LCO No. 3028 1 of 14
General Assembly Raised Bill No. 434
February Session, 2024
LCO No. 3028
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION
AND ELECTIONS
Introduced by:
(GAE)
AN ACT INCREASING VARIOUS MONETARY THRESHOLDS UNDER
THE STATE CODES OF ETHICS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subdivision (5) of section 1-79 of the 2024 supplement to 1
the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 2
thereof (Effective October 1, 2024): 3
(5) "Gift" means anything of value, which is directly and personally 4
received, unless consideration of equal or greater value is given in 5
return. "Gift" does not include: 6
(A) A political contribution otherwise reported as required by law or 7
a donation or payment as described in subdivision (9) or (10) of 8
subsection (b) of section 9-601a; 9
(B) Services provided by persons volunteering their time, if provided 10
to aid or promote the success or defeat of any political party, any 11
candidate or candidates for public office or the position of convention 12
delegate or town committee member or any referendum question; 13 Raised Bill No. 434
LCO No. 3028 2 of 14
(C) A commercially reasonable loan made on terms not more 14
favorable than loans made in the ordinary course of business; 15
(D) A gift received from (i) an individual's spouse, fiancé or fiancée, 16
(ii) the parent, grandparent, brother or sister of such spouse or such 17
individual, or (iii) the child of such individual or the spouse of such 18
child; 19
(E) Goods or services (i) that are provided to a state agency or quasi-20
public agency (I) for use on state or quasi-public agency property, or (II) 21
that support an event or the participation by a public official or state 22
employee at an event, and (ii) that facilitate state or quasi-public agency 23
action or functions. As used in this subparagraph, "state property" 24
means property owned by the state or a quasi-public agency or property 25
leased to a state agency or quasi-public agency; 26
(F) A certificate, plaque or other ceremonial award costing less than 27
[one] two hundred dollars; 28
(G) A rebate, discount or promotional item available to the general 29
public; 30
(H) Printed or recorded informational material germane to state 31
action or functions; 32
(I) Food or beverage or both, costing less than [fifty] one hundred 33
dollars in the aggregate per recipient in a calendar year, and consumed 34
on an occasion or occasions at which the person paying, directly or 35
indirectly, for the food or beverage, or [his] such person's representative, 36
is in attendance; 37
(J) Food or beverage or both, costing less than [fifty] one hundred 38
dollars per person and consumed at a publicly noticed legislative 39
reception to which all members of the General Assembly are invited and 40
which is hosted not more than once in any calendar year by a lobbyist 41
or business organization. For the purposes of such limit, (i) a reception 42
hosted by a lobbyist who is an individual shall be deemed to have also 43 Raised Bill No. 434
LCO No. 3028 3 of 14
been hosted by the business organization which such lobbyist owns or 44
is employed by, and (ii) a reception hosted by a business organization 45
shall be deemed to have also been hosted by all owners and employees 46
of the business organization who are lobbyists. In making the 47
calculation for the purposes of such [fifty-dollar] one-hundred-dollar 48
limit, the donor shall divide the amount spent on food and beverage by 49
the number of persons whom the donor reasonably expects to attend the 50
reception; 51
(K) Food or beverage or both, costing less than [fifty] one hundred 52
dollars per person and consumed at a publicly noticed reception to 53
which all members of the General Assembly from a region of the state 54
are invited and which is hosted not more than once in any calendar year 55
by a lobbyist or business organization. For the purposes of such limit, (i) 56
a reception hosted by a lobbyist who is an individual shall be deemed 57
to have also been hosted by the business organization which such 58
lobbyist owns or is employed by, and (ii) a reception hosted by a 59
business organization shall be deemed to have also been hosted by all 60
owners and employees of the business organization who are lobbyists. 61
In making the calculation for the purposes of such [fifty-dollar] one-62
hundred-dollar limit, the donor shall divide the amount spent on food 63
and beverage by the number of persons whom the donor reasonably 64
expects to attend the reception. As used in this subparagraph, "region of 65
the state" means the established geographic service area of the 66
organization hosting the reception; 67
(L) A gift, including, but not limited to, food or beverage or both, 68
