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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 434
February Session, 2024
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the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 2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
(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 Substitute Bill No. 434
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(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 fifty 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
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 Substitute Bill No. 434
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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 fifty dollars in the 73
aggregate or food or beverage provided at a hospitality suite at a 74
meeting or conference of an interstate legislative association, by a 75
person who is not a registrant or is not doing business with the state of 76
Connecticut; 77
(N) Admission to a charitable or civic event, including food and 78
beverage provided at such event, but excluding lodging or travel 79 Substitute Bill No. 434
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expenses, at which a public official or state employee participates in his 80
or her official capacity, provided such admission is provided by the 81
primary sponsoring entity; 82
(O) Anything of value provided by an employer of (i) a public official, 83
(ii) a state employee, or (iii) a spouse of a public official or state 84
employee, to such official, employee or spouse, provided such benefits 85
are customarily and ordinarily provided to others in similar 86
circumstances; 87
(P) Anything having a value of not more than [ten] twenty dollars, 88
provided the aggregate value of all things provided by a donor to a 89
recipient under this subdivision in any calendar year does not exceed 90
[fifty] one hundred dollars; 91
(Q) Training that is provided by a vendor for a product purchased by 92
a state or quasi-public agency that is offered to all customers of such 93
vendor; 94
(R) Travel expenses, lodging, food, beverage and other benefits 95
customarily provided by a prospective employer, when provided to a 96
student at a public institution of higher education whose employment 97
is derived from such student's status as a student at such institution, in 98
connection with bona fide employment discussions; or 99
(S) Expenses of a public official, paid by the party committee of which 100
party such official is a member, for the purpose of accomplishing the 101
lawful purposes of the committee. As used in this subparagraph, "party 102
committee" has the same meaning as provided in subdivision (2) of 103
section 9-601 and "lawful purposes of the committee" has the same 104
meaning as provided in subsection (g) of section 9-607. 105
Sec. 2. Subsection (i) of section 1-84 of the 2024 supplement to the 106
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 107
thereof (Effective October 1, 2024): 108
(i) (1) No public official or state employee or member of the official 109 Substitute Bill No. 434
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or employee's immediate family or a business with which he is 110
associated shall enter into any contract with the state, valued at [one] 111
two hundred fifty dollars or more, other than a contract (A) of 112
employment as a state employee, (B) with the Technical Education and 113
Career System for students enrolled in a school in the system to perform 114
services in conjunction with vocational, technical, technological or 115
postsecondary education and training any such student is receiving at a 116
school in the system, subject to the review process under subdivision (2) 117
of this subsection, (C) with a public institution of higher education to 118
support a collaboration with such institution to develop and 119
commercialize any invention or discovery, or (D) pursuant to a court 120
appointment, unless the contract has been awarded through an open 121
and public process, including prior public offer and subsequent public 122
disclosure of all proposals considered and the contract awarded. In no 123
event shall an executive head of an agency, as defined in section 4-166, 124
including a commissioner of a department, or an executive head of a 125
quasi-public agency, or the executive head's immediate family or a 126
business with which he is associated enter into any contract with that 127
agency or quasi-public agency. Nothing in this subsection shall be 128
construed as applying to any public official who is appointed as a 129
member of the executive branch or as a member or director of a quasi-130
public agency and who receives no compensation other than per diem 131
payments or reimbursement for actual or necessary expenses, or both, 132
incurred in the performance of the public official's duties unless such 133
public official has authority or control over the subject matter of the 134
contract. Any contract made in violation of this subsection shall be 135
voidable by a court of competent jurisdiction if the suit is commenced 136
not later than one hundred eighty days after the making of the contract. 137
(2) The superintendent of the Technical Education and Career System 138
shall establish an open and transparent process to review any contract 139
entered into under subparagraph (B) of subdivision (1) of this 140
subsection. 141
Sec. 3. Subsection (o) of section 1-84 of the 2024 supplement to the 142
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 143 Substitute Bill No. 434
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thereof (Effective October 1, 2024): 144
(o) If (1) any person (A) is doing business with or seeking to do 145
business with the department or agency in which a public official or 146
state employee is employed, or (B) is engaged in activities which are 147
directly regulated by such department or agency, and (2) such person or 148
a representative of such person gives to such public official or state 149
employee anything having a value of more than [ten] twenty dollars, 150
such person or representative shall, not later than ten days thereafter, 151
give such recipient and the executive head of the recipient's department 152
or agency a written report stating the name of the donor, a description 153
of the item or items given, the value of such items and the cumulative 154
value of all items given to such recipient during that calendar year. The 155
provisions of this subsection shall not apply to a political contribution 156
otherwise reported as required by law. 157
Sec. 4. Subdivision (6) of section 1-91 of the 2024 supplement to the 158
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 159
thereof (Effective October 1, 2024): 160
(6) "Expenditure" means any advance, conveyance, deposit, 161
distribution, transfer of funds, loan, payment, unless expressly 162
excluded; any payments for telephone, mailing, postage, printing and 163
other clerical or office services and materials; any paid communications, 164
costing [fifty] one hundred dollars or more in any calendar year, 165
disseminated by means of any printing, broadcasting or other medium, 166
provided such communications refer to pending administrative or 167
legislative action; any contract, agreement, promise or other obligation; 168
any solicitation or solicitations, costing [fifty] one hundred dollars or 169
more in the aggregate for any calendar year, of other persons to 170
communicate with a public official or state employee for the purpose of 171
influencing any legislative or administrative act and any pledge, 172
subscription of money or anything of value. "Expenditure" does not 173
include (A) the payment of a registrant's fee pursuant to section 1-95, (B) 174
any expenditure made by any club, committee, partnership, 175
organization, business, union, association or corporation for the 176 Substitute Bill No. 434
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purpose of publishing a newsletter or other release intended primarily 177
for its members, shareholders or employees, whether in written or 178
electronic form or made orally during a regularly noticed meeting, (C) 179
any expenditure made by any club, committee, partnership, 180
organization, business, union, association or corporation for the 181
purpose of transporting its members, shareholders or employees to or 182
from a specific site, where such members, shareholders or employees 183
received no other compensation or reimbursement for lobbying from 184
such club, committee, partnership, organization, business, union, 185
association or corporation, or (D) contributions, membership dues or 186
other fees paid to associations, nonstock corporations or tax-exempt 187
organizations under Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 188
or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United 189
States, as from time to time amended. 190
Sec. 5. Subdivision (7) of section 1-91 of the 2024 supplement to the 191
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 192
thereof (Effective October 1, 2024): 193
(7) "Gift" means anything of value, which is directly and personally 194
received, unless consideration of equal or greater value is given in 195
return. "Gift" does not include: 196
(A) A political contribution otherwise reported as required by law or 197
a donation or payment described in subdivision (9) or (10) of subsection 198
(b) of section 9-601a; 199
(B) Services provided by persons volunteering their time, if provided 200
to aid or promote the success or defeat of any political party, any 201
candidate or candidates for public office or the position of convention 202
delegate or town committee member or any referendum question; 203
(C) A commercially reasonable loan made on terms not more 204
favorable than loans made in the ordinary course of business; 205
(D) A gift received from (i) the individual's spouse, fiancé or fiancée, 206
(ii) the parent, grandparent, brother or sister of such spouse or such 207 Substitute Bill No. 434
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individual, or (iii) the child of such individual or the spouse of such 208
child; 209
(E) Goods or services (i) that are provided to a state agency or quasi-210
public agency (I) for use on state or quasi-public agency property, or (II) 211
that support an event or the participation by a public official or state 212
employee at an event, and (ii) that facilitate state or quasi-public agency 213
action or functions. As used in this subparagraph, "state property" 214
means property owned by the state or a quasi-public agency or property 215
leased to a state or quasi-public agency; 216
(F) A certificate, plaque or other ceremonial award costing less than 217
[one] two hundred fifty dollars; 218
(G) A rebate, discount or promotional item available to the general 219
public; 220
(H) Printed or recorded informational material germane to state 221
action or functions; 222
(I) Food or beverage or both, costing less than [fifty] one hundred 223
dollars in the aggregate per recipient in a calendar year, and consumed 224
on an occasion or occasions at which the person paying, directly or 225
indirectly, for the food or beverage, or [his] such person's representative, 226
is in attendance; 227
(J) Food or beverage or both, costing less than [fifty] one hundred 228
dollars per person and consumed at a publicly noticed legislative 229
reception to which all members of the General Assembly are invited and 230
which is hosted not more than once in any calendar year by a lobbyist 231
or business organization. For the purposes of such limit, (i) a reception 232
hosted by a lobbyist who is an individual shall be deemed to have also 233
been hosted by the business organization which [he] such lobbyist owns 234
or is employed by, and (ii) a reception hosted by a business organization 235
shall be deemed to have also been hosted by all owners and employees 236
of the business organization who are lobbyists. In making the 237
calculation for the purposes of such [fifty-dollar] one-hundred-dollar 238 Substitute Bill No. 434
