LCO No. 5402 1 of 16
General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7328
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 5402
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION
AND ELECTIONS
Introduced by:
(GAE)
AN ACT REVISING CERTAIN ETHICS CODE DEFINITIONS AND GIFT
PROVISIONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subdivision (2) of section 1-79 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 2
October 1, 2019): 3
(2) ["Business with which he is associated"] "Business with which 4
the person is associated" (A) means any sole proprietorship, 5
partnership, firm, corporation, trust or other entity through which 6
business for profit or not for profit is conducted in which the public 7
official or state employee or member of his or her immediate family is 8
a director, officer, owner, limited or general partner, beneficiary of a 9
trust or holder of stock constituting five per cent or more of the total 10
outstanding stock of any class, provided, a public official or state 11
employee, or member of his or her immediate family, shall not be 12
deemed to be associated with a not for profit entity solely by virtue of 13
the fact that the public official or state employee or member of his or 14 Raised Bill No. 7328
LCO No. 5402 2 of 16
her immediate family is an unpaid director or officer of the not for 15
profit entity, [. "Officer" refers only to] and (B) includes a second 16
business held by the business with which the person is associated, if 17
the business with which the person is associated is a director, officer, 18
owner, limited or general partner, beneficiary of a trust or holder of 19
stock constituting five per cent or more of the total outstanding stock 20
of any class of such second business. For the purposes of this 21
subdivision, "officer" means the president, executive or senior vice 22
president or treasurer of such business or any person who exercises 23
exclusive control over such business. 24
Sec. 2. Subdivision (11) of section 1-79 of the general statutes is 25
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 26
October 1, 2019): 27
(11) "Public official" means (A) any state-wide elected officer; [,] (B) 28
any member or member-elect of the General Assembly; [,] (C) any 29
person appointed to any office of the legislative, judicial or executive 30
branch of state government, with or without the advice and consent of 31
the General Assembly, by the Governor, [or] an appointee of the 32
Governor [, with or without the advice and consent of the General 33
Assembly,] or any other state-wide elected officer; (D) any public 34
member or representative of the teachers' unions or state employees' 35
unions appointed to the Investment Advisory Council pursuant to 36
subsection (a) of section 3-13b; [,] (E) any person appointed or elected 37
by the General Assembly or by any member of either house thereof; [,] 38
(F) any member or director of a quasi-public agency; and (G) the 39
spouse of the Governor. [, but] "Public official" does not include a 40
member of an advisory board, a judge of any court either elected or 41
appointed, any person appointed by a judge in the exercise of the 42
judge's authority in a judicial matter or a senator or representative in 43
Congress. 44
Sec. 3. Section 1-84 of the general statutes is repealed and the 45
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 46 Raised Bill No. 7328
LCO No. 5402 3 of 16
(a) No public official or state employee shall, while serving as such, 47
have any financial interest in, or engage in, any business, employment, 48
transaction or professional activity, which is in substantial conflict with 49
the proper discharge of his or her duties or employment in the public 50
interest and of his or her responsibilities as prescribed in the laws of 51
this state, as defined in section 1-85, as amended by this act. 52
(b) No public official or state employee shall accept other 53
employment which will either impair his or her independence of 54
judgment as to his or her official duties or employment or require 55
[him] such official or employee, or induce [him] such official or 56
employee, to disclose confidential information acquired by him or her 57
in the course of and by reason of his or her official duties. 58
(c) No public official or state employee shall wilfully and knowingly 59
disclose, for financial gain, to any other person, confidential 60
information acquired by him or her in the course of and by reason of 61
his or her official duties or employment and no public official or state 62
employee shall use his or her public office or position or any 63
confidential information received through his or her holding such 64
public office or position to obtain financial gain for [himself] such 65
official or employee, his or her spouse, child, child's spouse, parent, 66
brother or sister or a business with which [he] the person is associated. 67
(d) No public official or state employee or employee of such public 68
official or state employee shall agree to accept, or be a member or 69
employee of a partnership, association, professional corporation or 70
sole proprietorship which partnership, association, professional 71
corporation or sole proprietorship agrees to accept any employment, 72
fee or other thing of value, or portion thereof, for appearing, agreeing 73
to appear, or taking any other action on behalf of another person 74
before the Department of Banking, the Of fice of the Claims 75
Commissioner, the Health Systems Planning Unit of the Office of 76
Health Strategy, the Insurance Department, the Department of 77
Consumer Protection, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the State 78
Insurance and Risk Management Board, the Department of Energy and 79 Raised Bill No. 7328
