These news briefs are part of The Connecticut Mirror’s 2026 political coverage. For more news about the 2026 legislative session, campaigns, elections and more, sign up here for The Issue, CT Mirror’s weekly politics newsletter.
Supreme Court rules against Trump tariffs
Connecticut was one of a dozen states participating in the litigation that led Friday to U.S. Supreme Court ruling that President Donald Trump had no authority under a 1970s emergency powers law to impose sweeping tariffs.
The court consolidated two challenges — one brought by two small businesses in the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia and another by five businesses and state attorneys general in the U.S. Court of International Trade.
“A massive defeat for Donald Trump and a major win for American families and workers,” Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said. “We’ve all been paying out of pocket for this lawless and irrational tariff war.”
“We won in the Court of International trade. We won in the Court of Appeals. We’ve won now in the Supreme Court. Mr. President, what’s your plan now to give us our money back?”
— Mark Pazniokas, Capitol Bureau Chief
Statewide zoning changes proposed
The Housing Committee on Tuesday heard from municipal leaders who opposed a bill that would change zoning regulations statewide.
Senate Bill 151 aims to increase the state’s stock of starter homes. It’s a priority of Housing Committee co-Chair Sen. Martha Marx, D-New London.
The bill would mean towns would have to allow townhouses on land zoned for single-family housing, prohibit minimum lot sizes more than 5,000 square feet and change setback regulations.
Municipal leaders said they fear the bill will erode local control. Marx said it’s a way to address the dire housing need in Connecticut.
— Ginny Monk, Housing and Children’s Issues Reporter
Public hearings for fee increases
The Aging Committee is considering a bill that would require assisted living facilities to hold informational hearings each time administrators want to raise fees on residents by more than 10%. The hearings must be held at least 30 days before a fee increase takes effect.
“This provides transparency to the residents living at the facility who may be on a fixed income and allows residents the opportunity to voice concerns regarding such increases,” Andrea Barton Reeves, the state’s social services commissioner, testified on the bill. “A public meeting helps to protect the most vulnerable populations and limits the ability of a facility to increase fees without a transparent process.”
— Jenna Carlesso, Investigative Reporter
Loans for graduate students
During a Tuesday hearing on a bill creating a supplemental loan program for graduate students, Connecticut State Colleges and Universities Chancellor John Maduko told lawmakers that new caps on federal student loans will affect about 4,000 students at the community college and universities.
The bill sets aside up to $10 million in state bonds for the Connecticut Higher Education Supplemental Loan Authority.
The bill would help about 200 graduate students at CSCU, but the majority of the CSCU students affected by the federal caps — about 2,500 — are part-time students. Maduko said a state-backed loan program for the graduate students would allow CSCU to offer more financial assistance for part-time students.
— Emilia Otte, Justice Reporter
Homeschool regulation?
Raising “the Provision of Equivalent Instruction” as a concept drew criticism from Republicans on the Education Committee even though — or because — there is no bill (yet).
Co-chair Rep. Jennifer Leeper, D-Fairfield, described “equivalent instruction” as instruction outside a public school. Republicans pressed for clarification and anticipated a lengthy public hearing over concerns about new regulations for private and homeschool students.
Leeper said specifics would emerge through discussion and that a draft bill would be available before a public hearing. Rep. David DeFronzo, D-New Britain, said the death of 11-year-old Jacqueline “Mimi” Torres-Garcia, who was reported as homeschooled by her mother who was later charged in her murder, showed state systems, including education, need to be reviewed.
— Theo Peck-Suzuki, Education Reporter
NDA Ban
Democratic lawmakers are pushing for a ban on non-disclosure agreements that prevent people from divulging their experiences with workplace discrimination.
On Thursday, Janel Grant, who has filed a lawsuit against former WWE Executive Chairman Vince McMahon, spoke at a press conference supporting the proposal. Grant claims in her lawsuit that after undergoing sexual assault, emotional and physical abuse at the hands of McMahon, she was pressured into signing an NDA in 2022, preventing her from disclosing what had happened to her.
“ When an NDA is used to conceal dangerous behavior, it simply relocates the harm to the next employee, the next office, the next victim,” Grant said.
— Emilia Otte, Justice Reporter
Medicaid reimbursement rates
Doctors and nurses sounded the alarm this week that the state needs to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates, or the amount it pays providers to treat patients with HUSKY coverage.
Gov. Ned Lamont’s latest budget proposal does not include funds to increase the rates beyond what the legislature passed last year. But, providers said during a public hearing on Wednesday that under the current rates, they lose money when they see patients with Medicaid. Without meaningful increases, some providers will be forced to limit the number of Medicaid patients they see, which decreases access to care.
— Katy Golvala, Health Reporter
Online safety bill sparks extensive debate
Concerns about free speech and data privacy came up at the General Law Committee’s public hearing on Wednesday.
More than 20 speakers submitted testimony on House Bill 5037, which would require age verification and content restrictions for minors on social media platforms.
The bill is a priority for Lamont and state Democrats worried that Connecticut youth are being exposed to explicit content. But several speakers countered that the bill would limit free speech, hamper the marketing power of businesses and create a patchwork of state regulations. Similar bills are currently under discussion in a number of states, including New Jersey, Kentucky and Georgia.
— P.R. Lockhart, Economic Development Reporter
Banning sale-leasebacks
On Wednesday, legislators heard testimony on a Public Health Committee proposal that seeks to curb private equity investment in health care — an effort that’s been taken up in the two previous legislative sessions, with no results.
This year’s bill would ban Connecticut hospitals from engaging in transactions known as “sale-leasebacks,” except in cases of “financial distress.” “Sale-leasebacks” involve the sale of a hospital’s real estate to an investor, which forces the hospital to make rent payments to the building’s new owner. Research published last year found sale-leasebacks were associated with greater risk of hospital bankruptcy and closure.
— Katy Golvala, Health Reporter
Captive audience challenge dismissed
A federal judge has dismissed a challenge to a Connecticut law that allows employees to opt out of company meetings that discuss political or religious topics, leaving the larger question of the law’s constitutionality unaddressed.
The Connecticut Business and Industry Association argued that the state’s “captive audience” law unconstitutionally limited employers’ free speech, with CBIA claiming that the law would disrupt some of its public policy meetings.
U.S. District Court Judge Kari Dooley found that CBIA lacked standing to continue the challenge. The Connecticut Department of Labor, a defendant in the case, previously said that it would not take action against CBIA for the meetings it cited.
— P.R. Lockhart, Economic Development Reporter
