Tag: EVs

CT Bills That Didn’t Pass in 2024: EV Study, Eviction Reform, More

by Gabby DeBenedictis, CT Mirror, May 13, 2024

Connecticut’s 2024 legislative session ended on Wednesday night [May 8] with lawmakers passing a bevy of bills concerning housing, elder care, K-12 education and more.

But a large number of bills never made it out of their committees, and many of those that did were never voted on by the full legislature. …

Here…[are] some of the bills that didn’t come up for a full vote this year, but that legislators will likely revisit next year.

Electric vehicles

After efforts to phase out the sale of new gas-powered cars in Connecticut by 2035 failed, the legislature considered a bill that would have created a 40-person group to assess a transition to electric vehicles in the state.

That bill — part of an effort to reduce motor vehicle emissions, Connecticut’s largest source of pollution — never came up for a vote in the House.

‘Just cause’ evictions

A bill that would have required landlords to provide a reason, or “just cause,” when they evict tenants at the end of their leases passed out of the Housing Committee but was never voted on in the full House or Senate.

Connecticut already protects against evictions without cause for senior citizens and people with disabilities. The bill would have expanded those protections to most tenants who live in apartments with five or more units.

Falsified traffic tickets

Proposed by Gov. Ned Lamont, House Bill 5055 would have made it a Class D felony for any person acting in a law enforcement capacity to knowingly make false written statements or enter false information into a law enforcement record and explicitly make those acts a basis for decertification of an officer’s policing license. …

Though it passed the House unanimously, it was not voted on in the Senate.

Tipped minimum wage

A proposal to eliminate Connecticut’s tipped minimum wage — currently $6.38 for wait staff and $8.23 for bartenders — passed the Labor and Public Employees Committee but was not voted on by the full House or Senate.

The bill would have brought wages for tipped workers in line with the state’s minimum wage, which is currently $15.69 per hour.

[See entire article here: ctmirror.org/2024/05/13/ct-2024-legislative-session-failed-bills]

Take a stand for Connecticut’s environment

Do you care about our climate? Do you care about breathing polluted air? Do you care about energy costs?

Then you need to care about Connecticut’s proposed energy strategy. Ready to take a stand for our energy and environment?

Tell the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Connecticut should be a climate champion. Tell the DEEP the proposed energy strategy falls short. The DEEP issued its draft 2017 Comprehensive Energy Strategy, which will shape state energy policy for the next three years.
BUT, the draft CES plan does not put us on a path to meet our 2020 climate goals and DEEP needs to hear from you!

Here are three key messages you need to tell DEEP:

  1. Ask DEEP to expand the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) to 50% by 2030. We need a stronger RPS that requires electric providers to buy a certain percentage of the energy they sell from renewable sources (solar, wind, etc.).
  2. Ask DEEP to establish a better solar market and a statewide, shared solar program.  More rooftop solar and a vibrant shared solar program (for those who can’t put solar on their roof) are vital to help reduce our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, create a resilient electric grid, and strengthen our local economy.
  3. Ask DEEP to speed up adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs), and clean up our transportation pollution.
    Connecticut must meet its promise of 154,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2025. Cars and trucks cause nearly 40% of our GHG emissions so we must establish stronger incentives for EVs and add more charging stations.

Comments are due by September 25, 2017, at 4 p.m. Email your comments to: [email protected].

You can also mail a hard copy to: Debra Morrell, DEEP – Bureau of Energy and Technology Policy, 10 Franklin Sq., New Britain, CT 06051.

You can also get more information and speak up at one of DEEP’s public meetings:

Wednesday, Sept. 6, 4 p.m., CT DEEP, 79 Elm St., Hartford.
Thursday, Sept. 7, 6:30 p.m. Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES), Jones Auditorium, Britton Building, 2nd Floor, 123 Huntington St., New Haven.

More information is available at ctenvironment.org.