SR 26 — RESOLUTION PROPOSING APPROVAL OF AN INTEREST ARBITRATION AWARD BETWEEN THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT AND THE STATE EMPLOYEES BARGAINING AGENT COALITION (SEBAC).

Senate General Assembly SenateFile Resolution No.

26349 January Session, 2023 LCOSenate Resolution No.

622626 ReferredSenate, toMarch 31, 2023 The Senate Committee on APPROPRIATIONSAppropriations Introducedreported by:through SEN.OSTENofthe19thDist.,Chairperson oftheCommittee on the part of the Senate, that the resolution ought to be adopted.

SEN.

LOONEY, 11 Dist.

APP Senate Favorable LCOSR26 \\PRDFS1\SCOUSERS\FORZANOF\WS\2023SR-00026-R01/ ofFile 1No. SB.docx

349 1 SR26 File No.

349 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 23 $ Reserve for Salary Adjustments GF - Cost 46,014,470 State Comptroller - Fringe Benefits GF - Cost 3,520,107 Total GF - Cost 49,534,577 Note:

GF=General Fund Municipal Impact:

None Explanation The resolution proposes approval of an interest arbitration award concerning pandemic pay between the State of Connecticut and the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC).

This award covers those employees who worked in person during the period of March 20, 2020, through March 27, 2021.

The cost of the one-time arbitration award is estimated to be $49,534,577 across various state agencies which includes fringe costs related to Social Security (6.2%) and Medicare (1.45%) Employee taxes.

The award will also impact the pension calculation of certain employees which would increase the cost of their pension upon retirement.

The award from the arbitration is estimated to impact 34,514 employees including state employees, national guard employees and employees at quasi-public agencies.

Hourly Employees - For employees that track their hours worked the 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 42.82% of payroll in FY 24.

Estimate includes the fiscal impact of an award being provided to the State Police in the NP-1 bargaining unit which may require a separate negotiated agreement to receive the award.

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349 calculation of the award is based on;

1) regular hours worked, 2) overtime hours worked, and 3) a classification of employee work as “high risk” or “low risk.” Table 1 below shows the minimum and maximum awards for both regular hours worked, and overtime hours worked.

Please note that the awards for overtime work are in addition to any award given for regular hours worked.

There are approximately 27,370 employees receiving awards based on hours worked with an average award of approximately $1,475.

Table 1.

Hourly Award Summary Regular Hours Worked Low Risk High Risk Minimum Hours 180 $ 125 $ 250 Maximum Hours 2080 $1,417 $2,834 Overtime Hours Worked Minimum OT Hours 200 $ 135 $ 270 Maximum OT Hours 2300 $1,563 $3,126 Non-Hourly Employees - There are 7,415 non-hourly employees that do not have their hours trackedbut are eligible for an award.

This group includes approximately 1,949 National Guard members who will receive an award of $1,500.

There are also 5,046 UCONN employees who may receive an award based on an approximation of what similar employees would have received if their hours were tracked.

This is estimated to result in an average award of $500 per employee, with a subset of approximately 150 UCONN employees who will receive an estimated average award of $1,000.

Funding - Previous budget acts allocated $35 million from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for state employee essential workersand National Guard premium pay during the pandemic.

The Governor’s recommended budget also provides for an additional $6.5 million in ARPA fund to be allocated towards premium pay for these employees for a total of $41.5 million from ARPA funds.

This would leave $8,034,577 of costs to be funded by non-ARPA funding.

PA 22-118 providesfor $28,861,306 incarryforwardfundsto supportaccruedwage payouts and increase funding available for state employee and National Guard premium pay.

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

awards will result in an indeterminate increase in pension costs in the out years.