File No. 204

House of Representatives, March 25, 2009

The Committee on Government Administration and Elections reported through REP. SPALLONE of the 36th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the House, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING CERTAIN REVISIONS TO THE STATE CODES OF ETHICS.

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

Section 1. Subsection (q) of section 1-84 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2009):

(q) No public official or state employee shall knowingly counsel, authorize or otherwise sanction action that violates any provision of this part.

Sec. 2. Subsection (l) of section 1-91 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2010):

(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] three thousand dollars or more in any calendar year or the combined amount thereof is [two] three 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] three thousand dollars or more in any calendar year for lobbying or the combined amount thereof is [two] three 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] three thousand dollars from each client in any calendar year.

Sec. 3. Section 1-94 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2010):

A lobbyist shall register with the Office of State Ethics pursuant to this part if it or he:

(1) Receives or agrees to receive compensation or reimbursement for actual expenses, or both, in a combined amount of [two] three thousand dollars or more in a calendar year for lobbying, whether that receipt of compensation or reimbursement or agreement to receive such compensation or reimbursement is solely for lobbying or the lobbying is incidental to that person's regular employment; or

(2) Makes or incurs an obligation to make expenditures of [two] three thousand dollars or more in a calendar year for lobbying.

Sec. 4. Section 1-95 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2010):

(a) Each registrant shall file every two years with the Office of State Ethics on a registration form signed under penalty of false statement on or before January fifteenth of odd-numbered years or prior to the commencement of lobbying whichever is later. If the registrant is not an individual, an authorized officer or agent of the registrant shall sign the form. Such registration shall be on a form prescribed by the board and shall include:

(1) If the registrant is an individual, the registrant's name, permanent address and temporary address while lobbying and the name, address and nature of business of any person who compensates or reimburses, or agrees to compensate or reimburse the registrant and the terms of the compensation, reimbursement or agreement, but shall not include the compensation paid to an employee for his involvement in activities other than lobbying;

(2) If the registrant is a corporation, the name, address, place of incorporation and the principal place of business of the corporation;

(3) If the registrant is an association, group of persons or an organization, the name and address of the principal officers and directors of such association, group of persons or organization. If the registrant is formed primarily for the purpose of lobbying, it shall disclose the name and address of any person contributing [two] three thousand dollars or more to the registrant's lobbying activities in any calendar year;

(4) If the registrant is not an individual, the name and address of each individual who will lobby on the registrant's behalf; and

(5) The identification, with reasonable particularity, of areas of legislative or administrative action on which the registrant expects to lobby, including the names of executive agencies and quasi-public agencies and, where applicable, solicitations for state contracts and procurements.

(b) Each registrant shall pay a reasonable fee not in excess of the cost of administering the registration form provided for in subsection (a) of this section plus the cost of collecting, filing, copying and distributing the information filed by registrants under section 1-96, but not less than twenty-five dollars. A registrant who commences lobbying in an even-numbered year shall file with the Office of State Ethics, on or before January fifteenth of such even-numbered year or prior to the commencement of lobbying, whichever is later, a registration form signed under penalty of false statement and shall pay one-half of the biennial registration fee established by the board.

(c) Each registrant shall file a notice of termination within thirty days after he ceases the activity that required his registration, provided the registrant does not intend to resume the activity during the biennial period for which he is registered; but termination shall not relieve him of the reporting requirements of section 1-96 for the period preceding the date his notice of termination is received by the Office of State Ethics or for the period commencing on such date and ending on December thirty-first of the year in which termination occurs.

(d) In addition to the requirements of subsections (a) to (c), inclusive, of this section, the registration of a: (1) Client lobbyist, as defined in section 1-91, as amended by this act, shall include: (A) The name of such company or association, (B) the nature of such company or association, (C) the primary business address of such company or association, (D) the name of the person responsible for oversight of such client lobbyist's lobbying activities, (E) the job title of such person and any applicable contact information for such person, including, but not limited to, phone number, facsimile number, electronic mail address and business mailing address; and (2) communicator lobbyist, as defined in section 1-91, as amended by this act, shall include the name of the person with whom such communicator lobbyist has primary contact for each client of such communicator lobbyist and any applicable contact information for such person, including, but not limited to, phone number, facsimile number, electronic mail address and business mailing address.

Sec. 5. Section 12-557d of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2009):

(a) There shall be a Gaming Policy Board within the Department of Revenue Services for administrative purposes only. Said board shall consist of five members appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of both houses of the General Assembly. Not more than three members of said board in office at any one time shall be members of the same political party. On or before July 1, 1979, the Governor shall nominate three members who shall serve until July 1, 1981, and two members who shall serve until July 1, 1983. The General Assembly shall confirm or reject such nominations in the manner prescribed by section 4-7 before adjournment sine die of the 1979 regular session, except that if the nominations cannot be acted on by both houses of the General Assembly during said regular session, the General Assembly shall confirm or reject the nominations at a special session which shall be called, notwithstanding sections 2-6 and 2-7, immediately following adjournment sine die of the 1979 session reconvened in accordance with article third of the amendments to the Constitution of Connecticut, except that if no session is held pursuant to said article, the General Assembly shall meet in special session, notwithstanding sections 2-6 and 2-7, not later than August 1, 1979, to confirm or reject such nominations. Any special session called pursuant to this section shall be held for the sole purpose of confirming or rejecting the initial nominations made by the Governor to the board. Thereafter members shall serve for a term of four years and the procedure prescribed by section 4-7 shall apply to such appointments, except that the Governor shall submit such nominations on or before May first, and both houses shall confirm or reject the nominations before adjournment sine die. Members shall receive fifty dollars per day for each day they are engaged in the business of the board and shall be reimbursed for necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties. The executive director shall serve on the board ex officio without voting rights.

