employers who employ 20 or more workers in a facility to set aside nonsmoking areas if their employees ask for one. It permits smoking in restaurants that seat fewer than 75 people and allows larger restaurants to designate smoking areas under certain conditions. It also restricts smoking in designated areas of government buildings and health care institutions to designated rooms, but these need not be completely separate and ventilated.)

“Pass stricter laws for drug dealing, selling and using.”

1990 sHB 5901 “AN ACT CONCERNING SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT, DRUG

ENFORCEMENT AND SPECIAL ALTERNATIVE INCARCERATION PROGRAMS” (This bill amends the special alternative incarceration program ("boot camp incarceration") by limiting eligibility to certain substance abuse offenders, extending the required time of stay, and giving the Department of Correction additional responsibilities concerning placement of inmates. The bill transfers authority, and related funding, for substance abuse programs for low income pregnant women and women with children from the Department of Children and Youth Services (DCYS) to the Connecticut Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission (CADAC).)

1990 sHB 6026 “AN ACT CONCERNING FORFEITURE OF PROPERTY IN DRUG CASES” (Under current law, (1) money and property used or intended for use in buying, making, delivering, or distributing illegal drugs and (2) money and property derived from illegal drug sales are subject to state forfeiture. This bill makes several changes to the drug forfeiture law by clarifying property subject to forfeiture, limiting property exemptions, modifying the forfeiture hearing, and authorizing the appointment of a receiver to possess, control, and dispose of property seized and subsequently forfeited.)

1990 sHB 6030 “AN ACT CONCERNING DRUG PENALTIES” (This bill changes mandatory penalties for a non-drug-dependent person who manufactures, sells, distributes, prescribes, administers, or transports with intent to sell an ounce or more of heroin, methadone, or cocaine; one-half gram or more of crack; or five milligrams or more of LSD. The new penalties are 10 to 25 years in prison, up to $200,000 in fines, or both for a first offense and 15 to 30 years in prison, up to $300,000 in fines, or both for each

subsequent offense.)

1990 sSB 332 “AN ACT CONCERNING SUBSTANCE ABUSE EDUCATION” (This bill increases the requirements for substance abuse education and requires school boards' procedures for dealing with students' drug or alcohol involvement to include, by July 1, 1991, a process for working with agencies to which such students may be referred.)

1990 SB 463 “AN ACT CONCERNING CRIMINAL POSSESSION OF FIREARMS

DURING ILLEGAL DRUG ACTIVITIES” (This bill requires imposition of mandatory,

nonsuspendable, five or three year minimum prison terms for people convicted of certain drug crimes if during commission of the crime they use or threaten the use of, are armed with, display, or represent that they have a firearm, including a handgun, machine gun, shotgun, or rifle.)

1990 SB 464 “AN ACT CONCERNING MULTIPLE DRUG OFFENSES” (This bill imposes a mandatory penalty of five years imprisonment on any person who commits three drug-related offenses within a 90-day period and is subsequently convicted. The new penalty must be imposed in addition to and consecutive with any term of imprisonment imposed for the conviction of a third drug-related offense. The applicable drug-related offenses are manufacturing, distributing, selling, prescribing, dispensing, possessing with intent to sell or dispense, offering, giving, or administering an illegal drug to another person.)

1991 sHB 7211 “AN ACT CONCERNING EMPLOYMENT DRUG TESTING” (With some exceptions, an employer cannot order an employee to take a urinalysis drug test unless he has a reasonable suspicion that the employee is influenced by alcohol or drugs and that they adversely affect his job performance.)

1992 HB 5556 “AN ACT CONCERNING THE PENALTY FOR THE ILLEGAL SALE OF

DRUGS IN OR NEAR PUBLIC HOUSING PROJECTS” (This bill imposes a three-year mandatory

minimum term of imprisonment on a non-drug-dependent person who manufacturers, distributes, sells, prescribes, offers, administers, or transports with intent to sell illegal drugs in, on, or within 1,000

feet of a public housing project. A person who transports or possesses illegal drugs within these

parameters has the requisite intent needed for imposition of the mandatory penalty.)

1993 HB 6615 “AN ACT CONCERNING THE PURCHASE OR CARRYING OF FIREARMS

BY PERSONS CONVICTED OF THE ILLEGAL POSSESSION OF DRUGS” (This bill makes conviction on two or more occasions of illegal possession of drugs grounds for banning the sale of firearms and for denying or revoking permits to carry pistols and revolvers. The law already prohibits a seller from completing a firearm sale if he is notified that the buyer was convicted of a felony.)

1995 sSB 1105 “AN ACT DISQUALIFYING PERSONS WHO FAIL DRUG OR ALCOHOL

TESTS AUTHORIZED BY STATE OR FEDERAL LAW FROM RECEIPT

OF UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION BENEFITS” (This bill denies unemployment compensation

benefits for life to anyone who is suspended or fired from his job because he was disqualified from

performing his duties for failing a drug or alcohol test required by state or federal law if (1) the test is conducted according to those laws and (2) he refuses to participate in a treatment program.)

