OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
sSB-5
AN ACT CONCERNING ONLINE DATING OPERATORS, ONLINE
CHILD GROOMING AND HARASSMENT, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
TRAINING AND PROTECTIONS FOR VICTIMS OF FAMILY
VIOLENCE AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.
As Amended by Senate "A" (LCO 5647), House "A" (LCO 5911)
House Calendar No.: 499
Senate Calendar No.: 379
Primary Analyst: ME 5/4/22
Contributing Analyst(s):
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 23 $ FY 24 $
Social Services, Dept. GF - Cost 1.44 million None
Department of Emergency
Services and Public Protection
GF - Potential
Cost
74,336 74,336
State Comptroller - Fringe
Benefits
1
GF - Potential
Cost
30,128 30,128
Resources of the General Fund GF - Potential
Revenue Gain
See Below See Below
Note: GF=General Fund
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill makes various changes to laws affecting online harassment,
domestic violence training, sexual harassment in the workplace, and
anti-discrimination protections resulting in various costs and revenue
gains to the state, described below.
Sections 1-5 create a regulatory framework for online dating services
and allows the Department of Consumer Protection to issue fines
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 40.53% of payroll in FY 23. 2022SB-00005-R03-FN.DOCX Page 2 of 3
resulting in a potential revenue gain to the state to the extent violations
occur.
Section 7 establishes a grant program to provide educational and
training opportunities with the goal of preventing online abuse and
results in a potential cost to the Department of Emergency Services and
Public Protection (DESPP) of $104,464 (costs include salary and fringe
benefits) in FY 23 and FY 24. To the extent funding is appropriated to
the grant program, DESPP will have to hire one Emergency
Management Program Specialist to run the program. The new
employee is responsible for fielding a request for proposals for eligible
entities, reviewing all submissions to see if they meet the required
criteria, and awarding grant funding.
Sections 8-25 of the bill result in no fiscal impact to the Commission
on Human Rights and Opportunities. It is anticipated that CHRO has
the necessary expertise to handle the amendment’s requirements.
Section 26 requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) to make
$1,440,000 available in FY 23 for domestic violence child and family
advocates at domestic violence agencies for the purpose of providing
trauma-informed services to children and families experiencing
domestic violence. sHB 5037, the revised FY 23 budget bill, as favorably
reported by the Appropriations Committee, appropriates $1,440,000 to
support the cost of 18 child and family advocates at domestic violence
shelters across the state.
Senate "A" strikes the underlying bill and its associated fiscal impact
resulting in the impact described above.
House "A" makes various changes to Commission on Human Rights
and Opportunities statutes and removes the working group resulting in
no fiscal impact to the state.
The Out Years
The fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future
subject to inflation and the number of violations. 2022SB-00005-R03-FN.DOCX Page 3 of 3
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.