Connecticut 2021 2021 Regular Session

Connecticut Senate Bill SB00883 Comm Sub / Bill

Filed 04/19/2021

                     
 
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General Assembly  Governor's Bill No. 883  
January Session, 2021 
LCO No. 3160 
 
 
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT 
ADMINISTRATION AND ELECTIONS 
 
 
Introduced by:  
Request of the Governor 
Pursuant to Joint Rule 9 
  
 
 
 
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE 
GOVERNOR'S COUNCIL O N WOMEN AND GIRLS.  
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General 
Assembly convened: 
 
Section 1. Section 9-601 of the general statutes is amended by adding 1 
subdivision (32) as follows (Effective July 1, 2021): 2 
(NEW) (32) "Child care services" means services rendered to a 3 
candidate for the care of any child who is under thirteen years of age 4 
and for whom such candidate is the parent or legal guardian, which 5 
services are necessary as a direct result of campaign activity that would 6 
not exist but for such candidate's campaign. 7 
Sec. 2. Subsection (e) of section 9-706 of the general statutes is 8 
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 9 
2021): 10 
(e) (1) The State Elections Enforcement Commission shall (A) adopt 11 
regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, on 12  Bill No. 883 
 
 
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permissible expenditures under subsection (g) of section 9-607, as 13 
amended by this act, for qualified candidate committees receiving 14 
grants from the fund under sections 9-700 to 9-716, inclusive, and (B) on 15 
or after July 1, 2021, amend such regulations to permit expenditures for 16 
child care services. 17 
(2) After the amendment of regulations pursuant to subparagraph (B) 18 
of subdivision (1) of this subsection, expenditures for child care services 19 
made by the qualified candidate committee of a participating candidate 20 
shall be deemed permissible if such expenditures (A) are, in the 21 
aggregate, not more than the amount of qualifying contributions 22 
permitted under section 9-704, and (B) comply with all regulations 23 
adopted or amended, as applicable, pursuant to subdivision (1) of this 24 
subsection. 25 
Sec. 3. Subsection (c) of section 9-710 of the general statutes is 26 
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 27 
2021): 28 
(c) A candidate who intends to participate in the Citizens' Election 29 
Program may provide personal funds for such candidate's campaign for 30 
nomination or election in an amount not exceeding: (1) For a candidate 31 
for the office of Governor, twenty thousand dollars; (2) for a candidate 32 
for the office of Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, State 33 
Comptroller, State Treasurer or Secretary of the State, ten thousand 34 
dollars; (3) for a candidate for the office of state senator, two thousand 35 
dollars; or (4) for a candidate for the office of state representative, one 36 
thousand dollars. Such personal funds shall not constitute a qualifying 37 
contribution under section 9-704. For the purposes of this section, and 38 
after the amendment of regulations pursuant to subparagraph (B) of 39 
subdivision (1) of subsection (e) of section 9-706, as amended by this act, 40 
expenditures for child care services made directly from any such 41 
candidate's personal funds and for which such candidate does not seek 42 
reimbursement from his or her candidate committee, as provided in 43 
subsection (k) of section 9-607, shall not count toward the amounts 44 
provided in subdivisions (1) to (4), inclusive, as applicable, of this 45  Bill No. 883 
 
