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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6754
January Session, 2023
LCO No. 4813
Referred to Committee on COMMERCE
Introduced by:
(CE)
AN ACT CONCERNING INCENTIVES TO INCREASE EMPLOYMENT
OF INDIVIDUALS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective January 1, 2024, and applicable to income and 1
taxable years commencing on or after January 1, 2024) (a) As used in this 2
section: 3
(1) "Employer" means a person engaged in business that has 4
employees and that is subject to tax under chapter 208 or 229 of the 5
general statutes; 6
(2) "Income year" means the income year or taxable year, as 7
determined under chapter 208 or 229 of the general statutes, as the case 8
may be; and 9
(3) "New qualifying employee" means an individual with intellectual 10
disability, as defined in section 1-1g of the general statutes, who is hired 11
by an employer during the employer's income years commencing on or 12
after January 1, 2024. 13 Raised Bill No. 6754
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(b) (1) There is established a workforce development credit program 14
for employers whereby an employer who hires a new qualifying 15
employee may be allowed a credit against the tax imposed under 16
chapter 208 or 229 of the general statutes, other than the liability 17
imposed by section 12-707 of the general statutes. 18
(2) (A) With respect to each new qualifying employee who is hired to 19
work twenty-five hours or more per week, the credit shall be equal to 20
thirty per cent of the annual wage of such new qualifying employee, 21
provided the credit allowed under this subparagraph shall not exceed 22
five thousand dollars for any such employee for any one income year. 23
(B) With respect to each new qualifying employee who is hired to 24
work at least eight but less than twenty-five hours per week, the credit 25
shall be equal to fifteen per cent of the annual wage of such new 26
qualifying employee, provided the credit allowed under this 27
subparagraph shall not exceed two thousand five hundred dollars for 28
any such employee for any one income year. 29
(3) No employer may claim a credit for any new qualifying employee 30
who (A) is an owner, member or partner in the business of the employer, 31
(B) is not employed by the employer at the close of the income year of 32
the employer, (C) is hired to replace a former employee of such 33
employer who was laid off, or (D) is hired to replace an employee of 34
such employer who is on strike. 35
(4) No employer claiming the credit under this section, with respect 36
to a new qualifying employee, may claim any credit against any tax 37
under any other provision of the general statutes with respect to the 38
same new qualifying employee. 39
(c) If the employer is an S corporation or an entity treated as a 40
partnership for federal income tax purposes, the credit may be claimed 41
by the shareholders or partners of the employer. If the employer is a 42
single-member limited liability company that is disregarded as an entity 43
separate from its owner, the credit may be claimed by the limited 44
liability company's owner. 45 Raised Bill No. 6754
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(d) For an employer subject to the tax imposed under chapter 229 of 46
the general statutes, no credit allowed under this section shall exceed 47
the amount of tax imposed by chapter 229 of the general statutes. 48
Sec. 2. Subsection (c) of section 4a-59 of the general statutes is 49
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 50
1, 2023): 51
(c) All open market orders or contracts shall be awarded to (1) the 52
lowest responsible qualified bidder, the qualities of the articles to be 53
supplied, their conformity with the specifications, their suitability to the 54
requirements of the state government and the delivery terms being 55
taken into consideration and, at the discretion of the Commissioner of 56
Administrative Services, life-cycle costs and trade-in or resale value of 57
the articles may be considered where it appears to be in the best interest 58
of the state, (2) the highest scoring bidder in a multiple criteria bid, in 59
accordance with the criteria set forth in the bid solicitation for the 60
contract, or (3) the proposer whose proposal is deemed by the awarding 61
authority to be the most advantageous to the state, in accordance with 62
the criteria set forth in the request for proposals, including price and 63
evaluation factors. Notwithstanding any provision of the general 64
statutes to the contrary, each state agency awarding a contract through 65
competitive negotiation shall include price as an explicit factor in the 66
criteria in the request for proposals and for the contract award. In 67
considering past performance of a bidder for the purpose of 68
determining the "lowest responsible qualified bidder" or the "highest 69
scoring bidder in a multiple criteria bid", the commissioner shall 70
evaluate the skill, ability and integrity of the bidder in terms of the 71
bidder's fulfillment of past contract obligations and the bidder's 72
experience or lack of experience in delivering supplies, materials, 73
equipment or contractual services of the size or amount for which bids 74
have been solicited. In determining the lowest responsible qualified 75
bidder for the purposes of this section, the commissioner may give a 76
price preference of up to ten per cent for (A) the purchase of goods made 77
with recycled materials or the purchase of recyclable or remanufactured 78
products if the commissioner determines that such preference would 79 Raised Bill No. 6754
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promote recycling or remanufacturing. As used in this subsection, 80
"recyclable" means able to be collected, separated or otherwise 81
recovered from the solid waste stream for reuse, or for use in the 82
manufacture or assembly of another package or product, by means of a 83
