AN ACT CONCERNING GENETICALLY ENGINEERED BABY FOOD.

OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS

Legislative Office Building, Room 5200

Hartford, CT 06106 ↓ (860) 240-0200

http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa

sHB-6527

AN ACT CONCERNING GENETICALLY ENGINEERED BABY FOOD.

Agency Affected	Fund-Effect	FY 14 $	FY 15 $	FY 16 $
Consumer Protection, Dept.	GF - Cost	None	None	90,000
State Comptroller - Fringe Benefits^1,2	GF - Cost	None	None	27,632

Municipal Impact: None

Explanation

The bill results in a cost to the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) of $117,632 beginning in FY 16 by requiring infant formula or baby food that is partially or entirely produced with genetic engineering meet certain requirements for resale beginning July 1, 2015. The DCP will require a Consumer Protection Food Inspector and a part-time paralegal to respond to complaints and issues related to genetically engineered products. Costs include salaries ($80,000), other expenses including computers, software, travel and miscellaneous costs ($10,000) and fringe benefits ($27,632). The additional staff will need to examine the chain of production of suspect products in order to determine if such products meet the requirements of the bill.

The Out Years

The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to inflation.

¹The fringe benefit costs for most state employees are budgeted centrally in accounts administered by the Comptroller. The estimated active employee fringe benefit cost associated with most personnel changes is 34.54% of payroll in FY 14 and FY 15.

²In addition, normal annual pension costs (currently estimated at 7.5% of payroll) attributable to the identified personnel changes will be recognized in the state's annual required pension contribution in future actuarial valuations.