A special Task Force created to study the impact of moving the legislature from paper to electronic files will convene a public hearing Thursday afternoon to hear some of the concerns being expressed by lawyers, the State Librarian, lobbyists and members of the public. In what was purely a budgetary decision, the Committee on Legislative Management convened the Task Force to make recommendations on which printed documents should be eliminated in order to save money. Among the concerns raised: the elimination of written transcripts of committee hearings would damage the ability of courts to establish legislative intent and the inaccessibility of the electronic data when the website crashes or when bills are not available online (as has occurred in the past) would lessen government transparency rather than broaden it.
read more ››Archive for the ‘CT politics’ Category
Important Public Hearing this Thursday on Legislature’s Move to Electronic Files - Could Mean Less Transparency
Tuesday, November 16th, 2010October OSE Board Meeting - 2011 Legislative Agenda Approved
Monday, October 25th, 2010The Board Members of the Office of State Ethics met last week to discuss, among other things, their legislative agenda for 2011. Most of the provisions in this legislative proposal were put forward in the last two years. Many may recall that the OSE had been unsuccessful in passing legislation due to the Senate Republican [...]
read more ››Report on Gov. Rell’s Use of State Funds for Public Opinion Poll Released
Monday, October 11th, 2010This past week investigators released their findings in a report on the use of UConn pollster Ken Dautrich’s time (and therefore state expense) when he assisted Governor Rell with a public opinion poll for her campaign committee. They found that his actions “either violated university policy, exhibited questionable judgment or created an appearance of a conflict of interest.” Do you think the investigators reached the right conclusion? Since the Governor is not seeking re-election, does it matter? What message does this send to other public officials and is Connecticut worse than other states when it comes to ethical missteps?
read more ››Office of State Ethics Issues Audit Report on Statements of Financial Interest - Lobbyist Compliance Deserves Credit Too
Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010The Office of State Ethics last week issued a press release announcing its audit report on the completion of the annual statements of financial disclosure by the state’s public officials and top employees. The agency began auditing these SFIs last year so this was the first time that the annual report was able to compare results. On the lobbyist side of the regulated community, the OSE produced a similar review at the end of 2009 after conducting 80 random audits over a three year period.
read more ››Pendulum of Ethics Reform
Tuesday, September 7th, 2010Ethics reform was all the rage when Governor Rell took office. But vestiges of the Rell administration’s changes to the Office of State Ethics still linger and some are evidenced by the Citizen’s Ethics Advisory Board’s inability to fill its membership ranks.
read more ››In the adsence of a state mandate, towns do need a code of ethics
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010A recent controversy in the idyllic town of Washington Connecticut has led some to argue for that municipality to adopt an ethics code. The problem arose when the First Selectman’s son was made the caretaker of the town’s beach house by local officials, even though several others were interviewed for the position. Now folks in town are crying foul over the conflict of interest and calling for the adoption of a code.
read more ››Ethics Board has new member, two more to go
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010House Majority Leader Denise Merrill has appointed Quinnipiac University professor emeritus of law Martin Margulies to the Citizens Ethic’s Advisory Board.
read more ››Office of State Ethics News - Grassroots proposal on hold and more…
Friday, March 26th, 2010Yesterday’s meeting of the Office of State Ethics Citizen’s Advisory Board saw the nomination and approval of a new Chair, the approval of an ethics policy for Board members, the postponement of the agency’s grassroots legislation and more….
read more ››New Milford’s not waiting around for state municipal ethics code
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010Given the current budget crisis and other more prominent government administration issues such as fixing campaign finance reform, it is unlikely that the General Assembly will tackle it with success this year. New Milford has shown great foresight in making this a priority by ensuring that an ethics code and rules of procedure are instituted in their town.
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