HARTFORD, Conn.—As the Connecticut General Assembly prepared to adjourn its 2017 regular session on Wednesday, June 7, there was a bit of uncertainty around the fate of proposed legislation that would limit the use of new technology to issue or refill prescriptions for contact lenses.

The House in May unanimously passed the bill – House Bill 6012, “An Act Concerning Consumer Protection in Eye Care” – but action in the Senate was stalled this month even as the end-of-term clock counted down the final few hours of the legislature’s regular session.

The Connecticut legislature is scheduled to adjourn at the close of business today, but can vote to extend the session to consider budget-related legislation, Brian T. Lynch, chairman of the Connecticut Association of Optometrists’ (CAO) legislative committee, told VMail. The eyecare bill does not have budget implications, so likely would not be considered in any extended session of the legislature, Lynch said.

“Our hope is that we will get a favorable action before the Senate adjourns,” he added. The Senate is currently evenly divided with 18 Republicans and 18 Democrats holding seats.

CAO supports passage of House Bill 6012. If approved and signed, the new regulations would be effective Oct. 1, 2017, according to the language in the bill.

If there is no action taken by the Senate, the bill is dead and would have to be proposed again in the next session of the Connecticut legislature, according to Lynch.

The language in House Bill 6012 would prohibit the use of information obtained during an eye test with a “remote refractive device” from being used as the only basis for a consumer to secure or refill a contact lens prescription. The wording “remote refractive device” means “automated equipment or an application designed to be used on a telephone, computer or Internet-based device that can be used either in person or remotely to conduct a test,” House Bill 6012 states.

The bill requires consumers to receive an in-person evaluation and eye examination before an ECP could write a prescription. However, the bill’s limits would apply only to contact lenses and not eyeglasses.