House approves emergency bill on hospital transfers, motor vehicle assessments, veterans' property-tax exemptions and special-education funding

The Connecticut House on Feb. 24 passed emergency-certified House Bill 7067, a four-part measure that creates a 60-day emergency certificate-of-need (eCON) process for hospital ownership transfers that arise from bankruptcy; allows municipalities to opt into a modified motor-vehicle assessment schedule; clarifies property-tax exemption procedures for veterans who are permanently and totally disabled; and includes an appropriation to increase the special-education excess-cost grant for the current fiscal year. Representative McCarthy (lead proponent) moved passage; the House approved the bill 140–5 with 5 not voting.

Emergency CON for hospital ownership transfers: the bill instructs the Office of Health Strategy (OHS) to accept and adjudicate a narrowly tailored emergency CON application when a hospital has filed for bankruptcy and a court-authorized sale or transfer is pending. The statute sets a 60-day deadline for OHS to issue a final decision after an application is deemed complete, allows the unit to require a limited cost-and-market-impact review, and permits OHS to impose conditions aimed at protecting access, quality and Medicaid recipients. OHS may hold a public hearing but the bill makes that discretionary (the unit “may” hold a hearing; opponents and several…