Several new laws go into effect on Wednesday, including an increase of the minimum wage and an expansion of paid sick leave.
Other changes include protections for home health care workers, rules around absentee ballots and regulations for THC products.
The minimum wage will increase to $16.35, a jump of 4.2% from the wage for 2024. Connecticut’s minimum wage increases each year based on the U.S. Department of Labor’s employment cost index.
“Increasing the minimum wage helps people that are otherwise forgotten,” Connecticut AFL-CIO President Ed Hawthorne said.
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The minimum wage has increased each year since 2019 with the start of a five-year phase-in to bring the rate to $15 per hour. Last New Year’s Day marked the first of the annual increases for inflation.
Connecticut is also phasing in an expansion for paid sick leave. Businesses that employee 25 or more workers will now need to offer at least 40 hours of paid time off that can be used for sickness.
In 2027, the law will require all companies with one employee to do this.
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Connecticut Business and Industry Association President and CEO Chris DiPentima said the changes raise business costs without addressing the reasons some workers struggle to make ends meet.
“It's not about paying more wages, it’s about the cost, the affordability of living in Connecticut, the cost of housing, the cost of health insurance, the cost of energy,” he said.
Other changes include new restrictions around certain products containing THC, the psychoactive constituent in cannabis.
Only licensed businesses will be able to sell hemp products containing between 0.5 and 5 grams of THC.
House Majority Leader Jason Rojas, (D) East Hartford, said the change is meant to close a loophole in Connecticut’s regulations for adult recreational cannabis use.
“We've seen a lot of businesses trying to sell what are essentially THC products in an unregulated place – gas stations, convenience stores – that is not what we were expecting when we legalized adult use marijuana,” Rojas said.
New protections will take effect for home health care workers. The state is tasked with creating a grant program to incentivize companies to offer security for their workers.
Companies are also required to report to the state Department of Public Health when those workers face threats or attacks.
The changes are part of a broader bipartisan law passed after Joyce Grayson was killed while visiting a patient in 2023.
“These are one the laws that I’m looking forward to seeing go into effect to protect these workers starting January 1,” Sen. Stephen Harding, (R) Minority Leader, said.
Another law seeks to address absentee ballot issues, including requiring the election year be printed on absentee ballot applications. Town clerks can’t accept applications that don’t include the year.
The law also states people cannot request more than five absentee ballot applications when there are more than 90 days before an election or referendum.
Lastly, the law requires the secretary of the state to review voter rolls each year to find duplicates. Previously, such searches were allowed annually but not required.
The changes are part of a law in response to problems in Bridgeport, including video capturing a campaign worker for Mayor Joseph Ganim (D-Bridgeport) stuffing absentee ballots into a drop box.
The incident helped lead a judge to order a redo Democratic primary – and election – in the city’s 2023 mayoral election.
