Connecticut HB 5279: AN ACT REDEFINING PUBLIC OFFICIAL UNDER THE STATE CODES OF ETHICS.

Bill Text

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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5279
February Session, 2026 LCO No. 1290

Referred to Committee on LABOR AND PUBLIC
EMPLOYEES

Introduced by:
(LAB)

AN ACT ADDING WITNESSING A SERIOUS PHYSICAL INJURY AS A
QUALIFYING EVENT FOR PURPOSES OF POST-TRAUMATIC
STRESS INJURY WORKERS' COMPENSATION COVERAGE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 31-294k of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 2
1, 2026): 3
(a) As used in this section: 4
(1) "COVID-19" means the respiratory disease designated by the 5
World Health Organization on February 11, 2020, as coronavirus 2019, 6
and any related mutation thereof recognized by the World Health 7
Organization as a communicable respiratory disease; 8
(2) "Eligible individual" means a police officer, firefighter, emergency 9
medical services personnel, Department of Correction employee, 10
telecommunicator or health care provider, and on and after January 1, 11
2024, an employee; 12

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(3) "Emergency medical services personnel" has the same meaning as 13
provided in section 20-206jj; 14
(4) "Employee" has the same meaning as provided in section 31-275; 15
(5) "Firefighter" has the same meaning as provided in section 7-313g; 16
(6) "Health care provider" means (A) a person employed at a doctor's 17
office, hospital, health care center, clinic, medical school, local health 18
department or agency, nursing facility, retirement facility, nursing 19
home, group home, home health care provider, any facility that 20
performs laboratory or medical testing, pharmacy or any similar 21
institution, or (B) a person employed to provide personal care 22
assistance, as defined in section 17b-706, in or about a private dwelling, 23
provided such person is regularly employed by the owner or occupier 24
of the dwelling for more than twenty-six hours per week; 25
(7) "In the line of duty" means any action that an eligible individual 26
is obligated or authorized by law, rule, regulation or written condition 27
of employment service to perform, or for which the eligible individual 28
is compensated by the public entity such individual serves, except that, 29
in the case of a volunteer firefighter, such action or service constitutes 30
fire duties, as defined in subsection (b) of section 7-314b; 31
(8) "Mental health professional" means a board-certified psychiatrist 32
or a psychologist licensed pursuant to chapter 383, who has experience 33
diagnosing and treating post-traumatic stress injury; 34
(9) "Parole officer" means an employee of the Department of 35
Correction who supervises inmates in the community after their release 36
from prison on parole or under another prison release program; 37
(10) "Police officer" has the same meaning as provided in section 7-38
294a, except that "police officer" does not include an officer of a law 39
enforcement unit of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe or the Mohegan 40
Tribe of Indians of Connecticut; 41
(11) "Post-traumatic stress injury" means an injury that meets the 42

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diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder as specified in the 43
most recent edition of the American Psychiatric Association's 44
"Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders"; 45
(12) "Qualifying event" means: 46
(A) An event occurring in the line of duty on or after July 1, 2019, in 47
which a police officer, parole officer, firefighter, emergency medical 48
services personnel, Department of Correction employee or 49
telecommunicator: 50
(i) Views a deceased minor; 51
(ii) Witnesses the death of a person or an incident involving the death 52
of a person; 53
(iii) Witnesses an injury to a person who subsequently dies before or 54
upon admission at a hospital as a result of the injury and not as a result 55
of any other intervening cause; 56
(iv) Has physical contact with and treats an injured person who 57
subsequently dies before or upon admission at a hospital as a result of 58
the injury and not as a result of any other intervening cause; 59
(v) Carries an injured person who subsequently dies before or upon 60
admission at a hospital as a result of the injury and not as a result of any 61
other intervening cause; [or] 62
(vi) Witnesses a traumatic physical injury that results in the loss of a 63
vital body part or a vital body function that results in permanent 64
disfigurement of the victim; or 65
(vii) On and after October 1, 2026, witnesses a serious physical injury 66
to a person that does not result in (I) the death of such person, or (II) the 67
loss of a vital body part or a vital body function that results in a 68
permanent disfigurement of such person; 69
(B) An event arising out of and in the course of employment on or 70

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after March 10, 2020, in which an eligible individual w