Governor M. Jodi Rell today called on legislative leaders in both chambers and from both parties to work with her to pass a comprehensive, nine-point ethics bill that would, among other things, allow judges to reduce or revoke the pension of a state or municipal official convicted of any crime related to their office and make it a criminal offense to fail to report a bribe. The Governor called for the bill to be passed when the House and Senate meet in full session next week.
“It is time – and in many ways past time – for the remaining work of ethics reform to be completed,” Governor Rell said. “The people of Connecticut rightfully expect these common-sense proposals to be passed and signed into law. We have done much to re-establish public faith in government, but the job is not yet complete. I am asking the Speaker of the House and the Senate President, as well as the leaders of both the House and Senate Republicans, to join me in working for speedy resolution of these last issues.
“I am offering nine basic proposals that I believe all of us can agree upon,” the Governor said. “It is time to put aside partisanship – as we did in January to pass major criminal justice reforms – for the betterment of our state. We have talked about these reforms long enough. It is time to pass them into law.
“Ethics in state government is not an issue for Republicans or Democrats – it is an issue for Connecticut,” Governor Rell said. “The very foundation of our system of government is the faith people put in their leaders and representatives. We must make it clear that their faith is well-placed – and that when that relationship is breached, there will be real consequences.”
Under Governor Rell’s proposal, 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. In cases where a federal prosecution is involved and the issue is not otherwise addressed, the Attorney General could petition the court for pension revocation. The law will apply to future cases only, as making the penalty retroactive would not pass constitutional scrutiny and could well delay implementation of the law.
The Governor is also proposing to make failure to report a bribe a crime, if the official knew or could reasonably be expected to know that a bribe was being offered.
In addition, the Governor is proposing to 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. She is also proposing to limit gifts given under the “major life event” exception in current ethics laws to a value of $1,000 or less.
Other measures called for by Governor Rell would:
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
“These proposals are simple – crystal-clear – and apply fairly to all going forward,” the Governor said. “They are without rancor and without agenda, except for the agenda that all of us who serve the public interest must heed: doing what is right, for the right reasons.”
