You asked about a Connecticut debarment list for contractors who fail to perform on municipal school construction projects or state contracts. You also wanted to know if any neighboring states have such debarment lists and how they work.

SUMMARY

No Connecticut agency or entity maintains a debarment list for contractors who fail to perform on municipal school construction projects or state contracts. The statutes authorize the departments of Transportation and Public Works to keep a debarment list for contractors who fail to perform on their contracts, but the agencies do not currently do so. The only state debarment list concerns contractors who violate prevailing wage laws. But Massachusetts law specifies grounds for suspension and debarment, suspension and debarment procedures, the hearing process, and activities from which debarred contractors are prohibited.

CONNECTICUT

Connecticut does not keep a debarment list for contractors who fail to perform on construction projects. We contacted the departments of Transportation (DOT), Public Works (DPW), Administrative Services (DAS), and Labor (DOL), none of which track or penalize contractors who fail to perform on state contracts. Although the statutes allow DOT and DPW to put such contractors on debarment lists for a history of failure to perform or unsatisfactory performance on a public contract, these agencies have not chosen to do so (CGS §§ 31-57c, d). Despite requests from DOT and DPW, DAS has refused to create a list. DAS considered the issue in 1994, and determined that it would be preferable to license contractors rather than to create a list or database. DOL maintains a debarment list of contractors who violate the prevailing wage laws, but it does not include other causes of disqualification. The State Department of Education does not keep any type of debarment list.

We contacted the Attorney General's Office, the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, and the Foundation for Fair Contracting of Connecticut, none of which knew of or kept a Connecticut debarment list for failure to perform.

MASSACHUSETTS

Massachusetts statutes explicitly require the heads of state agencies or their designees to establish and maintain debarment lists. These lists must include: (1) the suspended or debarred party's name or names; (2) the basis of authority for the suspension or debarment, including the official who imposed it; (3) the extent of the restrictions imposed; (4) the date the suspension or debarment ends; and (5) for a suspension, a hearing date, if applicable, for debarment proceedings.

Massachusetts requires agency chiefs to send contractors written notice of any proposed suspension or debarment before acting against them. The notice must inform the contractor of (1) the reasons for the proposed suspension or debarment and (2) his right to request a hearing, in writing, within 14 days. The hearing must be held (1) for a suspension, within 30 days after the suspension starts or (2) for a debarment, within 60 days of the agency's receipt of the request. A suspension may not exceed 12 months. The law does not specify the maximum length of a debarment, but rather allows the penalty to be imposed for "a reasonable, specified period of time commensurate with the seriousness of the offense. "

The law requires each agency chief or his designee to keep the debarment list current by issuing notices of additions and deletions. The list must be published periodically in certain publications, and the chief or his designee must forward the list to the inspector general, attorney general, and state auditor.

Massachusetts law allows agencies to impose debarment for several offenses, including a criminal conviction, willful submission of materially false information to obtain a public contract, or history of failure to perform or unsatisfactory performance on a public contract. It also calls for contractors suspended or debarred by any federal agency to be automatically suspended or debarred from entering into Massachusetts contracts. Massachusetts imputes an act or offense justifying suspension or debarment to any entity with which an individual was involved when he committed the act or offense, if it was performed on the entity's behalf or with the entity or its principal's knowledge or approval.

Massachusetts requires agency chiefs to consider all mitigating facts and circumstances when deciding whether to debar a contractor or the debarment period. During a contractor's suspension or debarment, he may not submit offers, bids, or proposals to any public agency, nor may any public agency solicit or consider his offers, bids, or proposals. Public agencies also may not execute, renew, or extend contracts with suspended or debarred contractors, and contractors may not contract with any suspended or debarred subcontractors on public contracts (Mass. General Laws Ch. 29 § 29F, copy enclosed).

JG: eh