The bill, Substitute House Bill No. 6613, concerns the display of state license numbers by skilled tradespersons and home improvement contractors in their advertisements. The bill amends Section 20-334(b) and Section 20-427(a) of the general statutes, with an effective date of July 1, 2023. It requires the Department of Consumer Protection to issue licenses to qualified applicants and mandates that license holders carry their licenses while working. The bill specifies that licenses are non-transferable and must be shown upon request. It also introduces fines for contractors who fail to display their state license number on commercial vehicles or in printed advertisements, and for not including their website address in electronic, television, or radio advertisements, where the license number can be viewed. The fine for violations, except for the first offense, can be up to $500 per incident.

Additionally, the bill requires home improvement contractors to exhibit their certificate of registration upon request, state in any advertisement that they are registered, and include their registration number in printed advertisements. They must also provide a publicly accessible website in electronic, television, or radio advertisements for viewing their registration number. The bill includes a fiscal note indicating that the Department of Consumer Protection will incur costs for hiring a special investigator to monitor compliance and investigate complaints, with an estimated cost of $101,504 in FY 24 and $101,977 in FY 25. The bill also notes that fringe benefits costs are budgeted centrally and are estimated at 42.82% of payroll in FY 24.