New Connecticut laws protecting children and targeting ballot fraud take effect July 1

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — When the 2024 legislative session ended on May 8 , state lawmakers sent 175 bills to Gov. Ned Lamont’s desk. The Democrats vetoed two and signed the other 173 into law.

On July 1, some of those laws go into effect. Here is a look at two of the most consequential bills that will become the law of the land.

Protecting Children on School Buses

Senate Bill 420 will begin to go into effect in July. The bill was drafted in response to reports of thousands of cars illegally passing stopped school buses. The bill intends to give towns more tools to combat those dangerous drivers with fines and the expanded use of surveillance cameras mounted on school buses.

“Our kids are our top priority. We want to make sure that we let parents know that we have their back,” Rev. Dr. Herron Gaston (D-23rd District) said in an interview earlier this year after the bill passed through the legislature’s Public Safety Committee.

Targeting Ballot Fraud

Provisions of House Bill 5498 also begin to take effect in July. The bill was drafted in response to the Bridgeport absentee ballot scandal that played out during the 2023 Democratic mayoral primary.

Among the bill’s provisions are measures intended to speed up the enforcement of election-related crimes by giving state elections officials a 90-day window to refer reports of potential ballot misconduct to state prosecutors. The bill also requires state prosecutors to provide a status update to the legislature within 12 months of receiving those referrals of election-related crimes.

“We’re gonna speed up that process,” Lamont said earlier this year. “Justice delayed is justice denied.”

The provisions Lamont was referencing, which go into effect on July 1, are a response to widespread criticism of the state’s yearslong investigation of numerous complaints about the 2019 Democratic mayoral primary in Bridgeport.

That investigation resulted in the recent arrests of four individuals for ballot-related crimes nearly five years after the alleged conduct took place. In requiring faster referrals from state elections officials to state prosecutors, lawmakers and the governor hope to avoid another protracted investigation.

Senate Republicans joined their Democratic colleagues in supporting the legislation, but many Republicans in both chambers of the legislature wanted to see election security measures taken further.

State Sen. Rob Sampson, the ranking Republican on the legislature’s Government Administration and Elections Committee, pushed for a series of amendments that would have required prison time for those found guilty of election-related crimes and required all voters to show identification before casting a ballot.

Democrats voted down Sampson’s amendments before the Senate unanimously approved the original bill.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com.