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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 6577
January Session, 2021
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E STATE PROPERTIES REVIEW BOARD.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsections (d) to (f), inclusive, of section 4b-3 of the 1
general statutes are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 2
thereof (Effective October 1, 2021): 3
(d) Notwithstanding any [other statute] provision of the general 4
statutes or special act, [to the contrary,] the Commissioner of 5
Administrative Services shall be the sole person authorized to represent 6
the state in its dealings with third parties for the construction, 7
development, acquisition or leasing of real estate for housing the offices 8
or equipment of all agencies of the state or for the state-owned public 9
buildings or realty, as provided for in sections 2-90, 4b-1 to 4b-5, 10
inclusive, 4b-21, 4b-23, as amended by this act, 4b-24, 4b-26, 4b-27, 4b-11
30 and 4b-32, subsection (c) of section 4b-66 and sections 4b-67 to 4b-69, 12
inclusive, 4b-71, 4b-72, 10-95, 10a-72, 10a-89, 10a-90, 10a-114, 10a-130, 13
10a-144, 17b-655, 22-64, 22a-324, 26-3, 27-45, 32-1c, 32-39, 48-9, 51-27d 14
and 51-27f, except that (1) the Joint Committee on Legislative 15
Management may represent the state in the planning and construction 16
of the Legislative Office Building and related facilities, in Hartford; (2) 17
the Chief Court Administrator may represent the state in providing for 18
(A) space for the Court Support Services Division as part of a new or 19 Substitute Bill No. 6577
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existing contract for an alternative incarceration program pursuant to 20
section 54-103b or a program developed pursuant to section 46b-121k, 21
or (B) other real estate needs of the Judicial Branch when delegated 22
authority to do so by the Commissioner of Administrative Services; (3) 23
the board of trustees of a constituent unit of the state system of higher 24
education may represent the state in the leasing of real estate for housing 25
the offices or equipment of such constituent unit, provided no lease 26
payments for such realty are made with funds generated from the 27
general revenues of the state; (4) the Labor Commissioner may represent 28
the state in the leasing of premises required for employment security 29
operations as provided in subsection (c) of section 31-250; (5) the 30
Commissioner of Developmental Services may represent the state in the 31
leasing of residential property as part of the program developed 32
pursuant to subsection (b) of section 17a-218, provided such residential 33
property does not exceed two thousand five hundred square feet, for the 34
community placement of persons eligible to receive residential services 35
from the department; (6) the Commissioner of Mental Health and 36
Addiction Services may represent the state in the leasing of residential 37
units as part of a program developed pursuant to section 17a-455a, 38
provided each such residential unit does not exceed two thousand five 39
hundred square feet; and (7) the Connecticut Marketing Authority may 40
represent the state in the leasing of land or markets under the control of 41
the Connecticut Marketing Authority. [, and, except for the housing of 42
offices or equipment in connection with the initial acquisition of an 43
existing state mass transit system or the leasing of land by the 44
Connecticut Marketing Authority for a term of one year or more in 45
which cases the actions of the Department of Transportation and the 46
Connecticut Marketing Authority] All of the actions listed in 47
subdivisions (1) to (7), inclusive, of this subsection shall be subject to the 48
review and approval of the State Properties Review Board. The 49
Commissioner of Administrative Services may establish and implement 50
any procedures necessary for the commissioner to assume the 51
commissioner's responsibilities as said sole bargaining agent for state 52
realty acquisitions and shall perform the duties necessary to carry out 53
such procedures. The Commissioner of Administrative Services may 54 Substitute Bill No. 6577
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appoint, within the department's budget and subject to the provisions 55
of chapter 67, such personnel deemed necessary by the commissioner to 56
carry out the provisions of this section, including experts in real estate, 57
construction operations, financing, banking, contracting, architecture 58
and engineering. The Attorney General's office, at the request of the 59
Commissioner of Administrative Services, shall assist the commissioner 60
in contract negotiations regarding the purchase, lease or construction of 61
real estate. 62
(e) The State Properties Review Board shall be within the 63
[Department of Administrative Services] Legislative Department and 64
shall have independent decision-making authority. 65
(f) The State Properties Review Board shall review for approval or 66
disapproval (1) real estate acquisitions, sales, leases and subleases 67
proposed by the Commissioner of Administrative Services or proposed 68
by the Chief Court Administrator pursuant to the authority delegated 69
to the Chief Court Administrator by the Commissioner of 70
Administrative Services, (2) the acquisition, other than by 71
condemnation, or the sale, [or] lease or licensing of any real property or 72
any other contractual agreement concerning any real property by the 73
Commissioner of Transportation under subdivision (11) of section 13b-74
4 or subsection (b) of section 13b-36, subject to section 4b-23, as amended 75
by this act, and subsection (h) of section 13a-73, [and review, for 76
approval or disapproval,] (3) any contract for a project described in 77
subsection (h) of section 4b-91, (4) any acquisition of development rights 78
of agricultural land by the Commissioner of Agriculture under section 79
22-26cc, (5) any real estate acquisition by any other state agency under 80
any provision of the general statutes that is paid for with bonds, as 81
defined in section 3-20, and (6) any lease or sublease, licensing or other 82
contractual agreement concerning real property proposed by a quasi-83
public agency under section 3 of this act. Such review shall consider all 84
aspects of the proposed actions, including feasibility and method of 85
acquisition and the prudence of the business method proposed. The 86
board shall also cooperate with and advise and assist the Commissioner 87 Substitute Bill No. 6577
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of Administrative Services and the Commissioner of Transportation in 88
carrying out their duties. The board shall have access to all information, 89
files and records, including financial records, of the Commissioner of 90
Administrative Services, [and] the Commissioner of Transportation, 91
[and shall, when necessary, be entitled to the use of personnel employed 92
by said commissioners. The board shall approve or disapprove any 93
acquisition of development rights of agricultural land by the 94
Commissioner of Agriculture under section 22-26cc] any other state 95
agency acquiring real estate described in subdivision (5) of this 96
subsection and any quasi-public agency submitting a proposed 97
agreement described in subdivision (6) of this subsection. The board 98
shall hear any appeal under section 8-273a and shall render a final 99
decision on the appeal within thirty days thereafter. The written 100
decision of the board shall be a final decision for the purposes of sections 101
4-180 and 4-183. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any 102
airport, airport site or any part thereof operated by the Connecticut 103
Airport Authority established pursuant to section 15-120bb. 104
Sec. 2. Subsection (i) of section 4b-23 of the general statutes is repealed 105
and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2021): 106
(i) As used in this subsection, (1) "project" means any state program, 107
except the downtown Hartford higher education center project, as 108
defined in section 4b-55, requiring consultant services if the cost of such 109
services is estimated to exceed [one hundred] twenty-five thousand 110
dollars or, in the case of a constituent unit of the state system of higher 111
education, the cost of such services is estimated to exceed three hundred 112
thousand dollars, or in the case of a building or premises under the 113
supervision of the Office of the Chief Court Administrator or property 114
where the Judicial Department is the primary occupant, the cost of such 115
services is estimated to exceed three hundred thousand dollars; (2) 116
"consultant" means "consultant" as defined in section 4b-55; and (3) 117
"consultant services" means "consultant services" as defined in section 118
4b-55. Any contracts entered into by the Commissioner of 119
Administrative Services with any consultants for employment (A) for 120 Substitute Bill No. 6577
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any project under the provisions of this section, (B) in connection with a 121
list established under subsection (d) of section 4b-51, or (C) by task letter 122
issued by the Commissioner of Administrative Services to any 123
consultant on such list pursuant to which the consultant will provide 124
services valued in excess of [one hundred] twenty-five thousand dollars, 125
shall be subject to the approval of the Properties Review Board prior to 126
the employment of such consultant or consultants by the commissioner. 127
The Properties Review Board shall, not later than thirty days after 128
receipt of such selection of or contract with any consultant, approve or 129
disapprove the selection of or contract with any consultant made by the 130
Commissioner of Administrative Services pursuant to sections 4b-1 and 131
4b-55 to 4b-59, inclusive. If upon the expiration of the thirty-day period 132
a decision has not been made, the Properties Review Board shall be 133
deemed to have approved such selection or contract. 134
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2021) Any quasi-public agency, as 135
defined in section 1-120 of the general statutes, shall submit any 136
proposed lease or sublease, licensing or other contractual arrangement 137
concerning real property to the State Properties Review Board for 138
approval or disapproval. The provisions of this section shall not be 139
construed to apply to any mortgage loan granted by a quasi-public 140
agency. 141
Sec. 4. Section 4-9a of the general statutes is repealed and the 142
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2021): 143
(a) The Governor shall appoint the chairperson and executive 144
director, if any, of all boards and commissions within the Executive 145
Department, except [the State Properties Review Board,] the State 146
Elections Enforcement Commission, the Commission on Human Rights 147
and Opportunities, the Commission on Fire Prevention and Control, the 148
Citizen's Ethics Advisory Board and the Transportation Policy Advisory 149
Council. 150
(b) Public members shall constitute not less than one-third of the 151
members of each board and commission within the Executive 152 Substitute Bill No. 6577
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Department, except the Commission on Human Rights and 153
Opportunities. Public member means an elector of the state who has no 154
substantial financial interest in, is not employed in or by, and is not 155
professionally affiliated with, any industry, profession, occupation, 156
trade or institution regulated or licensed by the relevant board or 157
commission, and who has had no professional affiliation with any such 158
industry, profession, occupation, trade or institution for three years 159
preceding his appointment to the board or commission. Except as 160
otherwise specifically provided by the general statutes, this section shall 161
not apply to the Commission on Fire Prevention and Control, boards 162
and commissions the membership of which is entirely composed of state 163
department heads, elected officials or deputies appointed by such 164
department heads or where the membership of such board or 165
commission is determined in accordance with the provisions of any 166
federal law. 167
(c) Notwithstanding any provision of law, the term of each member 168
of each board and commission within the executive branch, except the 169
State Board of Education, the Board of Regents for Higher Education, 170
the Commission on Human Rights and Opportuniti es, the State 171
Elections Enforcement Commission, [the State Properties Review 172
Board,] the Citizen's Ethics Advisory Board, the Commission on 173
Medicolegal Investigations, the Psychiatric Security Review Board, the 174
Commission on Fire Prevention and Control, the E 9-1-1 Commission, 175
the Culture and Tourism Advisory Committee, and the board of trustees 176
of each constituent unit of the state system of higher education, 177
commencing on or after July 1, 1979, shall be coterminous with the term 178
of the Governor or until a successor is chosen, whichever is later. 179
(d) Each member of each board and commission within the executive 180
branch shall serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority except 181
where otherwise specifically provided by any provision of the general 182
statutes. 183 Substitute Bill No. 6577
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2021 4b-3(d) to (f)
Sec. 2 October 1, 2021 4b-23(i)
Sec. 3 October 1, 2021 New section
Sec. 4 October 1, 2021 4-9a
GAE Joint Favorable Subst.
APP Joint Favorable