Throughout the legislative session, Hartford Business Journal tracked a host of bills that could impact private industry. Here’s a brief overview of six bills awaiting approval by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.
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Throughout the legislative session, Hartford Business Journal tracked a host of bills that could impact private industry.
Here's a brief overview of six bills that passed the House and Senate and are awaiting approval by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy as of May 12.
S.B. 351: Doctor noncompetes
The bill sets limits on physician non-compete agreements and allows non-hospital entities, such as independent practice associations, to establish medical foundations to employ doctors.
Under the bill, noncompetes cannot restrict a doctor's competitive activities for more than one year and beyond a 15-mile radius for the primary site the doctor practices.
Hospitals protested the bill, arguing that noncompetes protect their investments in training new doctors. The Office of Fiscal Analysis, which analyzed the potential financial impacts of the legislation, said UConn Health may have to provide inducements to keep new physicians and could lose some revenue if patients follow physicians who leave for nearby private practice.
H.B. 5591: Creates government-administered retirement program
This bill creates a retirement savings plan for employees of Connecticut companies that don't offer one. It requires employers to automatically enroll most employees, though workers can opt out. The plan would be administered by a quasi-public board of directors that would contract with financial institutions to manage the funds and charge administrative fees to participants.
The bill faced opposition from the financial-services sector. Legislators ultimately opted to remove traditional IRAs, which have pre-tax contributions, as an option in the plan. Gov. Dannel Malloy earlier this month threatened to veto the bill if it didn't contain caps on fees and open up fund management to multiple private firms, among other changes.
H.B. 5636: Apprenticeship tax credit for 'S' corporations
This measure allows small manufacturers and other employers registered as “S” corporations to claim a $7,500 tax credit for each apprentice they hire.
The credit has been pursued intently in recent years by business owners who say it would defray their costs of training and paying apprentices. It, too, would level the field for them to compete for and retain talent against larger “C'' corporations like Pratt, GE and Electric Boat that have had access to apprenticeship tax credits for some time.
H.B. 5510: Regulates electric-vehicle charging stations
This bill creates new requirements for owners of publicly available charging stations for electric, zero-emission and fuel-cell electric vehicles. Owners of charging stations would be required to register them annually with the Department of Motor Vehicles for a $50 fee.
The DMV would also be required to regularly track and publish data on the number of electric vehicles in the state. Owners of charging stations that charge driver fees would be required to provide multiple payment options. Legislators also sought to remove some uncertainty by stating that owning a public charging station doesn't automatically subject an owner to utility-like regulation.
H.B. 5425: Boosting brownfield redevelopment
This bill allows the Department of Economic and Community Development to certify speciality nonprofit land banks designed to acquire, remediate and redevelop contaminated brownfields through agreements with municipalities.
As nonprofits, the brownfield land banks could access grants currently unavailable to private developers, and they would not be required to pay state and local taxes on property they acquire or on income they derive from it. Municipalities would be allowed to forgive delinquent property taxes for land acquired by a land bank.
S.B. 445: Studying digital infrastructure for industries
This bill would convene a working group to study the anticipated digital infrastructure needs of the healthcare, insurance, education and research industries. That study would include access to data centers and high-speed broadband, the potential benefits of building out such infrastructure, and the means to encourage that development.
An earlier version of the bill, which was opposed by the telecom industry, called for a task force to develop a strategic plan for the private development of an ultra-high-speed broadband network to support the various industries.
Correction: The original version of this story gave an incorrect geographic radius for new restrictions on physician noncompete agreements under S.B. 351. The correct radius is 15 miles.
