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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 1230
January Session, 2025
AN ACT CONCERNING THE PURCHASE OF PRINT AND DIGITAL
ADVERTISING BY THE STATE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2025) (a) As used in this section, (1) 1
"publisher of news" means an entity that (A) disseminates original news 2
content to the public, whether by print, broadcast, photographic, 3
mechanical, electronic or any other means or medium, and (B) has been 4
producing such original news content for a period of at least twelve 5
months; and (2) "state agency" means any department, board, council, 6
commission or other executive branch agency of state government, but 7
excludes each constituent unit of the state system of higher education, 8
as described in section 10a-1 of the general statutes. 9
(b) Except as provided in subsections (c) and (e) of this section, on 10
and after July 1, 2026, each state agency procuring print or digital 11
advertising shall, within available appropriations, contract with a 12
commercial or nonprofit publisher of news whose principal place of 13
business is in this state for not less than fifteen per cent of the total 14
annual value of such agency's contracts for such advertising. In the case 15
of a commercial or nonprofit publisher of news that is owned by a 16
parent company that is located outside of this state, the principal place 17
of business of such publisher shall be deemed to be the location of such 18
parent company. Not later than June 1, 2026, the Commissioner of 19 Substitute Bill No. 1230
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Administrative Services shall, within available appropriations, establish 20
guidelines for any contracts entered into under this section. The 21
commissioner may accept volunteer assistance from institutions of 22
higher education in the state or other neutral third parties with relevant 23
expertise in establishing such guidelines. 24
(c) If a state agency determines that an award in accordance with 25
subsection (b) of this section would interfere with the purpose of the 26
advertising, the state agency may request a waiver of such requirement 27
from the Commissioner of Administrative Services, in a manner and 28
form prescribed by the commissioner. Any such request shall clearly 29
document the reasons for requesting such a waiver. 30
(d) Not later than December 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, each 31
state agency shall provide a summary of all print or digital advertising 32
purchased by such state agency during the preceding fiscal year, 33
including the amounts spent, to the Commissioner of Administrative 34
Services, in a form and manner prescribed by the commissioner. 35
(e) The provisions of this section shall not apply to state agency 36
contracts for print or digital advertising that is primarily directed at an 37
out-of-state audience, including, but not limited to, for out-of-state 38
tourism, economic development or employee recruitment. 39
(f) Not later than February 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, the 40
Commissioner of Administrative Services shall, within available 41
appropriations, submit a report, in accordance with the provisions of 42
section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint standing committee of 43
the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to 44
government administration. The report shall summarize any 45
advertising purchased by state agencies during the preceding fiscal 46
year, the amounts spent by such agencies on such advertising, any 47
waiver requests received by the commissioner, whether such waivers 48
were granted or denied and the reasons for such granting or denial. 49 Substitute Bill No. 1230
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2025 New section
GAE Joint Favorable Subst.