Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations

The following are bill summaries of raised and, to a limited extent, proposed bills on state contracting and ethics. We did not summarize provisions unrelated to these areas. The only proposed bills included are those that received a public hearing.

Of the 24 bills fitting this description in 2004, six became law. Only one of the 17 bills in these areas became law in 2003. The bills that did not become law died in committee or on the House Calendar.

Some bills had similar concepts. In this case, only one of the bills became law. For example, in 2004 HJ 2, SB 586, SB 624 (PA 04-204), and HB 5019 all sought to protect the State Ethics Commission�s funding.

2004 PUBLIC ACTS

Contracting

PA 04-102, An Act Concerning Debarment Reform

This act expands the state�s debarment law by barring general contractors on public construction projects from awarding work to subcontractors that have violated the prevailing wage law. The state�s debarment law already prohibits state and municipal agencies from awarding contracts to general contractors that have violated the prevailing wage law.

The act also establishes a $ 1,000-per-day civil penalty for prevailing wage violators that perform work on a public construction project (effective October 1, 2004).

PA 04-141 An Act Revising Prequalification Requirements for State Construction Contracts

This act makes several changes to the laws governing public construction, including who may work on public construction projects, the requirements for obtaining this work, and reports and evaluations on the quality of the work. Most of these changes are to PA 03-215, which established new procedures for bidding on and awarding public construction contracts most of which become effective on October 1, 2004. That act�s prequalification provisions became effective on July 1, 2004 and its status report requirements were effective on January 1, 2004.

Specifically, the act:

1. expands the Department of Public Works (DPW) commissioner�s and State Properties Review Board�s (SPRB) responsibilities regarding state agencies� office space needs;

2. makes changes to contractor prequalification laws, including requiring new information on prequalification applications, and adding new grounds for disqualification;

3. changes the process for awarding emergency, no-bid contracts beginning October 1, 2004;

4. increases the information that the DPW commissioner and each member of the construction awards panel must prepare on the selection process;

5. makes the contractor evaluations that each state agency must prepare after a construction project is completed available to all agencies for their use in assessing the contractor�s fitness for future projects;

6. absolves from liability agencies and their employees who complete the evaluations;

7. delays for two years, from January 1, 2004 to January 1, 2006, awarding authorities� duty to complete status reports on construction projects;

8. eliminates a requirement for municipalities to complete the reports; and

9. requires DPW regulations to include objective criteria for evaluating contract proposals.

Ethics and the Watchdog Agencies

PA 04-38, An Act Making Certain Reforms to the State Ethics Codes

This act makes several changes to the State Codes of Ethics. It:

1. increases, from three to five years, the statute of limitations for filing complaints of ethics violations with the State Ethics Commission;

2. increases the maximum civil penalty for ethics code violations from $ 2,000 to $ 10,000;

3. doubles the time, from 90 to 180 days, the state has to bring an action to void a contract entered into in violation of the ethics code; and

4. raises the penalty and criminal classification for intentional ethics code violations from a class A misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to one year in prison, a $ 2,000 fine, or both, to a class D felony, which is punishable by up to five years in prison, a $ 5,000 fine, or both. A person convicted of a felony loses the right to become an elector and cannot vote, hold public office, or run for office, although he can have these rights restored (effective July 1, 2004

Please go to this website for further information�.� http://www.cga.state.ct.us/2004/rpt/2004-R-0571.htm