Sec. 1-79. Definitions. The following terms, when used in this part, shall have the
following meanings unless the context otherwise requires:
(a) "Blind trust" means a trust established by a public official or state employee or
member of his immediate family for the purpose of divestiture of all control and knowledge of assets.
(b) "Business with which he is associated" means any sole proprietorship, partnership, firm, corporation, trust or other entity through which business for profit or not for
profit is conducted in which the public official or state employee or member of his
immediate family is a director, officer, owner, limited or general partner, beneficiary
of a trust or holder of stock constituting five per cent or more of the total outstanding
stock of any class, provided, a public official or state employee, or member of his immediate family, shall not be deemed to be associated with a not for profit entity solely by
virtue of the fact that the public official or state employee or member of his immediate
family is an unpaid director or officer of the not for profit entity. "Officer" refers only
to the president, executive or senior vice president or treasurer of such business.
(c) "Candidate for public office" means any individual who has filed a declaration
of candidacy or a petition to appear on the ballot for election as a public official, or
who has raised or expended money in furtherance of such candidacy, or who has been
nominated for appointment to serve as a public official, but shall not include a candidate
for the office of senator or representative in Congress.
(d) "Board" means the Citizen's Ethics Advisory Board established in section 1-80.
(e) "Gift" means anything of value, which is directly and personally received, unless
consideration of equal or greater value is given in return. "Gift" shall not include:
(1) A political contribution otherwise reported as required by law or a donation or
payment as described in subdivision (9) or (10) of subsection (b) of section 9-601a;
(2) Services provided by persons volunteering their time, if provided to aid or promote the success or defeat of any political party, any candidate or candidates for public
office or the position of convention delegate or town committee member or any referendum question;
(3) A commercially reasonable loan made on terms not more favorable than loans
made in the ordinary course of business;
(4) A gift received from (A) an individual's spouse, fiance or fiancee, (B) the parent,
brother or sister of such spouse or such individual, or (C) the child of such individual
or the spouse of such child;
(5) Goods or services (A) which are provided to a state agency or quasi-public
agency (i) for use on state or quasi-public agency property, or (ii) that support an event,
and (B) which facilitate state or quasi-public agency action or functions. As used in this
subdivision, "state property" means (i) property owned by the state or a quasi-public
agency, or (ii) property leased to a state agency or quasi-public agency;
(6) A certificate, plaque or other ceremonial award costing less than one hundred
dollars;
(7) A rebate, discount or promotional item available to the general public;
(8) Printed or recorded informational material germane to state action or functions;
(9) Food or beverage or both, costing less than fifty dollars in the aggregate per
recipient in a calendar year, and consumed on an occasion or occasions at which the
person paying, directly or indirectly, for the food or beverage, or his representative, is
in attendance;
(10) Food or beverage or both, costing less than fifty dollars per person and consumed at a publicly noticed legislative reception to which all members of the General
Assembly are invited and which is hosted not more than once in any calendar year by
a lobbyist or business organization. For the purposes of such limit, (A) a reception hosted
by a lobbyist who is an individual shall be deemed to have also been hosted by the
business organization which he owns or is employed by, and (B) a reception hosted by
a business organization shall be deemed to have also been hosted by all owners and
employees of the business organization who are lobbyists. In making the calculation
for the purposes of such fifty-dollar limit, the donor shall divide the amount spent on
food and beverage by the number of persons whom the donor reasonably expects to
attend the reception;
(11) Food or beverage or both, costing less than fifty dollars per person and consumed at a publicly noticed reception to which all members of the General Assembly
from a region of the state are invited and which is hosted not more than once in any
calendar year by a lobbyist or business organization. For the purposes of such limit, (A)
a reception hosted by a lobbyist who is an individual shall be deemed to have also been
hosted by the business organization which he owns or is employed by, and (B) a reception
hosted by a business organization shall be deemed to have also been hosted by all owners
and employees of the business organization who are lobbyists. In making the calculation
for the purposes of such fifty-dollar limit, the donor shall divide the amount spent on
food and beverage by the number of persons whom the donor reasonably expects to
attend the reception. As used in this subdivision, "region of the state" means the established geographic service area of the organization hosting the reception;
(12) A gift, including but not limited to, food or beverage or both, provided by an
individual for the celebration of a major life event;
(13) Gifts costing less than one hundred dollars in the aggregate or food or beverage
provided at a hospitality suite at a meeting or conference of an interstate legislative
association, by a person who is not a registrant or is not doing business with the state
of Connecticut;
(14) Admission to a charitable or civic event, including food and beverage provided
at such event, but excluding lodging or travel expenses, at which a public official or
state employee participates in his official capacity, provided such admission is provided
by the primary sponsoring entity;
(15) Anything of value provided by an employer of (A) a public official, (B) a
state employee, or (C) a spouse of a public official or state employee, to such official,
employee or spouse, provided such benefits are customarily and ordinarily provided to
others in similar circumstances;
(16) Anything having a value of not more than ten dollars, provided the aggregate
value of all things provided by a donor to a recipient under this subdivision in any
calendar year shall not exceed fifty dollars; or
(17) Training that is provided by a vendor for a product purchased by a state or
quasi-public agency which is offered to all customers of such vendor.
(f) "Immediate family" means any spouse, children or dependent relatives who
reside in the individual's household.
(g) "Individual" means a natural person.
(h) "Member of an advisory board" means any individual (1) appointed by a public
official as an advisor or consultant or member of a committee, commission or council
established to advise, recommend or consult with a public official or branch of government or committee thereof, (2) who receives no public funds other than per diem payments or reimbursement for his actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of his official duties, and (3) who has no authority to expend any public funds or
to exercise the power of the state.
(i) "Person" means an individual, sole proprietorship, trust, corporation, limited
liability company, union, association, firm, partnership, committee, club or other organization or group of persons.
(j) "Political contribution" has the same meaning as in section 9-601a except that
for purposes of this part, the provisions of subsection (b) of that section shall not apply.
(k) "Public official" means any state-wide elected officer, any member or member-elect of the General Assembly, any person appointed to any office of the legislative,
judicial or executive branch of state government by the Governor or an appointee of the
Governor, with or without the advice and consent of the General Assembly, any public
member or representative of the teachers' unions or state employees' unions appointed
to the Investment Advisory Council pursuant to subsection (a) of section 3-13b, any
person appointed or elected by the General Assembly or by any member of either house
thereof, and any member or director of a quasi-public agency, but shall not include a
member of an advisory board, a judge of any court either elected or appointed or a
senator or representative in Congress.
(l) "Quasi-public agency" means the Connecticut Development Authority, Connecticut Innovations, Incorporated, Connecticut Health and Education Facilities Authority, Connecticut Higher Education Supplemental Loan Authority, Connecticut
Housing Finance Authority, Connecticut Housing Authority, Connecticut Resources
Recovery Authority, Lower Fairfield County Convention Center Authority, Capital City
Economic Development Authority and Connecticut Lottery Corporation.
(m) "State employee" means any employee in the executive, legislative or judicial
branch of state government, whether in the classified or unclassified service and whether
full or part-time, and any employee of a quasi-public agency, but shall not include a
judge of any court, either elected or appointed.
(n) "Trust" means a trust in which any public official or state employee or member
of his immediate family has a present or future interest which exceeds ten per cent of
the value of the trust or exceeds fifty thousand dollars, whichever is less, but shall not
include blind trusts.
(o) "Business organization" means a sole proprietorship, corporation, limited liability company, association, firm or partnership, other than a client lobbyist, which is
owned by, or employs, one or more individual lobbyists.
(p) "Client lobbyist" means a person on behalf of whom lobbying takes place and
who makes expenditures for lobbying and in furtherance of lobbying.
(q) "Necessary expenses" means a public official's or state employee's expenses
for an article, appearance or speech or for participation at an event, in his official capacity, which shall be limited to necessary travel expenses, lodging for the nights before,
of and after the appearance, speech or event, meals and any related conference or seminar
registration fees.
(r) "Lobbyist" and "registrant" shall be construed as defined in section 1-91.
(s) "Legal defense fund" means a fund established for the payment of legal expenses
of a public official or state employee incurred as a result of defending himself or herself
in an administrative, civil, criminal or constitutional proceeding concerning matters
related to the official's or employee's service or employment with the state or a quasi-public agency.
(t) "State agency" means any office, department, board, council, commission, institution, constituent unit of the state system of higher education, vocational-technical
school or other agency in the executive, legislative or judicial branch of state government.
(P.A. 77-600, S. 1, 15; 77-605, S. 14, 21; P.A. 79-493, S. 1, 9; P.A. 81-395, S. 6, 9; P.A. 82-423, S. 1, 8; P.A. 83-249,
S. 1, 14; P.A. 84-335, S. 1, 4; P.A. 86-99, S. 29, 34; P.A. 88-139, S. 1; 88-225, S. 1, 14; P.A. 89-245, S. 1; 89-360, S. 8,
45; 89-369, S. 1; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-8, S. 54, 63; June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-1, S. 1, 20, 22; P.A. 92-149, S. 7, 12; P.A.
93-413, S. 13, 16; P.A. 95-79, S. 3, 4, 189; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-5, S. 17, 19; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-6, S. 1, 14;
P.A. 98-179, S. 13, 30; P.A. 99-56; P.A. 00-43, S. 16, 19; 00-99, S. 13, 154; P.A. 01-143, S. 4, 8; P.A. 04-143, S. 23; 04-198, S. 2, 6; P.A. 05-183, S. 1; 05-287, S. 38; P.A. 06-76, S. 3; P.A. 07-1, S. 5.)
History: P.A. 77-605 redefined "political contribution"; P.A. 79-493 redefined "candidate for public office", "gift",
"immediate family", "member of an advisory board" and "public official" and included treasurers as officers of businesses
in Subdiv. (a); P.A. 81-395 substituted reference to Sec. 9-335(18) for reference to Sec. 9-348q(a) in Subdiv. (i); P.A. 82-423 amended Subdiv. (d) to change food and beverage exception from under $25 to under $50; P.A. 83-249 amended
Subdiv. (i) to broaden the definition of "political contribution"; P.A. 84-335 amended Subdiv. (j) to include sheriffs and
deputy sheriffs in definition of "public official"; P.A. 86-99 amended definition of "political contribution" to reflect
technical changes made in chapter 150; P.A. 88-139 added definitions of "blind trust" and "trust", redefined "business
with which he is associated" to include references to sole proprietorships, firms, corporations, trusts and other profit or
nonprofit entities, and redefined "person" to include sole proprietorships and trusts, relettering Subdivs. as necessary; P.A.
88-225 included "any member or director of a quasi-public agency" in definition of "public official", included "any
employee of a quasi-public agency" in definition of "state employee" and inserted new Subdiv. defining "quasi-public
agency", relettering former Subdivs. as necessary; P.A. 89-245 amended the definition of "quasi-public agency" in Subdiv.
(l) to rename Connecticut Product Development Corporation as Connecticut Innovations, Incorporated; P.A. 89-360 redefined "quasi-public agency" to include the New Haven Family Alliance; P.A. 89-369 limited exception in definition of
"gift" for food or beverage costing less than $50 per person and consumed on a single occasion to an occasion "at which
the person paying, directly or indirectly, for the food or beverage, or his representative, is in attendance"; June Sp. Sess.
P.A. 91-8 deleted reference to New Haven Family Alliance in definition of "quasi-public agency"; June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A.
91-1 added exception to definition of "business with which he is associated" in Subdiv. (b), substantially amended definition
of "gift" and exceptions to "gift" in Subdiv. (e), redefined "quasi-public agency" in Subdiv. (l) by adding Lower Fairfield
County Convention Center Authority and Connecticut Convention Center Authority, and added Subdivs. (o) to (r), inclusive, defining "business organization", "client lobbyist", "necessary expenses" and "lobbyist" and "registrant"; P.A. 92-149 redefined "client lobbyist"; P.A. 93-413 included Connecticut Coastline Port Authority in definition of "quasi-public
agency" in Subdiv. (l), effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 95-79 redefined "person" and "business organization" to include a
limited liability company, effective May 31, 1995; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-5 amended Subsec. (e)(1) by changing Sec.
9-333b(b) Subdiv. reference from (11) to (10), effective July 1, 1997, and applicable to elections and primaries held on or
after January 1, 1998; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-6 amended Subsec. (e) by expanding Subdiv. (5), by changing limit to
$50 in Subdiv. (9), inserting new Subdiv. (11) re food or beverage consumed at a publicly noticed reception, adding new
Subdiv. (14) re admission to charitable or civic event, adding new Subdiv. (15) re anything of value provided by employer
and adding new Subdiv. (16) re anything of value of not more than $10, effective January 1, 1998 (Revisor's note: In Subdiv.
(11) of Subsec. (e) a hyphen between "publicly" and "noticed" was deleted editorially by the Revisors for consistency with
customary statutory usage); P.A. 98-179 amended Subsec. (l), defining "quasi-public agency", by deleting the Connecticut
Convention Center Authority and adding the Capital City Economic Development Authority, effective June 1, 1998; P.A.
99-56 amended Subsec. (k) by adding an appointee of the Governor to the definition of "public official"; P.A. 00-43
amended Subsec. (k) to include members of the Investment Advisory Council as "public officials", effective May 3, 2000;
P.A. 00-99 deleted reference to sheriff and deputy sheriff in Subsec. (k), effective December 1, 2000; P.A. 01-143 amended
Subsec. (l) by changing Connecticut Coastline Port Authority to Connecticut Port Authority, effective July 6, 2001; P.A.
04-143 redefined "quasi-public agency" in Subsec. (l) to eliminate Connecticut Port Authority from definition, effective
July 1, 2004; P.A. 04-198 applied provisions to Sec. 1-86d, made technical changes in Subsecs. (e)(10) and (h) and defined
"legal defense fund" in Subsec. (s), effective June 3, 2004, and redefined "quasi-public agency" in Subsec. (l) to include
Connecticut Lottery Corporation; P.A. 05-183 replaced definition of "commission" with definition of "board", effective
July 1, 2005; P.A. 05-287 amended Subsec. (e)(2) to provide that excepted services are those services provided to aid or
promote the success or defeat of any political party, any candidate or the position of convention delegate or town committee
member or any referendum question, effective July 1, 2005; P.A. 06-76 amended Subsec. (l) to delete reference to Connecticut Hazardous Waste Management Service; P.A. 07-1 amended Subsec. (e)(5) to include reference to a state or quasi-public agency, added Subsec. (e)(17) re training provided by a vendor and added Subsec. (t) defining "state agency",
effective February 8, 2007.
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Sec. 1-83. Statements of financial interests. Filing requirements. Ethics statements. (a)(1) All state-wide elected officers, members of the General Assembly, department heads and their deputies, members of the Gaming Policy Board, the executive
director of the Division of Special Revenue within the Department of Revenue Services,
members or directors of each quasi-public agency, members of the Investment Advisory
Council, state marshals and such members of the Executive Department and such employees of quasi-public agencies as the Governor shall require, shall file, under penalty
of false statement, a statement of financial interests for the preceding calendar year with
the Office of State Ethics on or before the May first next in any year in which they hold
such a position. Any such individual who leaves his or her office or position shall file
a statement of financial interests covering that portion of the year during which such
individual held his or her office or position. The Office of State Ethics shall notify such
individuals of the requirements of this subsection not later than thirty days after their
departure from such office or position. Such individuals shall file such statement within
sixty days after receipt of the notification.
(2) Each state agency, department, board and commission shall develop and implement, in cooperation with the Office of State Ethics, an ethics statement as it relates to
the mission of the agency, department, board or commission. The executive head of
each such agency, department, board or commission shall be directly responsible for
the development and enforcement of such ethics statement and shall file a copy of such
ethics statement with the Department of Administrative Services and the Office of State
Ethics.