 
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subsection. 46 
Sec. 4. Subdivision (2) of subsection (g) of section 9-607 of the general 47 
statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 48 
(Effective July 1, 2021): 49 
(2) Unless otherwise provided by this chapter, any treasurer, in 50 
accomplishing the lawful purposes of the committee, may pay the 51 
expenses of: (A) Advertising in electronic and print media; (B) any other 52 
form of printed advertising or communications including "thank you" 53 
advertising after the election; (C) campaign items, including, but not 54 
limited to, brochures, leaflets, flyers, invitations, stationery, envelopes, 55 
reply cards, return envelopes, campaign business cards, direct mailings, 56 
postcards, palm cards, "thank you" notes, sample ballots and other 57 
similar items; (D) political banners and billboards; (E) political 58 
paraphernalia, which is customarily given or sold to supporters 59 
including, but not limited to, campaign buttons, stickers, pins, pencils, 60 
pens, matchbooks, balloons, pads, calendars, magnets, key chains, hats, 61 
tee shirts, sweatshirts, frisbees, pot holders, jar openers and other 62 
similar items; (F) purchasing office supplies for campaign or political 63 
purposes, campaign photographs, raffle or other fund-raising permits 64 
required by law, fund-raiser prizes, postage, express mail delivery 65 
services, bulk mail permits, and computer supplies and services; (G) 66 
banking service charges to maintain campaign and political accounts; 67 
(H) subscriptions to newspapers and periodicals which enhance the 68 
candidacy of the candidate or party; (I) lease or rental of office space for 69 
campaign or political purposes and expenses in connection therewith 70 
including, but not limited to, furniture, parking, storage space, utilities 71 
and maintenance, provided a party committee or political committee 72 
organized for ongoing political activities may purchase such office 73 
space; (J) lease or rental of vehicles for campaign use only; (K) lease, 74 
rental or use charges of any ordinary and necessary campaign office 75 
equipment including, but not limited to, copy machines, telephones, 76 
postage meters, facsimile machines, computer hardware, software and 77 
printers, provided a party committee or political committee organized 78  Bill No. 883 
 
 
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for ongoing political activities may purchase office equipment, and 79 
provided further that a candidate committee or a political committee, 80 
other than a political committee formed for ongoing political activities 81 
or an exploratory committee, may purchase computer equipment; (L) 82 
compensation for campaign or committee staff, fringe benefits, [and] 83 
payroll taxes and child care services, provided (i) the candidate and any 84 
member of his immediate family shall not receive compensation, and (ii) 85 
compensation for child care services is reasonable and customary for the 86 
services rendered; (M) travel, meals and lodging expenses of speakers, 87 
campaign or committee workers, the candidate and the candidate's 88 
spouse for political and campaign purposes; (N) fund raising; (O) 89 
reimbursements to candidates and campaign or committee workers 90 
made in accordance with the provisions of this section for campaign-91 
related expenses for which a receipt is received by the treasurer; (P) 92 
campaign or committee services of attorneys, accountants, consultants 93 
or other professional persons for campaign activities, obtaining or 94 
contesting ballot status, nomination, or election, and compliance with 95 
this chapter; (Q) purchasing campaign finance reports; (R) repaying 96 
permissible campaign loans made to the committee that are properly 97 
reported and refunding contributions received from an impermissible 98 
source or in excess of the limitations set forth in this chapter; (S) 99 
conducting polls concerning any political party, issue, candidate or 100 
individual; (T) gifts to campaign or committee workers or purchasing 101 
flowers or other commemorative items for political purposes not to 102 
exceed one hundred dollars to any one recipient in a calendar year or 103 
for the campaign, as the case may be; (U) purchasing tickets or 104 
advertising from charities, inaugural committees, or other civic 105 
organizations if for a political purpose, for any candidate, a candidate's 106 
spouse, a member of a candidate's campaign staff, or members of 107 
committees; (V) the inauguration of an elected candidate by that 108 
candidate's candidate committee; (W) hiring of halls, rooms, music and 109 
other entertainment for political meetings and events; (X) reasonable 110 
compensation for public speakers hired by the committee; (Y) 111 
transporting electors to the polls and other get-out-the-vote activities on 112 
election day; and (Z) any other necessary campaign or political expense. 113  Bill No. 883 
 
 
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Sec. 5. Section 4-9a of the general statutes is repealed and the 114 
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2021): 115 
(a) The Governor shall appoint the chairperson and executive 116 
director, if any, of all boards and commissions within the Executive 117 
Department, except the State Properties Review Board, the State 118 
Elections Enforcement Commission, the Commission on Human Rights 119 
and Opportunities, the Commission on Fire Prevention and Control, the 120 
Citizen's Ethics Advisory Board and the Transportation Policy Advisory 121 
Council. 122 
(b) (1) Public members shall constitute not less than one-third of the 123 
members of each board and commission within the Executive 124 
Department, except the Commission on Human Rights and 125 
Opportunities. Public member means an elector of the state who has no 126 
substantial financial interest in, is not employed in or by, and is not 127 
professionally affiliated with, any industry, profession, occupation, 128 
trade or institution regulated or licensed by the relevant board or 129 
commission, and who has had no professional affiliation with any such 130 
industry, profession, occupation, trade or institution for three years 131 
preceding his appointment to the board or commission. Except as 132 
otherwise specifically provided by the general statutes, this section shall 133 
not apply to the Commission on Fire Prevention and Control, boards 134 
and commissions the membership of which is entirely composed of state 135 
department heads, elected officials or deputies appointed by such 136 
department heads or where the membership of such board or 137 
commission is determined in accordance with the provisions of any 138 
federal law. 139 
(2) The Commissioner of Administrative Services shall create, 140 
maintain and make accessible on the Internet web site of the Department 141 
of Administrative Services a system through which an individual may 142 
electronically submit a name to be considered for appointment as a 143 
public member to a board or commission within the Executive 144 
Department. Such system shall include information about each such 145 
board or commission and specify any requirements for membership on 146  Bill No. 883 
 
 
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such board or commission. 147 
(c) Notwithstanding any provision of law, the term of each member 148 
of each board and commission within the [executive branch] Executive 149 
Department, except the State Board of Education, the Board of Regents 150 
for Higher Education, the Commission on Human Rights and 151 
Opportunities, the State Elections Enforcement Commission, the State 152 
Properties Review Board, the Citizen's Ethics Advisory Board, the 153 
Commission on Medicolegal Investigations, the Psychiatric Security 154 
Review Board, the Commission on Fire Prevention and Control, the E 9-155 
1-1 Commission, the Culture and Tourism Advisory Committee, and 156 
the board of trustees of each constituent unit of the state system of 157 
higher education, commencing on or after July 1, 1979, shall be 158 
coterminous with the term of the Governor or until a successor is 159 
chosen, whichever is later. 160 
(d) Each member of each board and commission within the [executive 161 
branch] Executive Department shall serve at the pleasure of the 162 
appointing authority except where otherwise specifically provided by 163 
any provision of the general statutes.  164 
Sec. 6. Section 4-9b of the general statutes is repealed and the 165 
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2021): 166 
(a) (1) Appointing authorities, in cooperation with one another, shall 167 
make a good faith effort to ensure that, to the extent possible, the 168 
membership, except the ex-officio membership, of each state appointive 169 
board, commission, committee and council having members appointed 170 
by the Governor or appointed by members of the General Assembly is 171 
qualified and closely reflects the gender and racial diversity of the state. 172 
If there are multiple appointing authorities for a board, commission, 173 
committee or council, the appointing authorities shall inform each other 174 
of their appointees or planned appointees in order to facilitate 175 
compliance with this section. 176 
(2) Appointing authorities shall (A) consider each recommendation 177  Bill No. 883 
 
 
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for appointment of a public member to a board or commission made by 178 
any organization representing the interests of gender or racial diversity, 179 
and (B) make a good faith effort to seek out individuals for such 180 
appointment that reflect such diversity.  181 
(b) The executive officer or chairperson of each state appointive 182 
board, commission, committee and council having members appointed 183 
by the Governor or appointed by members of the General Assembly, 184 
except committees whose membership consists solely of members of the 185 
General Assembly, shall [report] submit in writing to the Secretary of 186 
the State on or after September first, but not later than October 1, 1993, 187 
and biennially thereafter, (1) the number of members of such body, and 188 
(2) the composition of the body according to the term "race/sex", as 189 
defined in the regulations of the Commission on Human Rights and 190 
Opportunities. Such [report] data shall not include the names of the 191 
individual members of the board, commission, committee or council. 192 
The Secretary of the State shall receive and maintain the [reports] data 193 
submitted pursuant to this subsection as public records. 194 
(c) No provision of this section shall (1) prohibit an individual from 195 
completing a term as a member of a state appointive board, commission, 196 
committee or council being served on July 2, 1993, or (2) create a private 197 
right of action.  198 
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following 
sections: 
 
Section 1 July 1, 2021 9-601 
Sec. 2 July 1, 2021 9-706(e) 
Sec. 3 July 1, 2021 9-710(c) 
Sec. 4 July 1, 2021 9-607(g)(2) 
Sec. 5 July 1, 2021 4-9a 
Sec. 6 July 1, 2021 4-9b 
 
 
GAE Joint Favorable