AN ACT RESTRICTING LOBBYING BY FORMER STATE EMPLOYEES.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 1-84b of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2018):

(a) No former executive branch or quasi-public agency public official or state employee shall represent anyone other than the state, concerning any particular matter (1) in which he participated personally and substantially while in state service, and (2) in which the state has a substantial interest.

(b) No former executive branch or quasi-public agency public official or state employee shall, for one year after leaving state service, represent anyone, other than the state, for compensation before the department, agency, board, commission, council or office in which he served at the time of his termination of service, concerning any matter in which the state has a substantial interest. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to an attorney who is a former employee of the Division of Criminal Justice, with respect to any representation in a matter under the jurisdiction of a court.

(c) The provisions of this subsection apply to present or former executive branch public officials or state employees who hold or formerly held positions which involve significant decision-making or supervisory responsibility and are designated as such by the Office of State Ethics in consultation with the agency concerned except that such provisions shall not apply to members or former members of the boards or commissions who serve ex officio, who are required by statute to represent the regulated industry or who are permitted by statute to have a past or present affiliation with the regulated industry. Designation of positions subject to the provisions of this subsection shall be by regulations adopted by the Citizen's Ethics Advisory Board in accordance with chapter 54. As used in this subsection, "agency" means the Office of Health Care Access division within the Department of Public Health, the Connecticut Siting Council, the Department of Banking, the Insurance Department, the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, the office within the Department of Consumer Protection that carries out the duties and responsibilities of sections 30-2 to 30-68m, inclusive, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, including the Office of Consumer Counsel, and the Department of Consumer Protection and the term "employment" means professional services or other services rendered as an employee or as an independent contractor.

(1) No public official or state employee in an executive branch position designated by the Office of State Ethics shall negotiate for, seek or accept employment with any business subject to regulation by his agency.

(2) No former public official or state employee who held such a position in the executive branch shall within one year after leaving an agency, accept employment with a business subject to regulation by that agency.

(3) No business shall employ a present or former public official or state employee in violation of this subsection.

(d) The provisions of subsection (e) of this section apply to (1) present or former Department of Consumer Protection public officials or state employees who hold or formerly held positions which involve significant decision-making or supervisory responsibility and are designated as such by the Office of State Ethics, in consultation with the agency concerned, and (2) present or former public officials or state employees of other agencies who hold or formerly held positions which involve significant decision-making or supervisory responsibility concerning the regulation or investigation of (A) any business entity (i) engaged in Indian gaming operations in the state, and (ii) in which a federally-recognized Indian tribe in the state owns a controlling interest, or (B) a governmental agency of a federally-recognized Indian tribe engaged in Indian gaming operations in the state, which positions are designated as such by the Office of State Ethics, in consultation with the agency concerned. Designation of positions subject to the provisions of this subsection shall be by regulations adopted by the Citizen's Ethics Advisory Board in accordance with chapter 54. As used in subsection (e) of this section, the term "employment" means professional services or other services rendered as an employee or as an independent contractor.

(e) (1) No Department of Consumer Protection public official or state employee or other public official or state employee described in subdivision (2) of subsection (d) of this section, in a position designated by the Office of State Ethics, shall negotiate for, seek or accept employment with (A) a business entity (i) engaged in Indian gaming operations in the state, and (ii) in which a federally-recognized Indian tribe in the state owns a controlling interest, or (B) a governmental agency of a federally-recognized Indian tribe engaged in Indian gaming operations in the state.

(2) No former Department of Consumer Protection public official or state employee or other former public official or state employee described in subdivision (2) of subsection (d) of this section, who held such a position shall, within two years after leaving such agency, accept employment with (A) a business entity (i) engaged in Indian gaming operations in the state, and (ii) in which a federally-recognized Indian tribe in the state owns a controlling interest, or (B) a governmental agency of a federally-recognized Indian tribe engaged in Indian gaming operations in the state.

(f) No former public official or state employee (1) who participated substantially in the negotiation or award of (A) a state contract valued at an amount of fifty thousand dollars or more, or (B) a written agreement for the approval of a payroll deduction slot described in section 3-123g, or (2) who supervised the negotiation or award of such a contract or agreement, shall accept employment with a party to the contract or agreement other than the state for a period of one year after his resignation from his state office or position if his resignation occurs less than one year after the contract or agreement is signed. No party to such a contract or agreement other than the state shall employ any such former public official or state employee in violation of this subsection.

(g) No member or director of a quasi-public agency who participates substantially in the negotiation or award of a contract valued at an amount of fifty thousand dollars or more, or who supervised the negotiation or award of such a contract, shall seek, accept, or hold employment with a party to the contract for a period of one year after the signing of the contract.

(h) The provisions of subsections (a), (b) and (f) of this section shall not apply to any employee of a quasi-public agency who leaves such agency before July 1, 1989. The provisions of subsections (b) and (f) of this section shall not apply to a former state employee of a public institution of higher education whose employment was derived from such employee's status as a student at such institution.

(i) No Treasurer who authorizes, negotiates or renegotiates a contract for investment services valued at an amount of fifty thousand dollars or more shall negotiate for, seek or accept employment with a party to the contract prior to one year after the end of the Treasurer's term of office within which such contract for investment services was authorized, negotiated or renegotiated by such Treasurer.

(j) No former executive, judicial or legislative branch or quasi-public agency official or state employee convicted of any felony involving corrupt practices, abuse of office or breach of the public trust shall seek or accept employment as a lobbyist or act as a registrant pursuant to this chapter.

(k) No former Governor shall accept employment or act as a registrant pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, for one year after leaving state service, on behalf of any business that received a contract with any department or agency of the state during such Governor's term. No business shall employ a former Governor in violation of this subsection.

(l) No former executive or legislative branch state employee shall, for one year after leaving state service, accept employment or act as a lobbyist pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

Statement of Purpose:

To impose a one-year moratorium on lobbying by former state employees.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]