OLR AMENDED BILL ANALYSIS
HB 6010, May Special Session (as amended by House "B")*
AN ACT CONCERNING MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS NEEDED TO
IMPLEMENT THE BUDGET
SUMMARY: This bill:
1. sets up new procedures for school boards to
follow in having Medicaid pay for eligible
special education and related services and
reduces the number of boards required to
participate;
2. establishes new grants to priority school
districts for extended school hours for
academic enrichment and recreation;
3. ensures that certain priority districts
receive at least a $1 million increase in
educational equalization aid for FY 1994-95;
4. establishes a neighborhood youth center grant
program directed at young people between 12
and 17 years old in specific cities;
5. allows additional funds to be transferred to
the Education Department for use as school
breakfast grants for FY 1994-95;
6. exempts Judicial Department employees
(principally adult and juvenile probation
officers) from municipal police training
requirements;
7. creates a separate nonlapsing appropriation
for the Labor Department to use to enforce the
state wage laws;
8. increases the number of Superior Court judges
by four;
9. creates family support referees;
10. transfers funds for the local emergency relief
fund;
11. excludes facilities located and affiliated
with chronic and convalescent nursing homes
from the definition of a free standing chronic
disease hospital for purposes of grants in
lieu of taxes;
12. specifies that utility companies are
ineligible for the property tax exemption on
machinery;
13. excludes special districts from certain tax
exemption reimbursements;
14. establishes a program to encourage poor
children to stay in school and go to college;
15. provides a $50,000 grant for a Hartford public
awareness program promoting education;
16. gives parole officers arrest powers;
17. establishes procedures for the mandatory
HIV/AIDS testing of certain sexual assault
offenders, when the victim asks for it;
18. allows a court to order, and establishes
procedures for, HIV/AIDS testing of people
charged with specified sex crimes, whether or
not the victim asks for it;
19. removes the criminal court's authority to
order the detention of an accused found to
have a venereal disease;
20. allows the court to order treatment, to
continue the case, or make a disposition of an
accused who tests positive for HIV/AIDS as the
public health and welfare requires;
21. requires the Department of Public Health and
Addiction Services (DPHAS) to provide
counselling, testing, and health care
referrals for victims of certain sexual
assaults; and
22. requires DPHAS to work with the Connecticut
Sexual Assault Crises Services, Inc.
(CONNSACS) to develop education materials for
such victims.
*House Amendment "B" adds the HIV/AIDS testing
provisions.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 1994 with the following
exceptions:
1. the provisions regarding the Labor
Department's nonlapsing appropriation, family
support referees, the transfer of funds to the
local emergency relief fund, and HIV/AIDS
testing are effective upon passage;
2. the provisions regarding grants in lieu of
taxes for free standing chronic disease
hospitals and exclusions from reimbursements
for special districts are applicable to grants
beginning in FY 1993-94; and
3. the exclusion of utility companies from
property tax exemption is applicable to
assessment years beginning October 1, 1993.
FURTHER EXPLANATION
Reimbursement for Special Education Medical Expenses:
Section 1
Required Participation. Under current law, school
boards for towns in which more than 75 children receive
benefits under the Aid to Families with Dependent
Children (AFDC) Program must attempt to secure Medicaid
payments for eligible services to special education
children. The bill limits required participation to
school boards for towns in which at least 1,000
children ages three to 21 are enrolled in the Medicaid
program. The determination is based on a three-year
rolling average using October 1 data. Other boards
continue to be authorized to participate.
School Board Procedures. The bill removes the
requirement that boards get written permission from
parents of Medicaid recipients to request payment from
Medicaid. It instead requires them to collect,
maintain, and submit to the education commissioner
prescribed documentation of the costs of the eligible
special education and related services they provide. A
board that fails to provide the required information
must reimburse the state for its proportionate share of
federally disallowed costs, identified in a state or
federal audit, resulting from that failure.
The bill also removes the requirement that the boards
ask parents to use private health insurance and inform
them that doing so may affect their benefits or
premiums. Under the bill, any participating school
board, whether required or volunteering to participate,
must participate for at least three years.
State Agency Requirements. The bill requires (1) the
commissioner of the Department of Social Services (DSS)
to ask the education commissioner for information
needed to set rates for eligible services, (2) the
education commissioner to furnish the information, and
(3) the rates the DSS commissioner must set to reflect
the reasonable average monthly cost per student of
Medicaid eligible special education and related
services for the current year.
The DSS commissioner, as the state's Medicaid agent,
must report and certify the federally mandated state
match to the federal Medicaid authority, based on
school district special education and related services
expenditures.
The education commissioner must notify school boards by
July 30, 1994, and by April 1 annually thereafter,
whether they must participate in this program, based on
the DSS commissioner's certification to him by July 15,
1994, and by March 1 annually thereafter, of the number
of children enrolled in Medicaid.
Grants to School Districts. Beginning with FY 1994-95,
each participating school board is entitled to a grant
amounting to (1) 80% of its proportional share of the
estimated net Medicaid eligible payments (based on the
relative amount of a district's Medicaid eligible
special education and related services costs compared
to the total such costs of all boards) and (2) the
difference between its share of actual net Medicaid
eligible payments for the previous year and the
estimated grant that was already paid for that year.
The net Medicaid eligible payments amount to 60% of the
total such payments received by the state during that
year.
Under current law, Medicaid payments received under the
program are treated in one of two ways. First, they may
go to the town or regional school district and be
credited to the district's special education account.
The payments are thus treated as a reduction in special
education expenditures, rather than as town revenue.
Second, they may go to the school board for expenditure
during the current year, if the board and the
appropriate fiscal authority agree. The bill instead
requires Medicaid funds to be considered appropriated
to the school board in addition to town-appropriated
funds for the current fiscal year.
Payments. The bill requires 25% of the estimated grant
to be paid in September, 25% in December, and the
balance in April. If the education commissioner
determines that there was an overpayment, he must
calculate the amount and adjust the subsequent year's
grant accordingly. If an adjustment is not possible, he
must ask the school board in writing for a refund,
which the board must then submit.
New Grants for Priority School Districts: Sections 2
and 3
The bill requires the education commissioner to award
grants annually to school boards identified by law as
priority school districts. These include the state's
eight largest cities, the 11 towns with the largest
number of children whose families receive AFDC funds
and who score below the remedial level on the statewide
mastery test, and the 11 towns with the greatest ratio
of AFDC students to resident students and the highest
grant mastery percentage (a measure of students'
educational need). The grants are for (1) extended
public school hours for academic enrichment and support
and (2) recreation programs for the districts'
students. (Eligibility for the new grants is based on a
definition in statutes scheduled to be repealed July 1,
1995.)
Program Requirements. Programs funded by the grants may
vary in kind and in times of operation but must:
1. offer both academic enrichment and support and
recreation in specific schools during the
hours when school is not in session,
2. be open to all the district's resident
students,
3. ensure communication with participating
children's teachers and be related to the
regular school curriculum,
4. have specific structured experiences for
children and be able to accommodate any
child's irregular participation,
5. have community involvement,
6. investigate using the National Service Corps,
7. coordinate their operations and activities
with other programs and the agencies operating
them,
8. involve parents in planning the programs and
as advisors and volunteers,
9. provide for business involvement or
sponsorship,
10. have access to special facilities and
equipment of the school in which they operate,
and
11. have the written endorsement of the school
superintendent and principal.
Applications. Districts must apply annually as the
commissioner prescribes, identifying the distribution
of funds by school and program operator and specifying
the programs, their hours, and days of operation. The
application must include (1) evidence that a needs
assessment was conducted of district and individual
school needs, including an inventory of school-based
academic enrichment and support and recreational
opportunities that are currently available before or
after school hours; (2) a schedule and the total number
of hours it considers reasonable and sufficient for
individual school programs; (3) proposals it receives
from town and nonprofit agencies for school programs;
and (4) documentation of its process for reviewing and
ranking proposals.
Districts' Required Activities. Each district must:
1. ensure equal access for all students,
including necessary support and accommodations
for those with disabilities;
2. provide a summer component to the programs,
unless it can document that sufficient
opportunities already exist in the summer;
3. contribute at least 10% of the total cost of
the district's programs and document the
expenditure of local funds or in-kind
contributions;
4. enter into a contract for the direct operation
of the overall program, unless it can document
that there are no providers interested in
providing or able to provide a cost effective
program;
5. solicit applications from town and nonprofit
agencies to run individual school programs;
and
6. rank the applications in priority order
according to specified criteria and select
those to be funded from the total amount
allocated to the district.
Districts must base their decisions to fund individual
programs on criteria that include hours of operation;
number of students served and student hours of service;
program cost; estimated volunteer hours or other
sources of support; community involvement, commitment,
and support; not duplicating current services; the
needs of a school's student body; the unique qualities
of the proposal; and responsiveness to the funding
program's requirements.
