Judiciary Committee advances broad package; debates psilocybin decriminalization, gender‑affirming care protections and housing rules

The Judiciary Committee convened April 4 and advanced a slate of bills to the floor while placing many items on the committee’s consent calendar. Members spent the longest debate on a bill to reduce penalties for small amounts of psilocybin, and also debated expanded statutory protections for providers of reproductive and gender‑affirming health care, and proposed limits and remedies related to housing pricing algorithms and local land‑use appeals.

The committee moved more than a dozen measures to the consent calendar and reported several bills out of committee (JFS or JF as recorded). Committee leaders said the goal was to clear routine or noncontroversial items while allowing fuller debate on the bills that raised policy or public‑safety questions.

Why it matters: the package includes changes that could affect criminal penalties, patient privacy and provider liability, housing enforcement tools, and court procedures. Several bills discussed — notably decriminalizing small amounts of psilocybin and expanding cross‑jurisdictional shields for certain medical services — drew pronounced statements for and against, indicating likely further debate on the House and Senate floors.

What the committee did and debated

• Psilocybin (House Bill 7065): The committee considered a bill to reduce the penalty for possession of less than half an ounce of psilocybin from a misdemeanor to an infraction and to set higher penalties for repeat offenses. Representative Howard moved an amendment to appropriate $1,000,000 for recruitment and training of drug recognition experts (DREs) to help address law‑enforcement concerns about impaired driving; the chair opposed using a general‑fund appropriation in this committee and the amendment failed on a roll call. Opponents said decriminalization risks more impaired driving and public‑safety burdens; proponents said the bill does not legalize psilocybin or driving under the influence. The committee reported the bill (JFS) to the floor. Senator Winfield summarized the bill as a reduction in penalty, not legalization.

"All it does is reduce the current penalty for possession of under half of an ounce of psilocybin from a misdemeanor to an infraction," Senator Winfield said during the presentation.

• Reproductive and gender‑affirming care protections (House Bill 7135): The panel considered a bill that expands the state’s existing "shield" protections for Connecticut providers. Sponsors said the bill extends protections for telehealth and for entities that hold or host medical records, and clarifies that records held by third‑party business associates get the same protections from out‑of‑state subpoenas as provider records. Opponents raised concerns that the measure could impede cooperation with other states on criminal investigations and asked how the measure would affect cross‑border conduct and minors; sponsors said the bill does not change what procedures are legal in Connecticut and instead provides civil‑process and disclosure protections. Representative Blumenthal and the bill’s sponsors said the measure recodifies and extends existing protections rather than creating new authorizations.

• Housing and pricing algorithms; limited attorney‑fee remedy (House Bill 7209): The bill added authority for the attorney general to sue for discriminatory housing practices, authorized the court to award attorney’s fees in narrow circumstances, and sought to prohibit landlords from using pricing algorithms that rely on certain competitor‑sensitive data. Supporters said consolidating tools for enforcement and curbing algorithmic price‑fixing helps renters and enforcement agencies. Several members, including Senator Kissel and Representative Dubitsky, raised concerns about practicality and scope — especially how to determine whether a landlord used a specific algorithm or relied on nonpublic competitive data — and about imposing attorney’s‑fee exposure on municipal zoning bodies. A proposal to remove sections 2 and 3 (attorney‑fee remedy and the algorithm provision) was defeated and the bill was reported out (JFS) to the floor.

• Consolidating hate‑crime statutes (House Bill 6872): The committee considered governor‑sponsored legislation to consolidate Connecticut’s hate‑crime provisions into a single location in law. Sponsors said the change helps prosecutors and law‑enforcement officers locate and apply hate‑crime statutes consistently. Members asked for clarifications on definitions, juvenile sentencing and the scope of protected categories; Representative Conferst recorded a no on the committee vote to flag remaining concerns. The committee reported the bill JFS to the floor after a roll call.

Other actions and consent calendar

The committee placed numerous bills on the consent calendar — including several that attracted only brief discussion in committee — so they may proceed to the full chamber under expedited procedures. Examples moved to the consent calendar included Senate Bill 1330 (accidental failure to file an action), SB 1380 (prohibiting discrimination by health‑care providers), SB 1388 (failure to move over for emergency vehicles), SB 1437 (requests for health records; committee adopted an amendment changing timing of payment for records), SB 1438 (establishing a felony for female genital mutilation), SB 1501 (probate court operations), SB 1544 (pre‑settlement legal funding), House Bill 6918 (prohibiting first‑cousin marriage prospectively), HB 6968 (juror compensation), HB 7064 (validating act revisions), HB 7250 (juvenile justice recommendations), and HB 7255 (judicial branch operations). Several of those measures included technical amendments agreed on in committee.

Votes at a glance (committee actions recorded April 4): - SB 1330: moved to consent calendar (motion: Representative Fishbein; second recorded). JFS LCO 6960 (accidental failure to file). Placed on consent. - SB 1380: moved to consent calendar (Senator Winfield moved; Senator Kissel second). JFS LCO 7012 (prohibiting discrimination by health‑care providers). Placed on consent. - SB 1388: moved to consent calendar. (Placed on consent.) - SB 1437: amendment adopted to require payment for health‑record copies be due after receipt; bill moved to consent calendar (motion recorded). JFS as amended. - SB 1438: moved to consent calendar (enacting criminal prohibition on female genital mutilation for minors). JFS. - SB 1501, SB 1544, HB 6918 (first‑cousin marriage, effective date 2025‑10‑01), HB 6968, HB 7064: moved to consent calendar (committee motions and seconds recorded in transcript). - HB 7065 (psilocybin): reported out JFS to the floor after debate; a fiscal amendment to appropriate $1,000,000 for drug recognition experts was offered and failed on roll call. - HB 7134 (anti‑SLAPP enhancements): reported JF to the floor. - HB 7135 (reproductive and gender‑affirming care protections): reported JFS to the floor after debate on scope and record protections for third‑party business associates. - HB 7209 (housing matters): reported JFS to the floor after debate and defeat of an amendment to strike sections relating to attorney’s fees and algorithm restrictions. - HB 7250, HB 7255: reported to the floor (consent calendar for HB 7255 after amendments and negotiation).

Next steps and timing

Bills reported JFS/JF will proceed to the House and Senate floor calendars for further consideration. Several votes were recorded by roll call and the committee held floor votes open until 4 p.m., per committee practice. Lawmakers noted continuing work on drafting details — for example, statutory definitions used in the hate‑crime bill and the interplay between telemedicine protections and cross‑jurisdictional investigations — and said they expected further amendments as measures move through the process.

The committee recessed at the end of the April 4 session; members said they would reconvene for additional committee business next week.