recycling program which is reasonably available to at least seventy-five 84
per cent of the state's population, "remanufactured" means restored to 85
its original function and thereby diverted from the solid waste stream 86
by retaining the bulk of components that have been used at least once 87
and by replacing consumable components and "remanufacturing" 88
means any process by which a product is remanufactured; (B) the 89
purchase of motor vehicles powered by a clean alternative fuel; (C) the 90
purchase of motor vehicles powered by fuel other than a clean 91
alternative fuel and conversion equipment to convert such motor 92
vehicles allowing the vehicles to be powered by either the exclusive use 93
of clean alternative fuel or dual use of a clean alternative fuel and a fuel 94
other than a clean alternative fuel. As used in this subsection, "clean 95
alternative fuel" means natural gas, electricity, hydrogen or propane 96
when used as a motor vehicle fuel; [or] (D) the purchase of goods or 97
services from a micro business, except that, in the case of a veteran-98
owned micro business, the commissioner may give a price preference of 99
up to fifteen per cent. As used in this subsection, "micro business" means 100
a business with gross revenues not exceeding three million dollars in the 101
most recently completed fiscal year, "veteran-owned micro business" 102
means a micro business of which at least fifty-one per cent of the 103
ownership is held by one or more veterans and "veteran" has the same 104
meaning as provided in section 27-103; or (E) the purchase of goods or 105
services from a business that, at the time when a bid or proposal is 106
submitted, employs a workforce of which not less than ten per cent 107
consists of individuals with intellectual disability, as defined in section 108
1-1g. All other factors being equal, preference shall be given to supplies, 109
materials and equipment produced, assembled or manufactured in the 110
state and services originating and provided in the state. Except with 111
regard to contracts that may be paid for with United States Department 112
of Transportation funds, if any such bidder refuses to accept, within ten 113
days, a contract awarded to such bidder, such contract may be awarded 114 Raised Bill No. 6754
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to the next lowest responsible qualified bidder or the next highest 115
scoring bidder in a multiple criteria bid, whichever is applicable, and so 116
on until such contract is awarded and accepted. Except with regard to 117
contracts that may be paid for with United States Department of 118
Transportation funds, if any such proposer refuses to accept, within ten 119
days, a contract awarded to such proposer, such contract shall be 120
awarded to the next most advantageous proposer, and so on until the 121
contract is awarded and accepted. There shall be a written evaluation 122
made of each bid. This evaluation shall identify the vendors and their 123
respective costs and prices, document the reason why any vendor is 124
deemed to be nonresponsive and recommend a vendor for award. A 125
contract valued at one million dollars or more shall be awarded to a 126
bidder other than the lowest responsible qualified bidder or the highest 127
scoring bidder in a multiple criteria bid, whichever is applicable, only 128
with written approval signed by the Commissioner of Administrative 129
Services and by the Comptroller. The commissioner shall post on the 130
department's Internet web site all awards made pursuant to the 131
provisions of this section. 132
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2023) (a) (1) The Commissioner of 133
Economic and Community Development shall establish a workforce 134
development program to provide grants to nonprofit organizations that 135
employ individuals with intellectual disability, as defined in section 1-136
1g of the general statutes. Such grants shall be awarded for 137
infrastructure expenditures, start-up costs or expansion costs. 138
(2) Any nonprofit organization that employs, at the time of 139
application, a workforce of which not less than ten per cent consists of 140
individuals with intellectual disability, as defined in section 1-1g of the 141
general statutes, may apply for a grant under the program. 142
(3) Grants awarded pursuant to this section shall not exceed: 143
(A) Twenty-five thousand dollars per nonprofit organization 144
employing a workforce of which between ten and thirty per cent 145
consists of individuals with intellectual disability; and 146 Raised Bill No. 6754
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(B) Seventy-five thousand dollars per nonprofit organization 147
employing a workforce of which more than thirty per cent consists of 148
individuals with intellectual disability. 149
(b) The Department of Economic and Community Development may 150
enter into an agreement, pursuant to chapter 55a of the general statutes, 151
with a person, firm, corporation or other entity to operate the program 152
established pursuant to this section. 153
(c) The commissioner shall prescribe the form and manner of the 154
application and such application procedure shall include a competitive 155
award process. 156
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 January 1, 2024, and
applicable to income and
taxable years commencing
on or after January 1, 2024
New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2023 4a-59(c)
Sec. 3 October 1, 2023 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To establish: (1) A tax credit for certain employers that hire individuals
with intellectual disability; (2) a state contracting price preference for
certain businesses employing individuals with intellectual disability;
and (3) a competitive grant program for certain nonprofit organizations
employing individuals with intellectual disability.
[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.]