HARTFORD, Conn. — A range of new laws are going into effect in Connecticut, placing protections in some areas and tightening penalties in others. A few changes Connecticut residents can expect include:
-Medical debt will no longer be allowed to be reported to credit rating agencies.
-New protections for children on school buses
-New rules for social media platforms when it comes to minors
-A sped-up timeline for processing election-related crimes
The new law regarding elections stems from wide-spread criticism of how a 2019 ballot fraud investigation was handled in Bridgeport. Four people were arrested after they allegedly committed election fraud during the 2019 democratic mayoral primary in Bridgeport. House Bill 5498 gives election workers 90-days to alert state prosecutors of any ballot-related crimes.
The bill concerning school bus protections is the product of a reported major uptick in cars illegally passing stopped school buses state-wide. The new law will allow towns to increase fines for drivers and enhance camera security. As far as medical debt reporting goes, health care providers and hospitals will be barred from reporting patient debt to credit-rating agencies.
There are dozens of other laws going into effect on Monday – including a change to the kindergarten start age, state-funded medical assistance expansion, broader tele-health coverage and much more. For a look at the full list of new laws, click here.
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Kaelee Collins is a multimedia journalist for FOX61 News. She can be reached at kcollins@fox61.com. Follow her on X, and Instagram.
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