Connecticut Laws that take effect on Jan 1, 2023: Recreational marijuana, truck taxes, children's mental health, a pay raise for lawmakers and more information you need to know.
Starting January 10th, recreational marijuana will be sold at nine different dispensaries in Connecticut. Adult use of cannabis is now allowed. Cannabis possession charges will be cleared from some residents’ criminal records. Gov. Ned Lamont (D-Conn.) has said some erasures could be delayed until the summer.
In tandem, the Clean Slate Law that also erases criminal records for nearly 280,000 people will take place.
Breast and ovarian cancer screening coverage is expanded. Certain commercial health insurance will be required to cover several procedures and screenings, including mammograms, ultrasounds, MRIs, breast biopsies, breast reconstruction surgery, and specific genetic testing.
Lawmakers will get a pay raise for the first time in decades, with base pay rising from $28,000 to $40,000.
There are also several items that go into effect for the child mental health bill passed last legislative session.
Other laws going into effect in January 2023 concern:
- Establishment of a Hate Crimes Investigative Unit within the Connecticut State Police – the unit would deal with crimes regarding race, religion, ethnicity, disability, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression. Offenses would include the deprivation of rights, desecration of property, ridiculing, threatening, stalking, and intimidation.
- Explanations of benefits – certain health insurance carriers and third-party administrators are required to provide an explanation of benefits to covered individuals in clear language and allow them to make written selections about the explanation of benefits
- The use of chlorpyrifos – bars the use of chlorpyrifos on golf courses and in cosmetic or nonagricultural uses
- Revisions to certain environment-related statutes – permits pesticides to be registered every year rather than every five, new radiation regulation, changes to noise regulation, and stationary air pollution regulation