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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7010
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 4565
Referred to Committee on EDUCATION
Introduced by:
(ED)
AN ACT CONCERNING PARAEDUCATORS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 203 of public act 23-204, as amended by section 124 1
of public act 24-81, is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 2
thereof (Effective July 1, 2025): 3
(a) As used in this section: 4
(1) "Health benefit plan" has the same meaning as provided in section 5
38a-1080 of the general statutes, and 6
(2) "Partnership plan" has the same meaning as provided in section 3-7
123aaa of the general statutes. 8
(b) For the fiscal years ending June 30, 2024, [and June 30, 2025] to 9
June 30, 2026, inclusive, the Comptroller shall establish a program to 10
provide a subsidy, within available appropriations, to each 11
paraeducator who (1) opens a health savings account, pursuant to 12
Section 223 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any subsequent 13
corresponding internal revenue code of the United States, as amended 14
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from time to time, or is eligible for Medicare and enrolls in a high 15
deductible health plan, and (2) is employed by a local or regional board 16
of education. Such subsidy shall be in an amount up to a certain 17
percentage, as specified by the Comptroller, of the deductible for the 18
health plan in which such paraeducator is enrolled, minus the amount 19
of any employer contributions to a health savings account or health 20
reimbursement account, and not exceeding an amount specified by the 21
Comptroller. No paraeducator may receive more than one subsidy in 22
any fiscal year pursuant to this section. The Comptroller may work with 23
the local or regional board of education that employs such paraeducator 24
to distribute such subsidy. 25
(c) For the fiscal [year] years ending June 30, 2025, and June 30, 2026, 26
the Comptroller shall establish a program to provide a subsidy, from 27
any funds appropriated for such purpose, to each local or regional board 28
of education that provides coverage to paraeducators and their 29
dependents under a health benefit plan or a partnership plan for such 30
fiscal year or any portion thereof. Such subsidy shall be (1) in an amount 31
not more than ten per cent of the aggregate premium cost, inclusive of 32
the employee and employer shares, paid by such board of education for 33
coverage under such health benefit plan or partnership plan, divided by 34
the number of paraeducators employed by such board of education and 35
enrolled in health coverage, and (2) used to offset the employee's share 36
of such premium that is deducted from the payroll check of each 37
paraeducator employed by such board of education during any pay 38
period during such fiscal year. The provisions of this subsection shall 39
not apply to a local or regional board of education that provides 40
coverage under a high deductible health plan, as that term is used in 41
subsection (f) of section 38a-520 of the general statutes. 42
(d) The Comptroller and the Commissioner of Education shall enter 43
into a memorandum of understanding, in accordance with the 44
provisions of section 4-97b of the general statutes, to allow the 45
Comptroller to utilize the sum of $5,000,000 that is appropriated to the 46
Department of Education for assistance to paraeducators pursuant to 47
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section 1 of public act 23-204 to implement the provisions of this section. 48
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2025) (a) Notwithstanding any 49
provision of the general statutes, each local and regional board of 50
education shall pay for each paraeducator employed by such board the 51
full employee contribution required pursuant to the municipal 52
employees' retirement system or any other retirement system in which 53
such board participates, provided such payment shall not exceed the 54
amount of the full employee contribution required pursuant to the 55
municipal employees' retirement system. 56
(b) The Comptroller shall annually pay to each local or regional board 57
of education not less than fifty per cent of the cost to such board for the 58
payment of the employee contribution for retirement benefits pursuant 59
to subsection (a) of this section. 60
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2025 PA 23-204, Sec. 203
Sec. 2 July 1, 2025 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To (1) continue for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026, the Comptroller's
subsidy program for the health care savings account or health care
coverage of paraeducators, (2) require boards of education to pay the
full employee contribution to the municipal employees' retirement
system for paraeducators, and (3) require the Comptroller to annually
reimburse such boards fifty per cent of the amount of such payments.
[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.]