OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
sSB-824
AN ACT REQUIRING TRAINING FOR THE MEMBERS OF THE
GOVERNING BOARDS OF INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER
EDUCATION AND CONCERNING THE CONNECTICUT STATE
COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES' BUDGET AND AUTHORITY TO
MERGE OR CLOSE INSTITUTIONS.
Primary Analyst: JS 4/5/21
Contributing Analyst(s):
Reviewer: SB
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 22 $ FY 23 $
Board of Regents for Higher
Education
Various - See
Below
See Below See Below
Note: Various=Various
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill requires specific training for new college and university
governing board members, which results in no fiscal impact to the
constituent units, and makes some changes regarding the Board of
Regents, which may result in a fiscal impact to the board.
Section 2 requires the University of Connecticut's Board of Trustees
and the Board of Regents to ensure that new board members complete
training in numerous specified topics. This section results in no fiscal
impact to the constituent units because any topics not currently
covered in new member orientations can be added, using existing
resources.
Sections 3 through 5 result in no fiscal impact to the Board of
Regents as it makes procedural, technical, and conforming changes to
statutes involving the board. Among other changes, the bill requires
the BOR to include the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities 2021SB-00824-R000280-FN.DOCX Page 2 of 2
(CSCU) central office (i.e., system office) in their budget request
submitted to the Office of Policy and Management. The central office
is primarily funded by General Fund and other revenues received by
the colleges and universities in the CSCU system, which is unchanged
by the bill.
Section 6 may prevent or delay for up to 12 to 16 months any
savings or costs anticipated to result from any college or university
merger or closure approved by the Board of Regents. The bill requires
an affirmative vote of the General Assembly within a specified
timeframe equal to 12 to 16 months in order for the merger or closure
to proceed (or the proposal is deemed accepted), which delays any
anticipated costs or savings. The length of the delay would be equal to
the amount of time between the General Assembly receiving merger or
closure notice and the date of an affirmative vote (or deemed
acceptance). If within the voting timeframe one chamber of the
General Assembly rejects the merger or closure, the merger or closure
will be halted, which prevents the realization of any savings or costs
that would have resulted.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future. The fiscal impact depends on the length of
delay described above and the amount of any one-time or annual
savings or costs anticipated to result from a merger or closure.