Ken Dixon July 13, 2019 Updated: July 13, 2019 11:25 p.m.
A new state law nestled deep in the $43 billion budget legislation will increase government accountability by allowing state watchdogs — and taxpayers — to monitor no-bid contracts for goods and services.
Unlike towns and cities that through home rule powers of state law can side step competitive-bidding procedures with little or no public notice, the state has stricter openness requirements, which will be supplemented when the new procedures take effect.
Another new law requires quasi-public agencies such as the Connecticut Lottery Corp. to disclose more information.
But the executive director of the state Freedom of Information Commission said that transparency was a mixed-bag 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 State Auditor John Geragosian, who along with State Auditor Rob Kane submit proposed changes to the General Assembly every session. This year, they succeeded in gaining a portion of what was proposed. Starting Oct. 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,” Geragosian said, stressing that it will make future annual audits of agencies easier to perform. Currently, the state has trouble determining whether vendors are meeting the details of their deals, he said. “Contracts have to be more-nimble 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 how much their plans were met over the course of a year. “This will be out there for people to see,” he said.
“Taxpayers, as well as businesses competing for state work, deserve to know the rationale when the state circumvents competitive bidding,” State Comptroller Kevin Lembo said Thursday. “This legislation provides an important new level of transparency to assure that taxpayers are getting value for their dollar, and that all businesses have a fair opportunity to compete for state work.”
In a shorter-term expansion of transparency, Lembo said he is looking forward to working with so-called quasi-public agencies to expand their disclosures. A new law signed by Gov. Ned Lamont, requires the 13 quasi-publics, including the Connecticut Airport Authority, the Connecticut Port Authority, Access Health CT and the lottery, to provide more-detailed, “checkbook-level” financial information for public inspection.
The law also makes OpenConnecticut the official transparency site of the state.
“When it comes to open government, voluntary agreements are no replacement for a law that makes our commitment clear – that we believe the public has a right to know how their dollars are being invested,” Lembo said in a statement. “This law assures that, long after we are gone, those who follow us will be held to the same expectations of openness and transparency. I commend the legislature and governor for supporting this important measure.”
Colleen Murphy, executive director of the state Freedom of Information Commission, said that the biggest victory for open government this year was a police accountability bill that requires the release of detailed information following police use-of-force 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. “A number of measures we were concerned about did not pass,” she said.
A police arbitration award, however, did expand ID protections for police that further hinders the public’s right to know; and the Partnership for Connecticut proposal, in which hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio offered a $100 million matching grant for education programming, is exempt from state FOIA requirements, although Gov. Ned Lamont has promised transparency.
Most of the legislative wins this year were the result of bills that failed to win approval, Murphy said. “It’s essentially what we’ve been doing for most years: playing defense, beating back as many legislative proposals as we can.”
kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT
