How will Connecticut’s 2026 legislative session end?
This year state officials have been battling the clock in order to fill the budget holes the federal government has cruelly created. It is up to advocates to push crucial bills over the finish line...
The end of Connecticut’s 2026 legislative session is this Wednesday, which means the state legislature is up against the clock to make sure our communities have what they need to survive another year under the Trump regime.
Progressive advocacy groups, labor unions, medical professionals, individuals and many more have spent countless hours working alongside legislators to pass important policies around healthcare, climate, democracy, immigrant protections, private equity, workers rights, etc.
As of Monday afternoon (5/4) here is where the following progressive bills have landed…
*click on the bill links below to see where they are in real time*
The first victory of this legislative session is SB 397: ICE Accountability.
Governor Lamont signed into law SB 397 earlier today. The bill allows residents to sue federal law enforcement, like ICE, in state court. It also designates churches, schools, and hospitals as protected areas requiring a judicial warrant to enter. ICE agents and all federal law enforcement at all levels would be required to show their badges and be banned from wearing masks.
This policy provides a clear way in CT to hold government officials accountable
if our constitutional rights are violated; protects sensitive places from civil immigration enforcement and sets limits on license plate reader (ALPR) surveillance.
Headed to Governor Lamont’s Desk
This bill is cause for celebration, as it has passed through both chambers! This bill restricts medical providers from promoting, soliciting, or assisting patients in acquiring medical credit cards, which often feature high-interest, deferred-interest models. This is a major consumer protection and healthcare victory for Connecticut.
HB 5003 - Workforce Development & Conditions
This bill is intended to create safer and more equitable work environments and support the needs of several employee groups across Connecticut. The policy makes targeted, meaningful investments in the people who keep our communities strong — from first responders and veterans to nurses, teachers, and blue-collar workers.
SB 196: Private Equity in Healthcare
This bill was voted out of the Senate last week and out of the House today., and is a good first step to start to limit the ability of Private Equity (PE) to engage in selling hospital land and then leasing it back - keeping the profits for its shadowy investors at every step.
Health Care Affordability (formerly SB 3)
We understand that key elements of SB 3 have been included in the budget bill, including extending some state subsidies that made insurance affordable, adjusting fiscal guardrails, and a feasibility study, due in January, for a Connecticut Option. We remain watchful, should harmful MEWAs arise in some other form, and continue to fight for full coverage and access to quality health care for all people.
In the Senate
HB 5001: Implementation of No Excuse Absentee Voting
In 2024, Connecticut voters passed the Constitutional amendment to implement “no-excuse” absentee voting. This session, H.B. 5001 is the implementation bill for this voting reform.
Despite Republicans best efforts, 5001 has passed the House and is expected to be voted on this week in the Senate. This bill also includes a ban on ICE at polling places, which is a huge victory. Reach out to your Senator today and make sure they are ready to vote YES on HB 5001!
The faithless electors law addresses a serious democratic loophole where their electoral college members must vote in line with the state’s election results.
The bill passed the House last week by more than a 2:1 margin, 102 to 43. Now it is onto the Senate. Reach out to your Senator today and make sure they are ready to vote YES on HB 5531!
This bill will expand access to solar power and help stabilize ratepayer costs. It includes clean and affordable energy that cuts pollution, strong residential solar programs, plug-in solar and real ways to lower our energy bills. This bill passed the House last week which is a huge victory and is now on to the Senate.
The key message around this bill is to keep solar moving forward, and to get rid of caps. Reach out to your Senator to make sure they vote YES on solar!
Private Equity (PE)
We are just starting to scratch the surface on how evil PE is, and how it is extracting resources from communities to enrich the few. As we learned at CCAG’s legislative forum on Private Equity, this insidious form of investment is impacting many sectors of life from healthcare, to education, to housing and more. CCAG and our allies will be working on this issue this summer and fall so be sure to watch your inbox for more actions coming later this year.
HB 5045 limits private equity’s ability to infiltrate our healthcare systems
SB 125 and 481 - Addresses Private Equity in Nursing Homes
Tell your Senator to vote YES on limiting Private Equity! (PE).
In the House
Here are a few more Private Equity regulation bills your representative should hear about…
SB 196,above, is a solid step to banning hospital sale-leasebacks, in which hospital campuses are sold by Private Equity - which keeps the sale profits - and leases it back, leading to higher costs for hospitals and profits for PE.
Other good bills include:
SB 256 would address Private Equity in Housing
SB 266 Private Equity in Early Childhood Education
SB 125, Private Equity in Nursing Homes - voted out of the Senate today.
Tell your Representative to vote YES on limiting Private Equity!
We have made headway on private equity, healthcare, climate, democracy and much more. But time is running out, and Republicans are utilizing delay tactics, similar to a filibuster, to talk bills to death and limit how much can be taken up in the few days we have left.
While we have had significant victories this session, we are also laying the groundwork for the long-term fight, in which federal budgets are certain to continue cutting crucial services and community support programs - like healthcare and food - requiring states to step up.
Connecticut has the means as we are one of the richest states in the country. No one should go without food or healthcare while the rich get massive federal tax cuts from Trump.
It is important, now more than ever, that we keep the pressure on legislators to move bills forward and call Republicans out on their slimy strategies. The bills listed here are crucial progressive policies that your lawmaker needs to hear about.
Find your legislator and contact them about these bills before the clock runs out!
Lemmings supporting bad ideas in Hartford....