SB 116 — AN ACT CONCERNING THE PREVENTION OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING.

General Assembly Substitute Senate Bill No.

116 FebruaryPublic Session,Act 2026No. AN ACT CONCERNING THE PREVENTION OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING.

26-98 AN ACT CONCERNING THE PREVENTION OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING.

(NEW) (Effective October 1, 2026) Not(a) laterAs thanused November 15, 2026, and the fifteenth day of each calendar month thereafter, the Commissioner of Revenue Services shall disclose, in athis publiclysection: accessible location on the Department of Revenue Services' Internetweb site, the name and address of each operator of a hotel, lodging house or bed and breakfast establishment who remitted the use tax imposed under subparagraph (B) of subdivision (1) of section 12-411 of the general statutes during the most recently completed calendar month.

(1) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Consumer Protection;

(2) "Department" means the Department of Consumer Protection;

(3) "Hotel, motel, inn or similar lodging" means any commercial establishment in this state where sleeping accommodations are offered to transient guests for compensation;

(4) "Operator" means any person doing business in this state who owns or operates a hotel, motel, inn or similar lodging;

and (5) "Person" means any individual, association, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, trust or other legal entity.

(b) (1) On and after January 1, 2027, each operator shall register with the Department of Consumer Protection in a form and manner prescribed by the Commissioner of Consumer Protection.

Each operator seeking an initial registration under this subdivision shall submit to the Substitute Senate Bill No.

116 department, in a form and manner prescribed by the commissioner, (A) aninitialregistrationformthatincludes(i)theoperator'sname,business address, telephone number and electronic mail address, (ii) the name, business address, telephone number and electronic mail address of an individual who will serve as the operator's main contact person for the department, (iii) the address of each hotel, motel, inn or similar lodging owned or operated by the operator, (iv) information sufficient to demonstrate, to the commissioner's satisfaction, that the operator is in compliance with the provisions of sections 44-4 to 44-6, inclusive, of the general statutes, as amended by this act, and section 54-234a of the general statutes, as amended by this act, and (v) any other information required by the commissioner for the purposes of this section, and (B) a nonrefundable initial registration fee in the amount of (i) fifty dollars for each hotel, motel, inn or similar lodging owned or operated by the operator that has fewer than fifteen guest rooms, or (ii) two hundred dollars for each hotel, motel, inn or similar lodging owned or operated by the operator that has at least fifteen guest rooms.

(2) Each initial registration issued under subdivision (1) of this subsection shall expire on December thirty-first of the year in which such initial registration was issued, and may be renewed for additional one-year periods upon submission of a registration renewal form in the formandmanner, andpayment ofanonrefundableregistrationrenewal fee in the amount, set forth in subdivision (1) of this subsection for an initial registration.

(c) On and after January 1, 2027, the Commissioner of Consumer Protection, or the commissioner's authorized agent, shall have the power to examine, copy and audit, as the commissioner or such agent deems necessary and proper, the records maintained by an operator to ensure that such operator is in compliance with the provisions of sections 44-4 to 44-6, inclusive, of the general statutes, as amended by this act, and section 54-234a of the general statutes, as amended by this Public Act No.

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The commissioner, or the commissioner's authorized agent, shall have access to, and may enter and inspect, each hotel, motel, inn or similar lodging, and each location where records relating thereto are kept, asmay be necessary for thecommissioner or suchagent to exercise the commissioner's or such agent's powers under this section.

(NEW)Section (Effective44-4 Octoberof 1,the 2026)general (a)statutes Asis usedrepealed inand thisthe section,following "municipality"is meanssubstituted anyin town,lieu city,thereof borough,(Effective consolidatedOctober town1, and2026): city or consolidated town and borough.

(b)(a) TheAs chiefused executivein officialthis ofsection, a"hotel, municipality,motel, inn or suchsimilar official'slodging" designee,and shall:"operator" have the same meanings as provided in section 1 of this act.

(1)(b) HaveThe theoperator powerof to[each] examine,a copyhotel, andmotel, audit,inn as such official or designee deems necessary and proper, the records maintained by the operator ofa hotel, motel,innor similar lodging withinthemunicipalityshall tomaintain ensurea thatrecord-keeping suchsystem operator is in compliance with the provisions of sectionsall 44-4guest totransactions 44-6, inclusive, of the general statutes and subsectionreceipts. (a) LCO 1 of 3 Substitute Bill No.

