OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
sHB-6417
AN ACT REQUIRING BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR CERTAIN
EMPLOYEES OF YOUTH CAMPS.
As Amended by House "A" (LCO 8825)
House Calendar No.: 146
Primary Analyst: ME 5/19/21
Contributing Analyst(s):
Reviewer: PR
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 22 $ FY 23 $
Department of Emergency
Services and Public Protection
Applicant
Fingerprint Card
Submission
Account -
Potential Revenue
Gain
None See Below
Resources of the General Fund GF - Potential
Revenue Gain
None See Below
Note: GF=General Fund
Municipal Impact:
Municipalities Effect FY 22 $ FY 23 $
Various Municipalities STATE
MANDATE
1
- Potential
Cost
None See Below
Explanation
The bill requires certain municipalities and other youth athletic
activity operators and youth camps to conduct comprehensive
background checks on certain prospective employees resulting in a
1
State mandate is defined in Sec. 2-32b(2) of the Connecticut General Statutes, "state
mandate" means any state initiated constitutional, statutory or executive action that
requires a local government to establish, expand or modify its activities in such a
way as to necessitate additional expenditures from local revenues. 2021HB-06417-R01-FN.DOCX Page 2 of 3
potential revenue gain to the state and a potential cost to
municipalities.
The Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection
(DESPP) conducts state background checks for $75 per person and to
the extent additional background checks are requested there is a
potential revenue gain to the state. State background checks require
fingerprinting, which DESPP conducts for $15 per person resulting in a
potential revenue gain to the Applicant Fingerprint Card Submission
Account
2
.
The bill also results in a potential revenue gain to the state related to
a civil penalty of not more than $100 per day for each day, up to
$4,500, a licensee has knowledge of an employee’s conviction and does
not report it to the Office of Early Childhood. The extent of the revenue
gain depends on the civil penalty imposed and the number of days the
licensee fails to meet the notification requirements established by the
amendment.
There is a cost to municipalities that will vary based on 1) the
number of background checks they conduct, and 2) the vendor they
use to conduct them. A town that conducts these background checks
via DESPP would incur costs of $75 per person for the state criminal
background check and $15 per person for fingerprinting. A town that
conducts background checks via a third-party vendor could incur costs
of $18 to $20 per person for both.
A municipality could at least partially offset this cost if it chose to
increase any fees it charges for participation in youth athletic activities.
The Department of Children and Families (DCF) is in the process of
implementing an automated Child Abuse and Neglect Registry
system, which will be in place before the bill becomes effective,
therefore, no fiscal impact to the agency is anticipated from the bill.
2
Funds in the Applicant Fingerprint Card Submission Account are used for IT
support and maintenance for the fingerprinting systems. 2021HB-06417-R01-FN.DOCX Page 3 of 3
DCF does not charge a fee for a check of the Registry.
House "A" strikes the underlying bill and its associated fiscal impact
resulting in the impact described above.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to the number of background checks
and inflation.