Lamont signs bill to improve safety at CT summer camps

Legislation establishing stricter standards for state oversight of summer camps in Connecticut was among 21 bills signed into law this week by Gov. Ned Lamont, his office announced Wednesday.

The summer camp proposal gained bipartisan support in the Children’s Committee – its main supporters included Reps. Liz Linehan, D-Cheshire, Sen. Ceci Maher, D-Wilton, and Sen. Lisa Seminara, R-Avon – and was subsequently passed unanimously by both the House State and Senate.

As CT Insider reporting has shown, discipline is rarely enforced at summer camps in Connecticut, even when state officials uncover significant problems. Camps found in violations are typically required to submit “corrective action” reports, but state officials say they do not conduct regular audits to confirm whether programs have implemented promised changes.

In one case, a summer camp in Connecticut was cited for, among other things, its staff not “demonstrating the personal qualities needed to work with children.” The camp voluntarily closed and reopened last summer. Because the camp was never formally punished and did not submit a corrective action plan to state authorities, it was not subject to further monitoring.

In one rare case where a camp’s license was revoked, CT Insider discovered, it reopened the following year in Pennsylvania. The camp was the subject of two investigations by the state’s Office of Early Childhood Services, with one investigator describing conditions as “a state of extreme filth.”

Other bills that took effect this week expand tax breaks for companies that help workers pay off student loans; require that the education and training of hairdressers, barbers and beauticians include work with textured hair; exempt certain law enforcement documents from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, change the criteria for automatic admission to state public universities from class rank to grade point average; and establish new requirements for wheelchair repairs.

The governor also announced his first veto of the session, rejecting a bill that would double the upper limit on municipal contracts exempt from bidding practices. Additionally, he vowed to veto a measure that would create a $3 million fund that could be used to provide unemployment aid to striking workers.

In all, Lamont has signed 69 bills into law this year, with dozens more awaiting his approval. Once the governor formally receives the bill, he has 15 days to sign it or veto it. If he fails to do so, the bill will become law without his signature.