At the beginning of the month the Office of State Ethics held its annual Ethics Day celebration. This year marked the fifth anniversary for the agency. After an initial presentation by Dr. Michael Rion, one of the first members of the Citizens Advisory Board, attendees broke up into two groups - one lead by the OSE’s legal division where recent advisory opinions were discussed and the other lead by the agency’s enforcement division which reviewed trends in audit and compliance.
read more ››Posts Tagged ‘lobbyist audit’
Office of State Ethics – Ethics Day Materials
Sunday, October 10th, 2010Office 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 ››Update on Office of State Ethics Board Meeting Today
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010The Citizens Advisory Board of the office of State Ethics met today and covered several issues of interest. Of particular note to the lobbying and state contractor community were two items. The first was the Legal Division’s request of the Board to issue and Advisory Opinion on the question of whether or not a state employee or public official may receive funding from a non-restrictive donor to attend a conference or other educational opportunity. Second, the OSE had been criticized by the media in the spring for failing to issue a press release when a public official paid a penalty for a late filing of their statement of financial interest (SFI). Executive Director Carol Carson provided the Board with a Press Release Policy for the agency which stated that, while current policy is to issue a release for action brought under CGS 1-82 or CGS 1-93 that result in a probable cause finding or a public resolution only, going forward the agency will be adding new features to its website that will post when a public official or lobbyist has violated UAPA or 1-82 or 1-93.
read more ››Update on Office of State Ethics
Monday, June 21st, 2010As we head into the summer months, the Office of State Ethics has a lot going on of interest to the regulated community. As we posted last week, the agency drew 40 names of client lobbyists who will be subject to audit during the coming months. In addition, a recent email notified public officials that they will for the second year be auditing a 10% sample of their Statements of Financial Interest or SFIs. At last week’s Advisory Board meeting, Executive Director Carol Carson reported to the members that the Enforcement Division would begin sending out notices to public officials 30 days after a report has been filed by a lobbyist indicating that a benefit for that public official has been made. Finally, the Board members discussed the need to find replacements for the three open seats on the nine-member Advisory Board.
read more ››Office of State Ethics Draws 40 Lobbyists Names for Audits This Afternoon
Thursday, June 17th, 2010The Office of State Ethics Chair, Thomas Dooley, had the honor of drawing the names of 40 lobbyists out of a box today for random audit by the agency’s enforcement division. As part of their annual ritual, he read each name and the staff checked to make sure that each client lobbyist hadn’t been audited within the last three years. Ethical Influence has conducted plenty of audits and helped clients prepare for these OSE reviews. While no one wishes to have their name selected, an audit is always an opportunity to learn how to keep better records and how to streamline your internal procedures so that reporting can be done more efficiently and accurately.
read more ››Office of State Ethics Update – Next Audit June 17th / Past Chairman Pays Fine / Registration Fee Increased
Friday, June 4th, 2010Since the last OSE Board meeting, there have been a few developments that impact the regulated community. First, in an effort to move the lottery drawing of clients for audit closer to the registration period, the Office of State Ethics will be conducting this year’s drawing on June 17th as opposed to its July meeting [...]
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