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 SCHOOL RESOURCES.
As Amended by Senate "A" (LCO 5277)
Senate Calendar No.: 147
Primary Analyst: DD 5/3/24
Contributing Analyst(s):
Reviewer: JS
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 25 $ FY 26 $
Early Childhood, Off. GF - Cost Potential Potential
Early Childhood, Off.; Social
Services, Dept.
GF - Cost See Below See Below
Education, Dept. GF - Cost See Below See Below
Education, Dept. GF - Potential
Savings
See Below See Below
Treasurer – Debt Serv. GF – Potential
Cosr
See Below See Below
Note: GF=General Fund
Municipal Impact:
Municipalities Effect FY 25 $ FY 26 $
Local and Regional School
Districts
See Below See Below See Below
Norwalk Revenue
Gain
See Below See Below
Explanation
The bill makes a variety of changes relating to the Office of Early
Childhood, Department of Social Services, State Department of
Education, and local and regional school districts. The impact of these
changes is described by section below.
Section 1 expands eligibility for the Care4Kids program to include
parents or guardians of children who are enrolled in Medicaid and adds 2024SB-00005-R01-FN.DOCX Page 2 of 4
them to the priority intake and eligibility list. This makes families
enrolled in Medicaid eligible without any of the work, job training, or
education requirements.
This could result in a cost to the Office of Early Childhood (OEC) to
the extent that more families qualify under the provisions of the
amendment. OEC manages Care4Kids expenditures with the use of the
waitlist which may be increased should more families qualify for
Care4Kids.
Sections 2 – 3 result in a cost to the State Department of Education,
and corresponding revenue gain to Norwalk, of $3,000 per suburban
student annually beginning in FY 25. The sections allow suburban
students to attend Norwalk schools as part of the Norwalk Open Choice
program. The cost to SDE, and corresponding revenue gain to Norwalk,
will vary based on the number of suburban students that attend
Norwalk schools.
Section 4 results in a cost to the Department of Social Services (DSS)
and the Office of Early Childhood (OEC) beginning in FY 26 related to
sharing Medicaid enrollment data for the purposes of applying for the
child care subsidy program. The cost is dependent on the parameters of
the MOU and how the information sharing is implemented. For
example, the agencies may incur administrative costs of approximately
$250,000 annually to review and share relevant information, or the
agencies may utilize and modify data systems to share relevant
information, which could result in costs of up to $2 million.
Section 5 moves costs associated with the wholesome school meals
pilot program from FY 24 – FY 26 to FY 25 – FY 27. The section also
allows the State Department of Education to award fewer than five
grants for the program. To the extent that SDE chooses to do this, there
would be a savings of $150,000 per grant.
PA 23-204, the FY 24 and FY 25 budget, provided funding of $750,000
in both FY 24 and FY 25 for the program. 2024SB-00005-R01-FN.DOCX Page 3 of 4
Section 6 makes changes regarding the composition and
responsibilities of the Indoor Air Quality Working Group. This has no
fiscal impact as working group members have sufficient expertise to
carry out the new responsibilities.
Sections 7 - 8 shift costs incurred by the state and local and regional
school districts regarding the testing of indoor air quality in schools and
associated grant funding, beginning in FY 25.
The sections also extend the time period wherein districts do not need
to be compliant with the uniform inspection by two years. To the extent
that districts seek and are awarded grants in that time frame for projects
that would otherwise be ineligible, this could result in both potential
revenue gain for the district and increased or more rapid use of funds
authorized for the program.
The program is primarily funded through General Obligation (GO)
bond funds. Future General Fund debt service costs may be incurred
sooner under the amendment to the degree that it causes authorized GO
bond funds to be expended or to be expended more rapidly than they
otherwise would have been. Since April 2023, $225 million has been
allocated for the program.
An additional $150 million of GO bonds become effective on July 1,
2024 under current law. The amendment does not change GO bond
authorizations relevant to the program. The amendment also allows
local and regional school districts to conduct air quality inspections of
20 percent of the buildings under their jurisdiction each year, over the
course of five years. This spreads the cost of such inspections over a five-
year period, but does not reduce the overall cost of such inspections.
Senate "A" strikes the underlying bill and its associated fiscal impact
and results in the above identified fiscal impact.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to inflation. 2024SB-00005-R01-FN.DOCX Page 4 of 4
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.