New laws aimed at government transparency

Anewstate lawnestled deep in the $43 billion budget legislation will increase government accountability by allowing statewatchdogs—and taxpayers—to monitor nobid contracts for goods and services.

Unlike towns and cities that, through home rule powers of state law, can side step competitivebidding procedures with little or no public notice, the state has stricter openness requirements, which will be supplementedwhen the newprocedures take effect.

Another newlawrequires quasipublic agencies such as the Connecticut Lottery Corp. to disclose more information.

But the executive director of the state Freedom of Information Commission said that transparencywas a mixedbag by the end of the legislative session, with most victories the result of defeating attempts to scale back the availability of information.

“We think it’s a step in the right direction, providing transparency for the Legislature and the public” said StateAuditor John Geragosian, who along with State AuditorRobKane submit proposed changes to the GeneralAssembly every session. This year they succeeded in gaining a portion ofwhatwas proposed. Starting October 1, state agencies will be required to submit an annual procurement plan, and contracts that do not go out for bid have to be publicly disclosed.

“They’re going to have to be out there listing their bid waivers,” said Geragosian, stressing that it will make future annual audits of agencies easier to perform. Currently, the state has trouble determiningwhether vendors are meeting the details of their deals, he said. “Contracts have to be morenimble to deal with technology.”

Geragosian gave a hypothetical example of an agency filing plans for purchasing widgets without bidding. Lawmakers, the auditors and the general public would later see howmuch their planswere met over the course of a year. “This will be out there for people to see,” he said.

“Taxpayers, aswell as businesses competing for statework, deserve to know the rationalewhen the state circumvents competitive bidding,” State Comptroller Kevin Lembo said Thursday. “This legislation provides an important newlevel of transparency to assure that taxpayers are getting value for their dollar, and that all businesses have a fair opportunity to compete for statework.”

In a shorterterm expansion of transparency, Lembo said he is looking forward to working with socalled quasipublic agencies to expand their disclosures. A newlawrecently signed by Gov. Ned Lamont, requires the 13 quasipublics, including the Connecticut AirportAuthority, the Connecticut PortAuthority, AccessHealth CT and the lottery, to provide moredetailed, “checkbooklevel” financial information for public inspection.

The lawalso makes OpenConnecticut the official transparency site of the state.

“When it comes to open government, voluntary agreements are no replacement for a lawthat makes our commitment clear – that we believe the public has a right to knowhowtheir dollars are being invested,” Lembo said in a statement. “This lawassures that, long afterwe are gone, thosewho followus will be held to the same expectations of openness and transparency. I commend the legislature and governor for supporting this important measure.”

ColleenMurphy, executive director of the state Freedom of Information Commission, said that the biggest victory for open government this yearwas a police accountability bill that requires the release of detailed information following police useofforce incidents.

Another bill, which would have removed some information from voter registration rolls, failed. Murphy opposed that legislation, along with a bill aimed at keeping secret evidence seized in criminal investigations. “Anumber of measureswewere concerned about did not pass,” she said.

Apolice arbitration award, however, did expand ID protections for police that further hinders the public’s right to know; and the Partnership for Connecticut proposal, inwhich hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio offered a $100million matching grant for education programming, is exempt from state FOIA requirements, althoughGov. Ned Lamont has promised transparency.

Most of the legislative wins this yearwere the result of bills that failed to win approval, Murphy said. “It’s essentiallywhatwe’ve been doing for most years: playing defense, beating back as many legislative proposals aswe can.”

kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT

Erik Trautmann / Hearst Connecticut Media