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OLR Bill Analysis
SB 883 (File 513, as amended by Senate "A")*
AN ACT CONCERNING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE
GOVERNOR'S COUNCIL ON WOMEN AND GIRLS.
SUMMARY
This bill makes changes affecting (1) the Citizens’ Election Program
(CEP), which is the state’s voluntary public campaign financing
program open to candidates running for statewide office or the
General Assembly; (2) procedures and considerations for appointing
public members to state boards and commissions; and (3) reporting by
the secretary of the state on the gender and racial diversity of state
boards and commissions.
Concerning the CEP, the bill requires the State Elections
Enforcement Commission (SEEC), on or after July 1, 2021, to amend
the CEP regulations to permit expenditures for child care services. It
authorizes qualified candidate committees (i.e., those of participating
CEP candidates that SEEC has approved for a Citizens’ Election Fund
(CEF) grant) to make expenditures for these services using CEF grants,
subject to certain limits and conditions, after SEEC amends the
regulations. Currently, participating CEP candidates who have
qualified for a grant may use CEF grants for these expenditures under
a 2020 Superior Court decision (see BACKGROUND).
Concerning boards and commissions, the bill, among other things,
does the following:
1. requires the Department of Administrative Services (DAS)
commissioner to maintain an online system for submitting
recommendations for public member appointees to executive
department boards or commissions;
2. requires appointing authorities for state boards, commissions,
committee, and councils with members appointed by the 2021SB-00883-R01-BA.DOCX
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governor or legislators, to, among other things, ensure that the
membership is qualified and diverse, consistent with applicable
law, by January 1, 2026, and after that, according to the most
recent U.S. census population data; and
3. requires the secretary of the state to publish a report on the
gender and racial composition of certain state boards and
commissions and compare this information with the state’s
gender and racial composition, according to the most recent
U.S. census population data.
The bill also makes technical and conforming changes.
*Senate Amendment “A” requires that DAS maintain the online
system on the state, rather than the department, website, and adds the
provisions on (1) the U.S. census population data; (2) appointee
education and outreach strategies; and (3) data maintenance, analysis,
and reporting by the secretary of the state.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2021
§§ 1-4 — PERMISSIBLE EXPENDIT URES FOR CHILD CARE
SERVICES
State law establishes permissible expenditures that candidate
committees and exploratory committees may make to accomplish their
lawful purposes (e.g., compensation for staff). The law applies broadly
to candidates participating in the CEP, as well as to those who are
privately funded and running in a state or municipal election.
However, the law also requires SEEC to adopt regulations on
permissible expenditures specifically for participating CEP candidates
who qualify for a grant (see BACKGROUND).
The bill requires SEEC, on or after July 1, 2021, to amend the CEP
regulations on permissible expenditures. After the regulations are
amended, the bill authorizes participating candidates who qualify for a
grant to make expenditures for child care services using CEF grants.
The bill defines “child care services” as necessary services rendered 2021SB-00883-R01-BA.DOCX
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to a candidate for the care of a child younger than age 13 and for
whom the candidate is the parent or legal guardian when the services
(1) are a direct result of campaign activity and (2) would not exist but
for the candidate’s campaign.
It subjects these expenditures to the following conditions and limits:
1. aggregate child care services expenditures may not exceed the
amount of qualifying contributions (QCs) required to qualify for
a CEF grant (e.g., in 2020, $16,000 for candidates for state
senator and $5,300 for candidates for state representative);
2. candidates may not use CEF grants to compensate themselves
or immediate family members for child care services; and
3. any compensation for child care services must be reasonable
and customary for the services rendered.
By law, participating CEP candidates may provide their campaign
with a limited amount of personal funds (e.g., $2,000 for state senator
and $1,000 for state representative). The bill exempts child care
services expenditures made directly from a candidate’s personal funds
from these limits, as long as the candidate does not seek
reimbursement from his or her candidate committee. The exemption
applies once SEEC amends the CEP regulations as required by the bill.
Finally, the bill clarifies that privately funded candidates may pay
for child care services using campaign funds, thus conforming the law
to current practice.