1998 HB 5699 “AN ACT CONCERNING THE ILLEGAL SALE OR POSSESSION OF

1998 sHB 5737 “AN ACT CONCERNING DRUG DEALER LIABILITY” (This bill makes most people who sell, distribute, dispense, give, or administer dependency-producing drugs in violation of the law (drug dealers) liable for damages.)

2000 sHB 5706 “AN ACT CONCERNING DRUG TESTS FOR NEW DRIVERS” (This bill requires state learner's permit applicants to get a drug and alcohol free certificate (DAFC) before the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) can issue the permit. It also requires certain drivers' license applicants to get the certificate but does not prohibit DMV from issuing a license if they do not.)

“Lower the state sales tax.”

1996 sSB 602 “AN ACT ELIMINATING THE SALES TAX ON TRANSPORTATION

SERVICES” (This bill eliminates the sales tax on transportation services.)

1997 sHB 6109 “AN ACT CONCERNING THE EXEMPTION FROM THE SALES TAX FOR

LOW AND MODERATE INCOME HOUSING FACILITIES” (This bill exempts from the sales tax, services to any low- and moderate-income housing project sponsored by a mutual housing association (MHA) at a site that was conveyed to it by the U.S. Department of

Housing and Urban Development before September 1, 1995.)

2000 sHB 5581 “AN ACT EXEMPTING CERTAIN FUEL EFFICIENT PASSENGER CARS FROM THE SALES TAX.” (This bill establishes a two-year sales and use tax exemption for passenger cars estimated by the federal Environmental Protection Agency to get 50 miles per gallon or greater during highway driving. The exemption expires June 30, 2002.)

2000 SB 560 “AN ACT CONCERNING THE SALES TAX RELATED TO THE MANUFACTURE OF ELECTRICITY.” (This bill expands the sales tax exemption for goods used in the generation of electricity.)

2001 sSB 1415 “AN ACT CONCERNING SALES TAX-FREE WEEKS AND THE PERSONAL INCOME TAX CREDIT FOR PROPERTY TAXES PAID.” (The bill increases the maximum credit taxpayers can take against their income taxes for property taxes they pay. For the 2001 taxable year, the bill increases the maximum credit from $ 500 to $ 650. For the 2002 taxable year and thereafter, it increases the maximum credit to $ 750. Under current law and the bill, the credit phases out for taxpayers with higher incomes.

The bill also adds another week to the sales tax exemption period for clothing and footwear costing less than $ 300, extending the sales-tax-free period from one to two weeks in August and starting it a week earlier.)

Connecticut’s sales tax rate stood at 3.5% in 1968 and had been raised to 7.5% by 1981. It has since been reduced to 6%.

“Create a state health care program for everyone.”

1991 sSB 93 “AN ACT CONCERNING HEALTH CARE FACILITIES FOR THE

UNINSURED AND UNDERINSURED” (This bill creates a committee to establish a program in which health care professionals will serve the uninsured and underinsured one day a month without compensation.)

1996 HB 5440 “AN ACT CONCERNING ACCESS TO EMERGENCY HEALTH CARE” (This bill requires individual and group health insurance plans to cover emergency services provided to policyholders and enrollees who have emergency medical conditions.)

1999 HB 5990 “An Act Concerning Access to Health Care” (This bill allows state residents over age 50 to purchase state employee health insurance if they (1) lost their job due to downsizing and (2) have exhausted their federal Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) health benefits.)

2004 sSB-418 “AN ACT CONCERNING UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE.” (Analysis of this Special Acts was not available.)

Hundreds of other laws concerning health care in Connecticut can be found at: http://search.cga.state.ct.us/ using search terms “health” and “care.”

“Create stricter penalties for crimes against children and senior citizens.”

-none found.

“Build a super-highway between Danielson and Hartford.”

1995 and 1996 Proposed bill: “AN ACT CONCERNING AUTHORIZATION OF SPECIAL TAX OBLIGATION BONDS OF THE STATE FOR TRANSPORTATION PURPOSES FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF ROUTE 6, WEST OF COLUMBIA, TO THE BOLTON INTERSECTION OF INTERSTATE ROUTE 384.” (To obtain funds for the improvement of Route 6, west of Columbia, to the Bolton intersection of Interstate Route 384, in order to make it a safer road to travel on.)

“Build more affordable housing for people in Northeast Connecticut.”

1991 sHB 5517 “AN ACT CONCERNING PROMOTION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING” (This bill requires towns to actively participate in the Connecticut Housing Partnership Program by December 31, 1994 in order to receive state discretionary grants. Under the program, locally formed public-private partnerships get priority for state housing and environmental protection funds. The towns sponsoring the partnerships get extra town road aid when they complete their first projects.)

2001 sHB 6231 “AN ACT CREATING A TAX EXEMPTION FOR LAND AND UNINHABITABLE STRUCTURES BEING DEVELOPED BY NONPROFIT CORPORATIONS FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING.” (This bill exempts certain types of nonprofit organizations from paying property taxes on vacant land or uninhabitable structures while they are being developed for low- and moderate-income housing.)