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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 872
January Session, 2019
AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE GOVERNOR'S BUDGE T
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GENERAL GOVERNMENT.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 12-7c of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 2
passage): 3
(a) The Commissioner of Revenue Services shall, on or before 4
February 15, [2020] 2022, and biennially thereafter, submit to the joint 5
standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of 6
matters relating to finance, revenue and bonding, and post on the 7
department's Internet web site a report on the overall incidence of the 8
income tax, sales and excise taxes, the corporation business tax and 9
property tax. The report shall present information on the distribution 10
of the tax burden as follows: 11
(1) For individuals: 12
(A) Income classes, including income distribution expressed for 13
every ten percentage points; and 14
(B) Other appropriate taxpayer characteristics, as determined by 15
said commissioner. 16 Substitute Bill No. 872
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(2) For businesses: 17
(A) Business size as established by gross receipts; 18
(B) Legal organization; and 19
(C) Industry by NAICS code. 20
Sec. 2. Section 4-8 of the general statutes is repealed and the 21
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 22
Each department head shall be qualified by training and experience 23
for the duties of his or her office. Each department head shall act as the 24
executive officer of the Governor for accomplishing the purposes of his 25
or her department. [He] Each department head shall (1) conduct 26
comprehensive planning with respect to the functions of his or her 27
department and coordinate the activities and programs of the state 28
agencies therein; [. He shall] (2) cause the administrative organization 29
of [said] such department to be examined with a view to promoting 30
economy and efficiency; [. He shall] and (3) organize the department 31
and any agency therein into such divisions, bureaus or other units as 32
he or she deems necessary for the efficient conduct of the business of 33
the department. [and] Each department head may from time to time 34
abolish, transfer or consolidate within the department or any agency 35
therein any division, bureau or other unit as may be necessary for the 36
efficient conduct of the business of the department, provided such 37
organization shall include any division, bureau or other unit which is 38
specifically required by the general statutes. Each department head 39
may appoint such deputies as may be necessary for the efficient 40
conduct of the business of the department. Each department head shall 41
designate one deputy who shall, in the absence or disqualification of 42
the department head or on his or her death, exercise the powers and 43
duties of the department head until [he] the department head resumes 44
his or her duties or the vacancy is filled. Such deputies shall serve at 45
the pleasure of the department head. Such appointees shall devote 46
their full time to their duties with the department or agency and shall 47 Substitute Bill No. 872
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engage in no other gainful employment. Subject to the provisions of 48
chapter 67, each department head shall appoint such other employees 49
as may be necessary for the discharge of his or her duties. [He is 50
empowered to] Each department head may make regulations for the 51
conduct of his or her department. Each department head may enter 52
into [such] contractual agreements, including, but not limited to, 53
contractual agreements with other states, in accordance with 54
established procedures, as may be necessary for the discharge of his or 55
her duties. Subject to the provisions of section 4-32, and unless 56
otherwise provided by law, each department head is authorized to 57
receive any money, revenue or services from the federal government, 58
corporations, associations or individuals, including payments from the 59
sale of printed matter or any other material or services. Each 60
department head may create such advisory boards as he or she deems 61
necessary. 62
Sec. 3. Subsection (a) of section 10a-8c of the general statutes is 63
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 64
passage): 65
(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, 66
notwithstanding the provisions of sections 10a-77a, 10a-99a, 10a-109c, 67
10a-109i and 10a-143a, no funds shall be appropriated to the Office of 68
Higher Education for grants pursuant to subdivision (2) of subsection 69
(a) of section 10a-77a, subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of section 10a-70
99a, subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of section 10a-109i and 71
subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of section 10a-143a: (1) Until such time 72
as the amount in the Budget Reserve Fund, established in section 4-73
30a, equals [ten] fifteen per cent of the net General Fund 74