116All ofrecords maintained pursuant to this section 54-234ashall be retained by the operator of [such] the generalhotel, statutes;motel, inn or similar lodging for not less than six months from the date of creation of the record.

and(c) (2)Any Haveoperator accesswho to,violates andthe mayprovisions enterof andsubsection inspect,(b) atof allthis reasonablesection hours,shall abe hotel,subject motel,to inna orcivil similarpenalty lodgingimposed withinby the municipality,Department andof eachConsumer locationProtection wherein recordsrelatingthe theretoamount areof kept,one asthousand maydollars beper necessaryviolation, forprovided suchthe officialamount orof designeeall tocivil exercisepenalties suchimposed official'son oran designee'soperator powers under subdivisionthis (1)subsection shall not exceed an aggregate amount of thisfive subsection.thousand dollars for the calendar year in which such violations occurred.

(c)Sec. (1) A municipality may, by ordinance adopted by its legislative body or, where the legislative body is a town meeting, by the board of selectmen:

(A)3. Authorize the chief executive official of the municipality, or such official's designee, to issue an order prohibiting the operation of any hotel, motel, inn or similar lodging within such municipality that is found to be in violation of any provision of sections 44-4 to 44-6, inclusive, of the general statutes or subsection (a) of section 54-234a of the general statutes;

andSection (B)44-5 Establish a civil penalty of notthe moregeneral thanstatutes fiveis thousandrepealed dollarsand per violation of any provision of sections 44-4 to 44-6, inclusive, of the generalfollowing statutesis orsubstituted subsectionin (a)lieu ofthereof section(Effective 54-234aOctober of1, the2026): general statutes.

(2)(a) AnyAs ordinanceused adoptedin underthis subdivisionsection, (1)"hotel, ofmotel, thisinn subsectionor shallsimilar providelodging" for notice and an"operator" opportunityhave for a hearing prior to the issuancesame ofmeanings anas order,provided orin impositionsection 1 of athis civilact. penalty, under such ordinance.

(3)(b) AnyThe personoperator whoof is[each] aggrieveda byhotel, anmotel, orderinn issued, or assessedsimilar alodging civilshall penaltyensure imposed,that undereach anemployee ordinanceof adopted[such] underthe subdivisionhotel, (1)motel, ofinn thisor subsectionsimilar maylodging appeal[receive] therefromreceives totraining theat superior court for the judicialtime districtof inhire whichon the municipality(1) isPublic located.Act No.

(4)26-98 The3 remedies and penalties authorized under subdivision (1) of this6 subsectionSubstitute shallSenate beBill cumulativeNo. and shall be in addition to any other penalties and remedies available at law, or in equity, to any person.

LCO116 2recognition of 3potential Substitutevictims Billof No.human trafficking, and (2) activities commonly associated with human trafficking.

116In Thisaddition, actsuch operator shall takeconduct effectongoing asawareness followscampaigns andfor shallemployees amendon the followingactivities sections:commonly associated with human trafficking.

Section(c) 1On or before October 1,[1, 20262017, Newand] first, annually, [thereafter,] the operator of [each] a hotel, motel, inn or similar lodging shall certify that each employee of [any such establishment] the hotel, motel, inn or similar lodging has received the training prescribed by subsection (b) of this section Sec.in [each] such employee's personnel file.

2(d) OctoberAny 1,operator 2026who Newviolates the provisions of subsection (b) or (c) of this section GLshall Jointbe Favorablesubject Subst.to a civil penalty imposed by the Department of Consumer Protection in the amount of one thousand dollars per violation, provided the amount of all civil penalties imposed on an operator under this subsection shall not exceed an aggregate amount of five thousand dollars for the calendar year in which such violations occurred.

APPSec. Joint Favorable JUD Joint Favorable LCO 3 of 3

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Section 44-6 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2026):

(a) As used in this section, "hotel, motel, inn or similar lodging" and "operator" have the same meanings as provided in section 1 of this act.

(b) When offering or providing a room that includes sleeping accommodations, no operator of a hotel, motel, inn or similar lodging may offer or provide a financial discount or benefit for such room that is based upon an hourly rate or an occupancy period that is for a term of twelve hours or less.

(c) Any operator who violates the provisions of subsection (b) of this section shall be subject to a civil penalty imposed by the Department of Consumer Protection in the amount of one thousand dollars per violation, provided the amount of all civil penalties imposed on an Public Act No.

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116 operator under this subsection shall not exceed an aggregate amount of five thousand dollars for the calendar year in which such violations occurred.