OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
sSB-1226
AN ACT CONCERNING STATE VOTING RIGHTS IN
RECOGNITION OF JOHN R. LEWIS.
AMENDMENT
LCO No.: 8670
File Copy No.: 610
Senate Calendar No.: 364
Primary Analyst: MT 5/25/23
Contributing Analyst(s): (PL)
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 24 $ FY 25 $
Secretary of the State GF - Cost 5,141,119 1,141,119
State Comptroller - Fringe
Benefits
1
GF - Cost 263,822 263,822
University of Connecticut GF-Cost 775,506 474,187
Note: GF=General Fund
Municipal Impact:
Municipalities Effect FY 24 $ FY 25 $
Various Municipalities Potential
Cost
Significant Significant
Explanation
The amendment is a strike-all amendment. The amendment would
result in an estimated total cost to the state of $6,180,447 in FY 24 and
$1,879,128 in FY 25. The amendment would also result in significant cost
to various municipalities, Some costs for UConn and the Office of the
Secretary of the State. The amendment generally codifies into state law
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. 2023SB-01226-R00LCO08670-FNA.DOCX Page 2 of 3
several aspects of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 which bans
discrimination in voting and elections and establishes a mechanism for
certain jurisdictions with a history of discrimination against racial and
language minorities to seek preapproval before changing their election
laws.
The amendment, which requires the Secretary of the State (SOTS) to
establish and maintain a database containing a range of elections and
demographic data, results in a one-time start-up cost for equipment and
software of up to $4,000,000 in FY 24 and up to $500,000 annually
thereafter. There is also a cost for two additional staff: 1) one Manager
of the statewide database, as required in the amendment, with an annual
salary of $110,000 and associated fringe of $47,102, and 2) one IT Analyst
with an annual salary of $92,372 and associated fringe of $39,554.
The amendment also requires SOTS to make determinations of
certain municipal plans intended to protect specified classes of electors.
This determination process may include various municipalities
simultaneously in the years following a redistricting or court litigation.
This is estimated to result in an annualized cost to SOTS of $413,747 for
four additional staff and associated fringe to the Office of the State
Comptroller of $177,166. The staff are anticipated to be one Deputy
Elections Director, two Staff Attorneys, and one Elections Officer.
Additionally, the amendment requires a municipality to provide
language-related assistance in voting and elections if SOTS determines,
based on the American Community Survey results or data of similar
quality, that the municipality meets certain criteria. Additional costs to
the SOTS will be dependent on the number of municipalities that meet
these criteria and may be up to $25,000 annually. Under Federal law, ten
municipalities currently meet these criteria as of the most recent census
2
.
The amendment adjusts this to include community commonality
criterion that may narrow the cost from the original bill. Municipalities
are also required to hold public hearings to address potential violations
2
Federal Register, 2021 Report 2023SB-01226-R00LCO08670-FNA.DOCX Page 3 of 3
that may induce additional costs for municipalities.
The amendment empowers the Secretary of state to partner with the
University of Connecticut or the University of Connecticut system to
fulfill the obligations of section 3. To facilitate this the University of
Connecticut would require additional full-time positions and graduate
positions to do so. This would result in costs in FY 24 of $775,506 in FY
24 and $474,187 in FY 25.
The State Elections Enforcement Commission, The Attorney General
and certain parties are allowed under this amendment to bring an action
in the Superior Court in the district of an alleged violation. This is not
anticipated to result in a fiscal impact to the state or municipalities.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to 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.