appropriations for the fiscal year in progress, (2) the amount of the 75
grants appropriated shall be reduced proportionately if the amount 76
available is less than the amount required for such grants, and (3) the 77
amount of funds available to be appropriated during any fiscal year 78
for such grants shall not exceed twenty-five million dollars. 79
Sec. 4. Subsection (b) of section 10a-8 of the general statutes is 80 Substitute Bill No. 872
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repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 81
passage): 82
(b) The boards of trustees of each of the constituent units may 83
transfer to or from any specific appropriation of such constituent unit a 84
sum or sums totaling up to [fifty] one hundred seventy-five thousand 85
dollars or ten per cent of any such specific appropriation, whichever is 86
less, in any fiscal year without the consent of the Finance Advisory 87
Committee. Any such transfer shall be reported to the Finance 88
Advisory Committee within thirty days of such transfer and such 89
report shall be a record of said committee. 90
Sec. 5. (Effective July 1, 2019) Notwithstanding the provisions of 91
subsection (c) of section 4-66l of the general statutes: 92
(1) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2020, municipal transition 93
grants to municipalities that impose mill rates on real property and 94
personal property other than motor vehicles greater than 45 mills or 95
that, when combined with the mill rate of any district located within 96
the municipality, impose mill rates greater than 45 mills, shall be made 97
in an amount equal to the difference between the amount of property 98
taxes levied by the municipality and any district located within the 99
municipality on motor vehicles for the assessment year commencing 100
October 1, 2016, and the amount such levy would have been if the mill 101
rate on motor vehicles for said assessment year was equal to the mill 102
rate imposed by such municipality and any district located within the 103
municipality on real property and personal property other than motor 104
vehicles; and 105
(2) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021, municipal transition 106
grants to municipalities that impose mill rates on real property and 107
personal property, other than motor vehicles, greater than 45 mills or 108
that, when combined with the mill rate of any district located within 109
the municipality, impose mill rates greater than 45 mills, shall be made 110
in an amount equal to the difference between the amount of property 111
taxes levied by the municipality and any district located within the 112 Substitute Bill No. 872
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municipality on motor vehicles for the assessment year commencing 113
October 1, 2017, and the amount such levy would have been if the mill 114
rate on motor vehicles for said assessment year was equal to the mill 115
rate imposed by such municipality and any district located within the 116
municipality on real property and personal property other than motor 117
vehicles. 118
Sec. 6. Section 31-230 of the general statutes is repealed and the 119
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 120
(a) An individual's benefit year shall commence with the beginning 121
of the week with respect to which the individual has filed a valid 122
initiating claim and shall continue through the Saturday of the fifty-123
first week following the week in which it commenced, provided no 124
benefit year shall end until after the end of the third complete calendar 125
quarter, plus the remainder of any uncompleted calendar week that 126
began in such quarter, following the calendar quarter in which it 127
commenced, and provided further, the benefit year of an individual 128
who has filed a combined wage claim, as described in subsection (b) of 129
section 31-255, shall be the benefit year prescribed by the law of the 130
paying state. In no event shall a benefit year be established before the 131
termination of an existing benefit year previously established under 132
the provisions of this chapter. Except as provided in subsection (b) of 133
this section, the base period of a benefit year shall be the first four of 134
the five most recently completed calendar quarters prior to such 135
benefit year, provided such quarters were not previously used to 136
establish a prior valid benefit year and provided further, the base 137
period with respect to a combined wage claim, as described in 138
subsection (b) of section 31-255, shall be the base period of the paying 139
state, except that for any individual who is eligible to receive or is 140
receiving workers' compensation or who is properly absent from work 141
under the terms of the employer's sick leave or disability leave policy, 142
the base period shall be the first four of the five most recently worked 143
quarters prior to such benefit year, provided such quarters were 144
consecutive and not previously used to establish a prior valid benefit 145 Substitute Bill No. 872
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year and provided further, the last most recently worked calendar 146
