State agencies could award up to $25 million per business project

The Department of Economic and Community Development and Connecticut Innovations may award no more than $25 million in financial assistance to an applicant or business project in any two-year period. Financial assistance includes grants, loans, loan guarantees, insurance contracts, and investments backed by state debt or a specified state reserve fund. Housing counts as a business project only when combined with another unrelated type of business. An act of the General Assembly must authorize financial assistance above the limit. The limit does not apply to awards funded by bonds the State Bond Commission authorized before July 1, 1994. This section would take effect July 1, 2026, and apply to income and tax years starting on or after January 1, 2026.

An employer may not require an employee or job applicant to sign an agreement to pay the employer if the worker leaves before a stated time. An employment promissory note is an agreement requiring an employee to pay the employer if the employee leaves before a stated period. The rule covers employers with 26 or more employees, including the state and its political subdivisions. The definition includes agreements described as repayment for training already provided, but excludes agreements to repay an employer for a federal H-1B visa application fee paid for the employee. The section does not prohibit agreements to repay advances or property costs, terms for educational staff sabbaticals, or agreements made through collective bargaining. This section would take effect when the bill passes.