Senate Leadership
April 16, 2008
Williams Says Ethics Agreement is a Win For Connecticut Families
Senate President Donald E. Williams, Jr. says today's historic ethics package passed unanimously by the State Senate today represents a huge win for Connecticut families, who have been demanding tougher ethics laws for years.
"We all know how difficult it has been to reach consensus and pass meaningful ethics reform," said Senator Williams. "Senate Democrats refused to give up, and today I am thrilled that members of both parties have come together to reach this historic agreement on real ethics reform. The crown jewel of this legislation is pension revocation for public servants who betray the public trust. It is my hope this ethics package will pass the House and be signed into law."
Measures of the bill include:
- State employees, public officials (including officials of quasi-public agencies) and municipal officials would all be subject to pension reduction or revocation upon pleading guilty or no contest or being convicted of a crime related to their position.
- Make failure to report a bribe a crime.
- Limit gifts given under the "major life event" exception in current ethics laws to a value of $1,000 or less.
- Include the Governor's spouse in the definition of "public official" for purposes of the state Ethics Code
- Require public agencies to: post the minutes of a public meeting on the agency's Web site within seven days of the meeting; post the schedule of regular meetings for a calendar year by January 31 of that year; and post notice of any special meeting on the agency's Web site not less than 24 hours before the meeting
- Make it illegal for the chiefs of staff of the legislative caucuses and all public officials to solicit campaign contributions from their respective staff members, and bar the chiefs of staff of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor from soliciting campaign contributions from commissioners and deputy commissioners
- Require ethics training for all new legislators and require refresher courses for incumbent legislators every four years or whenever the Ethics Code is significantly updated
- Prohibit ex parte communications between Office of State Ethics (OSE) employees who are investigating an ethics complaint and board members concerning the subject of the complaint; provide that OSE employees may issue subpoenas only after affirmative action by the board; and prohibit absentee voting by board members
- Prohibit state contractors from offering employment to a state employee who participated in a significant way in the awarding of a state contract to that company.
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Senator Williams’ Derek Slap |
Listing of Leadership’s recent press releases. |
Senator Looney’s Derek Slap |