(b) (1) The statement of financial interests, except as provided in subdivision (2)
of this subsection, shall include the following information for the preceding calendar
year in regard to the individual required to file the statement and the individual's spouse
and dependent children residing in the individual's household: (A) The names of all
businesses with which associated; (B) all sources of income, including the name of each
employer, with a description of each source, in excess of one thousand dollars, without
specifying amounts of income; (C) the name of securities in excess of five thousand
dollars at fair market value owned by such individual, spouse or dependent children or
held in the name of a corporation, partnership or trust for the benefit of such individual,
spouse or dependent children; (D) the existence of any known blind trust and the names
of the trustees; (E) all real property and its location, whether owned by such individual,
spouse or dependent children or held in the name of a corporation, partnership or trust
for the benefit of such individual, spouse or dependent children; (F) the names and
addresses of creditors to whom the individual, the individual's spouse or dependent
children, individually, owed debts of more than ten thousand dollars; (G) any leases or
contracts with the state held or entered into by the individual or a business with which
he or she was associated; and (H) a description of any partnership, joint ownership or
similar business affiliation between (i) a business included under subparagraph (A) of
this subdivision with which the individual filing the statement, the individual's spouse
or a dependent child of the individual is associated, and (ii) a lobbyist, a person that the
individual filing the statement knows or has reason to know is doing business with or
seeking to do business with the state or is engaged in activities that are directly regulated
by the department or agency in which the individual is employed, or a business with
which such lobbyist or person is associated.
(2) The statement of financial interests filed by state marshals shall include only
amounts and sources of income earned in their capacity as state marshals.
(c) The statement of financial interests filed pursuant to this section shall be a matter
of public information, except the list of names, filed in accordance with subparagraph
(F) of subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of this section shall be sealed and confidential
and for the use of the Office of State Ethics only after a complaint has been filed under
section 1-82 and such complaint has been determined by a vote of the board to be of
sufficient merit and gravity to justify the unsealing of such list or lists and not open to
public inspection unless the respondent requests otherwise. If the board reports its findings to the Chief State's Attorney in accordance with subsection (c) of section 1-88, the
board shall turn over to the Chief State's Attorney such relevant information contained in
the statement as may be germane to the specific violation or violations or a prosecutorial
official may subpoena such statement in a criminal action. Unless otherwise a matter
of public record, the Office of State Ethics shall not disclose to the public any such
subpoena which would be exempt from disclosure by the issuing agency.
(d) Any individual who is unable to provide information required under the provisions of subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of this section by reason of impossibility may
petition the board for a waiver of the requirements.
(P.A. 77-600, S. 5, 15; P.A. 79-549; P.A. 80-482, S. 342, 343, 345, 348; P.A. 83-249, S. 6, 14; 83-270, S. 3; 83-586,
S. 3, 14; P.A. 84-21, S. 1, 5; 84-335, S. 2, 4; 84-546, S. 141, 173; P.A. 87-524, S. 5, 7; P.A. 88-139, S. 2; 88-225, S. 2, 14;
P.A. 89-97, S. 2, 7; 89-145; June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-1, S. 8; P.A. 94-126, S. 1; 94-132, S. 3; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-6, S. 12, 14; P.A. 00-43, S. 17, 19; 00-66, S. 1; 00-99, S. 14, 154; P.A. 01-195, S. 1, 2, 181; P.A. 04-245, S. 1; P.A. 05-183, S. 8; P.A. 07-201, S. 2.)
History: P.A. 79-549 included members of gaming policy board, executive director of division of special revenue within
the department of business regulation under filing requirements; P.A. 80-482 changed "business regulation" to "revenue
services", expanded provisions regarding the executive director and limited revenue services' control to administrative
purposes only; P.A. 83-249 changed "commissioners and deputy commissioners" to "department heads and their deputies"
and made technical amendments; P.A. 83-270 amended Subsec. (a) to include members of the board of directors of the
Connecticut resources recovery authority under filing requirements; P.A. 83-586 amended Subsec. (a) to require post-termination filing of financial statement, amended Subsec. (b) to allow for nondisclosure of privileged information, to
clarify that reporting threshold figure of $5,000 refers to net income and to require disclosure of clients providing more
than $5,000 of net income to any business with which the individual was associated, names of creditors and state leases
and contracts, amended Subsec. (c) to allow commission access to list of names if commission determines that a complaint
is of sufficient merit and gravity to justify its unsealing and added Subsec. (d) allowing waiver in cases in which it is
impossible to comply with information requirements; P.A. 84-21 made technical correction in Subsec. (c) to refer to list
of names of creditors as sealed and confidential; P.A. 84-335 added requirement that sheriffs and deputy sheriffs file limited
financial statements; P.A. 84-546 made technical changes in Subsec. (b); P.A. 87-524 amended Subsec. (b) to specify that
Subdiv. (2) shall not permit elected official to receive gift, honorarium or compensation prohibited under Sec. 9-333i(h);
P.A. 88-139 amended Subsec. (a) by changing the filing deadline for statements of financial interests from April fifteenth
to May first, amended Subsec. (b)(1)(C) by deleting the exception for blind trusts; added Subsec. (b)(1)(D) re blind trusts;
added the language in Subsec. (b)(1)(E) re real property held for the benefit of an individual, spouse or dependent children
and relettered Subparas. (E) and (F) accordingly; P.A. 88-225 amended Subsec. (a) to require that members or directors
of each quasi-public agency, instead of only members of board of directors of Connecticut resources recovery authority,
and such employees of quasi-public agencies as governor requires, file statement of financial interests; P.A. 89-97 added
definition of "fee" and "honorarium" in Subsec. (b)(2) and required filing of such a fee or honorarium in an amount of
$100 or more received in capacity as public official or state employee instead of fee or honorarium received for appearance
or delivery of address to any meeting of an organization; P.A. 89-145 increased threshold in Subsec. (b)(1)(B) for reporting
names and addresses of clients, patients and customers providing income to individual, from $5,000 to $10,000; June 12
Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-1 deleted former Subsec. (b)(2) re disclosure of fees and honoraria and renumbered Subdiv. (3) as Subdiv.
(2); P.A. 94-126 added Subsec. (a)(2) re ethics statements and clarified that Subsecs. (b) and (c) apply to statements of
financial interests; P.A. 94-132 amended Subsec. (c) by adding provision re disclosure of subpoenas; June 18 Sp. Sess.
P.A. 97-6 amended Subsec. (b)(1) to delete requirement that statement of financial interests include names and addresses
of clients, patients and customers who provide more than $10,000 of net income, effective January 1, 1998; P.A. 00-43
amended Subsec. (a) to extend provisions of section to members of the Investment Advisory Council and to make technical
changes for purposes of gender neutrality, effective May 3, 2000; P.A. 00-66 made technical changes in Subsec. (b); P.A.
00-99 changed reference to sheriffs and deputy sheriffs to state marshals in Subsecs. (a) and (b), effective December 1,
2000; P.A. 01-195 substituted "marshals" for "marshal" in Subsec. (a)(1) and made a technical change in Subsec. (b)(1)(G)
for purposes of gender neutrality, effective July 11, 2001; P.A. 04-245 added Subsec. (b)(1)(H) re disclosure of business
affiliations with lobbyists, persons doing business with or seeking to do business with the state or persons engaged in
regulated activities or associated businesses; P.A. 05-183 replaced "commission" and "Ethics Commission" with "Office
of State Ethics" or "board" throughout the section and made a technical change in Subsec. (a)(1), effective July 1, 2005;
P.A. 07-201 amended Subsec. (b)(1)(B) to require the disclosure of the name of each employer and a description of each
source of income, effective July 5, 2007.
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Sec. 1-84. (Formerly Sec. 1-66). Prohibited activities. (a) No public official or
state employee shall, while serving as such, have any financial interest in, or engage in,
any business, employment, transaction or professional activity, which is in substantial
conflict with the proper discharge of his duties or employment in the public interest and
of his responsibilities as prescribed in the laws of this state, as defined in section 1-85.
(b) No public official or state employee shall accept other employment which will
either impair his independence of judgment as to his official duties or employment or
require him, or induce him, to disclose confidential information acquired by him in the
course of and by reason of his official duties.
(c) No public official or state employee shall wilfully and knowingly disclose, for
financial gain, to any other person, confidential information acquired by him in the
course of and by reason of his official duties or employment and no public official or
state employee shall use his public office or position or any confidential information
received through his holding such public office or position to obtain financial gain for
himself, his spouse, child, child's spouse, parent, brother or sister or a business with
which he is associated.
