Rep. Callahan Provides Legislative Wrap Up of 2024 General Assembly Session

The House passed a wide range of bills during the final days of the session. If you’re interested in seeing all of the bills passed by the House, a journal is published online each day. You can find those documents here.

Wednesday, May 15 was National Peace Officers Memorial Day and Governor Lamont signed a bill into law establishing a Fallen Officer Fund to provide payments to the surviving family of a police officer killed in the line of duty. This been a priority issue for the House Republican Caucus. The fund provides a lump-sum, non-taxable payment totaling $100k to surviving family members or beneficiaries of any Connecticut local or state police officer killed in the line of duty or who sustained injuries that cause an officer’s death. The legislation also creates a path for surviving family members to maintain health insurance coverage.

Another proposal that cleared both the House and Senate was signed and would expand the period of time when the death of an officer or firefighter is considered in the line of duty to include 24 hours after attending training or engaging in duties. It also expands the presumption of workers’ compensation coverage for the death or disability of a police officer or firefighter to include deaths or disabilities resulting from a cerebrovascular incident or pulmonary embolism.

I also co-sponsored a bill to establish a property tax exemption for veterans who have a service-connected permanent and total disability rating as determined by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

Two other bills I backed were passed by both chambers, both aimed at easing worker shortages in the medical field. One proposal would allow Connecticut to enter the Nurse Licensure Compact so qualified nurses could obtain a multistate license. 41 separate jurisdictions, including the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam, allow registered nurses (RNs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs), and vocational nurses (VNs) to practice in any jurisdiction that acknowledges the compact. The other bill adopts the social work licensure compact.

These bills and others were sent to Governor Lamont’s desk for his signature.