Nearly 100 Connecticut laws taking effect on July 1 from legal marijuana to safer ice cream trucks

Dozens of new laws will take effect in Connecticut Thursday, ranging from the legalization of marijuana and online gambling to safer ice cream trucks to public school curriculum.

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Among the nearly 100 new laws, there are statutes that will make it easier for nursing home patients to communicate virtually with family members and new rules surrounding the reporting of sexual misconduct on campus.

In some cases, the full impact of the new law will not be immediate. For example, gambling legislation will take effect Thursday, but sports betting is not expected to start for Connecticut gamblers until the first National Football League game on Sept. 9. And while Connecticut residents can possess recreational marijuana, they won’t be able to buy it for at least a year.

Here are some of the new laws:

More gambling

Lawmakers vastly transformed the state’s gambling landscape to bring casino games like poker to desktop computers and cell phones, as well as sports betting, for the first time in state history. The expansion also includes online keno and online lottery draw games, among others.

The changes are being made after years of debates and closed-door negotiations with both then-Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Gov. Ned Lamont. Negotiators finally reached a comprehensive agreement with the leaders of the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes, paving the way for the changes.

Under the new law, the tribes and Connecticut Lottery Corp. will be competing against one another for customers. The agreement also creates 15 retail sports betting sites statewide, including larger facilities in Hartford and Bridgeport.

Betting on in-state college sports would be banned, except if a person bet on the entire NCAA basketball tournament, for example. Bets on individual games played by the UConn football or basketball teams would not be permitted.

Access to original birth certificates

With major advances in ancestry and genealogy capabilities, lawmakers passed a once-controversial bill that would make it easier for adopted children to find their birth parents.

The long-disputed adoption measure would expand access to original birth certificates for adults over the age of 18, as well as their adult children and adult grandchildren. Out of 3.5 million people in Connecticut, 38,000 do not have an original birth certificate and could take advantage of the new law, legislators said.

Opponents are concerned that mothers who gave their children up for adoption in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s had expectations and promises of privacy at the time. The battle lasted more than five years, and advocates said a key reason for disclosure is that adoptees can learn their family medical and biological history, which is highly important in many cases for health reasons.

Marijuana is now legal

For the first time, adults 21 and over will be able to possess and smoke recreational marijuana legally. They will be able to possess up to 1.5 ounces personally, while they can transport up to 5 ounces that must be locked in their car’s glove box or trunk. In general, a person will be able to smoke pot anywhere they can smoke cigarettes as they are both legal products.

Retail sales of marijuana are not expected in Connecticut at least until May 2022 as the state now embarks on the detailed process of regulations and licensing as they determine which applicants are eligible to be growers or retailer sellers. Under the law, towns can block retail sales under local zoning laws, but they cannot stop deliveries that are coming from outside the town.

Deceptive advertising by crisis pregnancy centers

After a long-running controversy over abortion in Hartford and beyond, the legislature passed a law designed to prevent deceptive advertising by limited service pregnancy centers.

The faith-based centers do not provide referrals for emergency contraception or abortions, but advocates say the centers sometimes try to dupe pregnant women into believing they would be entering a medical facility when they were not. Opponents said the issue has largely been resolved, citing the lack of complaints by patients.

But lawmakers said they expect the emotional issue over abortion rights, free speech, and religious rights will ultimately be decided in court.

Financial incentives for data centers

In an attempt to attract data centers and spur additional development, Connecticut will now provide long-term tax breaks to this once-obscure industry. Data centers are highly expensive, 21st century warehouses of billions of bits of information that needs to be stored for financial services companies, academics and medical researchers.

Pushed by Gov. Ned Lamont, the warehouses will contain highly sophisticated computers with the capability of storing huge amounts of data.

The state Department of Economic and Community Development can now sign agreements with qualified data centers for tax incentives ranging from 20 to 30 years, depending on the size and location of the center. In federal opportunity and enterprise zones that are often in cities, the owner of the data center will need to spend at least $50 million in order to qualify for the incentives, while the investment needs to be $200 million outside the zones.

Ice cream trucks

Prompted by the death of a 10-year-old boy last year, lawmakers passed a bipartisan law to improve safety around ice cream trucks.

The legislation requires ice cream truck owners to install safety equipment that includes flashing lights, caution signs, signal arms, and front convex mirrors by May 2022. It also prohibits ice cream sellers from stopping in high-traffic areas.

Known as “Tristan’s Law,” the measure was prompted by the experience of the family of 10-year-old Tristan Barhorst of Wallingford, who was struck and killed by a car after heading to an ice cream truck in Cheshire. On a summer day on the last day of school on June 12, 2020, Barhorst and his friends headed toward the truck when they heard the jingle in their neighborhood. After obtaining his ice cream, Barhorst was struck in the street by a Jeep Wrangler driven by a 17-year-old.

Helping nursing home patients

After many patients were isolated from their families last year during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, lawmakers passed an expanded patients’ bill of rights that ensures that the elderly can communicate virtually with their families, among other improvements.

Sexual misconduct on college campuses

Students who come forward to report sexual misconduct cases will not be disciplined if they had been using drugs or drinking while underage at a party or gathering. Lawmakers changed the law to encourage students to come forward about sexual assaults. Connecticut colleges will also be required to conduct surveys about sexual misconduct every two years.

Black and Latino studies in the public school curriculum

For the first time, African American and Black and Puerto Rican and Latino studies will be added to the required courses in the public schools, starting Thursday for the 2021-2022 school year. Local school boards can use existing materials and current faculty members to update the curriculum in schools across the state.

Tasers

Residents over the age of 21 will now be allowed to own a Taser or stun gun if they have a permit for a firearm or ammunition, which requires them to complete a criminal background check.

Proponents said that owning a Taser could be important in self-defense and would lead to a person being struck with an electrical shock, rather than being killed by a gun.

Increased broadband access

In a high priority for Lamont, the state will be expanding broadband access in underserved cities, as well as rural areas in a push for economic development. Lamont says that if the internet speed is as fast in Brooklyn, Connecticut, as in Brooklyn, New York, then the state will reap the benefits.

The new law requires the state budget office to “develop and maintain an up-to-date broadband map, with accompanying data, showing the availability and adoption of broadband Internet access service, including broadband Internet download and upload speeds’' so that state officials can monitor progress on the expansion.

Christopher Keating can be reached at [email protected]

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