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limit, the donor shall divide the amount spent on food and beverage by 239
the number of persons whom the donor reasonably expects to attend the 240
reception; 241
(K) Food or beverage or both, costing less than [fifty] one hundred 242
dollars per person and consumed at a publicly noticed reception to 243
which all members of the General Assembly from a region of the state 244
are invited and which is hosted not more than once in any calendar year 245
by a lobbyist or business organization. For the purposes of such limit, (i) 246
a reception hosted by a lobbyist who is an individual shall be deemed 247
to have also been hosted by the business organization which [he] such 248
lobbyist owns or is employed by, and (ii) a reception hosted by a 249
business organization shall be deemed to have also been hosted by all 250
owners and employees of the business organization who are lobbyists. 251
In making the calculation for the purposes of such [fifty-dollar] one-252
hundred-dollar limit, the donor shall divide the amount spent on food 253
and beverage by the number of persons whom the donor reasonably 254
expects to attend the reception. As used in this subparagraph, "region of 255
the state" means the established geographic service area of the 256
organization hosting the reception; 257
(L) A gift, including, but not limited to, food or beverage or both, 258
provided by an individual for the celebration of a major life event, 259
provided any such gift provided by an individual who is not a member 260
of the family of the recipient does not exceed one thousand five hundred 261
dollars in value; 262
(M) Gifts costing less than [one] two hundred fifty dollars in the 263
aggregate or food or beverage provided at a hospitality suite at a 264
meeting or conference of an interstate legislative association, by a 265
person who is not a registrant or is not doing business with the state of 266
Connecticut; 267
(N) Admission to a charitable or civic event, including food and 268
beverage provided at such event, but excluding lodging or travel 269
expenses, at which a public official or state employee participates in his 270 Substitute Bill No. 434
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or her official capacity, provided such admission is provided by the 271
primary sponsoring entity; 272
(O) Anything of value provided by an employer of (i) a public official, 273
(ii) a state employee, or (iii) a spouse of a public official or state 274
employee, to such official, employee or spouse, provided such benefits 275
are customarily and ordinarily provided to others in similar 276
circumstances; 277
(P) Anything having a value of not more than [ten] twenty dollars, 278
provided the aggregate value of all things provided by a donor to a 279
recipient under this subdivision in any calendar year does not exceed 280
[fifty] one hundred dollars; or 281
(Q) Training that is provided by a vendor for a product purchased by 282
a state or quasi-public agency that is offered to all customers of such 283
vendor. 284
Sec. 6. Subdivision (12) of section 1-91 of the 2024 supplement to the 285
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 286
thereof (Effective October 1, 2024): 287
(12) "Lobbyist" means a person who in lobbying and in furtherance 288
of lobbying makes or agrees to make expenditures, or receives or agrees 289
to receive compensation, reimbursement, or both, and such 290
compensation, reimbursement or expenditures are three thousand 291
dollars or more in any calendar year or the combined amount thereof is 292
three thousand dollars or more in any such calendar year. "Lobbyist" 293
does not include: 294
(A) A public official, employee of a branch of state government or a 295
subdivision thereof, including an official or employee of a quasi-public 296
agency, or elected or appointed official of a municipality or his or her 297
designee other than an independent contractor, who is acting within the 298
scope of his or her authority or employment; 299
(B) A publisher, owner or an employee of the press, radio or 300 Substitute Bill No. 434
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television while disseminating news or editorial comment to the general 301
public in the ordinary course of business; 302
(C) An individual representing himself or herself or another person 303
before the legislature or a state agency other than for the purpose of 304
influencing legislative or administrative action; 305
(D) Any individual or employee who receives no compensation or 306
reimbursement specifically for lobbying and who limits his or her 307
activities solely to formal appearances to give testimony before public 308
sessions of committees of the General Assembly or public hearings of 309
state agencies and who, if he or she testifies, registers his or her 310
appearance in the records of such committees or agencies; 311
(E) A member of an advisory board acting within the scope of his or 312
her appointment; 313
(F) A senator or representative in Congress acting within the scope of 314
his or her office; 315
(G) Any person who receives no compensation or reimbursement 316
specifically for lobbying and who spends no more than five hours in 317
furtherance of lobbying unless such person (i) exclusive of salary, 318
receives compensation or makes expenditures, or both, of three 319
thousand dollars or more in any calendar year for lobbying or the 320
combined amount thereof is three thousand dollars or more in any such 321
calendar year, or (ii) expends [fifty] one hundred dollars or more for the 322
benefit of a public official in the legislative or executive branch, a 323
member of his or her staff or immediate family; 324
(H) A communicator lobbyist who receives or agrees to receive 325
compensation, reimbursement, or both, the aggregate amount of which 326
is less than three thousand dollars from each client in any calendar year. 327
Sec. 7. Subsection (a) of section 1-96 of the general statutes is repealed 328