§§ 5 & 6 — STATE BOARDS AND COM MISSIONS
Online System for Submitting Names
The bill requires the DAS commissioner to create, maintain, and
make accessible on the state’s website a system through which an
individual may electronically submit a name to be considered for
appointment as a public member to a board or commission in the
executive department (see BACKGROUND). The system must include
information about each board or commission and specify any 2021SB-00883-R01-BA.DOCX
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membership requirements.
Procedures and Considerations for Appointing Authorities
The bill makes changes affecting the procedures and considerations
for appointing authorities for state boards, commissions, committees,
and councils (hereafter, “boards and similar entities”) with members
appointed by the governor or state legislators.
Current law requires these appointing authorities, in cooperation
with one another, to make a good faith effort to ensure that to the
extent possible the membership of these boards and similar entities is
qualified and closely reflects the state’s gender and racial diversity.
Under the bill, when appointing authorities ensure that the
membership is qualified and diverse, they must also do so consistent
with applicable law and, by January 1, 2026, and after that, according
to the most recent U.S. census population data. (Presumably, the
current diversity requirements apply until this time.)
The bill also requires these appointing authorities, consistent with
applicable law, to (1) consider each recommendation for a public
member appointment to such a board or similar entity made by any
community or similar organization representing gender and racial
diversity interests and (2) make a good-faith effort to seek out
appointees reflecting this diversity.
The bill requires the Legislative Management Committee
chairpersons and the governor, or their designees, to coordinate public
education and outreach strategies with these community or similar
organizations to increase awareness of, and recruit diverse applicants
for, these appointments.
Data Maintenance and Analysis by the Secretary of the State
Existing law requires the executive officer or chairperson of a state
board or similar entity with members appointed by the governor or
state legislators to submit information to the secretary of the state on
the entity’s (1) number of members and (2) composition by “race/sex.”
For purposes of this submission, the bill requires appointing 2021SB-00883-R01-BA.DOCX
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authorities to maintain a record of, and make available to the secretary,
data voluntarily provided to them on newly appointed members’
gender and race at the time of the appointment. As under existing law,
the submission is due biennially between September 1 and October 1.
Finally, the bill requires the secretary of the state, by January 1, 2022,
and every two years after that, to (1) develop and publish a report,
including on her website, on the gender and racial composition of each
board or similar entity with members appointed by the governor or
state legislators and (2) conduct an analysis comparing the state’s
gender and racial composition, according to the most recent U.S.
census population data, with the goal of reflecting that composition on
such boards and similar entities, by January 1, 2026.
BACKGROUND
Related Bill
sSB 761 (File 484), favorably reported by the Government
Administration and Elections Committee, contains the same provisions
on the CEP and expenditures for child care services.
sHB 6211 (File 499), favorably reported by the Government
Administration and Elections Committee, contains similar provisions
on appointing authorities and the secretary of the state.
Related Declaratory Ruling
In Declaratory Ruling 2019-02, SEEC (1) ruled that under current
CEP regulations, child care services are not a permissible expense for
candidates who have been approved for a CEF grant and (2) indicated
that a change to the law or its regulations would be necessary to
permit these expenditures.
SEEC also reaffirmed its 1976 advisory opinion concerning privately
funded candidates. In that opinion, the commission held that privately
funded candidates may generally use campaign funds to pay for
childcare services, provided the payments are (1) a direct result of
campaign activity which would not exist but for the candidate’s
campaign, (2) reasonable and customary for the services rendered, and 2021SB-00883-R01-BA.DOCX
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(3) properly documented by the campaign (AO 1976-23).
Related Case
In Pereira v. State Elections Enforcement Commission, the Superior
Court sustained an administrative appeal from Declaratory Ruling
2019-02. It held that expenditures for child care services that meet the
three conditions outlined in AO 1976-23 are permissible under CEP
regulations. Specifically, they satisfy the requirement that all funds in a
qualified candidate committee’s depository account be used only for
campaign-related expenditures that directly further the candidate’s
nomination for election or election (Not Reported, 2020 WL 5624102
(2020)).
Public Members on Boards and Commissions
By law, at least one-third of the membership of most executive
department boards and commissions must be public members. A
public member is a state elector who has no substantial financial
interest in, is not employed by, and is not professionally affiliated with
an industry, institution, or profession regulated by the board or
commission.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Government Administration and Elections Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 13 Nay 6 (03/31/2021)