(d) No public official or state employee or employee of such public official or state
employee shall agree to accept, or be a member or employee of a partnership, association,
professional corporation or sole proprietorship which partnership, association, professional corporation or sole proprietorship agrees to accept any employment, fee or other
thing of value, or portion thereof, for appearing, agreeing to appear, or taking any other
action on behalf of another person before the Department of Banking, the Claims Commissioner, the Office of Health Care Access, the Insurance Department, the office within
the Department of Consumer Protection that carries out the duties and responsibilities
of sections 30-2 to 30-68m, inclusive, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the State
Insurance and Risk Management Board, the Department of Environmental Protection,
the Department of Public Utility Control, the Connecticut Siting Council, the Division
of Special Revenue within the Department of Revenue Services, the Gaming Policy
Board within the Department of Revenue Services or the Connecticut Real Estate Commission; provided this shall not prohibit any such person from making inquiry for information on behalf of another before any of said commissions or commissioners if no fee
or reward is given or promised in consequence thereof. For the purpose of this subsection,
partnerships, associations, professional corporations or sole proprietorships refer only to
such partnerships, associations, professional corporations or sole proprietorships which
have been formed to carry on the business or profession directly relating to the employment, appearing, agreeing to appear or taking of action provided for in this subsection.
Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit any employment, appearing, agreeing to appear
or taking action before any municipal board, commission or council. Nothing in this
subsection shall be construed as applying (1) to the actions of any teaching or research
professional employee of a public institution of higher education if such actions are
not in violation of any other provision of this chapter, (2) to the actions of any other
professional employee of a public institution of higher education if such actions are not
compensated and are not in violation of any other provision of this chapter, (3) to any
member of a board or commission who receives no compensation other than per diem
payments or reimbursement for actual or necessary expenses, or both, incurred in the
performance of the member's duties, or (4) to any member or director of a quasi-public
agency. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection to the contrary, a legislator,
an officer of the General Assembly or part-time legislative employee may be or become
a member or employee of a firm, partnership, association or professional corporation
which represents clients for compensation before agencies listed in this subsection,
provided the legislator, officer of the General Assembly or part-time legislative employee shall take no part in any matter involving the agency listed in this subsection and
shall not receive compensation from any such matter. Receipt of a previously established
salary, not based on the current or anticipated business of the firm, partnership, association or professional corporation involving the agencies listed in this subsection, shall
be permitted.
(e) No legislative commissioner or his partners, employees or associates shall represent any person subject to the provisions of part II concerning the promotion of or
opposition to legislation before the General Assembly, or accept any employment which
includes an agreement or understanding to influence, or which is inconsistent with, the
performance of his official duties.
(f) No person shall offer or give to a public official or state employee or candidate
for public office or his spouse, his parent, brother, sister or child or spouse of such child
or a business with which he is associated, anything of value, including, but not limited
to, a gift, loan, political contribution, reward or promise of future employment based
on any understanding that the vote, official action or judgment of the public official,
state employee or candidate for public office would be or had been influenced thereby.
(g) No public official or state employee or candidate for public office shall solicit or
accept anything of value, including but not limited to, a gift, loan, political contribution,
reward or promise of future employment based on any understanding that the vote,
official action or judgment of the public official or state employee or candidate for public
office would be or had been influenced thereby.
(h) Nothing in subsection (f) or (g) of this section shall be construed (1) to apply
to any promise made in violation of subdivision (6) of section 9-622, or (2) to permit
any activity otherwise prohibited in section 53a-147 or 53a-148.
(i) 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, valued at one hundred dollars or more, other than a contract of employment
as a state employee, or a contract with a public institution of higher education to support
a collaboration with such institution to develop and commercialize any invention or
discovery, or 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.
(j) No public official, state employee or candidate for public office, or a member
of any such person's staff or immediate family shall knowingly accept any gift, as
defined in subsection (e) of section 1-79, from a person known to be a registrant or
anyone known to be acting on behalf of a registrant.
(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. 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 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.
(l) No public official or state employee, or any person acting on behalf of a public
official or state employee, shall wilfully and knowingly interfere with, influence, direct
or solicit existing or new lobbying contracts, agreements or business relationships for
or on behalf of any person.
(m) No public official or state employee shall knowingly accept, directly or indirectly, any gift, as defined in subsection (e) of section 1-79, from any person the public
official or state employee knows or has reason to know: (1) Is doing business with or
seeking to do business with the department or agency in which the public official or
state employee is employed; (2) is engaged in activities which are directly regulated by
such department or agency; or (3) is prequalified under section 4a-100. No person shall
knowingly give, directly or indirectly, any gift or gifts in violation of this provision. For
the purposes of this subsection, the exclusion to the term "gift" in subdivision (12) of
subsection (e) of section 1-79 for a gift for the celebration of a major life event shall
not apply. Any person prohibited from making a gift under this subsection shall report
to the Office of State Ethics any solicitation of a gift from such person by a state employee
or public official.
(n) (1) As used in this subsection, (A) "investment services" means investment
legal services, investment banking services, investment advisory services, underwriting
services, financial advisory services or brokerage firm services, and (B) "principal of
an investment services firm" means (i) an individual who is a director of or has an
ownership interest in an investment services firm, except for an individual who owns
less than five per cent of the shares of an investment services firm which is a publicly
traded corporation, (ii) an individual who is employed by an investment services firm
as president, treasurer, or executive or senior vice president, (iii) an employee of such
an investment services firm who has managerial or discretionary responsibilities with
respect to any investment services, (iv) the spouse or dependent child of an individual
described in this subparagraph, or (v) a political committee established by or on behalf
of an individual described in this subparagraph.
(2) The State Treasurer shall not pay any compensation, expenses or fees or issue
any contract to any firm which provides investment services when (A) a political committee, as defined in section 9-601, established by such firm, or (B) a principal of the
investment services firm has made a contribution, as defined in section 9-601a, to, or
solicited contributions on behalf of, any exploratory committee or candidate committee,
as defined in section 9-601, established by the State Treasurer as a candidate for nomination or election to the office of State Treasurer. The State Treasurer shall not pay any
compensation, expenses or fees or issue any contract to such firms or principals during
the term of office as State Treasurer, including, for an incumbent State Treasurer seeking
reelection, any remainder of the current term of office.
(o) If (1) any person (A) is doing business with or seeking to do business with the
department or agency in which a public official or state employee is employed, or (B)
is engaged in activities which are directly regulated by such department or agency, and
(2) such person or a representative of such person gives to such public official or state
employee anything of value which is subject to the reporting requirements pursuant to
subsection (e) of section 1-96, such person or representative shall, not later than ten
days thereafter, give such recipient and the executive head of the recipient's department
or agency a written report stating the name of the donor, a description of the item or
items given, the value of such items and the cumulative value of all items given to such
recipient during that calendar year. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to
a political contribution otherwise reported as required by law.
(p) (1) No public official or state employee or member of the immediate family of
a public official or state employee shall knowingly accept, directly or indirectly, any
gift costing one hundred dollars or more from a public official or state employee who
is under the supervision of such public official or state employee.
(2) No public official or state employee or member of the immediate family of a
public official or state employee shall knowingly accept, directly or indirectly, any gift
costing one hundred dollars or more from a public official or state employee who is a
supervisor of such public official or state employee.
(3) No public official or state employee shall knowingly give, directly or indirectly,
any gift in violation of subdivision (1) or (2) of this subsection.
(q) No public official or state employee shall counsel, authorize or otherwise sanction action that violates any provision of this part.
(r) (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (b) and (c) of this section, a
member of the faculty or a member of a faculty bargaining unit of a constituent unit of
the state system of higher education may enter into a consulting agreement or engage
in a research project with a public or private entity, provided such agreement or project
does not conflict with the member's employment with the constituent unit, as determined
by policies established by the board of trustees for such constituent unit.
