Connecticut HB 5446: AN ACT CONCERNING TEACHERS' DISABILITY AND RETIREMENT BENEFITS AND PARAEDUCATORS' SALARY AND RETIREMENT CONTRIBUTIONS.

Bill Text

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General Assembly  
Substitute Bill No. 5446  
February Session, 2026 
 
 
 
 
AN ACT CONCERNING TEACHERS' DISABILITY AND RETIREMENT 
BENEFITS AND PARAEDUCATORS' SALARY AND RETIREMENT 
CONTRIBUTIONS.  
Be  it enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  in  General 
Assembly convened: 
 
Section 1. (Effective from passage) (a) The chief administrative officer of 1 
the teachers' retirement system, in consultation with the president of the 2 
Connecticut    Education    Association    and    the    president    of    AFT 3 
Connecticut,  shall  study  the  feasibility  of  making  changes  to  teachers' 4 
disability  and  retirement  benefits  to  permit  (1)  retired  teachers  to  be 5 
reemployed full-time by local and regional boards of education without 6 
the  salary  from  such  employment  being  included  in  such  teachers' 7 
pension   calculations,   and   (2)   retroactive   application   of   disability 8 
benefits  so  that  former  teachers  are  able  to  apply  for  and  receive  a 9 
disability  allowance  after  leaving  employment  as  a  teacher,  provided 10 
the  disabling  condition  began  when  the  former  teacher  was  actively 11 
employed. 12 
(b)  Not  later  than  January  1,  2027,  the  chief  administrative  officer 13 
shall  report,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  section  11-4a  of  the 14 
general   statutes,   to   the   joint   standing   committee   of   the   General 15 
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to appropriations and 16 
the  budgets  of  state  agencies  on  the  results  of  the  study.  Such  report 17 
shall  include,  but  need  not  be  limited  to:  (1)  A  potential  timeline  for 18 
implementing  such  benefit  changes;  (2)  the  approximate  cost  of  such 19 

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benefit changes; (3) a description of the resources needed to implement 20 
such benefit changes; and (4) a description of any potential barriers to 21 
implementing such benefit changes. 22 
Sec.  2.  (NEW)  (Effective  July  1,  2026)  Any  collective  bargaining 23 
agreement entered into, amended or extended on or after July 1, 2026, 24 
between a local or regional board of education and the representatives 25 
of  the  exclusive  bargaining  unit  for  paraeducators  shall  establish  a 26 
minimum salary for a full-time paraeducator that is not less than forty-27 
five thousand dollars annually. 28 
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2026) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 29 
2028,  and  annually  thereafter,  the  Office  of  Policy  and  Management 30 
shall provide to each local or regional board of education a subsidy for 31 
each paraeducator employed by such board of education in an amount 32 
equal to the difference between the annual salary, as of July 1, 2026, of 33 
such  paraeducator  and  the  minimum  salary  required  pursuant  to 34 
section  2  of  this  act.  Any  such  subsidy  provided  to  a  local  or  regional 35 
board  of  education  under  this  section  shall  not  be  combined  with  any 36 
other state grant provided to local or regional boards of education under 37 
any provision of the general statutes. 38 
Sec.   4.   (NEW)   (Effective   July   1,   2026)   (a)   Notwithstanding   any 39 
provision  of  the  general  statutes,  each  local  and  regional  board  of 40 
education shall pay for each paraeducator employed by such board the 41 
employee contribution required pursuant to the municipal employees' 42 
retirement system or any other retirement system in which such board 43 
participates, provided such payment shall not exceed the amount of the 44 
employee contribution required pursuant to the municipal employees' 45 
retirement system. Any amount of a required employee contribution to 46 
a  retirement  system  that  exceeds  the  amount  paid  by  such  board 47 
pursuant to this subsection shall be paid by the paraeducator. 48 
(b) The Comptroller shall annually pay to each local or regional board 49 
of education not less than fifty per cent of the cost to such board for the 50 
payment of the employee contribution for retirement benefits pursuant 51 

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to subsection (a) of this section. 52 
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following 
sections: 
 
Section 1 
from passage 
New section 
Sec. 2 
July 1, 2026 
New section 
Sec. 3 
July 1, 2026 
New section 
Sec. 4 
July 1, 2026 
New section 
 
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:   
The first sentence of Section 3 was rewritten for clarity.  
 
APP Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO