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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6841
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 3852
Referred to Committee on COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN
Introduced by:
(KID)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A UNIVERSAL
BASIC INCOME PILOT PROGRAM.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (Effective from passage) (a) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1
2026, the Commissioner of Social Services shall develop and administer 2
a one-year pilot program to provide a universal basic income to certain 3
residents in five municipalities in the state and demonstrate the 4
economic impacts of providing such income at the individual, family, 5
community and state level. 6
(b) In developing the pilot program, the commissioner shall solicit 7
input from professionals with expertise in the fields of universal basic 8
income, economics, housing, child welfare, labor, workforce 9
development and social services administration. The commissioner 10
shall develop: (1) Criteria for selecting five municipalities in 11
geographically, demographically and economically diverse regions of 12
the state for implementation of the pilot program; (2) eligibility criteria 13
for the selection of residents to participate in the pilot program, 14
including, but not limited to, requirements that each participant (A) be 15
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eighteen years of age or older, (B) be an expectant parent or the parent 16
or guardian of at least one child who lives in the participant's household, 17
and (C) have a household income below the federal poverty level for 18
such participant's family size; (3) a process for the selection of such 19
participants; (4) a formula to determine the amount of each monthly 20
payment distributed to each participant, that is based on financial need 21
and family size; (5) a system for administering the pilot program, 22
including, but not limited to, the timing of and process for distributing 23
monthly payments to participants; and (6) a methodology for the 24
collection of data relating to participants and the implementation of the 25
pilot program, including, but not limited to, the age, race, ethnicity, 26
education level, family composition, housing costs, additional income 27
and state-provided or state-funded financial assistance received by each 28
participant and the economic and public health impacts of the pilot 29
program on each participant and such participant's household. 30
(c) The Commissioner of Social Services shall select twenty 31
individuals from each selected municipality to participate in the pilot 32
program. Each participant shall receive a monthly payment for the 33
duration of the pilot program based on the formula developed by the 34
commissioner pursuant to subdivision (4) of subsection (b) of this 35
section. As a condition of participating in the pilot program, each 36
participant shall cooperate with the Department of Social Services in the 37
provision and collection of data related to the administration of the pilot 38
program. 39
(d) The commissioner may solicit and accept private funds to 40
implement such pilot program. 41
Sec. 2. Subdivision (1) of subsection (d) of section 17b-112 of the 42
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 43
thereof (Effective from passage): 44
(d) (1) Under said program, no family shall be eligible that has total 45
gross earnings exceeding the federal poverty level, however, in the 46
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calculation of the benefit amount for eligible families and previously 47
eligible families that become ineligible temporarily because of receipt of 48
workers' compensation benefits by a family member who subsequently 49
returns to work immediately after the period of receipt of such benefits, 50
earned income shall be disregarded up to the federal poverty level. On 51
and after October 1, 2023, the commissioner shall not deny a family 52
assistance under said program on the basis of such family's assets unless 53
such assets exceed six thousand dollars. Except when determining 54
eligibility for a six-month extension of benefits pursuant to subsection 55
(c) of this section, the commissioner shall disregard the first fifty dollars 56
per month of income attributable to current child support that a family 57
receives in determining eligibility and benefit levels for temporary 58
family assistance. Any current child support in excess of fifty dollars per 59
month collected by the department on behalf of an eligible child shall be 60
considered in determining eligibility but shall not be considered when 61
calculating benefits and shall be taken as reimbursement for assistance 62
paid under this section, except that when the current child support 63
collected exceeds the family's monthly award of temporary family 64
assistance benefits plus fifty dollars, the current child support shall be 65
paid to the family and shall be considered when calculating benefits. 66
The commissioner shall disregard any financial assistance received by a 67
family member as part of such family member's participation in the pilot 68
program described in section 1 of this act. 69
Sec. 3. (Effective from passage) (a) The Commissioner of Social Services 70
shall convene and serve as chairperson of a working group to study and 71
provide recommendations for the implementation of a state-wide 72
universal basic income program. Such working group shall consist of 73
professionals with demonstrated expertise in the fields of universal 74
basic income, economics, housing, child welfare, labor, workforce 75
development and social services administration. 76
(b) The working group shall (1) analyze the data obtained during the 77
implementation of the universal basic income pilot program established 78
pursuant to section 1 of this act; (2) conduct a cost-benefit analysis 79
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concerning the provision of universal basic income during the 80
implementation of the pilot program; (3) make recommendations for 81
implementation of a state-wide universal basic income program, 82
including monthly payment formulas and amounts, strategies to 83
maximize cost savings and the provision of other public benefits; and 84
(4) make recommendations for any legislation required to implement a 85
universal basic income program on a state-wide basis. 86
(c) Not later than June 1, 2027, the Commissioner of Social Services 87
shall submit a report on the findings and recommendations of the 88
working group to the joint standing committees of the General 89
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children, human 90
services and appropriations and the budgets of state agencies, in 91
accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes. 92
The working group shall terminate on the date the commissioner 93
submits such report or June 1, 2027, whichever is later. 94
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Sec. 2 from passage 17b-112(d)(1)
Sec. 3 from passage New section
Statement of Purpose:
To establish a universal basic income pilot program and require the
Commissioner of Social Services to convene a working group to study
the state-wide implementation of a universal basic income program.
[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.]