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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 6841
January Session, 2025
AN ACT ESTABLISHING A WORKING GROUP TO STUDY METHODS
AND PROGRAMS FOR REDUCING RATES OF POVERTY.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (Effective from passage) (a) There is established a working 1
group to (1) study methods and programs for reducing rates of poverty 2
among families in the state, including, but not limited to, universal basic 3
income and other cash assistance programs, educational and 4
employment training programs and programs to assist in paying for 5
and reducing costs associated with child care services, (2) analyze the 6
efficacy of such methods and programs and provide recommendations 7
for the implementation of such methods and programs on a state-wide 8
basis, (3) study systemic barriers to alleviating poverty, including, but 9
not limited to, housing policies, transportation access, health care access, 10
child care access and racial disparities, (4) study the ways in which 11
inflation and regional cost differences impact rates of poverty across the 12
state, (5) develop a method for tracking improvements in income, home 13
ownership, job retention and other markers of economic mobility in 14
areas of the state with high rates of poverty, (6) study the availability of 15
educational, employment and child care programs in areas of the state 16
with high rates of poverty and analyze gaps in such availability to 17
determine where and how to meet the need for such programs, (7) 18
identify any policies and programs, including, but not limited to, 19 Substitute Bill No. 6841
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programs described in subdivision (1) of this subsection, that may be 20
implemented in the short-term to reduce rates of poverty and any 21
structural reforms necessary to reduce rates of poverty into the future, 22
(8) identify funding sources for programs that may reduce rates of 23
poverty, including, but not limited to, state budget allocations, federal 24
grants and philanthropic support, and (9) identify ways in which state 25
agencies may collaborate to create efficiencies in the delivery of 26
programs and services to reduce rates of poverty. 27
(b) The working group shall consist of the following members: 28
(1) The Commissioner of Social Services, or the commissioner's 29
designee; 30
(2) The Commissioner of Children and Families, or the 31
commissioner's designee; 32
(3) The Commissioner of Early Childhood, or the commissioner's 33
designee; 34
(4) The Commissioner of Developmental Services, or the 35
commissioner's designee; 36
(5) The Commissioner of Public Health, or the commissioner's 37
designee; 38
(6) The Commissioner of Education, or the commissioner's designee; 39
(7) The chairpersons of the joint standing committees of the General 40
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children, human 41
services and appropriations, or the chairpersons' designees; and 42
(8) Not more than ten members jointly appointed by the 43
cochairpersons of the working group, each of whom shall (A) have 44
expertise in nonprofit administration, business administration, 45
economics, education, housing, child welfare, child care, labor, 46
workforce development or social services administration, or (B) be a 47
representative of a faith-based or municipal organization or entity. 48 Substitute Bill No. 6841
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(c) Any member of the working group described or appointed under 49
subdivision (7) or (8) of subsection (b) of this section may be a member 50
of the General Assembly. 51
(d) All initial appointments to the working group shall be made not 52
later than thirty days after the effective date of this session. Any vacancy 53
shall be filled by the appointing authority. 54
(e) The House chairpersons of the joint standing committees of the 55
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children and 56
human services, or the chairpersons' designees, shall serve as 57
cochairpersons of the working group. Such cochairpersons shall 58
schedule each meeting of the working group, the first of which shall be 59
held not later than thirty days after the effective date of this section. 60
(f) The administrative staff of the joint standing committee of the 61
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children 62
shall serve as administrative staff of the working group. 63
(g) Not later than June 1, 2026, the cochairpersons shall submit a 64
preliminary report on the findings and recommendations of the 65
working group to the joint standing committees of the General 66
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children, human 67
services and appropriations and the budgets of state agencies, in 68
accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes. 69
(h) Not later than July 1, 2026, the cochairpersons shall hold a public 70
forum, at which the cochairpersons shall present the preliminary report 71
submitted pursuant to subsection (g) of this section and solicit public 72
comment. 73
(i) Not later than June 1, 2027, the cochairpersons shall submit a final 74
report on the findings and recommendations of the working group to 75
the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having 76
cognizance of matters relating to children, human services and 77
appropriations and the budgets of state agencies, in accordance with the 78
provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes. The working group 79 Substitute Bill No. 6841
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shall terminate on the date the cochairpersons submit such final report 80
or June 1, 2027, whichever is later. 81
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Subsecs. (e) and (f), "task force" was changed to "working group" for
accuracy, in Subsec. (h), "preliminary" was inserted before "report" for
clarity and the reference to Subsec. (c) was changed to Subsec. (g) for
accuracy and in Subsec. (i), "final" was inserted before both instances of
"report" for clarity.
KID Joint Favorable Subst.