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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5356
February Session, 2022
LCO No. 2354
Referred to Committee on LABOR AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
Introduced by:
(LAB)
AN ACT CONCERNING PANDEMIC PAY FOR ESSENTIAL WORKERS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) As used in this section: 1
(1) "Essential worker" means any person who (A) (i) worked during 2
the period of the public health and civil preparedness emergency 3
declared by the Governor on March 10, 2020, or any extension of such 4
declaration, or (ii) worked during any new public health and civil 5
preparedness emergency declared by the Governor as a result of a 6
COVID-19 outbreak in this state, and (iii) was in a category 7
recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 8
Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, as of February 20, 9
2021, to receive a COVID-19 vaccination in phase 1a or 1b of the COVID-10
19 vaccination program, (B) is included in the Cybersecurity and 11
Infrastructure Security Agency's Guidance on the Essential Critical 12
Infrastructure Workforce: Ensuring Community and National 13
Resilience in COVID-19 Response, issued on March 19, 2020, or any 14
subsequent version of such guidance, or (C) was covered by the 15
Governor's Executive Order No. 7H, issued on March 10, 2020. All 16 Raised Bill No. 5356
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workers who fall into this category, regardless of immigration status, 17
shall be deemed eligible; 18
(2) "Administrator" means an employee of the Office of the 19
Comptroller, or a third-party administrator; 20
(3) "Full-time" means any essential worker who worked more than 21
thirty hours per week for not less than three weeks; 22
(4) "Part-time" means any essential worker who worked less than 23
thirty hours per week for not less than three weeks; and 24
(5) "Pandemic pay" means moneys payable by the Comptroller from 25
the Connecticut Essential Workers' Pandemic Pay program, established 26
pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, to recognize and compensate 27
essential workers for their service pursuant to this section. 28
(b) (1) There is established the Connecticut Essential Workers 29
Pandemic Pay program. The program shall provide two thousand 30
dollars to each full-time essential worker and one thousand dollars to 31
each part-time essential worker, within available funds on a first-come, 32
first-served basis, pending verification of eligibility, except no assistance 33
shall be paid to any essential workers after June 30, 2024. The program 34
shall be administered by the office of the Comptroller or a third party 35
under contract with said office to act as an administrator. 36
(2) The administrator shall accept applications for assistance on and 37
after the effective date of this section. For the purposes of this section, 38
the administrator shall be authorized to: (1) Determine whether an 39
essential worker meets the requirements for eligibility for compensation 40
under this section, (2) summon and examine under oath such witnesses 41
who may provide information relevant to the eligibility of an essential 42
worker, and direct the production of, and examine or cause to be 43
produced or examined, such books, records, vouchers, memoranda, 44
documents, letters, contracts or other papers in relation to any matter at 45
issue as the administrator may find proper, and (3) take or cause to be 46
taken affidavits or depositions within or without the state. 47 Raised Bill No. 5356
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(c) There is established an account to be known as the "Connecticut 48
essential worker pandemic pay account which shall be a separate, 49
nonlapsing account within the General Fund. The account shall contain 50
any moneys required by law to be deposited in the account. Moneys in 51
the account shall be expended by the Comptroller at the direction of the 52
administrator for purposes of: (1) Compensation provided under the 53
Connecticut Essential Workers Pandemic Pay program, and (2) costs 54
and expenses of operating the program, including hiring of necessary 55
employees and the expense of public outreach and education regarding 56
the program and account, except that not more than five per cent of the 57
total moneys received by the account shall be used for any 58
administrative costs, including hiring of temporary or durational staff 59
or contracting with a third-party administrator, or other costs and 60
expenses incurred by the administrator or Comptroller in connection 61
with carrying out the provisions of this section. The administrator shall 62
make all reasonable efforts to limit the costs and expenses of operating 63
the program without compromising essential workers' access to the 64
program. 65
(d) To apply for compensation from the Connecticut Essential 66
Workers Pandemic Pay program, an essential worker shall submit a 67
claim to the administrator, in such form and manner as required by the 68
administrator not later than January 1, 2023. Any such claim shall 69
include: (1) Proof of employment as an essential worker from March 10, 70
2020, to the effective date of this act, as determined by an essential 71
worker's proof of earnings; and (2) any additional information as 72
requested or required by the administrator. An essential worker may 73
submit as proof of employment official payroll records or another form 74
of proof including, but not limited to, a letter from an employer stating 75
the essential worker's dates of work, or a declaration from an individual 76
with personal knowledge of the essential worker's employment. 77
(e) The administrator shall promptly review all applications for 78
compensation submitted pursuant to this section. The administrator 79
shall evaluate each application and determine, on the basis of the 80
information provided by the essential worker, or additional information 81 Raised Bill No. 5356
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provided at the request of the administrator, whether or not such 82
application shall be approved. The administrator shall provide such 83
determination, in writing, to each applicant not later than sixty business 84
days after the date the application is submitted, or, if the administrator 85
requested additional information, not later than ten business days after 86
the administrator receives such additional information from the 87
applicant. If such claim is approved, the administrator shall direct the 88
Comptroller to pay two thousand dollars to a full-time essential worker 89
