OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
sHB-6662
AN ACT DECLARING RACISM AS A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS AND
ESTABLISHING THE COMMISSION ON RACIAL EQUITY IN
PUBLIC HEALTH.
Primary Analyst: DC 5/9/21
Contributing Analyst(s): SB, CP, MR, JS
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 22 $ FY 23 $
State Comptroller - Fringe
Benefits
1
GF - Cost 115,000 126,000
Department of Energy and
Environmental Protection
GF - Cost 25,000 None
Legislative Mgmt. GF - Cost 555,000 565,000
Note: GF=General Fund
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill establishes a twenty-seven-member Commission on Racial
Equity in Public Health, to document and make recommendations to
decrease the effect of racism on public health. The commission shall be
part of the Legislative Department.
The commission, by majority vote and with the assistance of
Legislative Management (OLM) shall hire an Executive Director. The
Executive Director may hire not more than two executive assistants to
assist in carrying out the duties of the commission. This is estimated to
cost $390,000 in FY 22 and $431,000 in FY 23 for salaries and fringe
benefits. OLM will also need consulting assistance to develop a
1
The fringe benefit costs for most state employees are budgeted centrally in accounts
administered by the Comptroller. The estimated active employee fringe benefit cost
associated with most personnel changes is 41.3% of payroll in FY 22 and FY 23. 2021HB-06662-R000656-FN.DOCX Page 2 of 2
strategic plan as well as compiling demographic information,
estimated to cost $250,000 annually. The start-up costs for these new
employees is estimated to estimated to cost $30,000 in FY 22 and
$10,000 in FY 23 for laptops, furniture, office supplies, and mileage
reimbursement expenses.
The bill also requires the Department of Public Health to study a
recruitment and retention program for healthcare workers who are
people of color. This provision has no fiscal impact as DPH has the
staff expertise to conduct this study.
The bill requires the Department of Energy and Environmental
Protection (DEEP) to conduct an assessment of racial equity within its
environmental health quality programs. It also requires DEEP to
submit a report to the Environment Committee including legislative
recommendations to improve racial equity within these programs by
January 1, 2022. This requirement is anticipated to result in one-time
costs to DEEP in FY 22 of up to $25,000 associated with hiring an
outside consultant to perform the racial equity audit as DEEP does not
currently have staff with expertise for this purpose.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to inflation.