Researcher: HP Page 1 2/24/25
OLR Bill Analysis
HB 7066
Emergency Certification
AN ACT CONCERNING INTERACTIONS BETWEEN SCHOOL
PERSONNEL AND IMMIGRATION AUTHORITIES, THE PURCHASE
AND OPERATION OF CERTAIN DRONES, GRANTS TO CERTAIN
NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS, AND STUDENT ATHLETE
COMPENSATION THROUGH ENDORSEMENT CONTRACTS AND
REVENUE SHARING AGREEMENTS.
SUMMARY
This bill makes changes related to (1) procedures for interactions
between school personnel and immigration authorities; (2) unmanned
aircraft (i.e., drone) purchase and operation; and (3) student athlete
compensation.
The bill requires (1) public school superintendents to designate at
least one administrator at each school to be responsible for interacting
with federal immigration authorities and (2) boards of education to
update their school security and safety plans with procedures on
interacting with immigration authorities. It also provides school staff
with protection against discipline for following the bill’s provisions (§§
1-4).
Regarding drones, the bill generally prohibits, beginning on varying
dates, state agencies, municipalities, and those who contract with either
from purchasing or using certain drones assembled or manufactured by
a covered foreign entity (e.g., China or Russia) (§ 5). It also prohibits,
with certain exceptions, (1) operating drones in close proximity to
critical infrastructure facilities or to surveil these facilities or (2)
equipping an aircraft or drone with a deadly weapon or certain other
dangerous devices (§§ 6-8).
Regarding student athletes, the bill (1) allows student athletes to
receive compensation through endorsement contracts for use of their 2025HB-07066-R00-BA.DOCX
Researcher: HP Page 2 2/24/25
person, name, image, or likeness (NIL) or employment unrelated to an
intercollegiate athletic program, and obtain representation, once they
have agreed to attend a higher education institution and participate in
sports, instead of only once they are enrolled and participating and (2)
authorizes a higher education institution, or an entity acting on its
behalf, to compensate a student athlete through an endorsement
contract or a revenue sharing agreement under a policy adopted by the
institution (§§ 12 & 13).
The bill also makes several changes to FY 25 appropriations (§§ 9-11,
see fiscal note) and various technical and conforming changes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Various, see below.
§§ 1-4 — INTERACTIONS BETWEEN SCHOOL PER SONNEL AND
IMMIGRATION AUTHORIT IES
The bill requires each public school superintendent to designate at
least one administrator at each school in the school district to be
responsible for interacting with federal immigration authorities who
appear in person at the school or contact the school to request
information. This same requirement also applies to each regional
educational services center (RESC), charter school governing authority,
and endowed academy designated as a public high school regarding the
schools under each of their respective jurisdictions.
It also requires all local and regional boards of education (i.e., “school
boards”) to update their school security and safety plans for each school
to include protocols for interacting with immigration authorities that are
in line with guidance from the State Department of Education (SDE).
The bill specifically refers to the guidance SDE issued on January 28,
2025, which among other things, recommends each school district
designate at least one administrator to be responsible for interacting
with immigration authorities.
The bill requires the designated administrator to implement the
updated security and safety plan protocols when they interact with
immigration authorities. The bill defines these authorities as officers or
employees of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement or 2025HB-07066-R00-BA.DOCX
Researcher: HP Page 3 2/24/25
the Department of Homeland Security, or people paid by or acting as
their agents, who are charged with civil enforcement of the Immigration
and Nationality Act.
The bill also prohibits a school board, RESC, charter school authority,
or endowed academy from disciplining, suspending, terminating, or
otherwise punishing an employee or an administrator, designated
under the bill, for implementing the updated school security and safety
plan relating to staff interacting with an immigration authority.
Finally, within seven days of the bill’s enactment the education
commissioner must notify all public school authorities listed above of
its contents.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage (except a conforming change, § 3,
is effective July 1, 2025).
