AN ACT CONCERNING WATER SAFETY AND SWIM INSTRUCTION.

Senate
SB263 / File No. 587 1

General Assembly File No. 587
February Session, 2026 Senate Bill No. 263

Senate, April 13, 2026

The Committee on Appropriations reported through SEN.
OSTEN of the 19th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the
part of the Senate, that the bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING WATER SAFETY AND SWIM INSTRUCTION.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2026) (a) For the purposes of this 1
section, "eligible participant" means any individual under seventeen 2
years of age who (1) resides in a qualified census tract, as defined in 3
section 4-66c of the general statutes, (2) is eligible for the supplemental 4
nutrition assistance program administered by the Department of Social 5
Services pursuant to the federal Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 and 6
section 17b -2 of the general statutes, or (3) is eligible for the federal 7
Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children 8
administered by the Department of Public Health pursuant to section 9
19a-59c of the general statutes. 10
(b) Not later than May 1, 2027, the Department of Energy and 11
Environmental Protection shall, within available appropriations, 12
establish and administer a program to provide swimming lessons free 13
of charge, on an annual basis, to eligible participants during the summer 14
months. The department may contract with one or more nonprofit 15
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entities that provide swimming lessons and water safety skills 16
instruction to provide swimming lessons under the program. 17
(c) The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection may 18
accept gifts, grants and donations, from any source, public or private, 19
for the purpose of establishing and administering such program. 20
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:

Section 1 October 1, 2026 New section

KID Joint Favorable C/R APP
APP Joint Favorable

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The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of
the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not
represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general,
fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional
knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final
products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 27 – FY 28 $
Department of Energy and
Environmental Protection
GF - Cost Approx. $1 million/6,000
lessons
Note: GF=General Fund
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill results in a significant cost to the Department of Energy and
Environmental Protection (DEEP), beginning in FY 27, associated with
requiring the department to establish and administer a free swim
program to certain children who qualify. It is estimated that every 6,000
lessons administered by DEEP will result in an additional cost of
approximately $1 million. The cost estimate is based on a previously
funded free swim program administered by DEEP, which provided free
swim lessons at various state parks1.
It is estimated that there are approximately 202,959 SNAP
households and 29,768 WIC children who could qualify under the
program. The exact number of eligible participants would be dependent
upon where the children reside, as only families who reside in a
qualified census tract are eligible.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to the number of lessons administered.

1 This program was funded with $1 million in ARPA funds allocated to DEEP ($500,000
in FY 22 and $500,000 in FY 23).
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OLR Bill Analysis
SB 263

AN ACT CONCERNING WATER SAFETY AND SWIM INSTRUCTION.

SUMMARY
This bill requires the Department of Energy and Environmental
Protection (DEEP), by May 1, 2027, and within available appropriations,
to establish and administer an annual program for free swimming
lessons during the summer to children under age 17 who mee t certain
criteria. To qualify, participants must live in a qualified census tract or
be eligible for either the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
(SNAP) administered by the Department of Social Services, or the
Special Supplemental Food Program fo r Women, Infants and Children
(WIC) administered by the Department of Public Health.
The bill also allows DEEP to (1) contract with non -profit
organizations that provide swimming lessons and water safety skills
instruction for the program’s swimming lessons and (2) accept public
and private gifts, grants, and donations to create and admini ster the
program.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2026
BACKGROUND
Qualified Census Tract
A “qualified census tract” is any census tract, during a given year,
where either (1) 50% or more of the households had an income less than
60% of the area median gross income or (2) the poverty rate is at least
25%. Qualified census tracts are designated by the U.S. Secretary of
Housing and Urban Development (26 U.S.C. § 42(d)(5)(B)(ii); see CGS §
4-66c).

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COMMITTEE ACTION
Committee on Children
Joint Favorable Change of Reference - APP
Yea 13 Nay 4 (03/03/2026)

Appropriations Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 51 Nay 0 (04/01/2026)