Connecticut lawmakers will reconvene for a special session next week to address several issues including stopping an unintended tax increase, officials said in a release Saturday morning.
The state’s top officials including Gov. Ned Lamont, Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, and House Speaker Matt Ritter announced that they have reached an agreement for lawmakers to meet in a special session beginning June 26. The state’s general assembly, which met for a short session beginning in February, adjourned on May 8. Lawmakers will come back from summer recess to consider legislation on several matters that require immediate action, due to upcoming deadlines on various state statutes and regulations, according to a press release.
“There are certain statutory changes that are scheduled to take effect over the coming months that we believe should be adjusted to protect the public from tax increases,” Lamont, Looney, and Ritter said in a joint statement. “We are scheduling this particular special session now so that we can prevent that tax increase and get other minor and timely adjustments signed into law.”
Among the issues lawmakers are set to tackle are preventing a tax increase that would take effect this fall due to continuing to classify commercial vehicles as motor vehicles. In addition, lawmakers hope to clarify that current law allows municipalities to establish mill rates on motor vehicles lower than mill rates on real property and personal property. Lawmakers hope this will help keep motor vehicle taxes down this fall.
The special session is set to begin on June 26, and will address several issues as enumerated in the release:
Promoting transparency and competition in municipally-administered school construction projects by restoring a ban on construction managers self-performing subcontracting work.
Making Connecticut a more attractive place for innovative financial services companies to establish a significant presence by expressly allowing banks holding a certain charter to accept and hold non-retail deposits and secure deposit insurance from the FDIC and by updating the name of that charter.
Reducing the administrative costs of the state’s publicly available retirement savings program by authorizing the State Comptroller to enter into cooperative agreements with other states that have similar programs.
Providing more certainty to the state’s vibrant insurance industry by establishing that the annual assessment on domestic insurance companies to fund certain insurance-related state offices and programs should be calculated based on those companies’ total taxes, prior to any adjustment for tax credits, from the year immediately preceding the prior calendar year instead of the prior calendar year itself.
Relieving employers, including tax-exempt organizations, that kept employees on payroll throughout the pandemic and received the federal Employee Retention Credit from the burden of interest payments attributable to the timing and complexities of a new federal program rather than any willful underpayment by the taxpayer.
Supporting the preservation and redevelopment of historic properties by streamlining the process by which the State Historic Preservation Office reviews those properties and amending the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority to permit the Authority to acquire water companies outside its current service area.
A proclamation calling the legislature into special session has been filed with the Office of the Secretary of the State.
Stephen Underwood can be reached at sunderwood@courant.com
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