Connecticut House passes broad criminal-justice bill after heated debate over Trust Act changes

The Connecticut House passed H.B. 7259 on Monday after an hours-long floor debate that centered on revisions to the state—onnecticut Trust Act and related criminal-code provisions. The bill, as amended, advanced on a roll-call vote of 96 to 51.

Supporters said the package modernizes several criminal statutes and preserves protections for immigrant victims of crime while carving out narrow exceptions for serious convictions. Representative Staffstrom, the bill's House proponent, said the measure balances public safety with due process: "What this bill seeks to do is to make sure that those who do commit these certain crimes ... are prosecuted for that and serves their sentence," he said during the floor summary.

Opponents focused most of their criticism on changes to the Trust Act, arguing that the bill extends the statute's bar on communication between local police and federal immigration authorities to additional categories of officials and only permits cooperation in limited circumstances. Representative Fishbein, a leading critic, said the measure "precludes local law enforcement" from communicating with federal authorities in many situations and warned that the changes make the state less safe: "I don't feel safer," he said during debate.

Lawmakers debated multiple floor amendments aimed at addressing two recurring lines of concern: (1) attorney-fee and trial-priority provisions in Section 6, which would enable certain aggrieved parties to seek injunctive relief and, in limited circumstances, recover fees; and (2) the list and threshold of offenses that would permit state-local cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Representative Fishbein offered amendments (LCO 8966 and related proposals) to make attorney-fee awards reciprocal and to remove language that would give priority or expedited trial status to claims filed under the Trust Act. He argued the revisions would restore the "American rule" on attorney fees; proponents said the injunctive-fee carve-out was needed to ensure a viable remedy against ongoing violations. Multiple fee-targeted amendments failed on the floor.

Representative Howard, a former law enforcement officer, offered a high-profile amendment (LCO 8968) to change the cooperation trigger from "conviction" to "arrest" (probable cause) for a specified list of violent and sex-related offenses. Howard said the change would let local officers share information promptly with federal partners in cases that present an immediate public-safety concern. The Judiciary Committee chair and other opponents argued the change would jeopardize due process and risk wrongful consequences from mistaken arrests; the arrest-trigger amendment failed.

Other contested amendments sought to broaden the list of class-C felonies that would allow cooperation, and to change sexual-assault statutes to permit prosecution on a continuing-course-of-conduct theory. Those proposals were also rejected.

The House did adopt one committee amendment previously (LCO 8913, House amendment A) that revised the bill's text before the floor contest; that amendment passed by roll call (Yeas 90, Nays 49). After the additional floor votes and rejections of substitute proposals, the House passed the underlying bill as amended.

What happens next: The bill will proceed to the Senate for further consideration. If both chambers concur on final language, the changes to the Trust Act and the other criminal statutes will become law according to statutes' effective dates.

Votes at a glance: - House amendment schedule A (LCO 8913): Adopted (Yea 90, Nay 49, Absent 12) - Fishbein attorney-fee amendment (LCO 8966, schedule B): Failed (Yea 48, Nay 97) - Fishbein follow-up amendments (schedules C and D): Failed - Howard arrest-trigger amendment (LCO 8968, schedule E): Failed (Yea 48, Nay 97) - Howard felony-expansion amendment (LCO 8993, schedule F): Failed (Yea 59, Nay 86) - Continuing-course sexual-assault amendment (LCO 8977, schedule G): Failed (Yea 50, Nay 95) - Qualified-immunity interlocutory-appeal amendment (LCO 8627, schedule H): Failed (Yea 57, Nay 89) - Final passage of H.B. 7259 as amended: Passed (Yea 96, Nay 51, Absent 4)

Representative Fishbein and several Republican members repeatedly framed the Trust Act provisions as limiting law-enforcement communications even in serious cases; proponents and Democratic supporters emphasized due-process safeguards and the need to protect immigrant victims and community trust. The House debate featured extended exchanges about statutory wording (specific Connecticut criminal statutes were read into the record) and practical impacts for municipal budgets and police practice.

The measure includes provisions beyond the Trust Act, such as streamlined DNA access for exonerees, changes to assault-evidence kit procedures and an adjustment to how out-of-state time served is credited, among other criminal-justice updates. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.