LCO No. 5402 4 of 16
Environmental Protection, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, 80
the Connecticut Siting Council or the Connecticut Real Estate 81
Commission; provided this subsection shall not prohibit any such 82
person from [making inquiry] inquiring for information on behalf of 83
another before any of said commissions or commissioners if no fee or 84
reward is given or promised in consequence thereof. For the purpose 85
of this subsection, partnerships, associations, professional corporations 86
or sole proprietorships refer only to such partnerships, associations, 87
professional corporations or sole proprietorships which have been 88
formed to carry on the business or profession directly relating to the 89
employment, appearing, agreeing to appear or taking of action 90
provided for in this subsection. Nothing in this subsection shall 91
prohibit any employment, appearing, agreeing to appear or taking 92
action before any municipal board, commission or council. Nothing in 93
this subsection shall be construed as applying (1) to the actions of any 94
teaching or research professional employee of a public institution of 95
higher education if such actions are not in violation of any other 96
provision of this chapter, (2) to the actions of any other professional 97
employee of a public institution of higher education if such actions are 98
not compensated and are not in violation of any other provision of this 99
chapter, (3) to any member of a board or commission who receives no 100
compensation other than per diem payments or reimbursement for 101
actual or necessary expenses, or both, incurred in the performance of 102
the member's duties, or (4) to any member or director of a quasi-public 103
agency. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection to the 104
contrary, a legislator, an officer of the General Assembly or part-time 105
legislative employee may be or become a member or employee of a 106
firm, partnership, association or professional corporation which 107
represents clients for compensation before agencies listed in this 108
subsection, provided the legislator, officer of the General Assembly or 109
part-time legislative employee shall take no part in any matter 110
involving the agency listed in this subsection and shall not receive 111
compensation from any such matter. Receipt of a previously 112
established salary, not based on the current or anticipated business of 113
the firm, partnership, association or professional corporation involving 114 Raised Bill No. 7328
LCO No. 5402 5 of 16
the agencies listed in this subsection, shall be permitted. 115
(e) No legislative commissioner or his or her partners, employees or 116
associates shall represent any person subject to the provisions of part II 117
concerning the promotion of or opposition to legislation before the 118
General Assembly, or accept any employment which includes an 119
agreement or understanding to influence, or which is inconsistent 120
with, the performance of his or her official duties. 121
(f) No person shall offer or give to a public official or state employee 122
or candidate for public office or his or her spouse, his or her parent, 123
brother, sister or child or spouse of such child or a business with which 124
[he] the person is associated, anything of value, including, but not 125
limited to, a gift, loan, political contribution, reward or promise of 126
future employment based on any understanding that the vote, official 127
action or judgment of the public official, state employee or candidate 128
for public office would be or had been influenced thereby. 129
(g) No public official or state employee or candidate for public office 130
shall solicit or accept anything of value, including, but not limited to, a 131
gift, loan, political contribution, reward or promise of future 132
employment based on any understanding that the vote, official action 133
or judgment of the public official or state employee or candidate for 134
public office would be or had been influenced thereby. 135
(h) Nothing in subsection (f) or (g) of this section shall be construed 136
(1) to apply to any promise made in violation of subdivision (6) of 137
section 9-622, or (2) to permit any activity otherwise prohibited in 138
section 53a-147 or 53a-148. 139
(i) (1) No public official or state employee or member of the official 140
or employee's immediate family or a business with which [he] the 141
person is associated shall enter into any contract with the state, valued 142
at one hundred dollars or more, other than a contract (A) of 143
employment as a state employee, (B) with the Technical Education and 144
Career System for students enrolled in a school in the system to 145
perform services in conjunction with vocational, technical, 146 Raised Bill No. 7328
LCO No. 5402 6 of 16
technological or postsecondary education and training any such 147
student is receiving at a school in the system, subject to the review 148
process under subdivision (2) of this subsection, (C) with a public 149
institution of higher education to support a collaboration with such 150
institution to develop and commercialize any invention or discovery, 151
or (D) pursuant to a court appointment, unless the contract has been 152
awarded through an open and public process, including prior public 153
offer and subsequent public disclosure of all proposals considered and 154
the contract awarded. In no event shall an executive head of an agency, 155
as defined in section 4-166, including a commissioner of a department, 156
or an executive head of a quasi-public agency, as defined in section 1-157
79, as amended by this act, or the executive head's immediate family or 158