quarter is no more than twelve calendar quarters prior to the date such 147
individual makes an initiating claim. As used in this section, an 148
initiating claim shall be deemed valid if the individual is unemployed 149
and meets the requirements of subdivisions (1) and (3) of subsection 150
(a) of section 31-235. The base period of an individual's benefit year 151
shall include wages paid by any nonprofit organization electing 152
reimbursement in lieu of contributions, or by the state and by any 153
town, city or other political or governmental subdivision of or in this 154
state or of any municipality to such person with respect to whom such 155
employer is subject to the provisions of this chapter. With respect to 156
weeks of unemployment beginning on or after January 1, 1978, wages 157
for insured work shall include wages paid for previously uncovered 158
services. For purposes of this section, the term "previously uncovered 159
services" means services that (1) were not employment, as defined in 160
section 31-222, and were not services covered pursuant to section 31-161
223, at any time during the one-year period ending December 31, 1975; 162
and (2) (A) are agricultural labor, as defined in subparagraph (H) of 163
subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of section 31-222, or domestic service, 164
as defined in subparagraph (J) of subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of 165
section 31-222, or (B) are services performed by an employee of this 166
state or a political subdivision of this state, as provided in 167
subparagraph (C) of subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of section 31-222, 168
or by an employee of a nonprofit educational institution that is not an 169
institution of higher education, as provided in subparagraph (E)(iii) of 170
subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of section 31-222, except to the extent 171
that assistance under Title II of the Emergency Jobs and 172
Unemployment Assistance Act of 1974 was paid on the basis of such 173
services. 174
(b) The base period of a benefit year for any individual who is 175
ineligible to receive benefits using the base period set forth in 176
subsection (a) of this section shall be the four most recently completed 177
calendar quarters prior to the individual's benefit year, provided such 178
quarters were not previously used to establish a prior valid benefit 179 Substitute Bill No. 872
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year, except that for any such individual who is eligible to receive or is 180
receiving workers' compensation or who is properly absent from work 181
under the terms of an employer's sick leave or disability leave policy, 182
the base period shall be the four most recently worked calendar 183
quarters prior to such benefit year, provided such quarters were 184
consecutive and not previously used to establish a prior valid benefit 185
year and provided further, the last most recently worked calendar 186
quarter is not more than twelve calendar quarters prior to the date 187
such individual makes the initiating claim. If the wage information for 188
an individual's most recently worked calendar quarter is unavailable 189
to the administrator from regular quarterly reports of systematically 190
accessible wage information, the administrator shall promptly contact 191
the individual's employer to obtain such wage information. 192
Sec. 7. Subsection (b) of section 31-273 of the general statutes is 193
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 194
passage): 195
(b) (1) Any person who, by reason of fraud, wilful misrepresentation 196
or wilful nondisclosure by such person or by another of a material fact, 197
has received any sum as benefits under this chapter while any 198
condition for the receipt of benefits imposed by this chapter was not 199
fulfilled in such person's case, or has received a greater amount of 200
benefits than was due such person under this chapter, shall be charged 201
with an overpayment and shall be liable to repay to the administrator 202
for the Unemployment Compensation Fund a sum equal to the 203
amount so overpaid to such person. If such person does not make 204
repayment in full of the sum overpaid, the administrator shall recoup 205
such sum by offset from such person's unemployment benefits. The 206
deduction from benefits shall be one hundred per cent of the person's 207
weekly benefit entitlement until the full amount of the overpayment 208
has been recouped. Where such offset is insufficient to recoup the full 209
amount of the overpayment, the claimant shall repay the remaining 210
amount plus, for any determination of an overpayment made on or 211
after July 1, 2005, interest at the rate of one per cent of the amount so 212 Substitute Bill No. 872
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overpaid per month, in accordance with a repayment schedule as 213
determined by the examiner. If the claimant fails to repay according to 214
the schedule, the administrator may recover such overpayment plus 215
interest through a wage execution against the claimant's earnings upon 216