Grants. The education commissioner must provide each
priority school district with an annual estimate of the
amount of its grant from the total amount appropriated
minus the amount (up to 2.5%), which the Education
Department is entitled to retain for administration,
technical assistance, and program monitoring and
evaluation. Each district receives a pro rata grant
based on the relative number of its students compared
to the total number of students in all the priority
districts.
Grants may be used to hire personnel to instruct and
supervise children and to supervise personnel. They may
also be used for necessary support costs, such as food,
supplies, equipment and materials, building
maintenance, and transportation. They may not be used
for indirect costs. The commissioner may negotiate with
a district over its application and may refuse a grant
if he considers the proposed costs unreasonable or
unnecessary or decides that the selection of specific
school programs over others was unjustified. Grants for
individual school programs can range from $20,000 to
$80,000 per school, based on school enrollment.
Grants are awarded annually with funding in subsequent
years based not only on available appropriations but on
program evaluations and compliance with the program's
requirements.
Reports and Audits. Districts must submit to the
education commissioner as he prescribes: (1) an annual
report that describes and documents program operation,
student participation, and other indicators of success
and, (2) within 60 days after the end of the school
year, a financial statement of expenditures. By
December 31 of the subsequent fiscal year, it must file
an appropriate financial audit of the grant funds as
part of the local government single audit process.
Districts must use the grants to supplement programs
already operating, and if the commissioner finds that
grants are being used for other purposes or to decrease
the local share of support for schools or supplant a
previous source of funds, he may require repayment to
the state.
The commissioner must file an annual report evaluating
the program with the governor, the General Assembly,
and the Office of Policy and Management (OPM), by
December 1.
Additional Educational Equalization Aid: Section 4
The bill requires the eight largest cities in the state
that rank among the top three according to the criteria
for priority school district eligibility to receive
educational equalization grants for FY 1994-95 that are
at least $1 million greater than their grants for the
previous year.
Neighborhood Youth Center Program: Sections 5 to 8
The bill establishes a neighborhood youth center grant
program for Bridgeport, New Haven, Hartford, New
Britain, Norwalk, Stamford, and Waterbury. The program
is directed at youths between 12 and 17 years of age.
The bill allows city, school, and nonprofit agencies
serving eligible cities to apply for a grant from OPM.
The bill specifies the programs the center must offer.
It also sets grant standards, audit requirements for
grantees, and reporting requirements for grant
recipients. It requires OPM to establish an advisory
committee to assist it in reviewing grant applications.
Youth Center. The bill requires the center to be
located conveniently for youth and be open regular
hours including evenings, weekends, school vacations,
and the summer. It must be a place where other programs
may occur. The center's programs must include: (1)
cultural and recreational opportunities; (2) skill
training in areas such as problem solving, decision
making, conflict resolution, peer counseling, and life
skills; (3) matching youths one-on-one with positive
adult role models; (4) vocational training and job
placement; (5) preventive and intervention services for
youths and their families; (6) case management
services, such as developing and implementing treatment
plans, help in accessing services, and transportation
to them; (7) ongoing parent and youth involvement in
planning the programs; (8) youth leadership development
activities; (9) outreach services, such as streetwork
and home visits to identify youths and families, gather
information, and communicate with parents; and (10)
maximum use of existing youth services.
Grant Application. The bill requires OPM to administer
the grant program. It must notify eligible agencies of
the amount of funds available for each city. These
agencies may receive an amount that is proportionate to
the city's population between 12 and 17 years of age
whose families have incomes below the federal poverty
level as determined from the 1990 census compared to
the aggregate of that population in all the eligible
cities.
Eligible agencies may file an application with OPM on
the department's forms by the first day of the fiscal
year for which funds are appropriated.
The funds must not be used to replace existing
services. At least 25% of the youth center program
costs must be from local funds or in-kind
contributions, such as federal, local, and private
funds which support existing services.
Application Review. OPM must review the applications
and decide which ones will be funded and at what level
using the following criteria: (1) documentation of the
program's need through neighborhood crime and poverty
statistics, (2) responsiveness to program requirements,
(3) reasonableness of costs, (4) soundness of program
plans, and (5) the applicant's experience in providing
youth recreational services.
Advisory Committee. OPM must establish and chair an
advisory committee to assist it in reviewing
applications. The committee must include
representatives of OPM, the Judicial Department, and
the departments of Children and Families, Education,
Public Health and Addiction Services, and Social
Services.
