30-06-2025
Here are new laws that go into effect July 1 in Connecticut
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — From traffic laws to electricity bills and child care, Connecticut residents will see a slew of changes to state law kick into effect on July 1, 2025.
Some of the new laws were passed in this year's legislative session, which ended in early June. Others were passed in previous legislative sessions.
By far the most consequential measure passed during the 2025 legislative session was the two-year, $55.8 billion state budget, OK'd by lawmakers on a party-line vote.
Free and low-cost early childhood education
Included in that spending plan is the establishment of an 'Early Childhood Education Endowment' fund. That fund will be formally created on July 1, with up to $300 million in surplus state cash. The creation of the fund was a top priority for Gov. Ned Lamont (D-Conn.), who pitched it as a means to make early childhood education free for families earning less than $100,000 annually.
Cost-saving measures for electric ratepayers
The cost of electricity was also a major focus of the 2025 legislative session. In the waning hours of the session, lawmakers approved a sweeping, bipartisan bill that proponents say will lower the average annual costs by more than $100. Portions of that legislation that will shift the costs of some programs currently funded by the Combined Public Benefits Charge will take effect on July 1.
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Election security
The 2023 absentee ballot scandal that upended the mayoral election in Bridgeport, the state's largest city, spurred lawmakers to make several changes to the state's voting rules.
Many of those changes, including adjustments to the absentee ballot process and the investigation of election-related crimes, have already taken effect. A section requiring all municipalities to install video recording devices around absentee ballot dropboxes has a deadline of July 1, meaning those cameras must be in place for this year's municipal elections. The law instructs that the footage must be made available to the public soon after every election.
Absentee ballot drop boxes were at the center of the 2023 scandal in Bridgeport. Leaked city surveillance footage showed multiple individuals approaching ballot drop boxes and placing multiple items inside. A judge ruled the actions recorded by those cameras showed individuals 'making multiple drops of multiple ballots' in the drop boxes. The judge stated that the scale of the apparent misconduct was such that the results of the entire election were brought into question. Since then, five Democratic campaign operatives have been charged with ballot crimes.
Spending controls at the state's university system
The 2023 Bridgeport absentee ballot saga wasn't the only scandal that spawned legislation going into effect on July 1.
Last year, an investigation by CT Insider revealed that the chancellor of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system had charged tens of thousands of dollars worth of meals and alcohol to his state-issued credit card.
Cheng has not been charged with any criminal wrongdoing, but a review conducted by State Comptroller Sean Scanlon described spending by him and other CSCU officials as 'in some cases, a shocking and tone-deaf display.'
In response to the revelations over the spending of taxpayer and tuition dollars at CSCU, legislators moved to enact a slate of reforms, including updates to policies and employee training on the use of state-issued credit cards.
Addressing deportation efforts
Connecticut's Democrat-controlled legislature spent much of this year's session discussing measures to respond to the policies of the second Trump administration.
Anxiety over the president's stepped-up efforts to deport those in the country illegally caused lawmakers to draft legislation, going into effect in July, which orders school districts to update their policies on how to interact with immigration authorities.
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