OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
sHB-6667
AN ACT ADDRESSING GUN VIOLENCE.
As Amended by House "A" (LCO 8693), House "B" (LCO 8718)
House Calendar No.: 398
Primary Analyst: BP 5/26/23
Contributing Analyst(s): RDP, WL, RP, MR, ES
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 24 $ FY 25 $
Resources of the General Fund GF - Potential
Revenue Gain
See Below See Below
Judicial Dept. (Probation);
Correction, Dept.
GF - Potential
Cost
See Below See Below
Judicial Dept. GF - Cost 260,000 483,000
State Comptroller - Fringe
Benefits
1
GF - Cost 162,884 265,556
Department of Emergency
Services and Public Protection
GF - Cost 166,200 160,106
Department of Emergency
Services and Public Protection
GF - Potential
Revenue Gain
See Below See Below
Note: GF=General Fund
Municipal Impact:
Municipalities Effect FY 24 $ FY 25 $
Various Municipalities Potential
Revenue
Gain
See Below See Below
Explanation
The bill creates various new firearm related offenses and expands
existing firearm related offenses which results in a potential cost for
incarceration or probation and a potential revenue gain from fines. On
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 42.82% of payroll in FY 24. 2023HB-06667-R010841-FN.DOCX Page 2 of 4
average, the marginal cost to the state for incarcerating an offender for
the year is $2,500
2
while the average marginal cost for supervision in the
community is less than $800
3
each year. The bill also creates a state
license for firearm retailers, expands the current local retail permits, and
establishes a firearm related crime docket which results in impacts as
described below.
Sections 4-11 and 13-16 create a state license for firearm retailers and
expand the current local retail permit to include retailers selling any
type of firearm, rather than just handguns, resulting in a potential
revenue gain the Department of Emergency Services and Public
Protection (DESPP) and municipalities to the extent retailers pay
additional licensing fees. The state license and annual renewal fee are
$200, except that anyone with a current local permit who applies for the
license before October 1, 2023, will not be charged an initial application
fee.
Section 41 requires the Judicial Department to establish a firearm
related crime docket in Fairfield, New Haven, and Waterbury on or
before December 31, 2023 which requires separate personnel and results
in an estimated cost of $260,000 to the Judicial Department and $96,000
in fringe benefits for FY 24. The cost to the Judicial Department includes
a partial year of salaries, related equipment, and other expenses.
4
In FY
25, there is an estimated cost of $483,000 to the Judicial Department and
$197,000 in fringe benefits for the first full fiscal year of implementation.
5
Section 47 makes changes to the state’s response to mass shooting
events, resulting in a cost of up to $233,084 in FY 24 and up to $228,662
2
Inmate marginal cost is based on increased consumables (e.g. food, clothing, water,
sewage, living supplies, etc.) This does not include a change in staffing costs or utility
expenses because these would only be realized if a unit or facility opened.
3
Probation marginal cost is based on services provided by private providers and only
includes costs that increase with each additional participant. This does not include a
cost for additional supervision by a probation officer unless a new offense is
anticipated to result in enough additional offenders to require additional probation
officers.
4
Personal Services $167,000; Other Expenses $8,000; Equipment $25,000
5
Personal Services $345,000; Other Expenses $17,000 2023HB-06667-R010841-FN.DOCX Page 3 of 4
in FY 25 to DESPP and the Office of the State Comptroller, as well as
potential costs depending on the number of such events.
The section requires DESPP to hire one to two Emergency
Management Program Specialists to develop and disseminate plans and
coordinate with other state and local agencies. The starting salary of this
position is $78,100, with associated fringe benefits costing $33,442. There
is also an estimated one-time cost of $5,000 to $10,000 in FY 24 for
equipment and training.
The section also requires DESPP to coordinate, in collaboration with
the office of the Chief State’s Attorney, an investigation into each mass
shooting event, resulting in potential overtime costs to DESPP's State
Police averaging $79 per hour per trooper. It is anticipated that the office
of the Chief State’s Attorney will be able to comply with this
requirement with existing staff. There were three qualifying events in
2022 and two in 2021.
Finally, the section requires DESPP to coordinate with the
Department of Public Health (DPH) to deploy grief counselors and
mental health professionals after a mass shooting event to the affected
community, expected to result in no fiscal impact to either agency.
6,7
House "A" strikes the underlying bill and associated fiscal impact
resulting in the impact described above.
House "B" makes various changes including probation for firearm
related offenses and modifications to possession charges and does not
alter the fiscal impact in the underlying bill.
6
DPH can provide DESPP with information on the CT Association of School Based
Health Centers (SBHCs) that it supports. DPH funds a portion of Connecticut’s SBHCs,
some of which provide mental health services to youth. The association includes 132
comprehensive sites and 152 expanded school health sites in Connecticut for a total of
284 sites. DPH funds a total of 90 sites: 78 comprehensive sites for medical and mental
health services, and 12 expanded sites for medical or mental health services.
7
DPH also licenses Professional Counselors, but it does not contract with them for the
provision of grief counseling or mental health services. 2023HB-06667-R010841-FN.DOCX Page 4 of 4
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to the number of offenses and inflation.
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.