SB 1016 — AN ACT CONCERNING MUNICIPAL ETHICS.

Senate General Assembly RaisedFile Bill No.

1016456 January Session, 2021 LCOSenate Bill No.

40201016 ReferredSenate, toApril 14, 2021 The Committee on GOVERNMENTGovernment ADMINISTRATIONAdministration ANDand ELECTIONSElections Introducedreported by:through SEN.

(GAE)FLEXER ANof ACTthe CONCERNING29th MUNICIPALDist., ETHICS.Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the Senate, that the bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING MUNICIPAL ETHICS.

(b) Not later than January 1, 2022, the Office of State Ethics, in consultation with the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and Connecticut Council of Small Towns, shall develop and publish on its Internet web site a model municipal code of ethics which may be adoptedSB1016 by/ municipalities.File No.

The456 office1 shallSB1016 updateFile such model LCO 4020 \\PRDFS1\SCOUSERS\FORZANOF\WS\2021SB-01016-R01 of 2 SB.docx Raised Bill No.

1016456 municipaladopted codeby ofmunicipalities. ethics as the office deems necessary.

The office shall update such model municipal code of ethics as the office deems necessary.

3 January 1, 2022 New section GAE Joint Favorable LCOSB1016 4020/ {\\PRDFS1\SCOUSERS\FORZANOF\WS\2021SB-01016-File 2No. of 2 R01-SB.docx }

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456 The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:

Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 22 $ FY 23 $ State Ethics, Off.

GF - Potential See Below See Below Cost Note:

GF=General Fund Municipal Impact:

None Explanation Section 1 of the bill requires, by January 1, 2022, the Office of State Ethics (OSE), in consultation with the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and Connecticut Council of Small Towns, to develop and publish on its website a model municipal code of ethics which may be adopted by municipalities.

The bill further requires, by October 1, 2022, that each municipality adopts and maintains a code of ethics.

It exempts the requirement for municipalities that have adopted an ethics code prior to January 1, 2022.

Finally, this section requires each municipality to submit a notice to OSE certifying whether it has complied with the requirements of this section by January 15, 2023.

No fiscal impact is anticipated as a result of this section of the bill.

Section 2 requires OSE to submit a report to the General Assembly indicating the status of the compliance of each municipality with the requirements of section 1 of this bill by no later than January 1, 2024.

No fiscal impact is anticipated as a result of this provision.

Section 3 allows OSE to conduct a municipal ethics education program for municipal officials or employees or for organizations made up of municipal members.

Depending on the number of municipal ethics education programs conducted, OSE may need additional SB1016 / File No.

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456 resources to fulfill this provision of the bill.

The Out Years The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to inflation.

SB1016 / File No.

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456 OLR Bill Analysis SB 1016 AN ACT CONCERNING MUNICIPAL ETHICS.

SUMMARY This bill requires each municipality to adopt and maintain a code of ethics by October 1, 2022.

A municipality is deemed in compliance if it:

• adopts an ethics code before January 1, 2022, or • adopts by October 1, 2022, and after that maintains, provisions of the model ethics code that the Office of State Ethics (OSE) must establish.

The bill requires OSE, in consultation with the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and Connecticut Council of Small Towns, to (1) develop a model municipal ethics code that municipalities may adopt and (2) publish this code on its website by January 1, 2022.

OSE must update the model code as it deems necessary.

Under the bill, each municipality must submit a notice to OSE by January 15, 2023, certifying whether it has complied with the bill’s requirements and providing a copy of its code.

It requires OSE to submit a report to the Government Administration and Elections Committee on the status of each municipality’s compliance by January 1, 2024.