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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 5172 (as amended by House "A" and "B")*
AN ACT CONCERNING REEMPLOYMENT AND THE MUNICIPAL
EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
SUMMARY
This bill removes restrictions on the amount of time that a retiree of
the Connecticut Municipal Employees Retirement System (CMERS)
may be re-employed with a CMERS town and continue to receive his or
her pension payments.
Separately, the bill extends the period during which the Department
of Housing (DOH) commissioner may determine that a nonprofit
organization is incapable of developing or managing a property that the
nonprofit acquired using financial assistance from the Community
Housing Land Bank and Land Trust Fund. The bill additionally (1)
allows DOH to authorize the nonprofit, rather than only the state, to
dispose of the property if certain conditions are met and (2) limits the
provision to two properties in Middletown, rather than one property
anywhere in the state.
Also separately, the bill expands the information that applicants must
disclose when seeking state contractor prequalification from the
Department of Administrative Services (DAS) to include information
about certain settled administrative proceedings against the applicant
as well as certain penalties levied for labor law violations. It also
expands the reasons for which DAS must revoke a prequalification
certificate.
*House Amendment “A” adds provisions on DOH’s authority to
dispose of Community Housing Land Bank and Land Trust Fund -
assisted properties, state contractor prequalification disclosures, and
increasing compensation for certain Board of Pardons and Paroles
members. 2022HB-05172-R01-BA.DOCX
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*House Amendment “B” removes the provision from House
Amendment “A” regarding compensation for certain Board of Pardon
and Paroles members.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2022
§ 1 — RE-EMPLOYED CMERS RETIREES
Under current law, a retiree of the Connecticut Municipal Employees
Retirement System (CMERS) cannot receive pension payments if he or
she is re-employed with a CMERS town for more than 20 hours per
week or 90 days per year.
This bill allows them to be re-employed with a CMERS town for any
amount of time and receive pension payments, so long as they do not
participate (i.e., receive credit) in the retirement system during this
period of re-employment. (In practice, these retirees who are re-
employed part time do not receive credit for the period of re-
employment.)
The bill also explicitly permits retired CMERS members of a police or
fire department to accept employment with any participating school
district, including a regional district, in a public safety position and
continue to receive pension payments as long as they do not further
participate in CMERS and earn additional retirement credit.
§ 2 — COMMUNITY HOUSING LAND BANK AND LAND TRUST FUND
PROPERTIES IN MIDDLETOWN
Under a currently obsolete law, the DOH commissioner may have the
state assume control of a property owned by a nonprofit organization
that received financial assistance from the Community Housing Land
Bank and Land Trust Fund if DOH determines, by January 1, 2017, that
the nonprofit organization is incapable of developing or managing the
property. Upon making this determination, the commissioner may have
the state assume control of the property through foreclosure, voluntary
transfer, or other similar voluntary or compulsory action. With the
Office of Policy and Management (OPM) secretary’s approval, the
commissioner may take whatever steps are necessary to convey the
property, including (1) modifying or removing deed restrictions before 2022HB-05172-R01-BA.DOCX
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conveyance, (2) transferring the property to the low- or moderate-
income families who live on the property, or (3) establishing terms or
conditions for the conveyance. Under current law, DOH may authorize
the conveyance of only one property.
The bill extends, until January 1, 2023, the period during which DOH
may make the determination that the nonprofit organization is
incapable of developing or managing the property. It also allows DOH
to authorize the nonprofit, instead of the state, to dispose of the property
if the OPM secretary agrees. Similar to current law, the authorization
may (1) allow the property to be transferred to the low- or moderate-
income families who live on the property and (2) establish terms and
conditions for the conveyance, including modifying or releasing deed
restrictions. Under the bill, DOH may authorize the conveyance of two
properties in Middletown.
§§ 3-5 — DAS PREQUALIFICATION
Application
The bill expands the information that applicants must disclose when
seeking state contractor prequalification from DAS. By law, state public
works contracts that exceed $500,000 (or $1.5 million for DAS-
administered projects) generally must be awarded to a contractor that is
prequalified by DAS (CGS § 4b -91). The law also requires
prequalification by “substantial subcontractors” (i.e., those that perform
work whose value exceeds $500,000) (CGS § 4a-100(a)).
Existing law requires prequalification applicants to disclose
information about any legal or administrative proceedings concluded
adversely against them, or their principals or key personnel, within the
last five years related to procuring or performing any public or private
construction contract. The bill also requires applicants to disclose any
proceedings meeting these criteria that were settled within the past five
years.
Additionally, the bill requires applicants to disclose administrative
proceedings concluded adversely against them within the past five
years that resulted in a (1) civil penalty related to wages, employment 2022HB-05172-R01-BA.DOCX
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regulation, workers’ compensation, or employee personnel files or (2)
stop-work order related to workers’ compensation.
Revocation
The bill adds to the reasons for which the DAS commissioner must
deny or revoke a contractor’s or substantial subcontractor’s
prequalification. Under the bill, she must do so for any contractor or
substantial subcontractor that, within the past five years, has withheld
any information or documentation requested in a prequalification
application. Under existing law, a prequalification revocation generally
disqualifies a contractor or substantial subcontractor from seeking
prequalification for two years.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Planning and Development Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 26 Nay 0 (03/18/2022)