SB 347 — AN ACT INCREASING THE THRESHOLD AMOUNT FOR FELONY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION FRAUD.

Senate General Assembly FileRaised Bill No.

82347 February Session, 2026 SenateLCO Bill No.

3471276 Senate,Referred Marchto 19, 2026 The Committee on LaborLABOR andAND PublicPUBLIC EmployeesEMPLOYEES reportedIntroduced throughby: SEN.

KUSHNER(LAB) ofAN theACT 24thINCREASING Dist.,THE ChairpersonTHRESHOLD ofAMOUNT theFOR CommitteeFELONY onUNEMPLOYMENT theCOMPENSATION partFRAUD. of the Senate, that the bill ought to pass.

AN ACT INCREASING THE THRESHOLD AMOUNT FOR FELONY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION FRAUD.

Subsection (f) of section 31-273 of the general statutes is repealed andthefollowing issubstituted inlieuinlieuthereof(EffectiveOctober thereof(EffectiveOctober 1, 2026):

(f) Any person who knowingly makes a false statement or representation or fails to disclose a material fact in order to obtain, increase, prevent or decrease any benefit, contribution or other payment under this chapter, or under any similar law of another state or of the United States in regard to which this state acted as agent pursuant to an agreement authorized by section 31-225, whether to be made to or by [himself or herself] such person or any other person, and who receives any such benefit, pays any such contribution or alters any such payment to [his or her] such person's advantage by such fraudulent means (1) shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor if such benefit, contribution or payment amounts to [five hundred] two thousand dollars or less, or (2) SB347LCO /1276 File1 of 2 Raised Bill No.

82347 1shall SB347be Fileguilty No.of a class D felony if such benefit, contribution or payment amounts to more than [five hundred] two thousand dollars.

82 shall be guilty of a class D felony if such benefit, contribution or payment amounts to more than [five hundred] two thousand dollars.

Section 1 October 1, 2026 31-273(f) LAB Joint Favorable SB347JUD /Joint FileFavorable No.LCO 1276 2 of 2

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82 The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:

Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $ Resources of the General Fund GF - Potential Minimal Minimal Revenue Gain Note:

GF=General Fund Municipal Impact:

None Explanation The bill, which increases the dollar threshold for felony unemployment compensation fraud from $500 to $2,000, results in a minimal potential revenue gain in FY 27 and FY 28.

By reclassifying fraud overpayments in amounts greater than $500 but less than $2,000 from a class D felony to a class A misdemeanor, the bill decreases the maximumfine that may beimposedfor these offenses, but ifthischange increases the frequency with which these fines are imposed, therevenue collected under this statute may be greater than previous years.

This1 bill is not anticipated to affect the number of persons incarcerated or the number of persons under supervision in the community.

Finally, thisbilldoes not result inany fiscal impact to theDepartment of Labor (DOL) as the change in classification is not expected to affect workloadfortheagency.

Asbackground, DOLreportedthat 1,992fraud overpayments were for amounts greater than $500 but less than $2,000 in 2025.

1In the past four years, the state has not collected any revenue from fines under CGS 31-273.

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82 The Out Years The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to the number of fines imposed.

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82 OLR Bill Analysis SB 347 AN ACT INCREASING THE THRESHOLD AMOUNT FOR FELONY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION FRAUD.

SUMMARY This bill increases, from $500 to $2,000, the financial threshold that determines whether someone’s unemployment compensation fraud is a misdemeanor or a felony.

By law, unemployment compensation fraud is knowingly making a false statement or representation or failing to disclose a material fact to obtain, increase, prevent, or decrease an unemployment benefit, contribution, or other payment.

Under current law, a fraudulent payment, benefit, or contribution is a (1) class A misdemeanor if it amounts to $500 or less or (2) class D felony if it amounts to more than $500.

The bill increases these thresholds to $2,000 or less for a class A misdemeanor and more than $2,000 for a class D felony.

A class A misdemeanor is punishable by up to 364 days in prison, a fine of up to $2,000, or both.

A class D felony is punishable by up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

October 1, 2026 COMMITTEE ACTION Labor and Public Employees Committee Joint Favorable Yea 9 Nay 4 (03/05/2026) SB347 / File No.

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