Audit and Report. The bill requires grantees to submit
to OPM, quarterly program and financial reports on
whatever forms OPM requires. The grantees must also
file with OPM an audit of the grant funds in accordance
with the current audit requirements for recipients of
state financial assistance. The audit must be filed by
December 1 of the fiscal year following the grant year.
The bill requires cities that receive a grant to report
on all funds received for youth centers and
after-school programs from state, local, federal, or
private sources. The report must be submitted by
February 15 of the fiscal year the grant is received.
School Breakfast Program: Section 9
The bill prohibits the Education Department from
recalculating the amount of school breakfast grant
payments to participants if the number of schools
participating in the program during FY 1994-95 exceeds
the department's estimate. It allows the Finance
Advisory Committee, at the governor's request, to
transfer funds for the program from the General Fund to
the department.
Police Training Exemption: Section 10
The bill exempts Judicial Department employees from the
minimum basic training requirements of the Municipal
Police Training Council. Certain other law enforcement
personnel are already exempt, but only if they have
successfully completed specified police training
programs.
Collection of Civil Penalties by the Labor Department:
Section 11
The bill creates a separate nonlapsing appropriation
for the Labor Department to use to enforce the state
wage laws. The funds for the appropriation come from a
$150 civil penalty, payable to the Labor Department and
in addition to other penalties, that the law already
imposes on each wage law violation. Under current law,
the money received from this additional penalty must be
credited to the department's personal services budget
and may be used to employ additional wage enforcement
personnel. This bill, instead, requires the funds to be
allocated to the department's "other current expenses"
and allows them to be used for wage enforcement.
Judges: Section 12
The bill increases the number of Superior Court judges
from 168 to 172.
Family Support Referees: Section 13
The bill designates retired family support magistrates
as family support referees and allows a family support
magistrate to refer any family support matter to the
referee if the parties give written consent. The
referee, after hearing the case, reports the facts to
the court that referred the case to the referee. The
bill sets compensation at $160 a day, the same as for
retired judges serving as referees under current law.
As with retired judges, the family support referee
serves for the remainder of his term of appointment as
a magistrate and is eligible for continued
reappointment in the same manner as magistrates (i.e.,
appointment by the governor for three-year terms).
Funding Transfer to Local Emergency Relief Fund:
Section 14
The bill transfers $250,000 to the local emergency
relief fund during FY 1993-94 from appropriations to
OPM for the tax relief program for elderly renters.
Free Standing Chronic Disease Hospital Definition:
Section 15
Municipalities are eligible for state grants in lieu of
taxes on real property owned by private higher
education institutions or any nonprofit general
hospital or free standing chronic disease hospital,
excluding any facility operated by the federal, state,
or local government.
This bill defines "free standing chronic disease
hospital" as a facility providing care and treatment
for chronic diseases but excluding one with an
ownership affiliation with, and operated in the same
location as, a chronic and convalescent nursing home.
Utility Companies and Property Tax: Section 16
The law exempts certain types of machinery acquired by
manufacturers from property tax for four years
following their acquisition. The bill specifies that
utility companies are ineligible for this exemption.
Utility companies include electric, gas, water,
telephone, and cable TV companies.
Special Districts and Tax Exemption Reimbursements:
Section 17
The bill specifies that only towns, cities, boroughs,
and consolidated forms of these taxing units can
receive state reimbursements for state-mandated
property tax exemptions for totally disabled people.
This has the effect of excluding special taxing
districts from receiving reimbursements.
Help and Opportunity to Pursue Education (HOPE)
Program: Sections 18-20
The bill allows the Department of Higher Education
(DHE), within available appropriations, to run a
program that helps nonprofit groups that tutor and
encourage eligible students to stay in school and
enroll in, and graduate from, college. Eligible
students are those whose family incomes are not more
than 130% of the federal poverty level, who are state
residents and whose parents or guardians are permanent
state residents, and who are enrolled in seventh grade
in a public or private nonprofit school in Connecticut.
A student remains eligible for the program by (1)
maintaining continuous Connecticut residence and
enrollment from seventh grade through high school
graduation, (2) enrolling as a full-time student at a
public or private college or university in Connecticut,
and (3) maintaining DHE-defined good academic standing
and full-time status.
DHE may seek, accept, and approve donations of funds
from any source, and receive government funding, for
the HOPE program. It may help provide tutors for
eligible students, within the limits of available
funds. Such tutors may be National Service Corps
members designated by DHE or Connecticut college
students. Students assigned as tutors must receive
academic credit for their participation.