(2) The board of trustees for each constituent unit of the state system of higher
education shall establish policies to ensure that any such member who enters such a
consulting agreement or engages in such a research project (A) is not inappropriately
using university proprietary information in connection with such agreement or project,
(B) does not have an interest in such agreement or project that interferes with the proper
discharge of his or her employment with the constituent unit, and (C) is not inappropriately using such member's association with the constituent unit in connection with such
agreement or project. Such policies shall (i) establish procedures for the disclosure,
review and management of conflicts of interest relating to any such agreement or project,
(ii) require the approval by the chief academic officer of the constituent unit, or his or
her designee, prior to any such member entering into any such agreement or engaging
in any such project, and (iii) include procedures that impose sanctions and penalties on
any member for failing to comply with the provisions of the policies. Semiannually, the
internal audit office of each constituent unit shall audit the constituent unit's compliance
with such policies and report its findings to the committee of the constituent unit established pursuant to subdivision (3) of this subsection. For purposes of this subsection,
"consulting" means the provision of services for compensation to a public or private
entity by a member of the faculty or member of a faculty bargaining unit of a constituent
unit of the state system of higher education: (I) When the request to provide such services
is based on such member's expertise in a field or prominence in such field, and (II)
while such member is not acting in the capacity of a state employee, and "research"
means a systematic investigation, including, but not limited to, research development,
testing and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to general knowledge in the
applicable field of study.
(3) There is established a committee for each constituent unit of the state system
of higher education to monitor the constituent unit's compliance with the policies and
procedures described in subdivision (2) of this subsection governing consulting
agreements and research projects with public or private entities by a member of the
faculty or a member of a faculty bargaining unit of such constituent unit. Each committee
shall consist of nine members as follows: (A) Three members, appointed jointly by the
Governor, the speaker of the House of Representatives, the president pro tempore of
the Senate, the majority leader of the House of Representatives, the majority leader of
the Senate, the minority leader of the House of Representatives and the minority leader
of the Senate, who shall serve as members for each such committee; (B) one member
appointed by the chairperson of the constituent unit's board of trustees from the membership of such board; (C) the chief academic officer of the constituent unit, or his or her
designee; (D) three members appointed by the chief executive officer of the constituent
unit, and (E) one member appointed by the chairperson of the Citizen's Ethics Advisory
Board from the membership of such board. Members shall serve for a term of two years.
Any vacancies shall be filled by the appointing authority. Each committee shall (i)
review the semiannual reports submitted by the internal audit office for the constituent
unit, pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection, (ii) make recommendations, annually, to the board of trustees of the constituent unit concerning the policies and procedures
of the constituent unit established pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection, including any changes to such policies and procedures, and (iii) send a copy of such recommendations, in accordance with section 11-4a, to the joint standing committees of the General
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to higher education and government
administration.
(4) The provisions of subsections (b) and (c) of this section shall apply to any member of the faculty or member of a faculty bargaining unit of a constituent unit of the
state system of higher education who enters such a consulting agreement or engages in
such a research project without prior approval, as described in subdivision (2) of this
subsection.
(1971, P.A. 822, S. 1; P.A. 75-605, S. 20, 27; P.A. 76-302, S. 1, 3; P.A. 77-600, S. 6, 15; 77-604, S. 68, 84; 77-605, S.
13, 21; 77-614, S. 165, 610; P.A. 78-303, S. 37, 136; P.A. 79-404, S. 1, 45; 79-493, S. 5, 7, 9; P.A. 80-482, S. 1, 4, 170,
191, 345, 348; 80-483, S. 2, 186; P.A. 82-423, S. 6, 8; P.A. 83-249, S. 7, 14; 83-586, S. 4, 14; P.A. 87-9, S. 2, 3; 87-234;
87-524, S. 6, 7; P.A. 88-225, S. 3, 14; P.A. 89-369, S. 3; June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-1, S. 2, 6, 22; P.A. 92-149, S. 1, 12;
P.A. 94-69, S. 2, 3; P.A. 95-188, S. 1; 95-195, S. 4, 83; 95-257, S. 39, 58; P.A. 96-11, S. 1, 5; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-6, S. 2-5, 14; P.A. 99-51, S. 1, 9; 99-145, S. 14, 23; P.A. 00-66, S. 2; P.A. 02-130, S. 13; P.A. 03-215, S. 5; June 30 Sp.
Sess. P.A. 03-6, S. 146(d); P.A. 04-38, S. 2; 04-169, S. 17; 04-189, S. 1; 04-245, S. 5, 6; P.A. 05-287, S. 41; P.A. 06-137,
S. 32; 06-196, S. 8-10; P.A. 07-1, S. 6; 07-166, S. 11, 12.)
History: P.A. 75-605 changed "commission on claims" to "claims commissioner"; P.A. 76-302 added Subsec. (e); P.A.
77-600 broadened scope of section regarding prohibited activities and those who are affected by the prohibitions and added
Subsecs. (f) to (i), effective January 1, 1978; P.A. 77-604 changed sections referred to in Subsec. (h), effective January 1,
1978; P.A. 77-605 expanded scope of prohibitions in Subsec. (e); in Subsec. (d) P.A. 77-614 changed "liquor control
commission" to "division of liquor control within the department of business regulation"; in Subsec. (d) P.A. 78-303
changed "state banking commission" to "banking commissioner", effective January 1, 1979; in 1979 Sec. 1-66 transferred
to Sec. 1-84; P.A. 79-404 changed "commission on special revenue" to "division of special revenue" and added the gaming
policy board in Subsec. (d); P.A. 79-493 clarified prohibited conduct in Subsec. (d) and excluded members of advisory
boards and commissions receiving per diem or reimbursement for expenses from provisions and excluded executive branch
officials from provisions of Subsec. (i) except in certain cases; P.A. 80-482 deleted references to business regulation and
reflected changes placing special revenue and the gaming policy board within the department of revenue services and
creating the banking, insurance, liquor control and public utility control departments; P.A. 80-483 made technical changes;
P.A. 82-423 added Subsec. (j) which placed $50 limit on gifts accepted by public officials; P.A. 83-249 limited prohibition
to financial interest or gains; P.A. 83-586 amended Subsec. (d) to include appearance or action before commission on
hospitals and health care, insurance department, department of public utility control or Connecticut siting council, effective
January 9, 1985; (Revisor's note: Pursuant to P.A. 87-9, "banking department" was changed editorially by the Revisors
to "department of banking"); P.A. 87-234 amended Subsec. (d) to exempt from provisions of Subsec. (d) actions of teaching
or research professional employees of public institutions of higher education, regardless of whether such actions are
compensated; P.A. 87-524 added provision in Subsec. (h) that Subsecs. (f) and (g) shall not apply to promise violating
Sec. 9-333x(6); P.A. 88-225 added Subsec. (d)(4), exempting members and directors of quasi-public agencies from application of Subsec. (d) and amended Subsec. (i) to exempt certain members and directors of quasi-public agencies from
application of Subsec. (i); P.A. 89-369 applied section to sole proprietorships; June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-1 amended Subsec.
(j) by inserting "knowingly" and making a technical change and added Subsec. (k) re fees and honoraria and Subsec. (l)
re influence with lobbying contracts, agreements or business relationships; P.A. 92-149 amended Subsec. (d) to allow
firms employing legislators or legislative employees to represent clients before specific agencies provided such employee
derives no compensation from such representation, amended Subsec. (k) to allow public officials or state employees to
receive payment or reimbursements for necessary expenses for lodging, out-of-state travel or both provided a report is
filed with the commission and added new Subsec. (m) re acceptance of gifts in excess of $50; P.A. 94-69 amended Subsec.
(m) by deleting "serving in the executive branch or a quasi-public agency" after "state employee", effective January 1, 1994;
P.A. 95-188 added Subsec. (n) re contributions to candidates for Treasurer by "investment services" firms or individuals
associated with such firms; P.A. 95-195 amended Subsec. (d) to replace reference to Department of Liquor Control with
reference to office within the Department of Consumer Protection carrying out the duties of Secs. 30-2 to 30-68m, inclusive,
effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 95-257 amended Subsec. (d) to replace Commission on Hospitals and Health Care with Office
of Health Care Access, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 96-11 amended Subsec. (i) to prohibit an executive head of an agency
or his immediate family or a business with which he is associated from entering into a contract with that agency, effective
January 1, 1997; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-6 amended Subsec. (j) to delete reference to gifts of $50 or more in value,
amended Subsec. (k) to provide that admission to, and food and beverage consumed at, an event are not considered a gift
if consumed at the event, if official or employee attends in official capacity or as principal speaker, amended Subsec. (m)
to delete reference to gifts of $50 or more in value and to delete Subdiv. (3) re financial interests that may be substantially
affected by performance or nonperformance of duties and added new Subsec. (o) re written reports by person who is doing
business with agency and who gives something of value to a public official or employee of that agency, effective January
1, 1998; P.A. 99-51 amended Subsec. (d) to substitute "State Insurance and Risk Management Board" for "State Insurance
Purchasing Board" and to make existing provisions gender neutral, effective May 27, 1999; P.A. 99-145 amended Subsec.
