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SB00452 • 2026

AN ACT CONCERNING THE RELEASE OF LIGHTER-THAN-AIR BALLOONS.

AN ACT CONCERNING THE RELEASE OF LIGHTER-THAN-AIR BALLOONS.

Energy
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Environment Committee
Last action
2026-05-22
Official status
Transmitted by Secretary of the State to Governor
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The candidate explanation includes details about fines and retailer responsibilities that are supported but may be more specific than the official text allows. The bill summary and digest do not provide specifics on enforcement mechanisms beyond retailers.

Ban on Selling Filled Balloons and Releasing Lighter-Than-Air Balloons

This act bans selling helium-filled balloons without weights that prevent them from rising into the air, and prohibits releasing lighter-than-air balloons in Connecticut.

What This Bill Does

  • Bans anyone from knowingly releasing or organizing the release of any number of lighter-than-air gas filled balloons into the atmosphere after October 1, 2026.
  • Requires retailers who sell helium-filled balloons to attach a weight that keeps them on the ground starting January 1, 2027.
  • Imposes a $20 fine for each violation by retailers of not attaching weights to helium-filled balloons.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Retailers selling helium-filled balloons in Connecticut
  • People and organizations releasing lighter-than-air balloons

Terms To Know

lighter-than-air balloon
A balloon filled with helium or another gas that makes it float.
retailer
Any firm, partnership, association, or corporation that utilizes universal product coding in totaling a retailer customer's purchase.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The act does not specify what happens if someone releases balloons before October 1, 2026.
  • It is unclear how the law will be enforced for non-retailers who release balloons.

Bill History

  1. 2026-05-22 Connecticut General Assembly

    Transmitted to the Secretary of State

  2. 2026-05-22 Connecticut General Assembly

    Transmitted by Secretary of the State to Governor

  3. 2026-05-19 LCO

    Public Act 26-90

  4. 2026-05-05 Connecticut General Assembly

    House Adopted Senate Amendment Schedule A

  5. 2026-05-05 Connecticut General Assembly

    House Passed as Amended by Senate Amendment Schedule A

  6. 2026-05-05 Connecticut General Assembly

    In Concurrence

  7. 2026-04-22 Connecticut General Assembly

    Favorable Report, Tabled for the Calendar, House

  8. 2026-04-22 Connecticut General Assembly

    House Calendar Number 488

  9. 2026-04-21 Connecticut General Assembly

    Senate Adopted Senate Amendment Schedule A 4385

  10. 2026-04-21 Connecticut General Assembly

    Senate Rejected Senate Amendment Schedule B 4382

  11. 2026-04-21 Connecticut General Assembly

    Senate Passed as Amended by Senate Amendment Schedule A

  12. 2026-04-02 LCO

    Reported Out of Legislative Commissioners' Office

  13. 2026-04-02 Connecticut General Assembly

    Favorable Report, Tabled for the Calendar, Senate

  14. 2026-04-02 Connecticut General Assembly

    Senate Calendar Number 256

  15. 2026-04-02 LCO

    File Number 369

  16. 2026-03-27 LCO

    Referred to Office of Legislative Research and Office of Fiscal Analysis 04/01/26 5:00 PM

  17. 2026-03-19 LCO

    Filed with Legislative Commissioners' Office

  18. 2026-03-18 ENV

    Joint Favorable Substitute

  19. 2026-03-09 Connecticut General Assembly

    Public Hearing 03/13

  20. 2026-03-06 Connecticut General Assembly

    Referred to Joint Committee on Environment

Official Summary Text

To prohibit the sale of helium for purposes of filling lighter-than-air balloons.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
Substitute Senate Bill No. 452

Public Act No. 26-90

AN ACT CONCERNING THE RELEASE OF LIGHTER -THAN-AIR
BALLOONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 26 -25c of the general statutes is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2026):
(a) No person, nonprofit organization, firm or corporation, including
the state and its political subdivisions, shall knowingly release, organize
the release of or intentionally cause to be released into the atmosphere
[within a twenty -four-hour period ten or more ] any helium or other
lighter-than-air gas [balloons] filled balloon in the state.
(b) Any violation of [subsection (a) of ] this section shall be an
infraction.
Sec. 2. (NEW) ( Effective October 1, 2026 ) (a) On and after January 1,
2027, any retailer that sells or offers for sale any helium or other lighter-
than-air gas filled balloon in the state to any consumer shall not provide
such filled balloon to a consumer unless a weight is attached to such
filled balloon that is sufficient to prevent such filled balloon from rising
into the atmosphere.
(b) Any retailer who violates the provisions of subsection (a) of this
Substitute Senate Bill No. 452

Public Act No. 26-90 2 of 2

section shall be subject to a civil penalty imposed by the Department of
Consumer Protection in the amount of twenty dollars per violation.
(c) For purposes of this section, "retailer" means any firm,
partnership, association or corporation that utilizes universal product
coding in totaling a retailer customer's purchase. "Retailer" does not
include any carnival, as defined in section 29-133 of the general statutes.