State starts $34M COVID-19 program for essential workers

New state Comptroller Natalie Braswell and the leaders of the General Assembly’s Labor Committee launched a $34 million relief program Monday for essential workers affected by the coronavirus.

The program, which is accepting applications through July 20, covers lost wages, out-of-pocket medical expenses and burial costs tied to COVID-19 and incurred between March 10, 2020, and July 20, 2021.

“Front-line workers made immense sacrifices to keep our state functioning during the pandemic,” said Braswell, who became the state’s chief fiscal guardian last week when Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo retired due to illness.

“This relief program represents an opportunity to return the favor, offering critical financial assistance to workers who contracted COVID-19.”

The program is open to hospital workers, firstresponders, grocery store workers, bus drivers, corrections employees and others who could not work remotely and maintained vital services during the pandemic. Full details are available online at www.ctessentialworkerrelief.org

The relief effort was sparked by surging caseloads in the state’s Workers Compensation program, which hovered around 200,000 during the worst of the pandemic, according to Rep. Robyn Porter, D-New Haven, and Sen. Julie Kushner, D-Danbury, cochairwomen of the Labor and Public Employees Committee.

Lawmakers agreed to use $34 million from last fiscal year’s budget surplus to launch the relief program. And while both Porter and Kushner said they’re confident it will help thousands of households, they also said it can’t alleviate all of the fiscal distress the coronavirus placed on these households.

Essential workers can apply to recover a portion of the wages they lost. Benefits also can cover medical or burial expenses for an essential worker — or another from that worker’s household who contracted COVID-19.

Benefits will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis, and both Porter and Kushner conceded the program funds might be exhausted before all eligible applicants receive some relief.

The benefit for replacing lost wages is capped at $1,446, which Braswell said reflects the average weekly earnings in Connecticut.

Replacement of burial expenses is capped at $3,000 per applicant.

There are no income eligibility requirements. But lawmakers said they hope that highly paid essential workers — such as a hospital surgeon — would not seek assistance unless they are in financial distress.