(d) to substitute "State Insurance and Risk Management Board" for "State Insurance Purchasing Board", effective June 8,
1999; P.A. 00-66 made technical changes in Subsec. (k); P.A. 02-130 amended Subsec. (n) by designating definitions as
Subdiv. (1) and remaining provisions as Subdiv. (2), designating definition of "investment services" in Subdiv. (1) as
Subpara. (A) and replacing "legal services" with "investment legal services" therein, adding Subdiv. (1)(B) defining
"principal of an investment services firm" and revising Subdiv. (2) to replace former provisions re individual who is
owner of firm or employed by firm as manager, officer, director, partner or employee having managerial or discretionary
investment responsibilities with "a principal of the investment services firm" and to make conforming and technical
changes, effective May 10, 2002; P.A. 03-215 added Subsec. (m)(3) re gifts from a prequalified contractor, effective
October 1, 2004; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6 and P.A. 04-169 replaced Department of Consumer Protection with Department
of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective July 1, 2004; P.A. 04-38 amended Subsec. (i) to increase the number
of days by which a lawsuit to void a contract in violation of said Subsec. may be brought from 90 days to 180 days and to
make technical changes, effective July 1, 2004; P.A. 04-189 repealed Sec. 146 of June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, thereby
reversing the merger of the Departments of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective June 1, 2004; P.A. 04-245
amended Subsec. (m) to provide that, for purposes of said Subsec., exclusion to term "gift" in Sec. 1-79(e)(12) for major
life event shall not apply, effective June 1, 2004; P.A. 05-287 made technical changes throughout the section, amended
Subsec. (m) to require any person who is prohibited from making a gift under the subsection to report any solicitation of
a gift by a state employee or public official, amended Subsec. (o) to include references to representatives and the executive
head of the recipient's department or agency and added Subsec. (p) re a public official's or state employee's acceptance
of a gift costing $100 or more from a person under supervision or a supervisor, Subsec. (q) re acceptance of gifts to the
state from persons prohibited from making gifts to public officials and state employees and Subsec. (r) re the sanctioning
of violations, effective July 1, 2005; P.A. 06-137 amended Subsec. (k) to include references to the spouse of the Governor,
effective June 6, 2006; P.A. 06-196 made technical changes in Subsecs. (k), (m) and (o), effective June 7, 2006; P.A. 07-1 deleted former Subsec. (q) re knowing acceptance of goods or services provided under Sec. 1-79(e)(5) and redesignated
existing Subsec. (r) as Subsec. (q), effective February 8, 2007; P.A. 07-166 amended Subsec. (i) to exempt contracts with
public institutions of higher education to support a collaboration with such institutions to develop and commercialize any
invention or discovery from prohibition in said Subsec. re entering into contracts and added new Subsec. (r) to exempt
from the provisions of Subsecs. (b) and (c) a member of the faculty or faculty bargaining unit of a constituent unit of the
state system of higher education who enters into a consulting agreement or engages in a research project, to have the board
of trustees of each constituent unit establish policies to govern such activities of such faculty members, and to establish a
separate committee for each constituent unit to monitor compliance with such policies, effective June 19, 2007.
| (Return to Chapter Table of Contents) | (Return to List of Chapters) | (Return to List of Titles) |
Sec. 1-84c. Donation of goods or services to state or quasi-public agencies.
Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit the donation of goods or services, as described in
subdivision (5) of subsection (e) of section 1-79, to a state agency or quasi-public agency,
the donation of the use of facilities to facilitate state agency or quasi-public agency
action or functions or the donation of real property to a state agency or quasi-public
agency. As used in this section, "state agency" and "quasi-public agency" have the same
meanings as provided in section 1-79.
(P.A. 07-1, S. 7; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 07-4, S. 21.)
History: P.A. 07-1 effective February 8, 2007; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 07-4 excluded donation of real property to state
agency or quasi-public agency from prohibition of chapter, effective June 29, 2007.
| (Return to Chapter Table of Contents) | (Return to List of Chapters) | (Return to List of Titles) |
Sec. 1-84d. Foundations or alumni associations established for the benefit of
a constituent unit of public higher education or vocational-technical school. Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes, for purposes of this chapter, no foundation or alumni association established for the benefit of a constituent unit of public
higher education or vocational-technical school shall be deemed to be doing business
with or seeking to do business with such constituent unit of public higher education or
vocational-technical school.
(P.A. 07-1, S. 10.)
History: P.A. 07-1 effective February 8, 2007.
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Sec. 1-91. Definitions. When used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:
(a) "Administrative action" means any action or nonaction of any executive agency
of the state with respect to the proposal, drafting, development, consideration, amendment, adoption or repeal of any rule, regulation or utility rate, and any action or nonaction
of any executive agency or quasi-public agency, as defined in section 1-79, regarding
a contract, grant, award, purchasing agreement, loan, bond, certificate, license, permit
or any other matter which is within the official jurisdiction or cognizance of such an
agency.
(b) "Candidate for public office" means any person who has filed a declaration of
candidacy or a petition to appear on the ballot for election as a public official, or who
has raised or expended money in furtherance of such candidacy, or who has been nominated for appointment to serve as a public official; but shall not include a candidate for
the office of senator or representative in Congress.
(c) "Board" means the Citizen's Ethics Advisory Board established under section
1-80.
(d) "Compensation" means any value received or to be received by a person acting
as a lobbyist, whether in the form of a fee, salary or forbearance.
(e) "Executive agency" means a commission, board, agency, or other body or official in the executive branch of the state government and any independent body of the
state government that is not a part of the legislative or judicial branch.
(f) "Expenditure" means any advance, conveyance, deposit, distribution, transfer of
funds, loan, payment, unless expressly excluded; any payments for telephone, mailing,
postage, printing and other clerical or office services and materials; any paid communications, costing fifty dollars or more in any calendar year, disseminated by means of
any printing, broadcasting or other medium, provided such communications refer to
pending administrative or legislative action; any contract, agreement, promise or other
obligation; any solicitation or solicitations, costing fifty dollars or more in the aggregate
for any calendar year, of other persons to communicate with a public official or state
employee for the purpose of influencing any legislative or administrative act and any
pledge, subscription of money or anything of value. "Expenditure" shall not include the
payment of a registrant's fee pursuant to section 1-95, any expenditure made by any
club, committee, partnership, organization, business, union, association or corporation
for the purpose of publishing a newsletter or other release to its members, shareholders
or employees, or contributions, membership dues or other fees paid to associations,
nonstock corporations or tax-exempt organizations under Section 501(c) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the
United States, as from time to time amended.
