Senate Bill No. 849
               Senate Bill No. 849

               PUBLIC ACT NO. 97-55


AN   ACT  APPLYING  THE  WHISTLE  BLOWING  LAW  TO
QUASI-PUBLIC AGENCIES.


    Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and House of
Representatives in General Assembly convened:
    Section  4-61dd  of  the  general  statutes is
repealed and the following is substituted in  lieu
thereof:
    (a)  Any person having knowledge of any matter
involving   corruption,    unethical    practices,
violation    of   state   laws   or   regulations,
mismanagement, gross  waste  of  funds,  abuse  of
authority or danger to the public safety occurring
in  any  state  department  or   agency   OR   ANY
QUASI-PUBLIC  AGENCY, AS DEFINED IN SECTION 1-120,
may transmit all  facts  and  information  in  his
possession  concerning such matter to the Auditors
of  Public  Accounts.  The  Auditors   of   Public
Accounts shall review such matter and report their
findings and any recommendations to  the  Attorney
General.   Upon   receiving  such  a  report,  the
Attorney General shall make such investigation  as
he  deems  proper.  At the request of the Attorney
General or on their own initiative,  the  auditors
shall  assist  in  the investigation. The Attorney
General shall  have  power  to  summon  witnesses,
require  the  production  of  any necessary books,
papers or other documents and administer oaths  to
witnesses,  where  necessary,  for  the purpose of
investigation.  Upon   the   conclusion   of   his
investigation,  the  Attorney  General shall where
necessary, report his findings to the Governor, or
in  matters  involving  criminal  activity, to the
Chief State's Attorney.  The  Auditors  of  Public
Accounts and the Attorney General shall not, after
receipt of any information from a person under the
provisions  of this section, disclose the identity
of such person  without  his  consent  unless  the
Auditors   of  Public  Accounts  or  the  Attorney
General  determine   that   such   disclosure   is
unavoidable    during    the    course    of   the
investigation.
    (b)  No  state officer or employee, as defined
in section 4-141, NO QUASI-PUBLIC  AGENCY  OFFICER
OR EMPLOYEE and no appointing authority shall take
or threaten to take any personnel  action  against
any  state  OR  QUASI-PUBLIC  AGENCY  employee  in
retaliation  for  such  employee's  disclosure  of
information  to the Auditors of Public Accounts or
the Attorney General under the provisions of  this
section. An employee alleging that such action has
been threatened or taken may file an appeal within
thirty  days of knowledge of the specific incident
giving rise to  such  claim  with  the  Employees'
Review  Board under section 5-202, or, in the case
of an employee covered by a collective  bargaining
contract,   in   accordance   with  the  procedure
provided by such contract.
    (c)  Any  employee found to have knowingly and
maliciously made false  charges  under  subsection
(a)   of   this   section   shall  be  subject  to
disciplinary action by his appointing authority up
to  and  including dismissal. Such action shall be
subject to appeal to the Employees'  Review  Board
in  accordance  with section 5-202, or in the case
of employees  included  in  collective  bargaining
contracts,   the   procedure   provided   by  such
contracts.
    (d)  On  or  before September first, annually,
the Auditors of Public Accounts  shall  submit  to
the  clerk of each house of the General Assembly a
report indicating the number of matters for  which
facts  and  information  were  transmitted  to the
auditors  pursuant  to  this  section  during  the
preceding state fiscal year and the disposition of
each such matter.

Approved May 27, 1997