OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
May 1, 2025
ADDENDUM
To Fiscal Note on
sHB-7141, File No. 784
AN ACT CONCERNING COMPENSATION PAID TO INJURED
EMPLOYEES AND THE PARENTS OF A DECEASED EMPLOYEE
UNDER THE WORKERS' COMPENSATION ACT.
Primary Analyst: WL 5/1/25
Contributing Analyst(s):
The fiscal note should have also included the following.
Section 1 removes the Administrative Law Judge’s (ALJ) discretion
to award temporary partial incapacity benefits resulting in savings to
the Department of Administrative Services – Worker’s Compensation
Claims and various self-insured municipalities to the extent less awards
are provided by ALJs. The savings to the state may exceed $4 million
per year beginning in FY 26 and may vary significantly from year-to-
year based on the number of cases and the determinations of the ALJ.
In March 2025, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled in Gardner v.
Dept. of Mental Health & Addiction Services that Connecticut law gives
ALJ discretion to award a workers’ compensation claimant, after they
reach maximum medical improvement, ongoing temporary partial
incapacity benefits (up to the statutory maximum of 520 weeks) rather
than PPD benefits. Section 1 eliminates the anticipated cost increases
associated with the ruling which would impact both the state and
various self-insured municipalities.