provided by an individual for the celebration of a major life event, 69
provided any such gift provided by an individual who is not a member 70
of the family of the recipient does not exceed one thousand five hundred 71
dollars in value; 72
(M) Gifts costing less than [one] two hundred dollars in the aggregate 73
or food or beverage provided at a hospitality suite at a meeting or 74
conference of an interstate legislative association, by a person who is not 75
a registrant or is not doing business with the state of Connecticut; 76 Raised Bill No. 434
LCO No. 3028 4 of 14
(N) Admission to a charitable or civic event, including food and 77
beverage provided at such event, but excluding lodging or travel 78
expenses, at which a public official or state employee participates in his 79
or her official capacity, provided such admission is provided by the 80
primary sponsoring entity; 81
(O) Anything of value provided by an employer of (i) a public official, 82
(ii) a state employee, or (iii) a spouse of a public official or state 83
employee, to such official, employee or spouse, provided such benefits 84
are customarily and ordinarily provided to others in similar 85
circumstances; 86
(P) Anything having a value of not more than [ten] twenty dollars, 87
provided the aggregate value of all things provided by a donor to a 88
recipient under this subdivision in any calendar year does not exceed 89
[fifty] one hundred dollars; 90
(Q) Training that is provided by a vendor for a product purchased by 91
a state or quasi-public agency that is offered to all customers of such 92
vendor; 93
(R) Travel expenses, lodging, food, beverage and other benefits 94
customarily provided by a prospective employer, when provided to a 95
student at a public institution of higher education whose employment 96
is derived from such student's status as a student at such institution, in 97
connection with bona fide employment discussions; or 98
(S) Expenses of a public official, paid by the party committee of which 99
party such official is a member, for the purpose of accomplishing the 100
lawful purposes of the committee. As used in this subparagraph, "party 101
committee" has the same meaning as provided in subdivision (2) of 102
section 9-601 and "lawful purposes of the committee" has the same 103
meaning as provided in subsection (g) of section 9-607. 104
Sec. 2. Subsection (i) of section 1-84 of the 2024 supplement to the 105
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 106
thereof (Effective October 1, 2024): 107 Raised Bill No. 434
LCO No. 3028 5 of 14
(i) (1) No public official or state employee or member of the official 108
or employee's immediate family or a business with which he is 109
associated shall enter into any contract with the state, valued at [one] 110
two hundred dollars or more, other than a contract (A) of employment 111
as a state employee, (B) with the Technical Education and Career System 112
for students enrolled in a school in the system to perform services in 113
conjunction with vocational, technical, technological or postsecondary 114
education and training any such student is receiving at a school in the 115
system, subject to the review process under subdivision (2) of this 116
subsection, (C) with a public institution of higher education to support 117
a collaboration with such institution to develop and commercialize any 118
invention or discovery, or (D) pursuant to a court appointment, unless 119
the contract has been awarded through an open and public process, 120
including prior public offer and subsequent public disclosure of all 121
proposals considered and the contract awarded. In no event shall an 122
executive head of an agency, as defined in section 4-166, including a 123
commissioner of a department, or an executive head of a quasi-public 124
agency, or the executive head's immediate family or a business with 125
which he is associated enter into any contract with that agency or quasi-126
public agency. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as applying 127
to any public official who is appointed as a member of the executive 128
branch or as a member or director of a quasi-public agency and who 129
receives no compensation other than per diem payments or 130
reimbursement for actual or necessary expenses, or both, incurred in the 131
performance of the public official's duties unless such public official has 132
authority or control over the subject matter of the contract. Any contract 133
made in violation of this subsection shall be voidable by a court of 134
competent jurisdiction if the suit is commenced not later than one 135
hundred eighty days after the making of the contract. 136
(2) The superintendent of the Technical Education and Career System 137
shall establish an open and transparent process to review any contract 138
entered into under subparagraph (B) of subdivision (1) of this 139
subsection. 140
Sec. 3. Subsection (o) of section 1-84 of the 2024 supplement to the 141 Raised Bill No. 434
LCO No. 3028 6 of 14
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 142
thereof (Effective October 1, 2024): 143
(o) If (1) any person (A) is doing business with or seeking to do 144
business with the department or agency in which a public official or 145
state employee is employed, or (B) is engaged in activities which are 146
directly regulated by such department or agency, and (2) such person or 147
a representative of such person gives to such public official or state 148
employee anything having a value of more than [ten] twenty dollars, 149
such person or representative shall, not later than ten days thereafter, 150
give such recipient and the executive head of the recipient's department 151
or agency a written report stating the name of the donor, a description 152
of the item or items given, the value of such items and the cumulative 153
value of all items given to such recipient during that calendar year. The 154
provisions of this subsection shall not apply to a political contribution 155
otherwise reported as required by law. 156
Sec. 4. Subdivision (6) of section 1-91 of the 2024 supplement to the 157
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 158
thereof (Effective October 1, 2024): 159
(6) "Expenditure" means any advance, conveyance, deposit, 160
distribution, transfer of funds, loan, payment, unless expressly 161
excluded; any payments for telephone, mailing, postage, printing and 162
other clerical or office services and materials; any paid communications, 163
costing [fifty] one hundred dollars or more in any calendar year, 164
disseminated by means of any printing, broadcasting or other medium, 165
provided such communications refer to pending administrative or 166
legislative action; any contract, agreement, promise or other obligation; 167
any solicitation or solicitations, costing [fifty] one hundred dollars or 168
more in the aggregate for any calendar year, of other persons to 169
communicate with a public official or state employee for the purpose of 170
influencing any legislative or administrative act and any pledge, 171
subscription of money or anything of value. "Expenditure" does not 172
include (A) the payment of a registrant's fee pursuant to section 1-95, (B) 173
any expenditure made by any club, committee, partnership, 174 Raised Bill No. 434
LCO No. 3028 7 of 14
organization, business, union, association or corporation for the 175
purpose of publishing a newsletter or other release intended primarily 176
for its members, shareholders or employees, whether in written or 177
electronic form or made orally during a regularly noticed meeting, (C) 178
any expenditure made by any club, committee, partnership, 179
organization, business, union, association or corporation for the 180
purpose of transporting its members, shareholders or employees to or 181
from a specific site, where such members, shareholders or employees 182
received no other compensation or reimbursement for lobbying from 183
such club, committee, partnership, organization, business, union, 184
association or corporation, or (D) contributions, membership dues or 185
other fees paid to associations, nonstock corporations or tax-exempt 186
organizations under Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 187
or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United 188
States, as from time to time amended. 189
Sec. 5. Subdivision (7) of section 1-91 of the 2024 supplement to the 190
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 191
thereof (Effective October 1, 2024): 192
(7) "Gift" means anything of value, which is directly and personally 193
received, unless consideration of equal or greater value is given in 194
return. "Gift" does not include: 195
(A) A political contribution otherwise reported as required by law or 196
a donation or payment described in subdivision (9) or (10) of subsection 197
(b) of section 9-601a; 198
(B) Services provided by persons volunteering their time, if provided 199
to aid or promote the success or defeat of any political party, any 200
candidate or candidates for public office or the position of convention 201
delegate or town committee member or any referendum question; 202
(C) A commercially reasonable loan made on terms not more 203
favorable than loans made in the ordinary course of business; 204
(D) A gift received from (i) the individual's spouse, fiancé or fiancée, 205 Raised Bill No. 434
LCO No. 3028 8 of 14
(ii) the parent, grandparent, brother or sister of such spouse or such 206
