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CT Paid Leave Authority committee reviews FY 2026–27 budget and rising benefit payments
Summary
At its April 24 Finance & Audit Committee meeting the CT Paid Leave Authority reviewed the draft FY 2026–27 budget and March financial results, reporting no changes to the draft budget but noting sharp increases in benefit payments and program utilization; the committee adjourned without a quorum after tabling minutes.
The Connecticut Paid Leave Authority’s Finance & Audit Committee met April 24, 2026, to review the draft fiscal 2026–27 budget and March financial results, and adjourned at 9:21 a.m. without a quorum after tabling the March 27 minutes, Chair Holly Williams said.
Dave, the authority’s finance lead, told the committee “there are no changes to the budget that was presented at last month's committee meeting,” and said the draft assumes no change to contribution rates. He said compensation assumptions remain aligned with the wage terms in the SEBAC agreement the governor had submitted to the General Assembly.
The budget presentation — which Dave said will be brought to the full board at the next meeting — rests on unchanged operating assumptions and does not build in additional contribution-rate changes. “If the SEBAC agreement is reviewed and passed by the end of the legislative session, then we’ll receive confirmation on timing of when those [wage changes] take effect,” Dave said.
On the financial results reviewed for March 2026, Dave reported the operating account posted a modest monthly deficit but outperformed budget expectations for the month overall. He reported the contribution fund ended March at $560 million and that the authority’s short‑term investment fund holds nearly $542 million, part of more than $566 million in total assets.
Benefits paid remain the largest driver of contribution variances. “We paid out $39.8 million for the month of March,” Dave said, an amount he described as roughly a $10 million weekly average and the highest recent monthly weekly average. That elevated benefit activity is the principal reason the authority projects a negative net contribution activity for the year even as some operating items trend better than budget.
Dave also reported bond activity for March — roughly $33,000 spent, about $9,000 under budget for the month — and said more than $1 million in bond funds remain available for the authority to use across this and next fiscal year.
In response to a committee question about the increase in claims payable, staff member Erin said the rise reflects “organic growth” in program usage and a higher incidence rate — essentially a greater share of eligible workers filing claims — and noted an uptick in intermittent claims (sporadic absences rather than contiguous leave). Erin said staff are working with Spring to develop more precise maturity and utilization metrics and expect a draft metric in the coming weeks to inform future projections.
Because the committee did not have a quorum, it tabled item 2 (the review of the March 27 meeting minutes) for its next regularly scheduled meeting and took no formal votes. The committee was scheduled to present the draft budget to the full board at the next meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 9:21 a.m.
