FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, May 2, 2024

SENATE PASSES SIGNIFICANT ADVANCES IN CONSUMER PROTECTIONS

State Senator Jorge Cabrera (D-Hamden) voted today to advance Senate Bill 3, moving significant advances in consumer protection one step closer to becoming law.

The bill addresses a number of improvements for consumers, including broadband internet access, “junk fees,” streaming services and the “right to repair,” as well as changes to statutes regarding drone purchasing and operations for municipal and state governments.

Senate Bill 3, ” An Act Concerning Consumer Protection,” offers a variety of consumer protections, including:

· Study the merits of ensuring digital equity and quality broadband Internet service access for residents statewide, including guaranteeing minimum speeds for access and requiring comparable capacities for all subscribers to a broadband internet service

· Develop a “Net Equality Program” to ensure that at least 90% of Connecticut households have affordable broadband internet service access by 2025, and 95% by 2028, with a maximum monthly cost established by July 2025 with minimum speeds of 25 MB/s download and 3MB/s upload

· Seek to end “junk fees” by preventing businesses to display prices to consumers that exclude fees, charges or costs, or that intentionally misrepresent fees to mislead individuals, with exceptions for taxes and mandatory gratuities

· Prevent any producer of internet-connected audio listening devices (such as Google Home or Amazon Echo/Alexa) from selling recordings or data collected from listening, also preventing them from eavesdropping on consumers without their knowledge.

· Preserve the “right to repair,” where individual consumers can perform repairs to their own electronic devices and appliances instead of being required to receive repairs from a specific producer or manufacturer

The bill also prevents the purchase of drones manufactured or assembled in China or Russia by state departments, state agencies, state municipalities, or by a business entering a contract with state agencies or departments.

The bill now heads to the House of Representatives for further consideration.

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