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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 6235
January Session, 2021
AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE "LEARN HERE, HEAL HERE"
PROGRAM.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2021) (a) The Commissioner of 1
Economic and Community Development, in consultation with the 2
Commissioner of Revenue Services, shall establish the Learn Here, Heal 3
Here program. Such program may provide an incentive for persons 4
licensed to practice psychiatry pursuant to the provisions of chapter 370 5
of the general statutes to buy a first home in the state. Persons who (1) 6
graduate on or after January 1, 2022, from a medical school located in 7
the United States or Canada accredited by the Liaison Committee on 8
Medical Education, (2) are licensed to practice psychiatry pursuant to 9
the provisions of chapter 370 of the general statutes, and (3) accept 10
patients who receive health care coverage through any medical 11
insurance plan, including, but not limited to, the HUSKY Health 12
program, may apply to the Commissioner of Economic and Community 13
Development, in the form and manner prescribed by the commissioner, 14
to have their income tax liability, up to a maximum of two thousand five 15
hundred dollars annually, segregated into the Learn Here, Heal Here 16
homebuyers account established pursuant to section 3 of this act, 17
provided, in any calendar year, not more than (A) one million dollars 18
from all program participants may be so segregated, and (B) forty 19 Substitute Bill No. 6235
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persons may be accepted as new program participants. After a period 20
not exceeding ten years after graduation from medical school, any 21
amounts so segregated may be withdrawn by a participant for the 22
purchase of a first home in the state. The Commissioner of Economic 23
and Community Development shall make payments in accordance with 24
this section from said account to the participants. 25
(b) (1) After a period not exceeding ten years after the date of 26
graduation from medical school, a participant in the program 27
established pursuant to subsection (a) of this section may apply to the 28
Commissioner of Economic and Community Development for a 29
payment to be issued, on behalf of such participant, and used as the 30
down payment on a house, which shall be the first house such 31
participant has bought, either singly or with any other person. Such 32
payment may be in an amount equal to the amount of segregated funds 33
deposited on behalf of such participant. If the payment is less than such 34
amount, any excess amount shall be deposited in the General Fund. 35
(2) If a participant in the program established pursuant to subsection 36
(a) of this section moves out of the state at any time up to one year after 37
the date on which the Commissioner of Economic and Community 38
Development issued the payment to the participant, such participant 39
shall repay one hundred per cent of the amount paid on behalf of such 40
participant. If a participant moves out of the state at any time up to two 41
years after such payment, such participant shall repay eighty per cent of 42
the amount paid on behalf of such participant. If a participant moves 43
out of the state at any time up to three years after such payment, such 44
participant shall repay sixty per cent of the amount paid on behalf of 45
such participant. If a participant moves out of the state at any time up 46
to four years after such payment, such participant shall repay forty per 47
cent of the amount paid on behalf of such participant. If a participant 48
moves out of the state at any time up to five years after such payment, 49
such participant shall repay twenty per cent of the amount paid on 50
behalf of such participant. After five years, there is no repayment 51
obligation. Any amounts repaid under this subdivision shall be 52 Substitute Bill No. 6235
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deposited in the General Fund. The commissioner shall file a lien against 53
the title of the property purchased by the participant in the amount of 54
the payment issued by the commissioner on the date of such purchase 55
to secure the repayment of the amounts required pursuant to this 56
subdivision. The lien filed by the commissioner shall take precedence 57
over any subsequent transfer or encumbrances recorded against the title 58
of the property, including any mortgage lien filed contemporaneously 59
with the commissioner's lien, and shall expire after a period of not less 60
than five years from the participant's purchase of the property. 61
(c) On or before December 1, 2021, the Commissioner of Economic 62
and Community Development shall develop, within available 63
appropriations, a public education program to educate recent graduates 64
of any medical school located in the United States or Canada accredited 65
by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education about the program 66
established under subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of this section for 67
first-time home buyers. The department shall begin to implement such 68
education program not later than January 1, 2022. 69
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2021) As part of the Learn Here, Heal 70
Here program established pursuant to section 1 of this act, for taxable 71
years commencing on or after January 1, 2022, the Commissioner of 72
Revenue Services shall segregate the income taxes paid by a participant 73
in said program during a period not exceeding ten taxable years 74
following the year of such participant's graduation from medical school. 75
Upon the request of such participant, the commissioner shall segregate 76
an annual amount of such tax liability, up to a maximum of two 77
thousand five hundred dollars per year. The total amount segregated 78
for all program participants shall not exceed one million dollars for each 79
program in any calendar year. The commissioner shall deposit such 80
segregated amounts into the Learn Here, Heal Here homebuyers 81
account established pursuant to section 3 of this act. 82
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2021) There is established a Learn Here, 83
Heal Here homebuyers account which shall be a separate, nonlapsing 84
account within the General Fund. Funds segregated by the 85 Substitute Bill No. 6235
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Commissioner of Revenue Services, pursuant to section 2 of this act, 86
shall be deposited in the account. An amount equal to the amount 87
deposited in the account shall be available to the Commissioner of 88
Economic and Community Development for payments to participants 89
in the program established pursuant to section 1 of this act. The State 90
Treasurer shall invest the proceeds of the account, and investment 91
earnings, after paying any costs incurred by the State Treasurer in 92
administering the account, shall be credited to the General Fund. On or 93
before September 1, 2022, and annually thereafter, the State Treasurer 94
shall notify the Commissioner of Economic and Community 95
Development of the total amount deposited in the account. Any funds 96
segregated on behalf of a participant that are not used for the purchase 97
of a first home shall be transferred to the General Fund. 98
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2021 New section
Sec. 2 July 1, 2021 New section
Sec. 3 July 1, 2021 New section
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 1(b)(1), "jointly" was changed to "with any other person" for
accuracy and in Section 1(b)(2), "ceases to live" was changed to "moves
out of" and "paid out" was changed to "paid on behalf of such
participant" for clarity and accuracy.
HED Joint Favorable Subst.