General Assembly |
||
January Session, 2015 |
*_____HB06670GAE___030215____* |
AN ACT CONCERNING APPOINTMENTS TO THE CITIZEN'S ETHICS ADVISORY BOARD AND REVISIONS TO THE CODE OF ETHICS FOR PUBLIC OFFICIALS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 1-80 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2015):
(a) There shall be established, within the Office of Governmental Accountability established under section 1-300, an Office of State Ethics. Said office shall consist of an executive director, general counsel, ethics enforcement officer and such other staff as hired by the executive director. Within the Office of State Ethics, there shall be the Citizen's Ethics Advisory Board that shall consist of nine members, appointed as follows: One member shall be appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, one member by the president pro tempore of the Senate, one member by the majority leader of the Senate, one member by the minority leader of the Senate, one member by the majority leader of the House of Representatives, one member by the minority leader of the House of Representatives, and three members by the Governor. Members of the board first appointed for a term commencing October 1, 2005, shall have the following terms: The Governor shall appoint two members for a term of three years and one member for a term of four years; the majority leader of the House of Representatives, minority leader of the House of Representatives and the speaker of the House of Representatives shall each appoint one member for a term of two years; and the president pro tempore of the Senate, the majority leader of the Senate and the minority leader of the Senate shall each appoint one member for a term of four years. The term commencing October 1, 2009, for the member appointed by the Governor and the member appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate shall be five years. Upon the expiration of such members' five-year terms, such members may not be reappointed. Any member appointed for a term commencing on or after October 1, 2014, shall serve for a term of four years. No individual shall be appointed to more than one four-year [or five-year] term as a member of the board, provided, members may [not] continue in office [after their term has expired and members first appointed may not be reappointed] until a successor is appointed. If a member continues to serve for more than one hundred eighty days after his or her term has expired, his or her successor shall be eligible for appointment to a full four-year term. No more than five members shall be members of the same political party. The members appointed by the majority leader of the Senate and the majority leader of the House of Representatives shall be selected from a list of nominees proposed by a citizen group having an interest in ethical government. The majority leader of the Senate and the majority leader of the House of Representatives shall each determine the citizen group from which each will accept such nominations. One member appointed by the Governor shall be selected from a list of nominees proposed by a citizen group having an interest in ethical government. The Governor shall determine the citizen group from which the Governor will accept such nominations.
Sec. 2. Subsection (i) of section 1-84 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2015):
(i) (1) No public official or state employee or member of the official or employee's immediate family or a business with which he is associated shall enter into any contract with the state or a quasi-public agency, valued at one hundred dollars or more, other than a contract (A) of employment as a state employee, (B) with the technical high school system for students enrolled in a school in the system to perform services in conjunction with vocational, technical or technological education and training any such student is receiving at a school in the system, subject to the review process under subdivision (2) of this subsection, (C) with a public institution of higher education to support a collaboration with such institution to develop and commercialize any invention or discovery, or (D) pursuant to a court appointment, unless the contract has been awarded through an open and public process, including prior public offer and subsequent public disclosure of all proposals considered and the contract awarded. In no event shall an executive head of an agency, as defined in section 4-166, including a commissioner of a department, or an executive head of a quasi-public agency, as defined in section 1-79, or the executive head's immediate family or a business with which he is associated enter into any contract with that agency or quasi-public agency. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as applying to any public official who is appointed as a member of the executive branch or as a member or director of a quasi-public agency and who receives no compensation other than per diem payments or reimbursement for actual or necessary expenses, or both, incurred in the performance of the public official's duties unless such public official has authority or control over the subject matter of the contract. Any contract made in violation of this subsection shall be voidable by a court of competent jurisdiction if the suit is commenced not later than one hundred eighty days after the making of the contract.
(2) The superintendent of the technical high school system shall establish an open and transparent process to review any contract entered into under subparagraph (B) of subdivision (1) of this subsection.
Sec. 3. Subsection (k) of section 1-84 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2015):
(k) No public official, spouse of the Governor or state employee shall accept a fee or honorarium for an article, appearance or speech, or for participation at an event, in the public official's, spouse's or state employee's official capacity, provided a public official, Governor's spouse or state employee may receive payment or reimbursement for necessary expenses for any such activity in his or her official capacity from a sponsor of the activity. If a public official, Governor's spouse or state employee receives such a payment or reimbursement for lodging or out-of-state travel, or both, the public official, Governor's spouse or state employee shall, not later than thirty days thereafter, file a report of the payment or reimbursement with the Office of State Ethics, unless the payment or reimbursement is provided by the federal government or another state government. If a public official, Governor's spouse or state employee does not file such report within such period, either intentionally or due to gross negligence on the public official's, Governor's spouse's or state employee's part, the public official, Governor's spouse or state employee shall return the payment or reimbursement. If any failure to file such report is not intentional or due to gross negligence on the part of the public official, Governor's spouse or state employee, the public official, Governor's spouse or state employee shall not be subject to any penalty under this chapter. When a public official, Governor's spouse or state employee attends an event in this state in the public official's, Governor's spouse's or state employee's official capacity and as a principal speaker at such event and receives admission to or food or beverage at such event from [the] a sponsor of the event, such admission or food or beverage shall not be considered a gift and no report shall be required from such public official, spouse or state employee or from the sponsor of the event.
Sec. 4. Section 1-86e of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2015):
(a) No person hired by the state or a quasi-public agency as a consultant or independent contractor shall:
(1) Use the authority provided to the person under the contract, or any confidential information acquired in the performance of the contract, to obtain financial gain for the person, an employee of the person or a member of the immediate family of any such person or employee;
(2) Accept another state or quasi-public agency contract which would impair the independent judgment of the person in the performance of the existing contract; or
(3) Accept anything of value based on an understanding that the actions of the person on behalf of the state or quasi-public agency would be influenced.
(b) No person shall give anything of value to a person hired by the state or a quasi-public agency as a consultant or independent contractor based on an understanding that the actions of the consultant or independent contractor on behalf of the state or quasi-public agency would be influenced.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: | ||
Section 1 |
October 1, 2015 |
1-80(a) |
Sec. 2 |
October 1, 2015 |
1-84(i) |
Sec. 3 |
October 1, 2015 |
1-84(k) |
Sec. 4 |
October 1, 2015 |
1-86e |
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 3, "event" was changed to "activity" for consistency with other provisions of the sentence.
GAE |
Joint Favorable Subst. |