a business with which [he] the person is associated enter into any 159
contract with that agency or quasi-public agency. Nothing in this 160
subsection shall be construed as applying to any public official who is 161
appointed as a member of the executive branch or as a member or 162
director of a quasi-public agency and who receives no compensation 163
other than per diem payments or reimbursement for actual or 164
necessary expenses, or both, incurred in the performance of the public 165
official's duties unless such public official has authority or control over 166
the subject matter of the contract. Any contract made in violation of 167
this subsection shall be voidable by a court of competent jurisdiction if 168
the suit is commenced not later than one hundred eighty days after the 169
making of the contract. 170
(2) The superintendent of the Technical Education and Career 171
System shall establish an open and transparent process to review any 172
contract entered into under subparagraph (B) of subdivision (1) of this 173
subsection. 174
(j) No public official, state employee or candidate for public office, 175
or a member of any such person's staff or immediate family shall 176
knowingly solicit or accept, directly or indirectly, any gift, as defined 177
in subdivision (5) of section 1-79, from a person known to be a 178
registrant or anyone known to be acting on behalf of a registrant. 179 Raised Bill No. 7328
LCO No. 5402 7 of 16
(k) No public official, spouse of the Governor or state employee 180
shall accept a fee or honorarium for an article, appearance or speech, or 181
for participation at an event, in the public official's, spouse's or state 182
employee's official capacity, provided a public official, Governor's 183
spouse or state employee may receive payment or reimbursement for 184
necessary expenses for any such activity in his or her official capacity. 185
If a public official, Governor's spouse or state employee receives such a 186
payment or reimbursement for lodging or out-of-state travel, or both, 187
the public official, Governor's spouse or state employee shall, not later 188
than thirty days thereafter, file a report of the payment or 189
reimbursement with the Office of State Ethics, unless the payment or 190
reimbursement is provided by the federal government or another state 191
government. If a public official, Governor's spouse or state employee 192
does not file such report within such period, either intentionally or due 193
to gross negligence on the public official's, Governor's spouse's or state 194
employee's part, the public official, Governor's spouse or state 195
employee shall return the payment or reimbursement. If any failure to 196
file such report is not intentional or due to gross negligence on the part 197
of the public official, Governor's spouse or state employee, the public 198
official, Governor's spouse or state employee shall not be subject to any 199
penalty under this chapter. When a public official, Governor's spouse 200
or state employee attends an event in this state in the public official's, 201
Governor's spouse's or state employee's official capacity and as a 202
principal speaker at such event and receives admission to or food or 203
beverage at such event from the sponsor of the event, such admission 204
or food or beverage shall not be considered a gift and no report shall 205
be required from such public official, spouse or state employee or from 206
the sponsor of the event. 207
(l) No public official or state employee, or any person acting on 208
behalf of a public official or state employee, shall wilfully and 209
knowingly interfere with, influence, direct or solicit existing or new 210
lobbying contracts, agreements or business relationships for or on 211
behalf of any person. 212
(m) No public official or state employee shall knowingly solicit or 213 Raised Bill No. 7328
LCO No. 5402 8 of 16
accept, directly or indirectly, any gift, as defined in subdivision (5) of 214
section 1-79, from any person the public official or state employee 215
knows or has reason to know: (1) Is doing business with or seeking to 216
do business with the department or agency in which the public official 217
or state employee is employed; (2) is engaged in activities which are 218
directly regulated by such department or agency; or (3) is prequalified 219
under section 4a-100. No person shall knowingly give, directly or 220
indirectly, any gift or gifts in violation of this provision. For the 221
purposes of this subsection, the exclusion to the term "gift" in 222
subparagraph (L) of subdivision (5) of section 1-79 for a gift for the 223
celebration of a major life event shall not apply. Any person prohibited 224
from making a gift under this subsection shall report to the Office of 225
State Ethics any solicitation of a gift from such person by a [state 226
employee or] public official or state employee. 227
(n) (1) As used in this subsection, (A) "investment services" means 228
investment legal services, investment banking services, investment 229
advisory services, underwriting services, financial advisory services or 230
brokerage firm services, and (B) "principal of an investment services 231
firm" means (i) an individual who is a director of or has an ownership 232
interest in an investment services firm, except for an individual who 233
owns less than five per cent of the shares of an investment services 234
firm which is a publicly traded corporation, (ii) an individual who is 235
employed by an investment services firm as president, treasurer, or 236
executive or senior vice president, (iii) an employee of such an 237
investment services firm who has managerial or discretionary 238
