The bill establishes the Connecticut Premium Pay program to be administered by the Office of the Comptroller (OTC) or a third-party administrator under contract with OTC. From October 1, 2022, until June 30, 2024, the program must provide $200 to $1,000 to eligible applicants, depending on their individual income and whether the account the bill creates to support the program is sufficiently funded.

The bill establishes a non-lapsing program account along with application and payment processes for the program. It also:

1. allows an essential worker to request a reconsideration of a denied application and prohibits appeals on reconsideration decisions,
2. requires quarterly reports to the Labor and Public Employees Committee, and
3. prohibits employer retaliation against employees for applying to the program.

Eligible Applicants

Under the bill, an “eligible applicant” is anyone who meets all of the following criteria:

1. worked during the entire public health and civil preparedness emergency the governor declared on March 10, 2020, or any declaration extension, until the bill passes;
2. was in a category for which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended, as of February 20, 2021, to receive a COVID-19 vaccination in phase 1a or 1b of the COVID-19 vaccination program (e.g., health care personnel, firefighters, police officers, corrections officers, food and agricultural workers, manufacturing workers, grocery store workers, public transit workers, education sector workers, and child care workers);
3. is not a federal, state, or municipal employee;
4. was not employed in a capacity where he or she worked or could have worked from home; and
5. has an individual income less than $150,000.

Premium Payments

If a claim is approved, the administrator must direct the comptroller to pay the eligible applicant within 10 business days after approval. The amount of the payment generally depends on the applicant’s individual income (the bill does not specify what constitutes “individual income”). The table below shows the payments for full-time eligible applicants (i.e., those who worked at least 30 hours per week).

Table: Full-Time Eligible Applicant Income and Payment Ranges

For part-time eligible applicants (i.e., those who worked less than 30 hours per week), the bill requires the program to provide a $500 payment.

Under the bill, if the sum allocated to the program is not enough to fully fund all approved applicants according to the requirements above, then all approved applicants’ payments must be reduced proportionally. No payments must be made to any eligible applicants after June 30, 2024.