Editor’s note: State Rep. Terrie Wood, a Republican who represents the 141st district in the state House of Representatives, emailed this message to constituents on Monday about various new state laws that she supported and that take effect today, Monday, Oct. 1:
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
A number of new laws passed during the 2018 Legislative Session take effect today,Oct 1. These laws may have an impact on you, your business, or our community.To see a full list, please click here.
I am pleased to have supported the following Public Acts in becoming law:
Public Safety
Public Act 18-90 prevents credit agencies from charging fees for security freezes and doubles (from one year to two) the amount of time businesses have to provide free credit monitoring if an account is hacked.
Public Act 18-29 bans the sale or transfer, possession, manufacturing or use ofbump stocks or other accessories to increase the rate of fire of a firearm.
Public Act 18-135 criminalizes the act of masking the identity of a caller initiatingrobo calls.
Public Health
Special Act 18-15 provides consumers with access to information regarding the safety of sports helmets on the State Department of Education’s website.
Public Act 18-4 establishes various requirements regarding the treatment of women – specifically pregnant inmates. In general, it requires the Department of Correction (DOC) to establish support services, such as a lactation policy, for incarcerated women, provide inmates with feminine hygiene products free of cost (upon request), reinstate its training program on mental health issues for custodial staff and use a gender-responsive approach to risk assessment.
Public Act 18-149 protects patients from unexpected costs and fees at outpatient clinics, urgent care centers and freestanding emergency departments.
Public Act 18-109 strengthens the ban on sales of e-cigarettes to minors by prohibiting the sale of e-cigarettes through ‘self-service’ vending machines and by limiting access to e-cigarettes in stores.
Public Act 18-74 allows pharmacists to add biological products to generic drugsubstitutions.
Energy & Environment
Public Act 18-7 enables the transfer of funds from the Passport to the Parksaccount and requires special event fees at state parks to be based on the number of attendees and cover state costs related to such events.
Public Act 18-50 aims to improve Connecticut’s energy future by establishing many sustainable policies, including reconfiguring funding for the state’s energy efficiency programs and establishing tariff-based programs for low-emission, zero-emission, shared clean energy and residential clean energy facilities.
Public Act 18-73 provides for the offering of proof that farm products that are sold to school districts as “Connecticut-grown” are actually grown in the state.
Public Act 18-84 limits exposures to pesticides by prohibiting the use of residential automatic pesticide misting systems.
Public Act 18-101 raises awareness and provides funding for efforts to fight aquatic invasive species and cyanobacteria blooms that threaten the state’s lakes and ponds by establishing a “Save Our Lakes” license plate.
Veterans
Public Act 18-47 expands eligibility for certain veterans benefits to certain individuals who have been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) or who have had an experience of military sexual trauma.
Public Act 18-102 eliminates qualifying income limits for veterans in order to improve eligibility for certain municipal option tax exemptions.
Business
Public Act 18-79 exempts from the property tax a business’s tangible personal property that is more than 10 years old and had an original value of not more than $250.
Best Regards,
Terrie Wood
State Representative
141st District