March 20, 2026 Appropriations Committee, HB 5031

Public Hearing Testimony of Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo
Department of Labor
Appropriations Committee
March 20, 2026 

Good Morning Senator Osten, Representative Walker, Senator Somers, Representative Nuccio and members of the Appropriations Committee. Thank you for the opportunity to provide you with testimony regarding H.B. 5031 AN ACT MAKING DEFICIENCY APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2026. My name is Danté Bartolomeo and I am the Commissioner of the CT Department of Labor (CTDOL).

Thank you for the opportunity to come before you today to provide details regarding the $900,000 deficiency in CTDOL’s Other Expenses (OE) line for State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2026 as reflected in HB 5031 and to respectfully request your support of H.B. 5031. CTDOL’s OE deficiency, which is continuing to be monitored, stems from anticipated operating and IT consultant cost increases, primarily attributed to the following four factors:

1. Unfunded General Fund OE Costs: There was an establishment of 50 state funded Customer Service Representative positions in the FY 2022-2023 biennial budget to complement federal investment in the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program. These full time equivalent (FTE) positions came with Personal Service (PS) funding but did not include corresponding funding for the associated OE costs.
2. Unfunded Administrative Costs: There are additional administrative costs that have not been funded, particularly those related to implementing the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funded programs. These costs include the associated overhead costs related to ARPA funded salaries and were required to maintain the equitable allocation of overhead costs between federal and state funded programs. Additionally, there are some unfunded costs related to several state-funded projects including apprenticeship data collection, apprenticeship in-kind, and the accessibility project.
3. Increased Operating Costs: CTDOL is experiencing higher-than-expected operating costs this fiscal year due to increases in the following essential service categories.
   • Utilities, including (Electricity, Water, Sewer, Natural Gas) and an Increase to our premises maintenance costs - 5% increase based on FY25
   • Increase in Motor Vehicle Costs (25% increase based on FY25, the increase is mostly attributed to the rental costs)
4. FEMA Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) repayment: LWA was the 2020 COVID-19 relief FEMA program that provided a supplement to state UI benefits. Unlike the USDOL pandemic programs, FEMA required recovery and reimbursement of LWA funds paid as a result of fraud. These fraud overpayments that could not be waived totaled a repayment to FEMA of $941,720.36, just 0.25% of the $366,447,067 administered LWA benefits.

I hope that you find this explanation helpful. I am available to answer any further questions that you may have. Thank you for the opportunity to provide this testimony today.