HARTFORD, CT – Contracts between quasi-public state agencies and certain individuals will need to be agreed on after a public process, says a new bill passed Wednesday by the Senate.
The bill, Senate Bill 259, expands current statutes limiting contracts between state agencies and certain individuals to include quasi-public agencies – which are independent government corporations created to perform a particular service or set of public functions. According to OpenQuasi.ct.gov, most quasi-public agencies depend primarily on sources of revenue associated with the services they provide. They are required to submit annual reports to the legislature, including a summary of their activities and financial information.
Under SB 259, public officials and employees – as well as their family members and close friends – would be prevented from engaging in contracts of $100 or more with quasi-public agencies, unless those contracts are reached after an open and public process, or from a court appointment.
The bill would apply to agencies like the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority and the Port Authority, the latter of which has come under fire for inappropriate spending by leadership and ethics violations by staff.
Sen. Mae Flexer, D-Killingly, said that the bill received strong bipartisan support in the Government Administration and Elections Committee.
The bill passed through the Senate on a 34-0 vote. However, it was not without questions from Republican members.
Sen. Rob Sampson, R-Wolcott, said that he agreed with the bill, but that he was curious as to why quasi-public agencies had not been included in statutes pertaining to oversight in the past.
“We’ve had quasi-public agencies in the state for decades now, and it just seems odd to me,” the ranking member of GAE said.
Flexer said she did not know why the agencies had not been included, but that the Office of State Ethics has been advocating for oversight on those agencies for “more than a decade and a half.”
Flexer mentioned that the Senate has passed bills similar to 259 in the past. Those bills have either failed to get through the House or been sent back by the governor.
The bill moves on to the House for consideration.
