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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 5356
February Session, 2022
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, 1b or 1c of the 10
COVID-19 vaccination program, (B) is included in the Cybersecurity 11
and 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
workers who fall into this category, regardless of immigration status, 17
shall be deemed eligible for payment from the Connecticut Essential 18
Workers' Pandemic Pay program established pursuant to subsection (b) 19 Substitute Bill No. 5356
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of this section; 20
(2) "Administrator" means an employee of the office of the 21
Comptroller, or a third-party administrator; 22
(3) "Full-time" means any essential worker who worked thirty hours 23
or more per week for not less than three weeks; 24
(4) "Part-time" means any essential worker who worked less than 25
thirty hours per week for not less than three weeks; and 26
(5) "Pandemic pay" means moneys payable by the Comptroller from 27
the Connecticut Essential Workers' Pandemic Pay program, established 28
pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, to recognize and compensate 29
essential workers for their service pursuant to this section. 30
(b) (1) There is established the Connecticut Essential Workers 31
Pandemic Pay program. The program shall provide two thousand 32
dollars to each full-time essential worker and one thousand dollars to 33
each part-time essential worker, within available funds, on a first-come, 34
first-served basis, pending verification of eligibility, except no assistance 35
shall be paid to any essential worker after June 30, 2024. The program 36
shall be administered by the office of the Comptroller, or a third party 37
under contract with said office to act as an administrator. 38
(2) The administrator shall accept applications for assistance on and 39
after the effective date of this section. For the purposes of this section, 40
the administrator shall be authorized to: (A) Determine whether an 41
essential worker meets the requirements for eligibility for compensation 42
under this section; (B) summon and examine under oath such witnesses 43
who may provide information relevant to the eligibility of an essential 44
worker; (C) direct the production of, and examine or cause to be 45
produced or examined, such books, records, vouchers, memoranda, 46
documents, letters, contracts or other papers in relation to any matter at 47
issue as the administrator may find proper; and (D) take or cause to be 48
taken affidavits or depositions within or without the state. 49 Substitute Bill No. 5356
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(c) There is established an account to be known as the "Connecticut 50
essential worker pandemic pay account" which shall be a separate, 51
nonlapsing account within the General Fund. The account shall contain 52
any moneys required by law to be deposited in the account. Moneys in 53
the account shall be expended by the Comptroller at the direction of the 54
administrator for purposes of: (1) Compensation provided under the 55
Connecticut Essential Workers Pandemic Pay program; and (2) costs 56
and expenses of operating the program, including hiring of necessary 57
employees and the expense of public outreach and education regarding 58
the program and account. Not more than five per cent of the total 59
moneys received by the account shall be used for any administrative 60
costs, including hiring of temporary or durational staff or contracting 61
with a third-party administrator, or other costs and expenses incurred 62
by the administrator or Comptroller in connection with carrying out the 63
provisions of this section. The administrator shall make all reasonable 64
efforts to limit the costs and expenses of operating the program without 65
compromising essential workers' access to the program. 66
(d) To apply for compensation from the Connecticut Essential 67
Workers Pandemic Pay program, an essential worker shall submit a 68
claim to the administrator, in such form and manner as required by the 69
administrator, not later than January 1, 2023. Any such claim shall 70
include: (1) Proof of employment as an essential worker from March 10, 71
2020, to the effective date of this section, as determined by an essential 72
worker's proof of earnings; and (2) any additional information as 73
requested or required by the administrator. An essential worker may 74
submit, as proof of employment, official payroll records or another form 75
of proof including, but not limited to, a letter from an employer stating 76
the essential worker's dates of work, or a declaration from an individual 77
with personal knowledge of the essential worker's employment. 78
(e) The administrator shall promptly review all applications for 79
compensation submitted pursuant to this section. The administrator 80
shall evaluate each application and determine, on the basis of the 81
information provided by the essential worker, or additional information 82 Substitute Bill No. 5356
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provided at the request of the administrator, whether or not such 83
application shall be approved. The administrator shall provide such 84
determination, in writing, to each applicant not later than sixty business 85
days after the date the application is submitted, or, if the administrator 86
requested additional information, not later than ten business days after 87
the administrator receives such additional information from the 88
applicant. If such claim is approved, the administrator shall direct the 89
Comptroller to pay two thousand dollars to a full-time essential worker 90
or one thousand dollars to a part-time essential worker not later than 91
ten business days after such approval. For those who are deemed part-92
time, the rate will be prorated down from twenty-nine to one hour per 93
week at a rate of thirty-three dollars per hour, with twenty-nine hours 94
per week receiving the maximum amount of one thousand dollars. 95
(f) An essential worker may request that a determination made 96
pursuant to subsection (e) of this section be reconsidered by filing a 97
