OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
HB-6442
AN ACT CONCERNING EQUITABLE ACCESS TO BROADBAND.
AMENDMENT
LCO No.: 9750
File Copy No.: 262
House Calendar No.: 216
Primary Analyst: AN 6/2/21
Contributing Analyst(s): ()
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 22 $ FY 23 $
Policy & Mgmt., Off. CC&PUCF - Cost 469,399 381,452
Policy & Mgmt., Off. CC&PUCF -
Revenue Gain
469,399 381,452
Department of Energy and
Environmental Protection
FF - Cost See Below See Below
Note: CC&PUCF=Consumer Counsel and Public Utility Control Fund; FF=Federal Funds
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The amendment strikes the underlying bill and its associated fiscal
impact.
The amendment establishes a grant program administered by the
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) for the
purpose of broadband deployment and requires the Office of Policy and
Management (OPM) to develop statewide broadband mapping.
The amendment results in a cost to OPM of $469,399 in FY 22 and
$381,452 in FY 23 to hire consultants to assist with the development of
the statewide broadband maps. The amendment also results in a
corresponding revenue gain to the Consumer Counsel and Public 2021HB-06442-R00LCO09750-FNA.DOCX Page 2 of 2
Utility Control (PUC) Fund by increasing existing assessments on public
service companies to cover associated costs.
The grant program established is subject to the availability of federal
funding and is therefore not anticipated to result in a cost to the General
Fund or the PUC fund in FY 22 or FY 23. It is anticipated that DEEP will
need to hire 3 staff members for the purpose of program development
and grant administration at a cost of $506,500 in FY 22 and $521,700 in
FY 23 to be funded by federal sources.
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) provides state
funding specifically for the development of broadband infrastructure.
Presumably, any such ARPA funding designated by the legislature
would be used to fund administrative costs and grants provided to
applicants of the program.
The amendment also requires the State Building Inspector to revise
the State Building Code. This provision does not result in a fiscal impact.
The preceding Fiscal Impact statement is prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely
for the purposes of information, summarization and explanation and does not represent the intent of the General
Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of
informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is
consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any
specific department.