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sHB5244 / File No. 315 1
General Assembly File No. 315
February Session, 2026 Substitute House Bill No. 5244
House of Representatives, April 1, 2026
The Committee on Commerce reported through REP.
MESKERS of the 150th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on
the part of the House, that the substitute bill ought to pass.
AN ACT CONCERNING THE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AND
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT'S RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING
THE AGENCY FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE CAP AND EMPLOYMENT
PROMISSORY NOTES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 32-462 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof ( Effective July 1, 2026, and 2
applicable to income and taxable years commencing on and after January 1, 3
2026): 4
(a) As used in this section: 5
(1) "Agency" means the Department of Economic and Community 6
Development or Connecticut Innovations, Incorporated. 7
(2) "Financial assistance" means grants, loans, loan guarantees, 8
contracts of insurance, investments, or combinations thereof, which are 9
provided from the proceeds of bonds, notes or other obligations of the 10
state or an agency which constitute a debt or liability of the state or 11
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which are secured by a special capital reserve fund payable from 12
amounts appropriated or deemed appropriated from the General Fund. 13
(3) "Applicant" means any eligible applicant seeking financial 14
assistance from an agency for a business project. The term "applicant" 15
shall not include any political subdivision of the state. 16
(4) "Business project" means a business proposal undertaken by one 17
or more applicants, but does not include housing unless undertaken in 18
combination with another unrelated type of business. 19
[(5) "Biotechnology business project" means any commercial project 20
to be used or occupied by any person to conduct laboratory activity 21
relating to, or the research, development or manufacture of, biologically 22
active molecules or devices that apply to, affect or analyze biological 23
processes.] 24
(b) (1) No agency or agencies may award more than a total of [ten] 25
twenty-five million dollars of financial assistance during any two -year 26
period to an applicant or for a business project unless such financial 27
assistance is specifically authorized by an act of the General Assembly 28
which has been enacted before, on or after July 1, [1994] 2026. (2) The 29
provisions of subdivision (1) of this subsection shall not apply to any 30
awards funded or to be funded by bonds authorized to be issued by the 31
State Bond Commission before July 1, 1994. 32
[(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, 33
no agency or agencies may award more than twenty million dollars of 34
financial assistance for a biotechnology business project during any two-35
year period unless such financial assistance is specifically authorized by 36
an act of the General Assembly which has been enacted before, on or 37
after July 1, 2001.] 38
Sec. 2. Section 31 -51r of the general statutes is repealed and the 39
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 40
(a) As used in this section: 41
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(1) "Employer" means any person engaged in business who has 42
twenty-six or more employees, including the state and any political 43
subdivision thereof. 44
(2) "Employee" means any person engaged in service to an employer 45
in the business of [his] the employer. 46
(3) "Employment promissory note" means any instrument or 47
agreement executed on or after October 1, 1985, which requires an 48
employee to pay the employer, or [his] the employer's agent or assignee, 49
a sum of money if the employee leaves such employment before the 50
passage of a stated period of time. "Employment promissory note" 51
includes any such instrument or agreement which states such payment 52
of moneys constitutes reimbursement for training previously provided 53
to the employee, but does not include a promissory note entered into by 54
an employer and employee for the full or partial repayment of any fee 55
relating to a federal H-1B visa and paid by an employer on behalf of an 56
employee. 57
(b) On or after October 1, 1985, no employer may require, as a 58
condition of employment, any employee or prospective employee to 59
execute an employment promissory note. The execution of an 60
employment promissory note as a condition of employment is against 61
public policy and any such note shall be void. If any such note is part of 62
an employment agreement, the invalidity of such note shall not affect 63
the other provisions of such agreement. 64
(c) Nothing in this section shall prohibit or render void any 65
agreement between an employer and an employee (1) requiring the 66
employee to repay to the employer any sums advanced to such 67
employee, (2) requiring the employee to pay the employer for any 68
property it has sold or leased to such employee, (3) requiring 69
educational personnel to comply with any terms or conditions of 70
sabbatical leaves granted by their employers, or (4) entered into as part 71
of a program agreed to by the employer and its employees' collective 72
bargaining representative. 73
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2026, and
applicable to income and
taxable years commencing
on and after January 1,
2026
32-462
Sec. 2 from passage 31-51r
CE Joint Favorable Subst.
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The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of
the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not
represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general,
fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional
knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final
products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $
Department of Economic &
Community Development
GF - Potential
Cost
See Below See Below
Connecticut Innovations, Inc CI Funds -
Potential Cost
See Below See Below
Note: GF=General Fund; Various=Various
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill increases the limits for the amount of economic development
assistance that the Department of Economic and Community
Development (DECD) and Connecticut Innovations, Inc. (CI) may
provide without affirmative legislative approval.
Assuming that any eligible project(s) would receive legislative
approval without the proposed change in the bill there is no fiscal
impact.
However, if either DECD or CI provide s assistance to an eligible
project(s) that the legislature would otherwise disapprove, there would
be a cost to the agency.1
Section 2 has no fiscal impact by c reating an exception to
Connecticut’s promissory note ban related to the federal H-1B visa fees.
This provision does not require any administrative action from the state
1 CI is a quasi -public state agency that is financed by loan repayments, investment
returns, and fees so any costs would not be realized by the state's funds.
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and therefore has no fiscal impact.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to inflation. The timing and cost in any
given fiscal year is dependent on the date and size of eligible
investments made under the program.
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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 5244
AN ACT CONCERNING THE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AND
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT'S RECOMMENDATIONS
REGARDING THE AGENCY FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE CAP AND
EMPLOYMENT PROMISSORY NOTES.
SUMMARY
This bill increases, from $10 to $25 million, the cap on financial
assistance that the Department of Economic and Community
Development or Connecticut Innovations Inc. can award for a business
project over a two -year period without legislative approval.
Correspondingly, the bill eliminate s current law’s separate $20 million
cap for biotechnology business projects.
Additionally, the bill c reates an exception to Connecticut’s
employment promissory note ban to allow employers (those with more
than 25 employees) to require , as a condition of employment, an
employee to sign a promissory note to fully or partially repay any fee
related to the federal H-1B visa (see BACKGROUND) the employer paid
on the employee’s behalf. Under existing law, a n employment
promissory note is an agreement where an employee must pay his or
her employer a sum of money if the employee leaves befo re a specified
time period.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2026, and applicable to income and tax
years beginning on and after January 1, 2026, except that the provision
on the promissory note ban takes effect upon passage.
BACKGROUND
H-1B Visa Fees
The H-1B visa allows U .S. employers to temporarily hire foreign
workers for positions requiring specialized knowledge and at least a
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bachelor’s degree. The worker’s initial stay is up to three years or, for
certain Department of Defense employees, five years. Visas may be
extended in some circumstances, and visa holders may eventually
become citizens through the green card process. H -1B visa holders
typically work in high tech fields, including advanced manufacturing
and bioscience.
In 2025, the Trump administration generally imposed an additional
$100,000 petition fee as a condition of eligibility for an H -1B visa. (This
fee is in addition to the application and other fees.)
Related Bill
sHB 5003, § 4, reported favorably by the Labor and Public Employees
Committee, expands the employment promissory note ban to cover all
employers, not just those with more than 25 employees.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Commerce Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 20 Nay 0 (03/17/2026)