(b) To insure the highest standard of legalized gambling regulation at least four of the board members shall have training or experience in at least one of the following fields: Corporate finance, economics, law, accounting, law enforcement, computer science or the pari-mutuel industry. At least two of these fields shall be represented on the board at any one time.

(c) No board member shall accept any form of employment by a business organization regulated under this chapter for a period of two years following the termination of his service as a board member. The provisions of sections 1-82 and 1-82a shall apply to an alleged violation of this subsection and the provisions of section 1-88 shall apply to a finding pursuant to section 1-82 of a violation of this subsection.

(d) No board member shall engage in any oral ex parte communications with any representative, agent, officer or employee of any business organization regulated under this chapter concerning any matter pending or impending before the board.

(e) The members of the board shall not participate actively in political management and campaigns. Such activity includes holding office in a political party, political organization or political club, campaigning for a candidate in a partisan election by making speeches, writing on behalf of a candidate, soliciting votes in support of or in opposition to a candidate and making contributions of time and money to political parties.

Sec. 6. Subsection (k) of section 16-2 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2009):

(k) No commissioner of the authority shall, for a period of one year following the termination of his or her service as a commissioner, accept employment: (1) By a public service company or by any person, firm or corporation engaged in lobbying activities with regard to governmental regulation of public service companies; (2) by a certified telecommunications provider or by any person, firm or corporation engaged in lobbying activities with regard to governmental regulation of persons, firms or corporations so certified; or (3) by an electric supplier or by any person, firm or corporation engaged in lobbying activities with regard to governmental regulation of electric suppliers. No such commissioner who is also an attorney shall in any capacity, appear or participate in any matter, or accept any compensation regarding a matter, before the authority, for a period of one year following the termination of his or her service as a commissioner. The provisions of sections 1-82 and 1-82a shall apply to an alleged violation of this subsection and the provisions of section 1-88 shall apply to a finding pursuant to section 1-82 of a violation of this subsection.

Statement of Legislative Commissioners:

In sections 3 and 4, the effective dates were changed for consistency within the bill, and in section 5(c) and the last sentence of section 6, the reference to the application of section 1-88 was rephrased for accuracy.

The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst's professional knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact:

Note: GF=General Fund

Municipal Impact: None

Explanation

The bill increases the expenditure threshold for lobbyists to register with the Office of State Ethics from $2,000 to $3,000. Lobbyist registration fees are currently $150 in the odd years, covering a two year period, and $75 in the even years. Based on 2008 data, this increase in threshold would affect 45 registrants, resulting in a revenue loss of $3,375 in FY 10 and $6,750 in FY 11.

The bill also limits gift giving between supervisors and a subordinate to $100 per calendar year as opposed to several individual gifts each under $100. This has no fiscal impact.

The Out Years

The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to inflation.

Source: Office of State Ethics

OLR Bill Analysis

sHB 6298

AN ACT CONCERNING CERTAIN REVISIONS TO THE STATE CODES OF ETHICS.

SUMMARY:

This bill (1) increases, from $2,000 to $3,000 in a calendar year, the monetary threshold that triggers lobbyist registration with the Office of State Ethics (OSE) and (2) requires OSE to enforce the revolving door provisions applicable to former Gaming Policy Board members and former Public Utilities Control Authority commissioners.

The bill requires specific intent before a public official or state employee may be found in violation of the State Ethics Code for counseling, authorizing, or otherwise sanctioning actions that the code prohibits. It accomplishes this by specifying that a violation occurs only when these officials or employees act “knowingly.” By law, people who intentionally violate the code are guilty of a class A misdemeanor for a first violation (or a class D felony if the violator derived a financial benefit of at least $1,000 from the violation) and a class D felony for two or more violations.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2009, except the provisions raising the thresholds for lobbyist registration are effective January 1, 2010.

LOBBYIST REGISTRATION

Under current law, a person must register with OSE if he or she (1) receives, spends, or agrees to receive or spend at least $2,000 in a calendar year and (2) seeks to influence legislative or administrative action by communicating with or soliciting others to communicate with a state legislative, executive, or quasi-public agency official or employee. The bill increases the income and expenditure thresholds from $2,000 to $3,000.

REVOLVING DOOR PROVISIONS

The bill requires the OSE to enforce the existing law's revolving door provisions applicable to former Gaming Policy Board members and former Public Utilities Control Authority commissioners. The office must handle complaints alleging revolving door violations in the same way it handles other complaints it receives. Any complaint or investigation of an alleged violation is confidential unless a judge trial referee makes a probable cause determination. In that case, the Citizen's Ethics Advisory Board must initiate a hearing to determine whether a violation has been committed. If it finds that one has, the board may order the violator to cease and desist the activity, pay a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for each violation, or both.

By law, Gaming Policy Board members cannot accept employment with a business that the Division of Special Revenue regulates for two years after leaving the board. Public Utilities Control Authority commissioners cannot accept employment for one year after leaving the authority with any (1) public service company, certified telecommunications provider, electric supplier or (2) person or business engaged in lobbying activities concerning government regulation of these entities.

COMMITTEE ACTION

Government Administration and Elections Committee

Joint Favorable Substitute