HB 5455 Connecticut House · 2026 Regular Session

AN ACT CONCERNING THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT SPECIAL POLICE FORCES AND FIRE DEPARTMENT.

This bill requires the University of Connecticut president to create a recruitment and retention program for its special police forces and fire department by July 1, 2027, to address staffing shortages and high resignation rates. The program must establish salary schedules that align with comparable municipal and state agencies to eliminate pay disparities and ensure supervisors earn more than those they supervise, while also creating an education benefit for sworn members and their dependents. The president must submit annual reports to state committees and the university board detailing staffing levels, resignations, coverage capabilities, and the financial costs of training personnel who leave within five years. Additionally, the bill mandates that special police positions be classified using objective job-related criteria based on knowledge, skills, effort, accountability, and jurisdiction responsibilities across multiple campuses.

Issues: ✓ Labor & Employment

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Mar 4, 2026 Last action Apr 16, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Raised Bill → PS Joint Favorable Substitute · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was converted from a 'Raised Bill' to a 'Substitute Bill' with significant substantive changes to how the University of Connecticut handles compensation and reporting for its special police and fire department. The most critical change is the shift in authority for salary negotiations, moving from the collective bargaining unit directly to the Office of Labor Relations to ensure the university's salary schedules are a mandatory subject of negotiation. Additionally, the bill was simplified by removing the explicit requirement to submit a report on the fire department, focusing the reporting mandate solely on the special police forces.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding reporting was narrowed to apply only to the special police forces, excluding the fire department from the mandatory annual recruitment and retention report requirement.

REQUIREMENT

Changed the recipient of salary schedules from the collective bargaining unit directly to the Office of Labor Relations, making the schedules a mandatory subject of negotiation between the university and the union.

Removed the specific requirement to include the fire department in the annual recruitment and retention report, limiting the reporting mandate to the special police forces only.

TECHNICAL

Updated the bill title from 'Raised Bill' to 'Substitute Bill' and adjusted the page header text to reflect the new version status.

Floor votes

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 13, 2026

Lower · Passed

Joint Favorable

lower

Apr 7, 2026

Lower · Passed

REF. BY HOUSE TO COMMITTEE ON Higher Education and Employment Advancement

lower

Mar 17, 2026

Lower · Passed

Joint Favorable Substitute

lower

Mar 4, 2026

Committee

REF. TO JOINT COMM. ON Public Safety and Security

lower

4 primary · 0 co-sponsors