the claimant's return to work in accordance with the provisions of 217
section 52-361a. In addition, the administrator may request the 218
Commissioner of Administrative Services to seek reimbursement for 219
such amount pursuant to section 12-742. If the administrator's actions 220
are insufficient to recover such overpayment, the administrator may 221
submit the outstanding balance to the Internal Revenue Service for the 222
purpose of offsetting the claimant's federal tax refund pursuant to 26 223
USC 6402(f), 31 USC 3720A or other applicable federal laws. The 224
administrator is authorized, eight years after the payment of any 225
benefits described in this subsection, to cancel any claim for such 226
repayment or recoupment which in the administrator's opinion is 227
uncollectible. Effective January 1, 1996, and annually thereafter, the 228
administrator shall report to the joint standing committee of the 229
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to finance, 230
revenue and bonding and the joint standing committee of the General 231
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to labor and public 232
employees, the aggregate number and value of all such claims deemed 233
uncollectible and therefore cancelled during the previous calendar 234
year. 235
(2) (A) For any determination of an overpayment made prior to 236
October 1, 2013, any person who has made a claim for benefits under 237
this chapter and has knowingly made a false statement or 238
representation or has knowingly failed to disclose a material fact in 239
order to obtain benefits or to increase the amount of benefits to which 240
such person may be entitled under this chapter shall forfeit benefits for 241
not less than one or more than thirty-nine compensable weeks 242
following determination of such offense or offenses, during which 243
weeks such person would otherwise have been eligible to receive 244
benefits. For the purposes of section 31-231b, such person shall be 245
deemed to have received benefits for such forfeited weeks. This 246 Substitute Bill No. 872
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penalty shall be in addition to any other applicable penalty under this 247
section and in addition to the liability to repay any moneys so received 248
by such person and shall not be confined to a single benefit year. The 249
provisions of this subparagraph shall not be applicable to claims 250
deemed payable as of October 1, 2019. (B) For any determination of an 251
overpayment made on or after October 1, 2013, any person who has 252
made a claim for benefits under this chapter and has knowingly made 253
a false statement or representation or has knowingly failed to disclose 254
a material fact in order to obtain benefits or to increase the amount of 255
benefits to which such person may be entitled under this chapter shall 256
be subject to a penalty of fifty per cent of the amount of overpayment 257
for the first offense and a penalty of one hundred per cent of the 258
amount of overpayment for any subsequent offense. This penalty shall 259
be in addition to the liability to repay the full amount of overpayment 260
and shall not be confined to a single benefit year. Thirty-five per cent 261
of any such penalty shall be paid into the Unemployment 262
Compensation Trust Fund and sixty-five per cent of such penalty shall 263
be paid into the Employment Security Administration Fund. The 264
penalty amounts computed in this subparagraph shall be rounded to 265
the nearest dollar with fractions of a dollar of exactly fifty cents 266
rounded upward. 267
(3) Any person charged with the fraudulent receipt of benefits or the 268
making of a fraudulent claim, as provided in this subsection, shall be 269
entitled to a determination of eligibility by the administrator that shall 270
be based upon evidence or testimony presented in a manner 271
prescribed by the administrator including in writing, by telephone or 272
by other electronic means. The administrator may prescribe a hearing 273
by telephone or in person at his or her discretion, provided if an in 274
person hearing is requested, the request may not be unreasonably 275
denied by the administrator. Notice of the time and place of such 276
hearing, and the reasons for such hearing, shall be given to the person 277
not less than five days prior to the date appointed for such hearing. 278
The administrator shall determine, on the basis of facts found by the 279
administrator, whether or not a fraudulent act subject to the penalties 280 Substitute Bill No. 872
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of this subsection has been committed and, upon such finding, shall fix 281
the penalty for any such offense according to the provisions of this 282
subsection. Any person determined by the administrator to have 283
committed fraud under the provisions of this section shall be liable for 284
repayment to the administrator of the Unemployment Compensation 285
Fund for any benefits determined by the administrator to have been 286
collected fraudulently, as well as any other penalties assessed by the 287
administrator in accordance with the provisions of this subsection. 288
Until such liabilities have been met to the satisfaction of the 289
administrator, such person shall forfeit any right to receive benefits 290
under the provisions of this chapter. Notification of such decision and 291
penalty shall be provided to such person and shall be final unless such 292
person files an appeal not later than twenty-one days after the date 293
such notification was provided to such person, except that (A) any 294
such appeal that is filed after such twenty-one-day period may be 295
considered to be timely filed if the filing party shows good cause, as 296
defined in regulations adopted pursuant to section 31-249h, for the late 297
filing, (B) if the last day for filing an appeal falls on any day when the 298
offices of the Employment Security Division are not open for business, 299
such last day shall be extended to the next business day, (C) if any 300
such appeal is filed by mail, the appeal shall be considered timely filed 301
if the appeal was received within such twenty-one-day period or bears 302
a legible United States postal service postmark that indicates that 303
within such twenty-one-day period the appeal was placed in the 304
possession of postal authorities for delivery to the appropriate office, 305
except posting dates attributable to private postage meters shall not be 306
considered in determining the timeliness of appeals filed by mail, and 307
(D) if any such appeal is filed electronically, such appeal shall be 308
considered timely filed if it was received within such twenty-one-day 309
period. Such appeal shall be heard by a referee in the same manner 310
provided in section 31-242 for an appeal from the decision of an 311
examiner on a claim for benefits. The manner in which such appeals 312
shall be heard and appeals taken therefrom to the board of review and 313
then to the Superior Court, either by the administrator or the claimant, 314
shall be in accordance with the provisions set forth in section 31-249 or 315 Substitute Bill No. 872
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31-249b, as the case may be. Any determination of overpayment made 316
under this subsection which becomes final on or after October 1, 1995, 317
may be enforced in the same manner as a judgment of the Superior 318
Court when the claimant fails to pay according to the claimant's 319
repayment schedule. The court may issue execution upon any final 320
determination of overpayment in the same manner as in cases of 321
judgments rendered in the Superior Court; and upon the filing of an 322
application to the court for an execution, the administrator shall send 323
to the clerk of the court a certified copy of such determination. 324
Sec. 8. Subsection (a) of section 31-250 of the general statutes is 325
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 326
passage): 327
(a) In administering this chapter, the administrator may adopt such 328
regulations, employ such persons, make such expenditures, require 329
such reports, make such investigations and take such other action as 330
may be necessary or suitable, including, but not limited to, entering 331
into a consortium with other states and entering into any contract or 332
memorandum of understanding associated with such consortium. 333
Such regulations shall be effective upon publication in the manner 334
which the administrator prescribes. As provided in section 4-60, the 335
administrator shall submit to the Governor a report covering the 336
administration and operation of this chapter during the preceding 337
fiscal year and shall make such recommendations for amendments to 338
this chapter as he deems proper. The administrator shall comply with 339
the provisions of Section 303(a)(6) and (7) of the federal Social Security 340
Act, and of Section 303(c), added to the federal Social Security Act by 341
Section 13(g) of the federal Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act. 342
The administrator is authorized to receive the reimbursement of the 343
federal share of extended benefits paid under the provisions of 344
sections 31-232b to 31-232h, inclusive, and section 31-232k that are 345
reimbursable under the provisions of federal law. 346
Sec. 9. Section 5-156a of the general statutes is amended by adding 347
subsection (h) as follows (Effective July 1, 2019): 348 Substitute Bill No. 872
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(NEW) (h) Any recovery of pension costs from appropriated or 349
nonappropriated sources other than the General Fund and Special 350
Transportation Fund that causes the payments to the State Employees 351
Retirement System to exceed the actuarially determined employer 352
contribution for any fiscal year shall be deposited into the State 353
Employees Retirement Fund as an additional employer contribution at 354
the end of such fiscal year. 355
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage 12-7c(a)
Sec. 2 from passage 4-8
Sec. 3 from passage 10a-8c(a)
Sec. 4 from passage 10a-8(b)
Sec. 5 July 1, 2019 New section
Sec. 6 from passage 31-230
Sec. 7 from passage 31-273(b)
Sec. 8 from passage 31-250(a)
Sec. 9 July 1, 2019 5-156a
APP Joint Favorable Subst.