LCO 1 of 5
General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 7104
January Session, 2025
AN ACT CONCERNING PROGRAMS TO MITIGATE THE BENEFITS
CLIFF.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (d) of section 17b-112 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2
2025): 3
(d) (1) Under said program, no family shall be eligible that has total 4
gross earnings exceeding the federal poverty level, however, in the 5
calculation of the benefit amount for eligible families and previously 6
eligible families that become ineligible temporarily because of receipt of 7
workers' compensation benefits by a family member who subsequently 8
returns to work immediately after the period of receipt of such benefits, 9
earned income shall be disregarded up to the federal poverty level. On 10
and after October 1, 2023, the commissioner shall not deny a family 11
assistance under said program on the basis of such family's assets unless 12
such assets exceed six thousand dollars. Except when determining 13
eligibility for a six-month extension of benefits pursuant to subsection 14
(c) of this section, the commissioner shall disregard the first fifty dollars 15
per month of income attributable to current child support that a family 16
receives in determining eligibility and benefit levels for temporary 17
family assistance. Any current child support in excess of fifty dollars per 18
month collected by the department on behalf of an eligible child shall be 19 Substitute Bill No. 7104
LCO 2 of 5
considered in determining eligibility but shall not be considered when 20
calculating benefits and shall be taken as reimbursement for assistance 21
paid under this section, except that when the current child support 22
collected exceeds the family's monthly award of temporary family 23
assistance benefits plus fifty dollars, the current child support shall be 24
paid to the family and shall be considered when calculating benefits. 25
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (1) of this 26
subsection, on and after January 1, 2024, in the first month in which a 27
family's total gross earnings exceed one hundred per cent of the federal 28
poverty level and for a period not to exceed six consecutive months, the 29
department shall disregard, for purposes of eligibility, a family's total 30
gross earnings in an amount not to exceed two hundred thirty per cent 31
of the federal poverty level. If a family's total gross earnings are an 32
amount between one hundred seventy-one per cent and two hundred 33
thirty per cent of the federal poverty level, the department shall reduce 34
the household's benefit by twenty per cent for the months in which 35
earnings are between one hundred seventy-one per cent and two 36
hundred thirty per cent of the federal poverty level. 37
(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (1) of this 38
subsection, the commissioner shall disregard any financial assistance 39
received by a family member to the extent the commissioner determines 40
that such financial assistance was provided to the family member as part 41
of such family member's participation in a pilot program that has 42
developed a plan to study and evaluate the impact and potential 43
benefits of direct cash transfers. Such disregard shall be applied for the 44
length of time the family member participates in such program or 45
twenty-four cumulative months, subject to reauthorization by the 46
commissioner for a period of time not to exceed sixty cumulative 47
months. Any pilot program subject to the provisions of this subdivision 48
shall have received approval from the Department of Social Services to 49
conduct such pilot program based on the department's ability to receive 50
required waivers authorizing such income disregards in applicable 51
federal and state benefits programs. The department shall request 52
waivers authorizing such income disregards from all federal, state and 53 Substitute Bill No. 7104
LCO 3 of 5
local agencies as necessary. The department shall maintain a listing of 54
approved pilot programs for use by the public and department staff 55
when determining continuing eligibility of participants in existing 56
benefits programs. Before approving a pilot program, the department 57
shall review such program for long-term sustainability and ability to 58
meet the pilot program's programmatic and fiscal goals. The 59
department shall require an approved pilot program to (A) inform 60
potential participants, in writing in advance of participation in the pilot 61
program, of the potential impact of their participation on their current 62
and future eligibility for federal and state benefits, and (B) include 63
contact information in such written document to allow such participants 64
to obtain additional information or guidance on the impact of pilot 65
program participation on their eligibility for such benefits. 66
(4) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (1) of this 67
subsection, the commissioner shall disregard from an income eligibility 68
determination any stipend received by a family member as part of such 69
family member's participation in a job training program approved by 70
the commissioner, including, but not limited to, payments from 71
programs offered by or through the Office of Workforce Strategy 72
established pursuant to section 4-124w, the Bureau of Rehabilitation 73
Services within the Department of Aging and Disability Services or a 74
private not-for-profit organization that is exempt from taxation under 75
Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any 76
subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United States, 77
as amended from time to time. Such disregard shall be applied for the 78
length of time the family member participates in such program, not to 79
exceed thirty-six cumulative months. 80
Sec. 2. (Effective from passage) (a) For purposes of this section, "benefits 81
cliff" means the loss or decrease of public assistance program benefits 82
when a beneficiary's income exceeds eligibility thresholds. The 83
Commissioners of Social Services and Early Childhood, in consultation 84
with the Department of Housing, the Labor Department, the Office of 85
Workforce Strategy, established pursuant to section 4-124w of the 86
general statutes, and the two-generational initiative, established 87 Substitute Bill No. 7104
LCO 4 of 5
pursuant to section 17b-112l of the general statutes, shall, within 88
available appropriations, establish a pilot program to implement the 89
recommendations of the report concerning benefits cliffs that was 90
submitted to the General Assembly in accordance with the provisions 91
of special act 24-8. 92
(b) In developing the pilot program, the commissioners shall convene 93
and solicit input from professionals with expertise in the fields of 94
universal basic income, including, but not limited to, (1) professionals 95
from other jurisdictions who have worked on the implementation of 96
similar pilot programs, and (2) professionals who have expertise in 97
economics, housing, child welfare, labor, workforce development, social 98
services administration or legal representation issues concerning low-99
income recipients of state and federal public benefits. 100
(c) The Commissioners of Social Services and Early Childhood may 101
seek any waiver from federal law deemed necessary to implement such 102
pilot program and may pursue funding for such pilot program from any 103
governmental or nongovernmental source. 104
(d) Not later than December 1, 2025, and annually thereafter until the 105
pilot program is completed, the Commissioners of Social Services and 106
Early Childhood shall file a report, in accordance with the provisions of 107
section 11-4a of the general statutes, with the joint standing committees 108
of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to 109
appropriations and the budgets of state agencies, education, housing, 110
human services and labor on the development of any pilot program 111
authorized pursuant to this section. 112
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2025 17b-112(d)
Sec. 2 from passage New section
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 1(d)(3), "up to sixty cumulative months" was changed to "for
a period of time not to exceed sixty cumulative months" for clarity, in Substitute Bill No. 7104
LCO 5 of 5
Section 2(a), "produced in accordance with special act 24-8" was
changed to "submitted to the General Assembly in accordance with the
provisions of special act 24-8" for accuracy and in Section (2)(b), "pilots"
was changed to "pilot programs" and subdivision designators and
"professionals who" were inserted, for clarity.
HS Joint Favorable Subst.