2024 Legislative Recap

2024 legislative session came down the stretch

The 2024 Legislative Session adjourned on May 8 and for the first time since 2009 the General Assembly did not reopen the budget to implement changes for the second year of the biennium budget. Adopted spending in the current budget is estimated to be between $500-$600 million over budget, but budget safeguards have created a fiscal cushion of around $1 billion, which was higher-than-expected due to increased income tax and capital gains tax returns. Despite the expected budget surplus, the fiscal guardrails, renewed last year by the legislature, restricted the ability to adopt increased spending of that money.

In lieu of re-opening the budget, the legislature adopted two budget stabilization bills:

• HB 5523 Allocations of Federal American Rescue Plan Act Funds and Provisions Related to General Government, Human Services, Education and the Biennium Ending June 30, 2025; and

• HB 5524 Adjusting Bonds of the State and Concerning Provisions Related to State and Municipal Tax Administration, General Government and School Building Projects.

These two bills, among other things, authorized the use of the remaining federal Pandemic Relief Funding amounting to approximately $370M. The funds were allocated to provide one time assistance to higher education $120 million, non-profit providers $50 million, mental health services $50 million early child care $20 million and municipal aid $40 million. The $40 million in municipal aid was provided to 12 towns and cities to provide one-time assistance to offset reductions in motor vehicle reimbursements due to local revaluations.

With the Legislature forgoing formal changes to the adopted FY 24 and FY 25 adopted budget, municipal aid remains at levels adopted in 2023 with no major changes to municipal aid funding.

Among the changes included in the budget and revenue stabilization bills are the allocation of the $150 million in Education Enhancement Funding which was approved in the adopted budget to allocated as follows: ECS: $73.7 million; State Charter Schools: $9.1 million (including seats); BOE magnet schools: $13.5 million; RESC magnet schools: $36.8 million; AgriScience (ASTE) programs: $7.1 million and other K-12 education priorities: $2.7 million.

In addition to the budget stabilization bills, other key areas that CCM advocated on behalf of towns and cities included:

Taxation of Motor Vehicles

HB 5172 AAC the Assessment of Motor Vehicles for Property Taxation was intended to address concerns with provisions included in Public Act 22-118, which made several changes regarding the assessment and taxation of motor vehicles. Municipalities will be unable to implement the required changes and will negatively impact local budgets and the delivery of local services and many commercial motor vehicle owners and businesses would see their property taxes go up if the legislature does not get fixed. While HB 5172 passed the House it was not adopted in concurrence by the Senate and died on the House calendar at the close of session.

CCM has continued to work with the Governor’s office and legislative leadership after the adjournment of session and to address this critical issue. CCM has requested a Special Session which has been tentatively scheduled for June 26th and 27th.

Housing

HB 5474 Omnibus Housing Bill – A major initiative of the General Assembly, omnibus housing bill provides incentives for towns to establish middle housing ‘as of right’ within their communities. Middle housing is defined as duplexes, triplexes or quadplexes. For each middle housing unit built, a 1/4 point will go towards a municipality’s 8-30g goals and moratorium. The middle housing units do not need to be deed restricted.

The bill also enables municipalities to license shortterm rentals, assess fines for zoning violations and to increase penalties for blight.

In addition, it provides for a summary review for the conversion of vacant nursing homes into multi-unit dwellings as long as they are within the same footprint of the existing structure and the property is not completely demolished.

Other provisions include additional data collection reporting requirements to DECD, a study of the design review process, limits intervenor status for affordable housing projects and bases the valuation of a property that is 100% affordable by net rental income rather than the property tax.

HB 5390 AAC Transit Oriented Communities (TOC)This bill would prioritize state discretionary funding for towns that opt to create a transit-oriented district (TOD) of reasonable size and conform to the zoning requirements listed in the bill. The bill also requires developments with ten or more units located within a TOC to either deed restrict a percentage of the units for a certain time period or make payments to an affordable housing development fund established by the TOC. While this bill passed the House along a largely party line vote, it was not acted upon by the Senate before the session adjourned. CCM continues to advocate to the legislature to focus on implementing the Municipal Redevelopment Authority (MRDA), which has been created to facilitate the development of the state’s TOD policy and is a voluntary program which towns and cities may opt in to access funding and resources within MRDA. Currently $60 million has been authorized by the legislature to implement MRDA, but it has not been allocated by the Bond Commission yet.

Education

In addition to preserving the $150 million for Education Enhancement funding, CCM worked with legislative leaders to complement the work being done with CCM’s 119K Commission to address at-risk and disconnected youth. Legislation was passed to (1) establish data sharing agreements between local and youth service bureaus (HB 5347) and (2) to expand access to free buses before and after school to help increase student access to after school activities (HB 5524) in the cities of Hartford and New Haven. CCM will continue to advocate for increased bus funding in other communities during the 2025 legislative session.

Environment

CCM’s Task Force on Solid Waste led by President Mayor Laura Hoydick proposed legislation to (1) require DEEP to conduct a waste characterization study which has not been done since 2015, and (2) to increase truck weight limits for vehicles hauling municipal solid waste. We successfully secured the funds for the waste characterization study as part of HB 5524, and will continue conversations with DOT this summer to address their concerns over needed changes to federal law and impacts to infrastructure to accommodate increased truck weight limits.

Labor

HB5279 – Line of Duty Death Designations - clarifies that in the instance of a firefighter or police officer death caused by a pulmonary embolism or cerebrovascular incident (e.g. stroke), either on duty or 24 hours after, the fire or police chief shall have the authority to determine whether the death was within the line of duty. Municipalities have until October 1, 2024, to designate through ordinance an alternative individual or entity to declare a line of duty death. The designation cannot be used to establish a presumption for workers compensation benefits.

SB 328 AAC Permanent Partial Disability Benefits and Pension Offsets - This bill would have placed a costly unfunded mandate on towns and cities by circumventing the collective bargaining process. The bill would have prohibited pension offsets regarding permanent partial disability benefits under workers’ compensation laws. The bill passed the Senate, but CCM was successful in holding the bill in the House.

It was another successful year legislatively and it was due to the advocacy of municipal leaders. Your collective voice ensured that municipal interests were heard at the Capitol and were at the forefront of deliberations occurring at the State House. Thank you for your continued support of CCM.