The bill now awaits action in the Senate.
The Connecticut General Assembly on Tuesday passed an anti-hate crime bill in less than 15 minutes that proposes to impose higher penalties for hate crimes.
Overcoming the initial tensions, the amended bill was passed 146-0 by the General Assembly. The bill was first proposed by Stamford Rep. William Tong and was introduced by the judicial committee.
The new bill has proposed “to increase penalties for hate crimes, provide that probation for hate crimes may include related community service, broaden threatening statutes to include threats directed against houses of worship, religious community centers, and day care centers.”
The bill also broadens hate crimes to include bias against the gender of a person, establish a State-Wide Hate Crimes Advisory and establish text and telephone hotlines to provide employees protections if they need limited time from work to care for a child whose school or day care center is evacuated or closed due to a threat of violence.
The bill now awaits action in the Senate.