(g) "Gift" means anything of value, which is directly and personally received, unless
consideration of equal or greater value is given in return. "Gift" shall not include:
(1) A political contribution otherwise reported as required by law or a donation or
payment described in subdivision (9) or (10) of subsection (b) of section 9-601a;
(2) Services provided by persons volunteering their time, if provided to aid or promote the success or defeat of any political party, any candidate or candidates for public
office or the position of convention delegate or town committee member or any referendum question;
(3) A commercially reasonable loan made on terms not more favorable than loans
made in the ordinary course of business;
(4) A gift received from (A) the individual's spouse, fiance or fiancee, (B) the parent,
brother or sister of such spouse or such individual, or (C) the child of such individual
or the spouse of such child;
(5) Goods or services (A) which are provided to a state agency or quasi-public
agency (i) for use on state or quasi-public agency property, or (ii) that support an event,
and (B) which facilitate state or quasi-public agency action or functions. As used in this
subdivision, "state property" means (i) property owned by the state or a quasi-public
agency, or (ii) property leased to a state or quasi-public agency;
(6) A certificate, plaque or other ceremonial award costing less than one hundred
dollars;
(7) A rebate, discount or promotional item available to the general public;
(8) Printed or recorded informational material germane to state action or functions;
(9) Food or beverage or both, costing less than fifty dollars in the aggregate per
recipient in a calendar year, and consumed on an occasion or occasions at which the
person paying, directly or indirectly, for the food or beverage, or his representative, is
in attendance;
(10) Food or beverage or both, costing less than fifty dollars per person and consumed at a publicly noticed legislative reception to which all members of the General
Assembly are invited and which is hosted not more than once in any calendar year by
a lobbyist or business organization. For the purposes of such limit, (A) a reception hosted
by a lobbyist who is an individual shall be deemed to have also been hosted by the
business organization which he owns or is employed by, and (B) a reception hosted by
a business organization shall be deemed to have also been hosted by all owners and
employees of the business organization who are lobbyists. In making the calculation
for the purposes of such fifty-dollar limit, the donor shall divide the amount spent on
food and beverage by the number of persons whom the donor reasonably expects to
attend the reception;
(11) Food or beverage or both, costing less than fifty dollars per person and consumed at a publicly noticed reception to which all members of the General Assembly
from a region of the state are invited and which is hosted not more than once in any
calendar year by a lobbyist or business organization. For the purposes of such limit, (A)
a reception hosted by a lobbyist who is an individual shall be deemed to have also been
hosted by the business organization which he owns or is employed by, and (B) a reception
hosted by a business organization shall be deemed to have also been hosted by all owners
and employees of the business organization who are lobbyists. In making the calculation
for the purposes of such fifty-dollar limit, the donor shall divide the amount spent on
food and beverage by the number of persons whom the donor reasonably expects to
attend the reception. As used in this subdivision, "region of the state" means the established geographic service area of the organization hosting the reception;
(12) A gift, including but not limited to, food or beverage or both, provided by an
individual for the celebration of a major life event;
(13) Gifts costing less than one hundred dollars in the aggregate or food or beverage
provided at a hospitality suite at a meeting or conference of an interstate legislative
association, by a person who is not a registrant or is not doing business with the state
of Connecticut;
(14) Admission to a charitable or civic event, including food and beverage provided
at such event, but excluding lodging or travel expenses, at which a public official or
state employee participates in his official capacity, provided such admission is provided
by the primary sponsoring entity;
(15) Anything of value provided by an employer of (A) a public official, (B) a
state employee, or (C) a spouse of a public official or state employee, to such official,
employee or spouse, provided such benefits are customarily and ordinarily provided to
others in similar circumstances;
(16) Anything having a value of not more than ten dollars, provided the aggregate
value of all things provided by a donor to a recipient under this subdivision in any
calendar year shall not exceed fifty dollars; or
(17) Training that is provided by a vendor for a product purchased by a state or
quasi-public agency which is offered to all customers of such vendor.
(h) "Immediate family" means any spouse, dependent children or dependent relatives who reside in the individual's household.
(i) "Individual" means a natural person.
(j) "Legislative action" means introduction, sponsorship, consideration, debate,
amendment, passage, defeat, approval, veto, overriding of a veto or any other official
action or nonaction with regard to any bill, resolution, amendment, nomination, appointment, report, or any other matter pending or proposed in a committee or in either house
of the legislature, or any matter which is within the official jurisdiction or cognizance
of the legislature.
(k) "Lobbying" means communicating directly or soliciting others to communicate
with any official or his staff in the legislative or executive branch of government or in
a quasi-public agency, for the purpose of influencing any legislative or administrative
action except that the term "lobbying" does not include (1) communications by or on
behalf of a party to, or an intervenor in, a contested case, as described in regulations
adopted by the commission in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, before an
executive agency or a quasi-public agency, as defined in section 1-79, (2) communications by a representative of a vendor or by an employee of the registered client lobbyist
which representative or employee acts as a salesperson and does not otherwise engage
in lobbying regarding any administrative action, (3) communications by an attorney
made while engaging in the practice of law and regarding any matter other than legislative action as defined in subsection (j) of this section or the proposal, drafting, development, consideration, amendment, adoption or repeal of any rule or regulation, or (4)
other communications exempted by regulations adopted by the commission in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54.
(l) "Lobbyist" means a person who in lobbying and in furtherance of lobbying makes
or agrees to make expenditures, or receives or agrees to receive compensation, reimbursement, or both, and such compensation, reimbursement or expenditures are two
thousand dollars or more in any calendar year or the combined amount thereof is two
thousand dollars or more in any such calendar year. Lobbyist shall not include:
(1) A public official, employee of a branch of state government or a subdivision
thereof, or elected or appointed official of a municipality or his designee other than an
independent contractor, who is acting within the scope of his authority or employment;
(2) A publisher, owner or an employee of the press, radio or television while disseminating news or editorial comment to the general public in the ordinary course of
business;
(3) An individual representing himself or another person before the legislature or
a state agency other than for the purpose of influencing legislative or administrative
action;
(4) Any individual or employee who receives no compensation or reimbursement
specifically for lobbying and who limits his activities solely to formal appearances to
give testimony before public sessions of committees of the General Assembly or public
hearings of state agencies and who, if he testifies, registers his appearance in the records
of such committees or agencies;
(5) A member of an advisory board acting within the scope of his appointment;
(6) A senator or representative in Congress acting within the scope of his office;
(7) Any person who receives no compensation or reimbursement specifically for
lobbying and who spends no more than five hours in furtherance of lobbying unless
such person (A) exclusive of salary, receives compensation or makes expenditures, or
both, of two thousand dollars or more in any calendar year for lobbying or the combined
amount thereof is two thousand dollars or more in any such calendar year, or (B) expends
fifty dollars or more for the benefit of a public official in the legislative or executive
branch, a member of his staff or immediate family;
(8) A communicator lobbyist who receives or agrees to receive compensation, reimbursement, or both, the aggregate amount of which is less than two thousand dollars
from each client in any calendar year.
(m) "Member of an advisory board" means any person appointed by a public official
as an advisor or consultant or member of a committee, commission or council established
to advise, recommend or consult with a public official or branch of government or
committee thereof and who receives no public funds other than per diem payments or
reimbursement for his actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of his
official duties and who has no authority to expend any public funds or to exercise the
power of the state.
(n) "Person" means an individual, a business, corporation, limited liability company, union, association, firm, partnership, committee, club or other organization or
group of persons.
(o) "Political contribution" has the same meaning as in section 9-601a except that
for purposes of this part, the provisions of subsection (b) of that section shall not apply.
(p) "Public official" means any state-wide elected state officer, any member or
member-elect of the General Assembly, any person appointed to any office of the legislative, judicial or executive branch of state government by the Governor, with or without
the advice and consent of the General Assembly and any person appointed or elected
by the General Assembly or any member of either house thereof; but shall not include
a member of an advisory board or a senator or representative in Congress.
(q) "Registrant" means a person who is required to register pursuant to section 1-94.
(r) "Reimbursement" means any money or thing of value received or to be received
in the form of payment for expenses as a lobbyist, not including compensation.
(s) "State employee" means any employee in the executive, judicial or legislative
branch of state government, whether in the classified or unclassified service and whether
full or part-time.
(t) "Business organization" means a sole proprietorship, corporation, limited liability company, association, firm or partnership, other than a client lobbyist, which is
owned by, or employs one or more individual lobbyists.
(u) "Client lobbyist" means a lobbyist on behalf of whom lobbying takes place and
who makes expenditures for lobbying and in furtherance of lobbying.
(v) "Communicator lobbyist" means a lobbyist who communicates directly or solicits others to communicate with an official or his staff in the legislative or executive
branch of government or in a quasi-public agency for the purpose of influencing legislative or administrative action.
(w) "State agency" means any office, department, board, council, commission, institution, constituent unit of the state system of higher education, vocational-technical
school or other agency in the executive, legislative or judicial branch of state government.
(x) "Quasi-public agency" means quasi-public agency, as defined in section 1-79.
(P.A. 77-605, S. 1, 21; P.A. 79-615, S. 1, 10; P.A. 81-339, S. 1, 7; 81-395, S. 7, 9; P.A. 82-120, S. 1, 2; 82-423, S. 2,
8; P.A. 83-249, S. 10-12, 14; P.A. 84-546, S. 144, 173; P.A. 85-290, S. 3, 4; P.A. 86-99, S. 30, 34; P.A. 89-211, S. 1; 89-369, S. 4; June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-1, S. 3, 22; P.A. 92-149, S. 8, 12; P.A. 94-69, S. 1, 3; P.A. 95-79, S. 5, 6, 189; 95-144,
S. 2, 11; P.A. 96-11, S. 2, 5; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-5, S. 18, 19; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-6, S. 6, 14; P.A. 05-183, S.
15; 05-287, S. 44; P.A. 07-1, S. 8.)
History: P.A. 79-615 redefined "administrative action", "candidate for public office", "expenditure", "gift", "immediate
family", "legislative action", "lobbying", "lobbyist", "member of an advisory board" and "public official"; P.A. 81-339
increased amounts requiring reporting and threshold expenditure and compensation levels from the previous levels of "in
excess of" $25 and $300 to $35 or more and $500; P.A. 81-395 substituted reference to Sec. 9-335(18) for reference to
Sec. 9-348q(a) in Subdiv. (o); P.A. 82-120 amended Subdiv. (k) to except communications by or on behalf of public service
companies in connection with rate cases; P.A. 82-423 amended Subdivs. (f) and (g) to increase amounts from $35 to $50;
P.A. 83-249 amended Subdiv. (j) to refer to "cognizance" of legislature, included an independent contractor employed by
a municipality within the definition of lobbyist in Subdiv. (l) and amended Subdiv. (o) to expand definition of "political
contribution"; P.A. 84-546 made technical change in Subdiv. (f); P.A. 85-290 redefined "gift" to include "anything of
value" and amended definition of "member of an advisory board" to refer to "per diem payments" rather than to "a flat
per diem rate"; P.A. 86-99 amended definition of "political contribution" to reflect technical changes made in chapter 150;
P.A. 89-211 clarified reference to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; P.A. 89-369 limited exception from definition of
"gift" in Subdiv. (g) for food or beverage costing less than $50 per person and consumed on a single occasion to an occasion
"at which the person paying, directly or indirectly, for the food or beverage, or his representative, is in attendance"; June
12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-1 substantially amended definition of "gift" and exceptions to "gift" in Subdiv. (g), substituted "one
thousand" for "five hundred" in definition of "lobbyist" in Subdiv. (l), and added Subdivs. (t) and (u), defining "business
organization" and "client lobbyist"; P.A. 92-149 redefined "client lobbyist"; P.A. 94-69 expanded definition of "administrative action" in Subdiv. (a) by adding provision re contract, grant, award, purchasing agreement, loan, bond certificate,
license, permit or any other matter within the official jurisdiction or cognizance of the agency, and amended definition of
"lobbying" in Subdiv. (k) by adding "or in a quasi-public agency", deleting provision re public service companies, adding
provision re contested cases and adding provision re representatives of a manufacturer or employees of the registered client
lobbyist, effective January 1, 1995; P.A. 95-79 redefined "person" and "business organization" to include a limited liability
company, effective May 31, 1995; P.A. 95-144 amended Subdiv. (k), defining "lobbying", by numbering Subparas.,
inserting "or an intervenor in" and changing source of definition of "contested case" in Subpara. (1), changing "manufacturer" to "vendor" and inserting "representative" in Subpara. (2) and adding Subpara. (3) re communications by attorneys
and Subpara. (4) re communications exempted by regulations, amended Subdiv. (l), defining "lobbyist", by adding Subpara.
(8) re communicator lobbyists, amended Subdiv. (u), defining "client lobbyist", by changing "person" to "lobbyist" and
added Subdiv. (v) defining "communicator lobbyist", effective June 28, 1995; P.A. 96-11 amended Subdiv. (l) to change
the threshold for meeting the definition of "lobbyist" for purposes of part II of chapter 10 from $1,000 to $2,000, effective
January 1, 1997; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-5 amended Subdiv. (g)(1) by changing Sec. 9-333b(b) Subdiv. reference from
(11) to (10), effective July 1, 1997, and applicable to elections and primaries held on or after January 1, 1998; June 18 Sp.
Sess. P.A. 97-6 amended Subdiv. (g) by expanding Subpara. (5), by changing limit to $50 in Subpara. (9), inserting new
Subpara. (11) re food or beverage consumed at a publicly noticed reception, adding new Subpara. (14) re admission to
charitable or civic event, adding new Subpara. (15) re anything of value provided by employer and adding new Subpara.
(16) re anything of value of not more than $10, effective January 1, 1998; P.A. 05-183 amended Subdiv. (c) to replace
definition of "commission" with definition of "board", effective July 1, 2005; P.A. 05-287 amended Subdiv. (g)(2) to
provide that services must be provided to aid or promote the success or defeat of any political party, any candidate or
candidates for public office or the position of convention delegate or town committee member or any referendum question
and made a technical change in Subdiv. (g)(10), effective July 1, 2005; P.A. 07-1 amended Subdiv. (g)(5) to include
references to a state or quasi-public agency, added Subdiv. (g)(17) re training provided by a vendor and added Subdivs.
(w) and (x) defining "state agency" and "quasi-public agency", effective February 8, 2007.
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Sec. 1-101aa. Provider participation in informal committees, task forces and
work groups of certain state agencies not deemed to be lobbying. (a) As used in this
section, "department" means the Department of Developmental Services, the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, the Department of Public Health or the
Office of Health Care Access, and "provider" means any independent contractor or
private agency under contract with the department to provide services.
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of part II of this chapter or any regulation adopted
or advisory opinion issued under said part, the department may invite a provider to
participate in any informal policy-making committee, task force, work group or other
ad hoc committee established by the department, and such participation shall not be
deemed to be lobbying for purposes of said part.
(P.A. 00-135, S. 15, 21; P.A. 07-73, S. 2(a).)
History: P.A. 00-135 effective May 26, 2000; pursuant to P.A. 07-73 "Department of Mental Retardation" was changed
editorially by the Revisors to "Department of Developmental Services", effective October 1, 2007.
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Sec. 1-101nn. Solicitation of information not available to other bidders from
public official or state employee by contract bidder or contractor. Charging agency
for work not performed. Information concerning donation of goods and services
to state or quasi-public agencies. Prohibition re consultant to agency serving as
consultant to bidder. Nonresponsible bidder. (a) Notwithstanding any provision of
the general statutes, no person who (1) is, or is seeking to be, prequalified under section
4a-100, (2) is a party to a large state construction or procurement contract or seeking
to enter into such a contract with a state agency, board, commission or institution or a
quasi-public agency, or (3) is a party to a consultant services contract or seeking to enter
into such a contract with a state agency, board, commission or institution or a quasi-public agency, shall:
(A) With the intent to obtain a competitive advantage over other bidders, solicit
any information from a public official or state employee that the contractor knows is
not and will not be available to other bidders for a large state construction or procurement
contract that the contractor is seeking;
(B) Intentionally, wilfully or with reckless disregard for the truth, charge a state
agency, board, commission or institution or quasi-public agency for work not performed
or goods not provided, including submitting meritless change orders in bad faith with
the sole intention of increasing the contract price without authorization and, falsifying
invoices or bills or charging unreasonable and unsubstantiated rates for services or unreasonable and unsubstantiated prices for goods to a state agency, board, commission
or institution or quasi-public agency;
(C) Intentionally or wilfully violate or attempt to circumvent state competitive bidding and ethics laws; or
(D) With the intent to unduly influence the award of a state contract, provide or
direct another person to provide information concerning the donation of goods and
services to a state agency or quasi-public agency, to the procurement staff of any state
agency or quasi-public agency or a member of a bid selection committee.
(b) No person with whom a state agency, board, commission or institution or quasi-public agency has contracted to provide consulting services to plan specifications for any
contract and no business with which the person is associated may serve as a consultant to
any person seeking to obtain such contract, serve as a contractor for such contract or
serve as a subcontractor or consultant to the person awarded such contract.
(c) Any person who violates any provision of this section may be deemed a nonresponsible bidder by a state agency, board, commission or institution or quasi-public
agency.
(P.A. 05-287, S. 33; P.A. 07-1, S. 9.)
History: P.A. 05-287 effective July 1, 2005; P.A. 07-1 added Subsec. (a)(D) re donation of goods and services, effective
February 8, 2007.
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