or one thousand dollars to a part-time essential worker not later than 90
ten business days after such approval. For those who are deemed part-91
time, the rate will be prorated down from twenty-nine to one hour per 92
week at a rate of thirty-three dollars per hour, with twenty-nine hours 93
per week receiving the maximum amount of one thousand dollars. 94
(f) An essential worker may request that a determination made 95
pursuant to subsection (e) of this section be reconsidered by filing a 96
request with the administrator, on a form prescribed by the 97
administrator, not later than twenty business days after the mailing of 98
the notice of such determination. The administrator, not later than three 99
business days after receipt of such request for reconsideration, shall 100
designate an individual to conduct such reconsideration and shall 101
submit to such designated individual all documents relating to such 102
essential worker's application and request for reconsideration. The 103
administrator's designee shall reconsider each determination requested 104
by an essential worker pursuant to this subsection. Such review shall 105
consist of a de novo review of all relevant evidence and shall be 106
completed not later than twenty business days after such individual's 107
request for reconsideration. Such designee shall issue a decision 108
affirming, modifying or reversing the decision of the administrator not 109
later than twenty business days after the designee's reconsideration of 110
the determination and shall submit such decision, in writing, to the 111
administrator and the applicant. The decision shall include a short 112
statement of findings that shall specify if pandemic pay shall be paid to 113
the applicant in accordance with subsection (e) of this section. 114
(g) Any statement, document, information or matter may be 115 Raised Bill No. 5356
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considered by the administrator or, on reconsideration, by the 116
administrator's designee, if, in the opinion of the administrator or 117
designee, it contributes to a determination of the claim, whether or not 118
the same would be admissible in a court of law. 119
(h) There shall be no right of appeal by any applicant following the 120
final decision of the administrator's designee issued pursuant to 121
subsection (f) of this section. 122
(i) Any payment provided to an essential worker under this section 123
shall not be considered income for the purpose of the state's personal 124
income tax law, corporation tax or any other tax laws. 125
(j) If a payment is made to a program applicant erroneously, or as a 126
result of wilful misrepresentation by such applicant, the administrator 127
may seek repayment of benefits from the applicant having received such 128
payment and may also, in the case of wilful misrepresentation, seek 129
payment of a penalty in the amount of fifty per cent of the benefits paid 130
as a result of such misrepresentation. 131
(k) On or before September 1, 2022, and monthly thereafter, and any 132
other time at the request of the administrator, the Comptroller shall 133
submit a report to the administrator indicating the value of the 134
Connecticut essential workers pandemic pay account at the time of the 135
report. 136
(l) On or before September 1, 2022, and at least quarterly thereafter, 137
the administrator shall submit a report, in accordance with the 138
provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint standing 139
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 140
relating to labor on the financial condition of the Connecticut essential 141
workers pandemic pay account. Such report shall include: (1) An 142
estimate of the account's value as of the date of the report, (2) the effect 143
of scheduled payments on the account's value, (3) an estimate of the 144
monthly administrative costs necessary to operate the program and the 145
account, and (4) any recommendations for legislation to improve the 146
operation or administration of the program and the account. 147 Raised Bill No. 5356
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(m) Employers of fifty or more essential workers shall submit batch 148
files verified to meet the requirements pursuant to subsections (g) to (l), 149
inclusive, of this section. These payments shall have the option of the 150
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, P.L. 117-2, as amended from time to 151
time, funds if they meet such requirements. 152
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) No employer shall: (1) 153
Discharge, or cause to be discharged, or in any manner discipline or 154
discriminate against any employee because the employee has filed an 155
application for pandemic pay pursuant to section 1 of this act, or (2) 156
deliberately misinform or deliberately dissuade an employee from filing 157
an application for payment from the Connecticut Essential Workers 158
Pandemic Pay program. 159
(b) Any employee who is so discharged, disciplined or discriminated 160
against or who has been deliberately misinformed or deliberately 161
dissuaded from filing an application for payment from the Connecticut 162
Essential Workers Pandemic Pay program may bring a civil action in the 163
Superior Court for the judicial district where the employer has its 164
principal office for the reinstatement to the employee's position of 165
employment, payment of back wages, reestablishment of employee 166
benefits to which the employee would have otherwise been entitled if 167
the employee had not been discriminated against or discharged and any 168
other damages caused by such discrimination or discharge. The court 169
may also award punitive damages. Any employee who prevails in such 170
a civil action shall be awarded reasonable attorney's fees and costs. 171
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective from passage) The sum of seven hundred fifty 172
million dollars is appropriated to the Office of the Comptroller from the 173
General Fund, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, to fund the 174
Connecticut essential workers pandemic pay account. When applicable, 175
allotted funds from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, P.L. 117-2, as 176
amended from time to time, or any future federal COVID-19 relief 177
moneys received by the state may be used to fund such account. 178 Raised Bill No. 5356
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Sec. 2 from passage New section
Sec. 3 from passage New section
Statement of Purpose:
To provide essential workers with pandemic pay for their service during
the COVID-19 pandemic.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]