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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 6754
January Session, 2023
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 1
and taxable years commencing on or after January 1, 2024) (a) As used in 2
this 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 10
intellectual disability, as defined in section 1-1g of the general statutes, 11
who is hired by an employer during the employer's income years 12
commencing on or after January 1, 2024. 13
(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 Substitute Bill No. 6754
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(2) (A) With respect to each new qualifying employee who is hired 19
to work twenty-five hours or more per week, the credit shall be equal 20
to 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 30
employee who (A) is an owner, member or partner in the business of 31
the employer, (B) is not employed by the employer at the close of the 32
income year of the employer, (C) is hired to replace a former employee 33
of such employer who was laid off, or (D) is hired to replace an 34
employee of 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 43
entity separate from its owner, the credit may be claimed by the 44
limited liability company's owner. 45
(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 Substitute Bill No. 6754
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repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 50
October 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 54
the 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 58
interest of the state, (2) the highest scoring bidder in a multiple criteria 59
bid, in accordance with the criteria set forth in the bid solicitation for 60
the contract, or (3) the proposer whose proposal is deemed by the 61
awarding authority to be the most advantageous to the state, in 62
accordance with the criteria set forth in the request for proposals, 63
including price and evaluation factors. Notwithstanding any provision 64
of the general statutes to the contrary, each state agency awarding a 65
contract through competitive negotiation shall include price as an 66
explicit factor in the criteria in the request for proposals and for the 67
contract award. In considering past performance of a bidder for the 68
purpose of determining the "lowest responsible qualified bidder" or 69
the "highest scoring bidder in a multiple criteria bid", the 70
commissioner shall evaluate the skill, ability and integrity of the 71
bidder in terms of the bidder's fulfillment of past contract obligations 72
and the bidder's experience or lack of experience in delivering 73
supplies, materials, equipment or contractual services of the size or 74
amount for which bids have been solicited. In determining the lowest 75
responsible qualified bidder for the purposes of this section, the 76
commissioner may give a price preference of up to ten per cent for (A) 77
the purchase of goods made with recycled materials or the purchase of 78
recyclable or remanufactured products if the commissioner determines 79
that such preference would promote recycling or remanufacturing. As 80
used in this subsection, "recyclable" means able to be collected, 81
separated or otherwise recovered from the solid waste stream for 82
reuse, or for use in the manufacture or assembly of another package or 83 Substitute Bill No. 6754
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product, by means of a recycling program which is reasonably 84
available to at least seventy-five per cent of the state's population, 85
"remanufactured" means restored to its original function and thereby 86
diverted from the solid waste stream by retaining the bulk of 87
components that have been used at least once and by replacing 88
consumable components and "remanufacturing" means any process by 89
which a product is remanufactured; (B) the purchase of motor vehicles 90
powered by a clean alternative fuel; (C) the purchase of motor vehicles 91
powered by fuel other than a clean alternative fuel and conversion 92
equipment to convert such motor vehicles allowing the vehicles to be 93
powered by either the exclusive use of clean alternative fuel or dual 94
use of a clean alternative fuel and a fuel other than a clean alternative 95
fuel. As used in this subsection, "clean alternative fuel" means natural 96
gas, electricity, hydrogen or propane when used as a motor vehicle 97
fuel; [or] (D) the purchase of goods or services from a micro business, 98
except that, in the case of a veteran-owned micro business, the 99
commissioner may give a price preference of up to fifteen per cent. As 100
used in this subsection, "micro business" means a business with gross 101
revenues not exceeding three million dollars in the most recently 102
completed fiscal year, "veteran-owned micro business" means a micro 103
business of which at least fifty-one per cent of the ownership is held by 104
one or more veterans and "veteran" has the same meaning as provided 105
in section 27-103; or (E) the purchase of goods or services from a 106
business that, at the time when a bid or proposal is submitted, employs 107
a workforce of which not less than ten per cent consists of individuals 108
with intellectual disability, as defined in section 1-1g. All other factors 109
being equal, preference shall be given to supplies, materials and 110
equipment produced, assembled or manufactured in the state and 111
services originating and provided in the state. Except with regard to 112
contracts that may be paid for with United States Department of 113
Transportation funds, if any such bidder refuses to accept, within ten 114
days, a contract awarded to such bidder, such contract may be 115
awarded to the next lowest responsible qualified bidder or the next 116
highest scoring bidder in a multiple criteria bid, whichever is 117
applicable, and so on until such contract is awarded and accepted. 118 Substitute Bill No. 6754
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Except with regard to contracts that may be paid for with United States 119
Department of Transportation funds, if any such proposer refuses to 120
accept, within ten days, a contract awarded to such proposer, such 121
contract shall be awarded to the next most advantageous proposer, 122
and so on until the contract is awarded and accepted. There shall be a 123
written evaluation made of each bid. This evaluation shall identify the 124
vendors and their respective costs and prices, document the reason 125
why any vendor is deemed to be nonresponsive and recommend a 126
vendor for award. A contract valued at one million dollars or more 127
shall be awarded to a bidder other than the lowest responsible 128
qualified bidder or the highest scoring bidder in a multiple criteria bid, 129
whichever is applicable, only with written approval signed by the 130
Commissioner of Administrative Services and by the Comptroller. The 131
commissioner shall post on the department's Internet web site all 132
awards made pursuant to the provisions of this section. 133
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2023) (a) (1) The Commissioner of 134
Economic and Community Development shall establish a workforce 135
development program to provide grants to nonprofit organizations 136
that employ individuals with intellectual disability, as defined in 137
section 1-1g of the general statutes. Such grants shall be awarded for 138
infrastructure expenditures, start-up costs or expansion costs. 139
(2) Any nonprofit organization that employs, at the time of 140
application, a workforce of which not less than ten per cent consists of 141
individuals with intellectual disability, as defined in section 1-1g of the 142
general statutes, may apply for a grant under the program. 143
(3) Grants awarded pursuant to this section shall not exceed: 144
(A) Twenty-five thousand dollars per nonprofit organization 145
employing a workforce of which between ten and thirty per cent, 146
inclusive, consists of individuals with intellectual disability; and 147
(B) Seventy-five thousand dollars per nonprofit organization 148
employing a workforce of which more than thirty per cent consists of 149 Substitute Bill No. 6754
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individuals with intellectual disability. 150
(b) The Department of Economic and Community Development 151
may enter into an agreement, pursuant to chapter 55a of the general 152
statutes, with a person, firm, corporation or other entity to operate the 153
program established pursuant to this section. 154
(c) The commissioner shall prescribe the form and manner of the 155
application and such application procedure shall include a competitive 156
award process. 157
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 Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 3(a)(3)(A), ", inclusive," was added after "between ten and
thirty per cent" for clarity and consistency with standard drafting
conventions.
CE Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO