This story has been updated. The Connecticut Senate gave final passage to H.B. 5003, sweeping labor legislation that would address wage theft in the building trades, job protection of services workers, compensation for workers assaulted on the job, and require companies to present position wage ranges on job applications. Senators voted 28-7, sending the bill to the governor’s desk for his signature. Introducing H.B. 5003 to her colleagues early in the afternoon Friday, Sen. Julie Kushner, D-Danbury, said it “creates great law for working families in the state of Connecticut.” But Republicans in the Senate pushed back, raising questions and bringing amendments over several hours on Friday afternoon. The vote didn’t come until close to 7 p.m. The omnibus bill was over 200 pages long with 75 sections. Many of those provisions were incorporated from individual bills that were heard and voted on in committee, then rolled into one bill before landing before the full chambers. The bill adds protections for healthcare providers, including implementing a system to notify providers of patients with a history of violence, and move compensation up to 100% of weekly earnings for workers who are assaulted on the job. Other requirements aim to address the state’s firefighter and public safety officer shortage through tuition waivers, healthcare benefits and recruitment programs. [RELATED: CT House manages bipartisan passage of revised labor bill] Sen. Rob Sampson, R-Wolcott, who spoke at length during debate Friday, described the bill as a “legislative buffet.” He said he did not support combining so many issues, and so many industries, into one bill. He said he hadn’t had sufficient time to read through every section. Kushner said, “It’s not uncommon in this chamber, in this legislature to have omnibus bills such as this.” Sampson and Senate Republicans filed more than a dozen amendments to the bill on Friday and asked detailed questions about many of the bill’s provisions. As the debate came to a close Friday evening, Kushner, who co-chairs the legislature’s Labor and Public Employees Committee, thanked her colleagues in both chambers who worked on the bill. She said many of its sections had been developed over many years. “So many people have contributed to this, and it’s remarkable,” Kushner said. The senator also noted that May 1 each year marks an international celebration of workers around the world, known as May Day. She said working people in Connecticut “keep our state running, and it is our obligation, responsibility to make sure we have their backs.” This story was updated when the bill passed the Senate. ...read more read less