Updated School Security and Safety Plan
The bill requires all school boards to update, for the 2024-25 school
year (the current year), their school security and safety plans to cover
protocols for interacting with federal immigration authorities. Schools
must base these protocols on the recent SDE guidance regarding
immigration authorities interacting with public schools (i.e., “Guidance
to K-12 Public Schools Pertaining to Immigration Activities,” issued
January 28, 2025). Under existing law, unchanged by the bill, these plans
must cover each school in the district and also be based on the
Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP)-
developed security and safety plan standards (see Background—School
Security and Safety Plans).
The bill specifically requires school boards to do the following in the
plans:
1. designate at least one administrator at each school to serve as the
individual responsible for interacting with federal immigration
authorities;
2. specify that this administrator, or any other school employee, 2025HB-07066-R00-BA.DOCX
Researcher: HP Page 4 2/24/25
may request certain information from the immigration
authorities or take certain other actions (see below); and
3. permit other school personnel to direct immigration authorities
to the designated administrator if they request access to records,
information, the school building interior, or other school
personnel to communicate with.
Actions Staff May Take. The bill details the following actions that
the designated administrator or any other school employee may take:
1. request and record a federal immigration authority’s
identification, including the name, badge or identification
number, telephone number, and business card;
2. ask the immigration authority if he or she has a judicial warrant
to support the authority’s request and, if so, to show the warrant;
3. review warrants or other materials that the authority provides to
determine who issued the warrant and what it or the other
material authorizes the authority to do; and
4. consult with the school district’s legal counsel (or legal counsel’s
guidance) on how to interact with the immigration authority
regarding the request’s nature, whether a warrant is produced,
the warrant’s details (including whether it is a judicial warrant or
an administrative warrant), whether the immigration authority
is claiming exigent circumstances, and any other consideration
the legal counsel has identified.
Protections for Staff
The bill prohibits a school board, RESC, charter school authority, or
endowed academy from disciplining, suspending, terminating, or
otherwise punishing an employee or an administrator, designated
under the bill, for implementing the updated school security and safety
plan relating to staff interacting with an immigration authority.
This protection specifically applies to staff (1) taking any of the 2025HB-07066-R00-BA.DOCX
Researcher: HP Page 5 2/24/25
permitted actions listed above and (2) directing the immigration
authority to communicate with the designated administrator.
School Security and Safety Committee
Under current law, the school security and safety committee at each
school must include one administrator. The bill instead requires that the
administrator designated to interact with immigration authorities serve
on the committee. By law, the other members of the committee include
a local police officer, a local first responder, a teacher employed at the
school, a mental health professional, a parent or guardian of a student
enrolled in the school, and any other person the school board deems
necessary.
Background — School Security and Safety Plans
By law, the plans require an all-hazards approach to emergencies at
public schools and must include, among other things, (1) involvement
of local officials, including the municipal chief executive officer, the
school superintendent, law enforcement, fire, public health, emergency
management and emergency medical services, in the development of
school security and safety plans; (2) a command center organization
structure; (3) crisis management procedures; (4) a requirement that local
law enforcement and other local public safety officials evaluate, score,
and provide feedback on fire drills and crisis response drills; and (5)
procedures for managing various types of emergencies (CGS § 10-222n).
§ 5 — DRONES FROM CE RTAIN FOREIGN ENTITIES PROHIBITED
The bill generally prohibits, beginning on varying dates shown in the
table below, DESPP, state agencies with department heads, and
municipalities from purchasing and then operating small unmanned
aircraft systems (i.e., drones, see definition below) assembled or
manufactured by a covered foreign entity. These provisions also
prohibit an individual or entity with a contract with an agency or a
municipality from purchasing or operating one of these drones
pursuant to the contract.
It specifies this prohibition does not impair any contract entered into
before these dates. The bill also prohibits state or federal funds, 2025HB-07066-R00-BA.DOCX
Researcher: HP Page 6 2/24/25
including contract, cooperative agreement, or grant funding, from being
used to purchase or operate these drones after the dates that apply to
state entities.
Table: Effective Dates of Prohibitions
Covered Entity Prohibited Action Effective Date
DESPP Purchase October 1, 2025
Operate October 1, 2027
State agencies,
municipalities, and
individuals or entities who
contract with them
Purchase October 1, 2026
Operate October 1, 2028
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2025
Covered Foreign Entities, Persons, and Drones
Under the bill, a “covered foreign entity” means:
1. any person on the federal Consolidated Screening List or Entity
List (15 C.F.R. Part 744, Supp. 4);
2. the People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation, and any
of their gov ernmental subdivisions, agencies, or
instrumentalities;
3. any person domiciled in, or under the control or influence of,
these countries; and
4. any affiliate or subsidiary of any foreign government or person
described above.
A “person” means any individual, association, corporation, limited
liability company, partnership, trust, government, governmental
subdivision, agency, instrumentality, or other legal entity.
A “small unmanned aircraft system” (drone) means any unmanned,
powered aircraft weighing less than 55 pounds, including anything
attached to or carried by it, that is operated without the possibility of
direct human intervention from within or on the aircraft. It also includes
all (1) elements associated with the aircraft, (2) elements required for the 2025HB-07066-R00-BA.DOCX
Researcher: HP Page 7 2/24/25
operator to operate the aircraft safely and efficiently in the national
airspace system, and (3) communication links and components that
control the aircraft.
Waiver
Between the applicable prohibition date and December 31, 2034, the
bill allows the DESPP commissioner, state agency heads, and
municipalities’ chief law enforcement officers or fire department chiefs
to waive the prohibitions. Each may do so if he or she determines the
waiver is needed (1) because of exigent circumstances (i.e., significantly
changed circumstances that were unforeseeable and pose an imminent
threat to public health or safety); (2) to counter another drone; or (3) for
a criminal investigation.
If DESPP, a state agency, or a municipality uses such a foreign entity
drone during this period, the person granting the waiver must provide
a certified written statement within seven days disclosing the (1) reason
the waiver was needed and (2) facts supporting the determination. For
the state or municipal waiver, the applicable person must submit the
statement to the DESPP commissioner, as he prescribes.
The bill requires DESPP to maintain each written statement the
commissioner creates and those submitted to the department. The
commissioner must, upon request, disclose a copy of the written
statement to any General Assembly member. The statement is also
subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.
§§ 6-8 — UNMANNED AIRCRAFT OPERATION
Critical Infrastructure Facilities (§§ 6 & 7)
The bill prohibits any “person” from operating, or programming to
operate, an unmanned aircraft (i.e., drone) at a height of less than 250
feet above ground level of a “critical infrastructure facility” (see below)
or within 100 horizontal feet of one. It specifies this prohibition also
extends to inside any tunnels located on a limited access highway.
Under the bill, “person” includes any individual, association,
corporation, limited liability company, partnership, trust, government
or subdivision, agency, instrumentality, or other legal entity. By law, an 2025HB-07066-R00-BA.DOCX
Researcher: HP Page 8 2/24/25
unmanned aircraft is a powered aircraft that (1) uses aerodynamic forces
to provide vertical lift, (2) is operated remotely by a pilot in command
or that is capable of autonomous flight, (3) does not carry a human
operator, and (4) can be expendable or recoverable.
Additionally, the bill prohibits using an unmanned aircraft to surveil,
gather evidence, or collect information related to a critical infrastructure
facility without prior approval from the facility’s owner or
administrator.
The bill exempts the following individuals while performing their
official duties: (1) employees of the federal government, the state, or its
political subdivisions; (2) public service company employees (e.g.,
electric distribution, gas, and telephone companies); (3) U.S. or state
armed forces members; and (4) firefighters, police officers, and
emergency management directors. This exemption also covers
operating unmanned aircraft on behalf of these entities. The bill also
exempts people operating unmanned aircraft for commercial purposes
in compliance with Federal Aviation Administration authorization (if
doing so is necessary for these purposes). However, the commercial
purposes exemption does not apply to the bill’s surveillance provisions
discussed above.
The bill makes a violation of its critical infrastructure facility
provisions a class A misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to 364
days in prison, a fine of up to $2,000, or both.
Critical Infrastructure Facility Defined. Under the bill, a “critical
infrastructure facility” is a limited access highway (or tunnel located on
one) and any of the following types of properties, if they are (1)
completely enclosed by a fence or other physical barrier that is clearly
designed to exclude intruders or (2) clearly marked with at least one
sign posted on the property stating that operating unmanned aircraft is
prohibited, which is reasonably likely to come to an intruder’s attention:
1. an electrical generating facility, electric substation or switchyard,
or electric control system; 2025HB-07066-R00-BA.DOCX
Researcher: HP Page 9 2/24/25
2. a facility for storing, receiving, or processing petroleum products
and other fuels;
3. a chemical or rubber manufacturing or storage facility;
4. a correctional facility;
5. a telecommunications central office or wireless
telecommunications infrastructure;
6. a commercial port, harbor, rail yard, truck terminal, or other
freight transportation facility;
7. a gas manufacturing or distribution plant;
8. a television or radio station transmission facility licensed by the
Federal Communications Commission;
9. any portion of an above-ground oil, gas, or chemical pipeline;
10. a dam classified as a high or significant hazard by the energy and
environmental protection commissioner;
11. an air navigation facility;
12. a military facility;
13. a reservoir, water treatment plant, distribution system and
pumping station or wastewater treatment plant, collection
system and pump station;
14. a facility used primarily by a defense contractor, as defined in
federal law;
15. a government office building;
16. a hospital;
17. a public safety building or facility; or
18. a state- or locally-owned bridge. 2025HB-07066-R00-BA.DOCX
Researcher: HP Page 10 2/24/25
Deadly Weapons (§§ 6 & 8)
The bill prohibits any “person” (see above) from equipping an
aircraft or unmanned aircraft with a deadly weapon, dangerous
instrument, firearm, ammunition, explosive, or incendiary device.
However, it exempts aircraft and unmanned aircraft operated by a (1)
U.S. or state armed forces member performing official duties or (2)
police officer, firefighter, or emergency management director during
rescue services or while providing emergency services to people in
dangerous situations, when the aircraft or unmanned aircraft is
equipped with a motorized breaching tool.
The bill makes a violation of this provision a class A misdemeanor,
which is punishable by up to 364 days in prison, a fine of up to $2,000,
or both.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2025
§§ 9-11 — FY 25 APPROPRIATIONS CHANGES
Please refer to the fiscal note for a summary of these sections.
§§ 12 & 13 — STUDENT ATHLETE COMPENSATIO N
Student Athletes
The bill expands the time frame during which student athletes can
receive compensation through endorsement contracts or employment
unrelated to an intercollegiate athletic program and obtain legal or
professional representation. Currently, student athletes must be
enrolled in a higher education institution and participate in an
intercollegiate athletic program to do these things. The bill instead
requires the student to attend or agree to attend the higher education
institution and participate or agree to participate in an intercollegiate
athletic program.
Compensation by Institutions
The bill removes a prohibition on student athletes receiving NIL
compensation as an inducement to attend, enroll in, or continue
attending a specific higher education institution or intercollegiate
athletic program. Instead, it allows a student athlete (including one who 2025HB-07066-R00-BA.DOCX
Researcher: HP Page 11 2/24/25
has agreed to attend an institution) to earn compensation through an
endorsement contract or revenue sharing agreement directly with an
institution or an entity acting on its behalf if the (1) institution has a
policy allowing it and (2) student follows the policy.
Under the bill, a “revenue sharing agreement” is an agreement
between an institution, or an entity acting on its behalf, and a student
athlete that allows the student to share a portion of the institution’s
revenue as compensation.
