Advisory Opinion No. 2002-3

The Commission has been asked whether the open and public contracting requirements of Conn. Gen. Stat. §1-84(i) apply to contracts with Quasi-Public Agencies.

In pertinent part, §1-84(i) states that "No public official or state employee or member of his immediate family or a business with which he is associated shall enter into any contract with the state…unless the contract has been awarded through an open and public process, including prior public offer and subsequent public disclosure of all proposals considered and the contract awarded."

As the Commission has previously held, the legislation which established each of the Quasi-Public Agencies made it clear that they were "not to be construed to be a department, institution or agency of the state". State Ethics Commission Advisory Opinion No. 93-12, 55 Conn. L.J. No. 2, p. 5D (7/13/93): wherein the Commission ruled that, as a consequence, the Conn. Gen. Stat. §1-83 financial disclosure of "leases or contracts with the state" did not extend to contracts with Quasi-Public Agencies. Based on this same rationale, the §1-84(i) open and public process for "any contract with the state" does not extend to contracts entered into with Quasi-Public Agencies.

By order of the Commission,

Rosemary Giuliano
Chairperson