CT laws taking effect July 1: School lessons, e-books, budget

The House of Representatives in session on February 24, 2025, at the state Capitol in Hartford.
Credit: Shahrzad Rasekh / CT Mirror

The House of Representatives in session on February 24, 2025, at the state Capitol in Hartford.
Over six dozen Connecticut laws, including the state’s next budget and bond package, will wholly or partially take effect on July 1.
Here’s a look at some of the dozens of laws that will be implemented next month.
New biennial budget
Now with Gov. Ned Lamont’s signature, Connecticut’s next biennial state budget will take effect at the beginning of the state’s next fiscal year, which is July 1.
The budget prioritizes children, would boost funds for nonprofit social service agencies two years from now, and would increase taxes on corporations. It also dramatically scales back a pledged boost to health care providers who treat the poor and relies on accounting maneuvers to comply with the state’s constitutional spending cap.
$9.7B bond package
A $9.7B bond package to finance school construction, transportation upgrades and other capital projects for the next two fiscal years will take effect on July 1.
The borrowing plan would expand non-education aid for cities and towns, increase affordable housing and combat homelessness, bolster security at places of worship and support construction and renovation of child care facilities.
It recommends new capital investments in higher education — including $5 million to advance the planned renovation of Gampel Pavilion at the University of Connecticut — and a new $60 million program to help K-12 school districts fund small-scale renovation projects.
Education requirements in public schools
Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, Connecticut public schools will be required to add two units to their social studies curriculum: Asian American and Pacific Islander history and civics and media literacy.
The AAPI studies provision, part of a bill that lawmakers passed in 2022, requires schools to teach the history of Asian American and Pacific Islanders in the state, region and country, including the contributions of AAPI individuals and communities to the United States’ arts, sciences, government, economy and civil rights advancements.
A separate law that passed in 2023 requires the civics and media literacy lessons. Civics is defined in the bill as “the study of the rights and obligations of citizens” and media literacy will cover the role of all forms of media in society and how to use, evaluate and analyze the media that a person consumes or creates.
Absentee ballot drop box recordings
As of July 1, municipalities are required to have implemented video recording technology, complete with date and time evidence, at each of their absentee ballot drop boxes. They will be required to start recording the boxes on the first day absentee ballots are issued for an election or primary and continue recording until the town clerk retrieves the last ballots.
The law also requires that the recordings be made available to the public as soon as possible — and no later than five days after the town clerk’s last ballot retrieval — and that they keep the recordings for at least a year.
Legislators approved that requirement in the wake of an absentee ballot abuse scandal in Bridgeport, where a court ordered a re-do of the city’s 2023 Democratic primary after a video surfaced of Democratic Town Committee vice chairwoman Wanda Geter-Pataky appearing to place multiple absentee ballots into a Bridgeport absentee ballot drop box.
Five people, including Geter-Pataky and three Bridgeport council members, have been charged with election-related crimes as part of a sprawling investigation into that primary.
Limits on library e-book contracts
This year, lawmakers gave full passage to a bill designed to address the high costs libraries incur when buying electronic and audiobooks by banning them from entering into contracts with e-book publishers that contain terms that some lawmakers call restrictive.
E-book contracts for libraries often come with terms that mean the library has to re-purchase the book after it’s been borrowed 26 times or every couple of years, whichever comes first. The law prohibits libraries from contracting with publishers that place simultaneous restrictions on the loan period of an e-book and the number of times people can borrow it.
Though the law takes effect on July 1, it will only be implemented if one or more states with a total or combined population of 7 million enact similar laws, and mandates that the state librarian check quarterly whether any other states have passed a similar law.
WOODBURY — Nonnewaug High School claimed twin titles in the Berkshire League soccer tournament finals.
The school's girls and boys teams were named league champions after finishing the regular season with the best win/loss records. Winning the tournaments earned each team a plaque and added to the program's success in 2025.
Both of Nonnewaug's varsity teams faced off against their counterparts from Housatonic Valley Regional High School in the tournament finals in Woodbury Tuesday, Oct. 28.
The boys game was played first. Housatonic took a quick 2-0 lead with goals from Gustavo Portillo and Jackson McAvoy. Nonnewaug responded in the second half with three consecutive goals: first from Cash Medonis then two from Vincenzo Rose. The Nonnewaug boys won 3-2.
 
The girls game followed. Nonnewaug and Housatonic traded goals early on and the score was tied 2-2 at halftime. Nonnewaug scored twice more in the second half to win 4-2. Housatonic's goals were scored by Ava Segalla. Rosie Makarewicz scored twice for Nonnewaug and Hailey Goldman and Aubrey Doran scored once.
Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference soccer tournaments begin Oct. 31. Both Housatonic teams qualified for the Class S tournament and both Nonnewaug teams qualified for the Class M tournament.
TORRINGTON — Joan Jardine, 90, of Mill Lane, passed away at home on Oct. 23, 2025. She was the loving wife of David Jardine.
Joan was born Aug. 9, 1935, in Throop, Pennsylvania, daughter of the late Joseph and Vera (Ezepchick) Zigmont.
Joan graduated from Harding High School.
She was a working artist for much of her adult life, starting her career studying plein air impressionist oil painting at the Cape Cod School of Art. Her work evolved to include a more representational style, and eventually a large body of abstract pieces. Her award-winning work has been shown in galleries and juried art shows throughout southern New England.
She is survived by her daughter Leslie and her husband George, brothers Joseph, Victor, and their families, nephews Gregory, Christopher, and their families, daughter-in- law Huong, and the extended Jardine family. She was predeceased by her son Douglas, and brother Michael.
A memorial service will be held at All Saints of America Orthodox Church, 313 Twin Lakes Road, Salisbury, Connecticut on Thursday, Oct. 30, at 10 a.m. Memorial contributions may be made to the All Saints of America Orthodox Church, PO Box 45, Salisbury, CT 06068.
The Kenny Funeral Home has care of arrangements.
The ofrenda at Race Brook Lodge.
On Saturday, Nov. 1, the Race Brook Lodge in Sheffield will celebrate the Mexican Day of the Dead: El Día de los Muertos.
Mexican Day of the Dead takes place the first weekend of November and honors los difuntos (the deceased) with ofrendas (offerings) on an altar featuring photos of loved ones who have passed on. Elements of earth, wind, fire and water are represented with food, papel picada (colorful decorative paper), candles and tequila left for the beloved deceased. The departed are believed to travel from the spirit world and briefly join the living for a night of remembrance and revelry.
Music and events programmer Alex Harvey has been producing Día de los Muertos at Race Brook for the past three years, and with the closing of the venue looming, the festival takes on a deep and personal meaning.
“The anchoring gesture of Race Brook, long before I arrived on the scene, has always been to cultivate a space that thins the veil between the worlds. Something otherworldly is hiding in the mountain’s towering shadow: the whispering spring-fed stream, the dense lineage that founder Dave Rothstein brings, the woodsmoke that rises every night of the year from the firepits. This space communes with the spirits,” said Harvey.
“And so we cradle a special ache in our hearts as the leaves turn and the beautiful dance of Race Brook’s project of cultural pollination draws to a close. Fitting, then, to return for one last activation — Día de Los Muertos — a celebration of the end of things. A remembrance of those who’ve made the transition we are all destined for, but also a time when we honor many types of loss. And while we will all mourn those who aren’t there in the flesh, we will also, with humility, come as mourners for the space itself,” Harvey continued.
The event will be a night to remember, to celebrate and to release with ritual, music, and communal remembrance. Participants are invited to bring photos, talismans and offerings for the ofrenda (offering), as well as songs, poems or toasts to share in tribute to loved ones who have passed.
Mexican American musicians Maria Puente Flores, Mateo Cano, Víctor Lizabeth, Oviedo Horta Jr. and Andrea from Pulso de Barro, an ensemble rooted in the Veracruz tradition of son jarocho, will be performing.
Translating to “Pulse of the Clay,” their name reflects a deep connection to the earth and to the living heartbeat of culture itself. Through a synthesis of Mexican, Cuban, Venezuelan and Puerto Rican traditions, Pulso de Barro merges poetry, rhythm and communal song as pathways to coexistence with nature. Their performances feature the jarana and leona (stringed instruments), quijada, cajón, maracas, and marimba (percussion), the tarima (percussive dance platform) and a call-and-response of folk and original versadas.
The evening begins at 6 p.m. in the Barn Space with a Fandango de los Muertos featuring Pulso de Barro, a Race Brook favorite. At 8 p.m., the Open Mic for the Dead invites guests to speak directly into the spirit world — through word, music or memory. The night culminates at 10:30 p.m. with a Fandango for the Dead, a participatory music and dance celebration. Bring your instruments, your voices and your dancing shoes.
Race Brook Lodge is a unique rustic getaway destination for relaxation, hiking, live music, workshops, weddings and more. Sadly, it will be closing for good later in 2026, ending a storied chapter of Berkshire music, art, culture and well-being.
Come experience an evening that honors lost loved ones and the end of a Berkshire institution. The cycle of life endures. Surely, resurrection is in the cards for Race Brook Lodge.
For Tickets and info, visit: rblodge.com