individual, or (iii) the child of such individual or the spouse of such 207
child; 208
(E) Goods or services (i) that are provided to a state agency or quasi-209
public agency (I) for use on state or quasi-public agency property, or (II) 210
that support an event or the participation by a public official or state 211
employee at an event, and (ii) that facilitate state or quasi-public agency 212
action or functions. As used in this subparagraph, "state property" 213
means property owned by the state or a quasi-public agency or property 214
leased to a state or quasi-public agency; 215
(F) A certificate, plaque or other ceremonial award costing less than 216
[one] two hundred dollars; 217
(G) A rebate, discount or promotional item available to the general 218
public; 219
(H) Printed or recorded informational material germane to state 220
action or functions; 221
(I) Food or beverage or both, costing less than [fifty] one hundred 222
dollars in the aggregate per recipient in a calendar year, and consumed 223
on an occasion or occasions at which the person paying, directly or 224
indirectly, for the food or beverage, or [his] such person's representative, 225
is in attendance; 226
(J) Food or beverage or both, costing less than [fifty] one hundred 227
dollars per person and consumed at a publicly noticed legislative 228
reception to which all members of the General Assembly are invited and 229
which is hosted not more than once in any calendar year by a lobbyist 230
or business organization. For the purposes of such limit, (i) a reception 231
hosted by a lobbyist who is an individual shall be deemed to have also 232
been hosted by the business organization which [he] such lobbyist owns 233
or is employed by, and (ii) a reception hosted by a business organization 234
shall be deemed to have also been hosted by all owners and employees 235
of the business organization who are lobbyists. In making the 236 Raised Bill No. 434
LCO No. 3028 9 of 14
calculation for the purposes of such [fifty-dollar] one-hundred-dollar 237
limit, the donor shall divide the amount spent on food and beverage by 238
the number of persons whom the donor reasonably expects to attend the 239
reception; 240
(K) Food or beverage or both, costing less than [fifty] one hundred 241
dollars per person and consumed at a publicly noticed reception to 242
which all members of the General Assembly from a region of the state 243
are invited and which is hosted not more than once in any calendar year 244
by a lobbyist or business organization. For the purposes of such limit, (i) 245
a reception hosted by a lobbyist who is an individual shall be deemed 246
to have also been hosted by the business organization which [he] such 247
lobbyist owns or is employed by, and (ii) a reception hosted by a 248
business organization shall be deemed to have also been hosted by all 249
owners and employees of the business organization who are lobbyists. 250
In making the calculation for the purposes of such [fifty-dollar] one-251
hundred-dollar limit, the donor shall divide the amount spent on food 252
and beverage by the number of persons whom the donor reasonably 253
expects to attend the reception. As used in this subparagraph, "region of 254
the state" means the established geographic service area of the 255
organization hosting the reception; 256
(L) A gift, including, but not limited to, food or beverage or both, 257
provided by an individual for the celebration of a major life event, 258
provided any such gift provided by an individual who is not a member 259
of the family of the recipient does not exceed one thousand five hundred 260
dollars in value; 261
(M) Gifts costing less than [one] two hundred dollars in the aggregate 262
or food or beverage provided at a hospitality suite at a meeting or 263
conference of an interstate legislative association, by a person who is not 264
a registrant or is not doing business with the state of Connecticut; 265
(N) Admission to a charitable or civic event, including food and 266
beverage provided at such event, but excluding lodging or travel 267
expenses, at which a public official or state employee participates in his 268 Raised Bill No. 434
LCO No. 3028 10 of 14
or her official capacity, provided such admission is provided by the 269
primary sponsoring entity; 270
(O) Anything of value provided by an employer of (i) a public official, 271
(ii) a state employee, or (iii) a spouse of a public official or state 272
employee, to such official, employee or spouse, provided such benefits 273
are customarily and ordinarily provided to others in similar 274
circumstances; 275
(P) Anything having a value of not more than [ten] twenty dollars, 276
provided the aggregate value of all things provided by a donor to a 277
