Lawmakers are considering a bill that would expand Connecticut’s premium pay program and make an additional category of essential workers eligible for the one-time bonus.
Lawmakers are considering a bill that would expand Connecticut's premium pay program and make an additional category of essential workers eligible for the one-time bonus.
The program was established by lawmakers last year as a way to say "thank you" to the people who worked during the height of the pandemic. The rollout caused headaches for some who reported problems with the application process and changing eligibility requirements.
Ultimately, 150,000 essential workers were approved for the bonus of up to $1,000, but those workers had to fall in the federal government's 1a or 1b essential workers categories. The eligible workers included hospital staff, warehouse workers and grocery workers, among others.
“We didn’t include 1c and there are many workers in 1c who took the same risk," said State Senator Julie Kushner (D- Danbury). “This was, I think, inadvertent it wasn’t intended that we would leave these folks out so we are going back and taking a look at who did we leave out and what can we do to fix that?”
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A public hearing for the bill, which would open up eligibility to essential workers in the 1c category, was held Thursday before the Labor and Public Employees Committee.
The Connecticut Community Nonprofit Alliance was among the groups that testified in support of the bill, saying that many nonprofit workers including housing workers, hunger response workers and job training staff were left out of the original program.
“All of them worked every day during the pandemic to help people and they deserve premium pay as well," said Gian-Carl Casa, president and CEO of the Connecticut Community Nonprofit Alliance. “I think it would tell them that they are valued. That the work that they do meant a lot during COVID and means a lot today.”
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Homeless response workers would also be included under the expansion.
“This is a way that the state could say, 'thank you. Thank you for showing up. Thank you for getting the job done and saving lives every day' because we need these services," said Sarah Fox, chief operating officer at the CT Coalition to End Homelessness.
