(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that he is directing Office of Policy and Management Secretary Jeffrey Beckham to waive service fees that Connecticut state agencies are required to begin collecting on credit, debit, and charge card transactions under a state law that takes effect July 1, 2022.
Waiving these service fees will save Connecticut residents and businesses approximately $6 million during the 2023 fiscal year, which begins next week.
“Each of us is feeling the pressure of inflation, and I am committed to reducing costs for businesses and residents where the law allows,” Governor Lamont said. “By waiving these transaction fees, businesses and residents will save approximately $6 million. Our administration will be working with the General Assembly to revisit all such fees that are implemented by state statutes, and we will review arrangements that we have with credit card companies as we continue to streamline and modernize state government.”
Under Public Act 21-2 (June Special Session), state agencies that accept payments by credit, debit, or charge cards are required to charge a service fee to customers who pay by those methods beginning on July 1, 2022. Prior to this legislation, some state agencies already passed those costs on to customers, however many state agencies had not yet adopted that practice. This service fee requirement was intended to recoup the state’s costs for accepting these types of payments and would have imposed a new charge on customers who enter into transactions with state agencies that had not previously charged the fee.
That same law also includes a provision enabling the secretary of the Office of Policy and Management to waive those fees. Governor Lamont is directing Secretary Beckham to waive the imposition of any new fees though the end of fiscal year 2023.
Among the agency fees impacted are those from the Department of Motor Vehicles, Department of Consumer Protection, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, and the Department of Public Health.