and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2024): 329
(a) Each client lobbyist registrant shall file with the Office of State 330 Substitute Bill No. 434
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Ethics between the first and tenth day of April, July and January a 331
financial report, signed under penalty of false statement. The April and 332
July reports shall cover its lobbying activities during the previous 333
calendar quarter and the January report shall cover its lobbying 334
activities during the previous two calendar quarters. In addition to such 335
reports, each client lobbyist registrant which attempts to influence 336
legislative action shall file, under penalty of false statement, interim 337
monthly reports of its lobbying activities for each month the General 338
Assembly is in regular session, except that no monthly report shall be 339
required for any month in which it neither expends nor agrees to expend 340
[one] two hundred fifty dollars or more in furtherance of lobbying. Such 341
interim monthly reports shall be filed with the Office of State Ethics no 342
later than the tenth day of the month following the last day of the month 343
reported. If the client lobbyist registrant is not an individual, an 344
authorized officer or agent of the client lobbyist registrant shall sign the 345
form. A communicator lobbyist for a municipality or any subdivision of 346
a municipality shall file the reports described in this subsection utilizing 347
the client lobbyist reporting schedule. 348
Sec. 8. Subsection (e) of section 1-96 of the general statutes is repealed 349
and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2024): 350
(e) Each client lobbyist registrant financial report shall be on a form 351
prescribed by the board and shall state expenditures made and the 352
fundamental terms of contracts, agreements or promises to pay 353
compensation or reimbursement or to make expenditures in furtherance 354
of lobbying. Any such fundamental terms shall be reported once in the 355
monthly, quarterly or post-termination report next following the 356
entering into of such contract. Such financial report shall include an 357
itemized statement of each expenditure of [ten] twenty dollars or more 358
per person for each occasion made by the reporting registrant or a group 359
of registrants which includes the reporting registrant for the benefit of a 360
public official in the legislative or executive branch, a member of his or 361
her staff or immediate family, itemized by date, beneficiary, amount and 362
circumstances of the transaction. The requirement of an itemized 363
statement shall not apply to an expenditure made by a reporting 364 Substitute Bill No. 434
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registrant or a group of registrants which includes the reporting 365
registrant for (1) the benefit of the members of the General Assembly at 366
an event that is a reception to which all such members are invited or all 367
members of a region of the state, as such term is used in subparagraph 368
(K) of subdivision (7) of section 1-91, as amended by this act, are invited, 369
unless the expenditure is [thirty] sixty dollars or more per person, or (2) 370
benefits personally and directly received by a public official or state 371
employee at a charitable or civic event at which the public official or 372
state employee participates in his or her official capacity, unless the 373
expenditure is [thirty] sixty dollars or more per person, per event. If the 374
compensation is required to be reported for an individual whose 375
lobbying is incidental to his or her regular employment, it shall be 376
sufficient to report a prorated amount based on the value of the time 377
devoted to lobbying. On the first financial report following registration 378
each client lobbyist registrant shall include any expenditures incident to 379
lobbying activities that were received or expended prior to registration 380
and not previously reported to the Office of State Ethics. 381
Sec. 9. Subsection (g) of section 1-96 of the general statutes is repealed 382
and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2024): 383
(g) Each former registrant shall (1) report receipts or expenditures 384
incident to lobbying activities during [his] such registrant's period of 385
registration which are received or expended following termination of 386
registration and (2) report each expenditure of [ten] twenty dollars or 387
more per person for each occasion made by [him] such registrant for the 388
benefit of a public official or a member of such official's immediate 389
family or staff which occurs within six months after termination of 390
registration. 391
Sec. 10. Subsection (a) of section 1-96a of the general statutes is 392
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 393
1, 2024): 394
(a) Each registrant shall obtain and preserve all accounts, bills, 395
receipts and other documents necessary to substantiate the financial 396 Substitute Bill No. 434
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reports required by section 1-96, as amended by this act, for a period of 397
three years from the date of the filing of the report referring to such 398
financial matters, provided this section shall apply to each expenditure 399
for the benefit of a public official of [ten] twenty dollars or more and all 400
other expenditures of [fifty] one hundred dollars or more. 401
Sec. 11. Section 1-96e of the general statutes is repealed and the 402
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2024): 403
Each registrant who pays or reimburses a public official or state 404
employee [ten] twenty dollars or more for necessary expenses, as 405
defined in section 1-79, as amended by this act, shall, within forty-five 406
days, file a statement with the Office of State Ethics indicating the name 407
of such individual and the amount of the expenses. 408
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
GAE Joint Favorable Subst.