CT SB00008

Transfers school construction grant authority from the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) to the Office of Policy and Management (OPM), effective July 1, 2020, including project applications, plan reviews, grant percentage assignments, audits, bidding oversight, and emergency grant approvals, with the OPM Secretary replacing the DAS Commissioner throughout the school building project statutes.

Authorizes up to $11,756,160,000 in state bonds for school construction grants (with up to $5 million for school security projects), maintains grant ranges of 10%–80% based on town wealth rankings, and adds school security projects as a new emergency grant category alongside fire damage, roof replacement, and indoor air quality emergencies.

Relocates the Office of Workforce Competitiveness from within the Labor Department to within OPM, led by a Governor-appointed executive director serving as the principal workforce development policy advisor, with duties including formulating statewide workforce strategy, coordinating federal WIOA implementation, and submitting annual workforce shortage forecasts beginning October 1, 2020.

Renames the Connecticut Employment and Training Commission as the Governor's Workforce Council (24 members, business-majority composition), housed within the restructured Office of Workforce Competitiveness, responsible for developing a 5-year state workforce development plan, coordinating job training programs, and creating an electronic hiring campaign for workers aged 50 and older.

Directs the Connecticut Lottery Corporation to establish an online lottery draw game program (up to 4 drawings per day, excluding keno), requiring age (18+) and in-state location verification, deposit and spending limits, voluntary self-exclusion, independent responsible play reviews every 5 years, and Commissioner of Consumer Protection regulatory approval before launch.

Increases the Lottery Corporation's annual transfer to the chronic gamblers treatment rehabilitation account from $2,300,000 to $2,400,000 beginning FY 2021, and authorizes credit card use for the new online lottery program while preserving existing law voiding most wagering contracts.

Raises the greenhouse gas reduction motor vehicle registration fee from $10 to $15 per registration, eliminates the reduced $5 fee for persons aged 65+, and directs the first $3 million in annual revenue to the Connecticut Hydrogen and Electric Automobile Purchase Rebate Program account with excess deposited into the General Fund.

Delays the salary increase mandate for early childhood educators and school readiness program staff from FY 2020 to FY 2022, and defers the per-child cost cap increase from $8,927 to $9,027 from FY 2021 to FY 2022.

Eliminates the Paid Family and Medical Leave Authority board's power to appoint an executive director, instead authorizing the State Comptroller to provide administrative and staff support, and requires all state costs for the program to be reimbursed from program revenue at a rate commensurate with the term over which costs were incurred.

Caps aggregate principal on energy efficiency lease financings for state-owned buildings at $30 million for those in effect on or after July 1, 2020, and redirects post-transfer revenue from inmate pay telephone service contracts to the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection for criminal justice information systems beginning FY 2021.