The bill prohibits institutions from using any state funds
appropriated to it for this type of compensation. But it also allows an
institution, or an entity acting on its behalf, to create, negotiate, assist,
or enable opportunities for a student or prospective student to earn NIL
or other compensation related to participation in an intercollegiate
athletic program.
Annual Reports by Institutions
The bill requires public higher education institutions that enter
revenue sharing agreements with student athletes to annually report,
beginning by January 1, 2026, to the Higher Education and Employment
Advancement Committee on the (1) amount of total revenue used to
compensate student athletes and (2) total number of student athletes
compensated.
Institution Policies
The bill applies the policies that institutions must adopt regarding
student athlete endorsement contracts and employment to the
expanded group of student athletes eligible to enter these agreements
under the bill and endorsement contracts with institutions. These
policies must (1) require student athletes to disclose these agreements
and any representation agreements to their institution, (2) prohibit
agreements that conflict with an institution’s agreements, (3) prohibit
endorsement contracts and employment that interferes with official
team activities and academic obligations, and (4) identify prohibited
endorsements. 2025HB-07066-R00-BA.DOCX
Researcher: HP Page 12 2/24/25
Disclosure of Agreements
The bill expands, to include records of compensation under a revenue
sharing agreement, the current prohibition on public higher education
institutions disclosing records of student athlete compensation under
the Freedom of Information Act unless the student consents in writing.
Other Provisions
Existing law provides that institutions, athletic associations
(including the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)), and
athletic conferences are not required to compensate student athletes for
NIL. The bill adds that they are not required to enter into revenue
sharing agreements with student athletes.
Existing law also provides that scholarships from an institution are
not compensation, and the bill adds that other financial aid is not
compensation.
The bill applies various other provisions from existing law to the
expanded agreements that student athletes may enter under the bill.
Among other things, these provisions provide that:
1. student athletes and others are not required to compensate an
institution, association, or conference for a student athlete’s
endorsement contract or employment activity entered into under
these provisions;
2. student athletes are not employees of an institution;
3. institutions are not required to take actions that violate the
federal Discrimination Based on Sex and Blindness Act;
4. student athletes are not prohibited from employment activities
involving coaching or playing a sport that are unrelated to any
intercollegiate athletic program;
5. institutions can use an athlete’s NIL for official team activities;
6. institutions are not required to allow student athletes to use
institutional marks (such as logos); and 2025HB-07066-R00-BA.DOCX
Researcher: HP Page 13 2/24/25
7. an association or conference cannot, on the basis of these
agreements, (a) prevent an institution or athletic program from
participating in intercollegiate sports, (b) restrict or revoke a
student athlete’s eligibility to participate in intercollegiate
athletics, or (c) prevent a student athlete from earning
compensation from these agreements or having legal or agent
representation.
The bill additionally prohibits an association or conference from
acting on a complaint, opening an investigation, or taking adverse
action against an institution, an entity acting on its behalf, an institution
employee, or a student athlete because of action permitted by the
provisions on student athlete compensation.
The bill makes a number of related changes, makes technical changes,
and deletes obsolete provisions.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage
Background — Student Athlete Endorsement Contracts
By law, an endorsement contract is a written agreement to employ a
student athlete or compensate a student athlete for the use of the
athlete’s person, name, image, or likeness by another party to promote
a product, service, or event.
Background — Potential Lawsuit Settlements
Last year, two lawsuits against the NCAA and five athletic
conferences (which do not involve any Connecticut higher education
institutions) reached potential settlements (In re: College Athlete NIL
Litigation, Case No. 4:20-cv-03919-CW (N.D. Cal.); Hubbard v. NCAA,
Case No. 4:23-cv-01593 (N.D. Cal.)). The proposed settlements would
result in, among other things, changes to NCAA rules governing
student athletes; current and certain former student athletes receiving
compensation; and creation of a revenue sharing system that permits
institutions to compensate student athletes in the future. A court
hearing to consider final approval of the settlements is currently set for
April 7, 2025.