responsibilities with respect to any investment services, (iv) the spouse 239
or dependent child of an individual described in this subparagraph, or 240
(v) a political committee established by or on behalf of an individual 241
described in this subparagraph. 242
(2) The State Treasurer shall not pay any compensation, expenses or 243
fees or issue any contract to any firm which provides investment 244
services when (A) a political committee, as defined in section 9-601, 245
established by such firm, or (B) a principal of the investment services 246
firm has made a contribution, as defined in section 9-601a, to, or 247 Raised Bill No. 7328
LCO No. 5402 9 of 16
solicited contributions on behalf of, any exploratory committee or 248
candidate committee, as defined in section 9-601, established by the 249
State Treasurer as a candidate for nomination or election to the office 250
of State Treasurer. The State Treasurer shall not pay any compensation, 251
expenses or fees or issue any contract to such firms or principals 252
during the term of office as State Treasurer, including, for an 253
incumbent State Treasurer seeking reelection, any remainder of the 254
current term of office. 255
(o) If (1) any person (A) is doing business with or seeking to do 256
business with the department or agency in which a public official or 257
state employee is employed, or (B) is engaged in activities which are 258
directly regulated by such department or agency, and (2) such person 259
or a representative of such person gives to such public official or state 260
employee anything of value which is subject to the reporting 261
requirements pursuant to subsection (e) of section 1-96, such person or 262
representative shall, not later than ten days thereafter, give such 263
recipient and the executive head of the recipient's department or 264
agency a written report stating the name of the donor, a description of 265
the item or items given, the value of such items and the cumulative 266
value of all items given to such recipient during that calendar year. 267
The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to a political 268
contribution otherwise reported as required by law. 269
(p) (1) No public official or state employee or member of the 270
immediate family of a public official or state employee shall knowingly 271
accept, directly or indirectly, any gift costing [one] five hundred 272
dollars or more in the aggregate during a calendar year from a public 273
official or state employee who is under the supervision of such public 274
official or state employee. 275
(2) No public official or state employee or member of the immediate 276
family of a public official or state employee shall knowingly accept, 277
directly or indirectly, any gift costing [one] five hundred dollars or 278
more in the aggregate during a calendar year from a public official or 279
state employee who is a supervisor of such public official or state 280 Raised Bill No. 7328
LCO No. 5402 10 of 16
employee. 281
(3) No public official or state employee shall knowingly give, 282
directly or indirectly, any gift in violation of subdivision (1) or (2) of 283
this subsection. 284
(q) No public official or state employee shall intentionally counsel, 285
authorize or otherwise sanction action that violates any provision of 286
this part. 287
(r) (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (b) and (c) of 288
this section, a member of the faculty or a member of a faculty 289
bargaining unit of a constituent unit of the state system of higher 290
education may enter into a consulting agreement or engage in a 291
research project with a public or private entity, provided such 292
agreement or project does not conflict with the member's employment 293
with the constituent unit, as determined by policies established by the 294
board of trustees for such constituent unit. 295
(2) The board of trustees for each constituent unit of the state system 296
of higher education shall establish policies to ensure that any such 297
member who enters such a consulting agreement or engages in such a 298
research project (A) is not inappropriately using university proprietary 299
information in connection with such agreement or project, (B) does not 300
have an interest in such agreement or project that interferes with the 301
proper discharge of his or her employment with the constituent unit, 302
and (C) is not inappropriately using such member's association with 303
the constituent unit in connection with such agreement or project. Such 304
policies shall (i) establish procedures for the disclosure, review and 305
management of conflicts of interest relating to any such agreement or 306
project, (ii) require the approval by the chief academic officer of the 307
constituent unit, or his or her designee, prior to any such member 308
entering into any such agreement or engaging in any such project, and 309
(iii) include procedures that impose sanctions and penalties on any 310
member for failing to comply with the provisions of the policies. 311
Annually, the internal audit office of each constituent unit shall audit 312 Raised Bill No. 7328
LCO No. 5402 11 of 16
the constituent unit's compliance with such policies and report its 313
findings to the committee of the constituent unit established pursuant 314
to subdivision (3) of this subsection. For purposes of this subsection, 315
"consulting" means the provision of services for compensation to a 316
public or private entity by a member of the faculty or member of a 317
faculty bargaining unit of a constituent unit of the state system of 318
higher education: (I) When the request to provide such services is 319
based on such member's expertise in a field or prominence in such 320
