SB 357 — AN ACT CONCERNING UNEMPLOYMENT DEPENDENCY ALLOWANCE.

Senate General Assembly FileRaised Bill No.

464357 February Session, 2026 SenateLCO Bill No.

3572126 Senate,Referred Aprilto 7, 2026 The Committee on LaborLABOR andAND PublicPUBLIC EmployeesEMPLOYEES reportedIntroduced throughby: SEN.

KUSHNER(LAB) ofAN theACT 24thCONCERNING Dist.,UNEMPLOYMENT ChairpersonDEPENDENCY ofALLOWANCE. the Committee on the part of the Senate, that the bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING UNEMPLOYMENT DEPENDENCY ALLOWANCE.

Each individual who is eligible to receive benefits for unemployment with respect to any week shall be paid with respect to such week a dependency allowance of [fifteen] forty-five dollars for such individual's nonworking spouse, as defined by regulation, living in the same household with such individual and for each of such individual's childrenor stepchildrenwho at thebeginningoftheindividual'scurrent benefit year were being wholly or mainly supported by such individual and were under eighteen years of age or under twenty-one years of age and in full-time attendance in a secondary school, a technical school, a college, or state accredited job training program, or who at the beginning of the individual's benefit year were mentally or physically handicapped and because of such handicap were being wholly or SB357LCO /2126 File1 of 2 Raised Bill No.

464357 1mainly SB357supported Fileby No.such individual, but in no event shall such allowances exceed the number of whole dollars in one hundred per cent of the total unemployment benefit rate of such individual or be paid with respect to more than five dependents.

464 mainly supported by such individual, but in no event shall such allowances exceed the number of whole dollars in one hundred per cent of the total unemployment benefit rate of such individual or be paid with respect to more than five dependents.

Section 1 July 1, 2028 Section 1 31-234 LAB Joint Favorable SB357APP /Joint FileFavorable No.LCO 2126 2 of 2

464 2 SB357 File No.

464 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 $ Labor Dept.

GF - Cost None 380,000 Labor Dept.

UITF - Cost None None Note:

UITF=Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund;

GF=General Fund Municipal Impact:

None Explanation The bill increases the dependency allowance for individuals eligible to receive unemployment benefits from $15 to $45, starting on July 1, 2028.

This results in a one-time cost to the Department of Labor (DOL) of $380,000 in FY 28 for technology changes to ReEmployCT .

2 The Out Years In addition to the one-time cost identified above, the bill results in an annual cost to the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund (UITF) of approximately $10.8 million, starting in FY 29.

According to the DOL, an average of $5.4 million was paid for dependency allowances over the past three fiscal years.

The estimated amounts may fluctuate depending on economic conditions (e.g.

unemployment levels).

The cost would be incurred in FY 28 to ensure the system is operational prior to the beginning of FY 29.

2DOL's unemployment tax and benefits system.

SB357 / File No.

464 3 SB357 File No.

464 OLR Bill Analysis SB 357 AN ACT CONCERNING UNEMPLOYMENT DEPENDENCY ALLOWANCE.

SUMMARY Thisbillincreases,from$15to $45,theweekly unemployment benefit allowance that an eligible claimant receives for each dependent in addition to his or her regular unemployment benefits.

By law, the allowances are available for up to five dependents, and the total allowances cannot exceed the claimant’s regular unemployment benefit.

Dependents that qualify for the allowance are a claimant’s (1) non-working spouse who lives in the same household with the claimant and (2) children or stepchildren who, at the start of the claimant’s benefit year, were wholly or mainly supported by the claimant and (a) under age 18 (or age 21 if in full-time secondary school, technical school, college, or state accredited job training program) or (b) mentally or physically disabled.

If both spouses are receiving unemployment benefits at the same time, neither can receive a dependency allowance for the other, and only one can claim the allowance for their children.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

July 1, 2028 COMMITTEE ACTION Labor and Public Employees Committee Joint Favorable Yea 9 Nay 4 (03/19/2026) SB357 / File No.

464 4