General Law Committee holds informational forum with Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection

The General Law Committee heard a broad informational briefing from the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection on Jan. 28, 2025, as Commissioner Caffarelli Hu and division directors described licensing, inspections, recalls, gaming oversight, enforcement actions and public outreach.

"Our mission is to ensure a fair and equitable marketplace for businesses and safe products and services for consumers," Commissioner Caffarelli Hu told committee members at the start of the forum. She said the agency employs roughly 300 people across 12 divisions and handles work that touches residents’ daily lives from home improvement to gaming oversight.

Why it matters: The forum assembled the agency’s senior staff to explain how DCP enforces Connecticut law, recovers consumer funds, and regulates industry activities that generate hundreds of millions in state revenue. Committee members asked about enforcement capacity, licensing system modernization, recalls, hemp regulation and outreach to non‑English speakers.

Key details from the briefing

- Licensing and operations: The licensing unit manages more than 300,000 active credentials across roughly 200 license types, processes tens of thousands of new applications annually and handles nearly 200,000 renewals, and — as reported by the commissioner — transfers about $57,000,000 to the general fund. Jason Cohen, director of operations, said the complaint center has achieved a greater than 65% positive rating on follow‑up surveys and recovered nearly $500,000 for consumers last…