field, and (II) while such member is not acting in the capacity of a state 321
employee, and "research" means a systematic investigation, including, 322
but not limited to, research development, testing and evaluation, 323
designed to develop or contribute to general knowledge in the 324
applicable field of study. 325
(3) There is established a committee for each constituent unit of the 326
state system of higher education to monitor the constituent unit's 327
compliance with the policies and procedures described in subdivision 328
(2) of this subsection governing consulting agreements and research 329
projects with public or private entities by a member of the faculty or a 330
member of a faculty bargaining unit of such constituent unit. Each 331
committee shall consist of nine members as follows: (A) Three 332
members, appointed jointly by the Governor, the speaker of the House 333
of Representatives, the president pro tempore of the Senate, the 334
majority leader of the House of Representatives, the majority leader of 335
the Senate, the minority leader of the House of Representatives and the 336
minority leader of the Senate, who shall serve as members for each 337
such committee; (B) one member appointed by the chairperson of the 338
constituent unit's board of trustees from the membership of such 339
board; (C) the chief academic officer of the constituent unit, or his or 340
her designee; (D) three members appointed by the chief executive 341
officer of the constituent unit; and (E) one member appointed by the 342
chairperson of the Citizen's Ethics Advisory Board from the 343
membership of such board. Members shall serve for a term of two 344
years. Any vacancies shall be filled by the appointing authority. Each 345
committee shall (i) review the annual reports submitted by the internal 346 Raised Bill No. 7328
LCO No. 5402 12 of 16
audit office for the constituent unit, pursuant to subdivision (2) of this 347
subsection, (ii) make recommendations, annually, to the board of 348
trustees of the constituent unit concerning the policies and procedures 349
of the constituent unit established pursuant to subdivision (2) of this 350
subsection, including any changes to such policies and procedures, 351
and (iii) send a copy of such recommendations, in accordance with 352
section 11-4a, to the joint standing committees of the General 353
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to higher education 354
and government administration. 355
(4) The provisions of subsections (b) and (c) of this section shall 356
apply to any member of the faculty or member of a faculty bargaining 357
unit of a constituent unit of the state system of higher education who 358
enters such a consulting agreement or engages in such a research 359
project without prior approval, as described in subdivision (2) of this 360
subsection. 361
(s) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section or any other 362
provision of this part, a state employee who is employed at a 363
constituent unit of the state system of higher education and a member 364
of the immediate family of such state employee may be employed in 365
the same department or division of such constituent unit, provided the 366
constituent unit has determined that procedures have been 367
implemented to ensure that any final decisions impacting the financial 368
interests of either such state employee, including decisions to hire, 369
promote, increase the compensation of or renew the employment of 370
such state employee, are made by another state employee who is not a 371
member of the immediate family of such state employee. 372
Sec. 4. Subdivision (16) of section 1-91 of the general statutes is 373
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 374
October 1, 2019): 375
(16) "Public official" means (A) any state-wide elected state officer, 376
(B) any member or member-elect of the General Assembly, (C) any 377
person appointed to any office of the legislative, judicial or executive 378 Raised Bill No. 7328
LCO No. 5402 13 of 16
branch of state government, with or without the advice and consent of 379
the General Assembly, by the Governor or any other state-wide elected 380
officer, [with or without the advice and consent of the General 381
Assembly,] (D) the spouse of the Governor, and (E) any person 382
appointed or elected by the General Assembly or any member of either 383
house thereof. [; but] "Public official" does not include a member of an 384
advisory board or a senator or representative in Congress. 385
Sec. 5. Subdivision (1) of section 1-101mm of the general statutes is 386
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 387
October 1, 2019): 388
(1) "Business with which the person is associated" means any sole 389
proprietorship, partnership, firm, corporation, trust or other entity 390
through which business for-profit or not-for-profit is conducted in 391
which the person or member of the immediate family of any person 392
who is an individual is a director, officer, owner, limited or general 393
partner, beneficiary of a trust or holder of stock constituting five per 394
cent or more of the total outstanding stock of any class, provided, a 395
person who is an individual or a member of the immediate family of 396
such individual shall not be deemed to be associated with a not-for-397
profit entity solely by virtue of the fact that such individual or 398
immediate family member is an unpaid director or officer of the not-399
for-profit entity. ["Officer" refers only to] "Business with which the 400
person is associated" also includes a second business held by the 401
business with which the person is associated, if the business with 402
which the person is associated is a director, officer, owner, limited or 403
general partner, beneficiary of a trust or holder of stock constituting 404
five per cent or more of the total outstanding stock of any class of such 405
second business. For the purposes of this subdivision, "officer" means 406
the president, executive or senior vice president or treasurer of such 407
business or any person who exercises exclusive control over such 408
business. 409
Sec. 6. Section 1-85 of the general statutes is repealed and the 410
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 411 Raised Bill No. 7328
LCO No. 5402 14 of 16
A public official, including an elected state official, or state 412
employee has an interest which is in substantial conflict with the 413
proper discharge of his or her duties or employment in the public 414
interest and of his or her responsibilities as prescribed in the laws of 415
this state, if [he] such official or employee has reason to believe or 416
expect that [he, his] such official or employee, such official's or 417
employee's spouse, [a] dependent child, or a business with which [he] 418
the person is associated will derive a direct monetary gain or suffer a 419
direct monetary loss, as the case may be, by reason of his or her official 420
activity. A public official, including an elected state official, or state 421
employee does not have an interest which is in substantial conflict 422
with the proper discharge of his or her duties in the public interest and 423
of his or her responsibilities as prescribed by the laws of this state, if 424
any benefit or detriment accrues to [him, his] such official or employee, 425
such official's or employee's spouse, [a] dependent child, or a business 426
with which [he, his] such official or employee, such official's or 427
employee's spouse or such dependent child is associated as a member 428
of a profession, occupation or group to no greater extent than any 429
other member of such profession, occupation or group. A public 430
official, including an elected state official or state employee who has a 431
substantial conflict may not take official action on the matter. 432
Sec. 7. Subsection (j) of section 4e-2 of the general statutes is 433
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 434
October 1, 2019): 435
(j) No employee of the State Contracting Standards Board shall hold 436
another state or municipal position. No nonclerical employee of the 437
board or any spouse, child, stepchild, parent or sibling of such 438
employee, shall be associated with an enterprise that does business 439
with the state. For purposes of this subsection, "associated with" means 440
["business with which he is associated",] "business with which the 441
person is associated", as defined in section 1-79, as amended by this 442
act. Each member and employee of the State Contracting Standards 443
Board shall file, with the board and with the Office of State Ethics, a 444
statement of financial interests, as described in section 1-83. Such 445 Raised Bill No. 7328
LCO No. 5402 15 of 16
statement shall be a public record. Such statements for the preceding 446
calendar year shall be filed with the Office of State Ethics, as required 447
by law, if such employee or member held such a position during the 448
preceding calendar year. 449
Sec. 8. Subsection (b) of section 7-148h of the general statutes is 450
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 451
October 1, 2019): 452
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of any special act, municipal 453
charter or ordinance, [to the contrary,] an elected official of any town, 454
city, district or borough that has established a board, commission, 455
council, committee or other agency under subsection (a) of this section, 456
has an interest that is in substantial conflict with the proper discharge 457
of the official's duties or employment in the public interest and of the 458
official's responsibilities as prescribed by the laws of this state, if the 459
official has reason to believe or expect that the official, the official's 460
spouse or dependent child, or a business with which [he] the person is 461
associated, as defined in section 1-79, as amended by this act, will 462
derive a direct monetary gain or suffer a direct monetary loss, as the 463
case may be, by reason of the official's official activity. Any such 464
elected official does not have an interest that is in substantial conflict 465
with the proper discharge of the official's duties in the public interest 466
and of the official's responsibilities as prescribed by the laws of this 467
state, if any benefit or detriment accrues to the official, the official's 468
spouse or dependent child, or a business with which [he, his] such 469
official or such official's spouse or such dependent child is associated 470
as a member of a profession, occupation or group to no greater extent 471
than to any other member of such profession, occupation or group. 472
Any such elected official who has a substantial conflict may not take 473
official action on the matter. 474
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2019 1-79(2)
Sec. 2 October 1, 2019 1-79(11) Raised Bill No. 7328
LCO No. 5402 16 of 16
Sec. 3 October 1, 2019 1-84
Sec. 4 October 1, 2019 1-91(16)
Sec. 5 October 1, 2019 1-101mm(1)
Sec. 6 October 1, 2019 1-85
Sec. 7 October 1, 2019 4e-2(j)
Sec. 8 October 1, 2019 7-148h(b)
Statement of Purpose:
To (1) amend the state code of ethics for public officials and lobbyists
to redefine "business with which the person is associated", and "public
official", (2) prohibit the soliciting of gifts by those prohibited from
accepting gifts, and (3) limit gift giving between supervisors and
subordinates.
[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.]