request with the administrator, on a form prescribed by the 98
administrator, not later than twenty business days after the mailing of 99
the notice of such determination. The administrator shall, not later than 100
three business days after receipt of such request for reconsideration, 101
designate an individual to conduct such reconsideration and shall 102
submit to such designated individual all documents relating to such 103
essential worker's application and request for reconsideration. The 104
administrator's designee shall reconsider each determination requested 105
by an essential worker pursuant to this subsection. Such review shall 106
consist of a de novo review of all relevant evidence and shall be 107
completed not later than twenty business days after such individual's 108
request for reconsideration. Such designee shall issue a decision 109
affirming, modifying or reversing the decision of the administrator not 110
later than twenty business days after the designee's reconsideration of 111
the determination and shall submit such decision, in writing, to the 112
administrator and the applicant. The decision shall include a short 113
statement of findings that shall specify if pandemic pay shall be paid to 114
the applicant in accordance with subsection (e) of this section. 115 Substitute Bill No. 5356
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(g) Any statement, document, information or matter may be 116
considered by the administrator or, on reconsideration, by the 117
administrator's designee, if, in the opinion of the administrator or 118
designee, it contributes to a determination of the claim, whether or not 119
the same would be admissible in a court of law. 120
(h) Notwithstanding sections 4-183 and 51-197b of the general 121
statutes, there shall be no right of appeal by any applicant following the 122
final decision of the administrator's designee issued pursuant to 123
subsection (f) of this section. 124
(i) (1) To the extent properly includable in gross income for federal 125
income tax purposes, for the taxable year commencing on or after 126
January 1, 2023, but prior to January 1, 2025, any payments received by 127
an individual under subsections (d) to (f), inclusive, of this section 128
during the applicable taxable year shall be subtracted from adjusted 129
gross income under chapter 229 of the general statutes. 130
(2) Any such payments shall not be considered income for the 131
purposes of determining an individual's eligibility for any program 132
administered by the state. 133
(j) If a payment is made to a program applicant erroneously, or as a 134
result of wilful misrepresentation by such applicant, the administrator 135
may seek repayment of benefits from the applicant having received such 136
payment and may also, in the case of wilful misrepresentation, seek 137
payment of a penalty in the amount of fifty per cent of the benefits paid 138
as a result of such misrepresentation. 139
(k) On or before September 1, 2022, and monthly thereafter, and any 140
other time at the request of the administrator, the Comptroller shall 141
submit a report to the administrator indicating the value of the 142
Connecticut essential workers pandemic pay account at the time of the 143
report. 144
(l) On or before September 1, 2022, and at least quarterly thereafter, 145
the administrator shall submit a report, in accordance with the 146 Substitute Bill No. 5356
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provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint standing 147
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 148
relating to labor on the financial condition of the Connecticut essential 149
workers pandemic pay account. Such report shall include: (1) An 150
estimate of the account's value as of the date of the report; (2) the effect 151
of scheduled payments on the account's value; (3) an estimate of the 152
monthly administrative costs necessary to operate the program and the 153
account; and (4) any recommendations for legislation to improve the 154
operation or administration of the program and the account. 155
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) No employer shall: (1) 156
Discharge, or cause to be discharged, or in any manner discipline or 157
discriminate against any employee because the employee has filed an 158
application for pandemic pay pursuant to section 1 of this act, or (2) 159
deliberately misinform or deliberately dissuade an employee from filing 160
an application for payment from the Connecticut Essential Workers 161
Pandemic Pay program. 162
(b) Any employee who is so discharged, disciplined or discriminated 163
against or who has been deliberately misinformed or deliberately 164
dissuaded from filing an application for payment from the Connecticut 165
Essential Workers Pandemic Pay program may bring a civil action in the 166
superior court for the judicial district where the employer has its 167
principal office for the reinstatement to the employee's position of 168
employment, payment of back wages, reestablishment of employee 169
benefits to which the employee would have otherwise been entitled if 170
the employee had not been discriminated against or discharged and any 171
other damages caused by such discrimination or discharge. The 172
superior court may also award punitive damages. Any employee who 173
prevails in such a civil action shall be awarded reasonable attorney's fees 174
and costs. 175
Sec. 3. (Effective from passage) The sum of seven hundred fifty million 176
dollars is appropriated to the office of the Comptroller from the General 177
Fund, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, to fund the Connecticut 178
essential workers pandemic pay account. When applicable, allotted 179 Substitute Bill No. 5356
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funds from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, P.L. 117-2, as 180
amended from time to time, or any future federal COVID-19 relief 181
moneys received by the state may be used to fund such account. 182
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
LAB Joint Favorable Subst.
APP Joint Favorable