"Drugs Don't Work" Grant: Section 21
The bill requires the Education Department to provide a
$50,000 grant for FY 1994-95 to "Drugs Don't Work of
Hartford" for a public awareness program promoting the
value of education.
Arrest Power for Parole Officers: Sections 22 and 23
The bill gives parole officers designated by the
chairman of the Board of Parole the authority to arrest
parolees or inmates and return them to custody, a power
now held by designated Department of Correction (DOC)
officers. It also authorizes parole officers, and
people they order to help them, to use physical force
to make an arrest, prevent an escape, or defend
themselves or someone else and to use deadly physical
force to defend themselves or someone else or to arrest
or prevent the escape of a violent and dangerous
offender. Peace officers and authorized DOC officials
currently have this authority. Under legislation passed
last year (PA 93-219) and this year (PA 94-183) the
authority to supervise parolees is to be transferred
from DOC to the Board of Parole on July 1, 1994.
Mandatory HIV/AIDS Testing for Sex Offenders: Section
24
The bill requires HIV/AIDS testing, at the request of
the victim, of anyone convicted of sexual assault in
the first degree, aggravated sexual assault in the
first degree, or sexual assault in a spousal or
cohabiting relationship. It also requires testing, at
the request of the victim, of the following offenders
if the offense involved a "sexual act" as defined by
the bill: (1) risk of injury to a minor, (2) sexual
assault in the third degree, (3) sexual assault in the
third degree with a firearm, and (4) sexual assault in
the fourth degree.
The bill defines a sexual act as contact between:
1. the penis and the vulva or anus, involving
penetration, however slight; or
2. the mouth and the penis, vulva, or anus.
The court entering the judgment or adjudication of
delinquency must order both the test and disclosure of
these test results to the victim and offender. The
Department of Correction, in consultation with the
DPHAS, must perform the test or direct someone else to
do so.
Existing laws on AIDS testing, except for those
requiring the individual's prior consent, apply to
these AIDS tests. Applicable laws specify (1)
information that a person must receive before being
tested, (2) requirements for counseling or referrals
for counseling at the time the person is informed of
the test result, and (3) limitations on disclosure of
test results.
Counseling, Testing, and Referral Requirements:
Section 25
The bill requires DPHAS to provide victims of the
enumerated sex offenses with (1) HIV and AIDS
counseling, (2) HIV-related testing, and (3) referrals
for appropriate health care and support services.
Victims must receive these services even if there is no
conviction or delinquency adjudication. Services must
be provided at sites funded by the department.
Development of Educational Materials: Section 26
The bill also requires DPHAS to work with CONNSACS to
develop educational materials on sexual assault, HIV,
and AIDS for sexual assault victims. The materials must
include information on: (1) risks associated with HIV
and sexual violence, (2) available testing options, (3)
risk reduction, and (4) rape crisis centers and HIV
testing sites. The materials are for distribution
through hospitals, rape crisis centers, HIV testing
sites, the Division of Criminal Justice, and other
agencies.
CONNSACS is a statewide coalition of 12 sexual assault
crisis programs partly funded by the state.
Permissive HIV/AIDS Testing for Accused Sex Offenders:
Section 27
The bill allows a court to order HIV/AIDS testing for
anyone accused of the sex crimes specified above (see
Sec. 24) or prostitution, patronizing a prostitute, or
promoting or permitting prostitution if the crime
involved a sexual act (see Sec. 24 above). The court
can order the testing whether or not the victim asks
for it. All existing laws governing HIV/AIDS testing
apply to these tests except the accused person's
consent is not required and the limits on disclosure of
the results do no apply to disclosure of results to the
victim.
BACKGROUND
Emission Reduction Credit Program
Under an Emission Reduction Credit Trading program,
emitters are given reduction targets that could be met
either by in-plant reductions or by Emissions Reduction
Credits obtained from other firms. This "market-based"
mechanism is designed to encourage cost-effective
strategies. Sources that can control at low cost will
do so, to take advantage of possible opportunities in
the credit market. On the other hand, sources that
cannot economically reduce their emissions will have an
opportunity to meet air pollution requirements by
purchasing credits at a cost which is relatively lower
than implementing pollution control technologies.
According to DEP, to be eligible for trading, emissions
reductions must be more than just reductions on
"paper." Credits made available for trading will have
to be quantifiable, surplus (over and above what is
required by law), and permanent.