recipient under this subdivision in any calendar year does not exceed 278
[fifty] one hundred dollars; or 279
(Q) Training that is provided by a vendor for a product purchased by 280
a state or quasi-public agency that is offered to all customers of such 281
vendor. 282
Sec. 6. Subdivision (12) of section 1-91 of the 2024 supplement to the 283
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 284
thereof (Effective October 1, 2024): 285
(12) "Lobbyist" means a person who in lobbying and in furtherance 286
of lobbying makes or agrees to make expenditures, or receives or agrees 287
to receive compensation, reimbursement, or both, and such 288
compensation, reimbursement or expenditures are three thousand 289
dollars or more in any calendar year or the combined amount thereof is 290
three thousand dollars or more in any such calendar year. "Lobbyist" 291
does not include: 292
(A) A public official, employee of a branch of state government or a 293
subdivision thereof, including an official or employee of a quasi-public 294
agency, or elected or appointed official of a municipality or his or her 295
designee other than an independent contractor, who is acting within the 296
scope of his or her authority or employment; 297
(B) A publisher, owner or an employee of the press, radio or 298 Raised Bill No. 434
LCO No. 3028 11 of 14
television while disseminating news or editorial comment to the general 299
public in the ordinary course of business; 300
(C) An individual representing himself or herself or another person 301
before the legislature or a state agency other than for the purpose of 302
influencing legislative or administrative action; 303
(D) Any individual or employee who receives no compensation or 304
reimbursement specifically for lobbying and who limits his activities 305
solely to formal appearances to give testimony before public sessions of 306
committees of the General Assembly or public hearings of state agencies 307
and who, if he or she testifies, registers his or her appearance in the 308
records of such committees or agencies; 309
(E) A member of an advisory board acting within the scope of his or 310
her appointment; 311
(F) A senator or representative in Congress acting within the scope of 312
his or her office; 313
(G) Any person who receives no compensation or reimbursement 314
specifically for lobbying and who spends no more than five hours in 315
furtherance of lobbying unless such person (i) exclusive of salary, 316
receives compensation or makes expenditures, or both, of three 317
thousand dollars or more in any calendar year for lobbying or the 318
combined amount thereof is three thousand dollars or more in any such 319
calendar year, or (ii) expends [fifty] one hundred dollars or more for the 320
benefit of a public official in the legislative or executive branch, a 321
member of his or her staff or immediate family; 322
(H) A communicator lobbyist who receives or agrees to receive 323
compensation, reimbursement, or both, the aggregate amount of which 324
is less than three thousand dollars from each client in any calendar year. 325
Sec. 7. Subsection (a) of section 1-96 of the general statutes is repealed 326
and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2024): 327
(a) Each client lobbyist registrant shall file with the Office of State 328 Raised Bill No. 434
LCO No. 3028 12 of 14
Ethics between the first and tenth day of April, July and January a 329
financial report, signed under penalty of false statement. The April and 330
July reports shall cover its lobbying activities during the previous 331
calendar quarter and the January report shall cover its lobbying 332
activities during the previous two calendar quarters. In addition to such 333
reports, each client lobbyist registrant which attempts to influence 334
legislative action shall file, under penalty of false statement, interim 335
monthly reports of its lobbying activities for each month the General 336
Assembly is in regular session, except that no monthly report shall be 337
required for any month in which it neither expends nor agrees to expend 338
[one] two hundred dollars or more in furtherance of lobbying. Such 339
interim monthly reports shall be filed with the Office of State Ethics no 340
later than the tenth day of the month following the last day of the month 341
reported. If the client lobbyist registrant is not an individual, an 342
authorized officer or agent of the client lobbyist registrant shall sign the 343
form. A communicator lobbyist for a municipality or any subdivision of 344
a municipality shall file the reports described in this subsection utilizing 345
the client lobbyist reporting schedule. 346
Sec. 8. Subsection (e) of section 1-96 of the general statutes is repealed 347
and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2024): 348
(e) Each client lobbyist registrant financial report shall be on a form 349
prescribed by the board and shall state expenditures made and the 350
fundamental terms of contracts, agreements or promises to pay 351
compensation or reimbursement or to make expenditures in furtherance 352
of lobbying. Any such fundamental terms shall be reported once in the 353
monthly, quarterly or post-termination report next following the 354
entering into of such contract. Such financial report shall include an 355
itemized statement of each expenditure of [ten] twenty dollars or more 356
per person for each occasion made by the reporting registrant or a group 357
of registrants which includes the reporting registrant for the benefit of a 358
public official in the legislative or executive branch, a member of his 359
staff or immediate family, itemized by date, beneficiary, amount and 360
circumstances of the transaction. The requirement of an itemized 361
statement shall not apply to an expenditure made by a reporting 362 Raised Bill No. 434
LCO No. 3028 13 of 14
registrant or a group of registrants which includes the reporting 363
registrant for (1) the benefit of the members of the General Assembly at 364
an event that is a reception to which all such members are invited or all 365
members of a region of the state, as such term is used in subparagraph 366
(K) of subdivision (7) of section 1-91, as amended by this act, are invited, 367
unless the expenditure is [thirty] sixty dollars or more per person, or (2) 368
benefits personally and directly received by a public official or state 369
employee at a charitable or civic event at which the public official or 370
state employee participates in his official capacity, unless the 371
expenditure is [thirty] sixty dollars or more per person, per event. If the 372
compensation is required to be reported for an individual whose 373
lobbying is incidental to his or her regular employment, it shall be 374
sufficient to report a prorated amount based on the value of the time 375
devoted to lobbying. On the first financial report following registration 376
each client lobbyist registrant shall include any expenditures incident to 377
lobbying activities that were received or expended prior to registration 378
and not previously reported to the Office of State Ethics. 379
Sec. 9. Subsection (g) of section 1-96 of the general statutes is repealed 380
and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2024): 381
(g) Each former registrant shall (1) report receipts or expenditures 382
incident to lobbying activities during [his] such registrant's period of 383
registration which are received or expended following termination of 384
registration and (2) report each expenditure of [ten] twenty dollars or 385
more per person for each occasion made by [him] such registrant for the 386
benefit of a public official or a member of such official's immediate 387
family or staff which occurs within six months after termination of 388
registration. 389
Sec. 10. Subsection (a) of section 1-96a of the general statutes is 390
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 391
1, 2024): 392
(a) Each registrant shall obtain and preserve all accounts, bills, 393
receipts and other documents necessary to substantiate the financial 394 Raised Bill No. 434
LCO No. 3028 14 of 14
reports required by section 1-96, as amended by this act, for a period of 395
three years from the date of the filing of the report referring to such 396
financial matters, provided this section shall apply to each expenditure 397
for the benefit of a public official of [ten] twenty dollars or more and all 398
other expenditures of [fifty] one hundred dollars or more. 399
Sec. 11. Section 1-96e of the general statutes is repealed and the 400
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2024): 401
Each registrant who pays or reimburses a public official or state 402
employee [ten] twenty dollars or more for necessary expenses, as 403
defined in section 1-79, as amended by this act, shall, within forty-five 404
days, file a statement with the Office of State Ethics indicating the name 405
of such individual and the amount of the expenses. 406
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2024 1-79(5)
Sec. 2 October 1, 2024 1-84(i)
Sec. 3 October 1, 2024 1-84(o)
Sec. 4 October 1, 2024 1-91(6)
Sec. 5 October 1, 2024 1-91(7)
Sec. 6 October 1, 2024 1-91(12)
Sec. 7 October 1, 2024 1-96(a)
Sec. 8 October 1, 2024 1-96(e)
Sec. 9 October 1, 2024 1-96(g)
Sec. 10 October 1, 2024 1-96a(a)
Sec. 11 October 1, 2024 1-96e
Statement of Purpose:
To increase various monetary thresholds for violations under the state
codes of ethics.
[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.]