Malloy, Lamonts await ethics rulings
HARTFORD — With his stint as a visiting law professor at Boston College coming to an end, it seems that an avenue in the health industry could be opening for former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.
According to a draft ruling from the Office of State Ethics, Malloy would not be violating the state’s revolvingdoor rules if he were to accept a job with companies under contract with the Connecticut Health
Insurance Exchange, the state’s affiliate with the federal Affordable Care Act that was organized halfway through his first term.
But as he considers his professional future, Malloy said Tuesday he is less likely to head into health care than he might have been months ago, when the request was first made to state ethics officials.
Malloy said the requested ruling, scheduled to be acted on by the Citizen’s Ethics Advisory Board on Thursday, was a precautionary move from months ago, and he is now unlikely to seek employment in that field. A lawyer, Malloy declined to detail his current job search. But health care, either with the insurance or legal field, is not on his plate.
“I don’t expect it,” Malloy, 63, said from the college, taking time out from grading end-of-term law school papers. He said the ruling was sought because he wanted to be aboveboard and well within state ethics regulations, if he had decided to pursue a potential job with a health exchange contractor.
A lawyer with deep Democratic connections, William Bloss of the Bridgeport firm of Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder, filed for the ruling representing an unnamed former governor.
The advisory board is also expected to rule that Annie Lamont’s financial interests do not run afoul of ethics law.
Earlier this spring, about a month before Gov. Ned Lamont filed his ethics disclosure, Robert W. Clark, the governor’s lead counsel, asked for a ruling on the issue of potential conflicts, since Lamont’s wife has significant investments in companies that could potential seek contracts with the state.
The Office of State Ethics draft ruling said that neither of the Lamonts would be in a position to approve a contract that could benefit them.
Both of the Lamonts have vowed to recuse themselves actively seeking any such contracts, Clark wrote, stressing that the assets would be put in a blind trust during Lamont’s term of office. The couple has also promised to resign from corporate boards and trusteeships.