The state legislative session that ended late Wednesday added funding to expand Shore Line East rail service, made conditions safer for home health workers, extended paid family and medical leave insurance program to the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes, failed to direct more special education funding to local school districts, and rejected or put off action on other proposals of local interest.

State Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, co-chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said it was difficult to accomplish everything during what she called a very short legislative session.

Port Authority merger plan sunk

A proposal by Gov. Ned Lamont to merge the state’s Port Authority and Airport Authority under a single Maritime Authority was torpedoed by legislators on Tuesday when they approved substitute bill language that keeps the separate quasi-public agencies intact.

The General Assembly vote supported a bill modification approved last month by the Appropriations Committee. The new bill language stripped any mention of a merger, while also requiring the port authority to submit quarterly reports to both the state legislative Appropriations and Transportation committees and other stakeholders.

The bill also calls for the port authority to increase its three-member staff to better carry out responsibilities related to small harbors and marinas, dredging, grants and marketing, Osten said Thursday.

Safety for home health care workers

The legislature passed Senate Bill 1, a measure that increases safety for home care workers that state Sen. Martha Marx, D-New London, championed and said was long overdue.

Among other provisions, the bill requires home health aide agencies to collect and share the background of clients and people who live with those clients. Marx said the information could help warn of hazards or the potential for violence. The bill places the onus on the employer to ensure a safe workplace for their employees, she said.

The bill was inspired by Joyce Grayson, a home care nurse who was killed by a convicted rapist during a visit to a Willimantic halfway house for sex offenders in October 2023.

Marx, a visiting nurse and the vice-chair of the Public Health Committee, helped draft the language of the bill and said home care workers are often placed in situations that put them in jeopardy.

“I’ve been saying for 25 years that it’s not safe,” Marx said.

Changes in family leave program could benefit tribes

On Thursday, Gov. Ned Lamont signed into law a bill modifying the state’s paid family and medical leave insurance program, which could enable some 10,000 people employed by the casino-owning Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes to participate.

Passed by the Senate and the House, the law also allows victims of sexual assault to utilize the insurance program, if necessary, to take time off from work to seek care or participate in the criminal justice process.

Established by legislation Lamont signed in 2019, the program provides up to 12 weeks of partial wages to employees on unpaid leave due to serious illness, the birth of a child or family violence victimization.

Employees covered by the program began contributing to it through payroll deductions as of Jan. 1, 2021.

The new law authorizes the governor to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the state’s two federally recognized tribes to allow employees of the tribes and the tribes’ businesses, including the casinos, to participate in the program.

Shore Line East

The legislature approved allocating $5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to Shore Line East rail service. State Department of Transportation spokesperson Samaia Hernandez said the service will add two morning and two evening trains so the number of daily trains between New London and New Haven will increase from 16 to 20. She said the DOT will be coordinating with Amtrak and expects to make the change by the end of the year.

State legislators said this is short of the funding needed to fully restore service to its pre-pandemic service levels, but they will continue fighting for more funding in the future.

School spending unchanged

Local school districts have been pleading with the state to increase funding to cover skyrocketing special education costs. The state budget approved last year increased funding by $25 million to a total of $181 million to reimburse local school districts for special education services for students that far exceed typical special education expenses.

But Osten acknowledged special education needs and costs far outpace the added funding.

No additional money was approved for special education excess cost reimbursement, she said. The state reimbursement level is projected at 71% of a school district’s excess costs incurred. That level is lower than in recent years despite the $25 million state increase last year.

Osten estimated it would take another $80 million in state aid to bring the state reimbursement to 100% of a district’s excess special education costs.

“We were very close to getting to 100%, but there has been an increase in the number of students and the type of need,” Osten said. “We put more money in, but it is just not keeping up with the trends.”

Greater Mystic tourism

A Commerce Committee bill calling for a working group to develop an economic development and tourism plan by January for the greater Mystic area of Groton, New London and Stonington, passed the House and the Senate.

State Rep. Aundré Bumgardner, D-Groton, who co-sponsored the bill with state Rep. Anthony Nolan, D-New London, and state Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton, said the scope of the bill was expanded to cover the entire region between the Thames River and the Westerly, R.I., border.

With Mystic the state’s top tourist destination, Somers said the working group will look at how to create economic growth while balancing quality of life for those who live in the region, with a focus on transportation. She cited ideas that are in the mix, such as a potential parking garage off Interstate 95 and a water taxi, but added it will be important to convene everybody together to create a master plan.

Bumgardner further highlighted sections of the legislation calling for consideration of areas likely to be inundated by a 30-year flood ― and how to address the impact on tourist attractions ― and to identify federal and state opportunities for investment in tourism, transportation and climate resilience infrastructure.

‘Broko’s Bill’

​Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton, said the legislature unanimously passed “Broko’s Bill,” which makes it a felony to intentionally harm, attempt to harm or kill a police dog under the control of law-enforcement or corrections officer acting their official capacity. It also provides restitution to the dogs’ owner. It was nicknamed after a police K9 that was killed in the line of duty in Pawcatuck last December.

“I’m very excited about that bill,” Somers said Thursday, adding it will send a great message to law enforcement and animal advocates.

In Montville last summer, another police dog, K9 Barrett, was euthanized after he suffered brain bleeds and seizures that police said resulted from injuries sustained from the pursuit of a suspect.

“Clearly, we are pleased at the passage of this bill,” said Chief Wilfred Blanchette. “The line of duty death of K9 Barrett was a huge loss to the community.”

Blanchette said in the case of Barrett’s attacker, the New London State’s Attorney’s Office was able to use existing state law to charge the suspect, but that this bill would let judges impose “additional financial penalties which could be provided to the affected departments to offset costs associated with the death.”

“Our goal is for all of our law enforcement officers, both human and animal, to be able to go home safely at the end of their shifts,” he added.

Day Staff Writers Claire Bessette, Daniel Drainville, Kimberly Drelich, Brian Hallenbeck, John Penney and Greg Smith contributed to this report.