2015 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 1 - Provisions of General Application
Chapter 10 - Codes of Ethics
Section 1-79 - Definitions.

The following terms, when used in this part, have the following meanings unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) “Blind trust” means a trust established by a public official or state employee or member of his or her immediate family for the purpose of divestiture of all control and knowledge of assets.

(2) “Business with which he is associated” means any sole proprietorship, partnership, firm, corporation, trust or other entity through which business for profit or not for profit is conducted in which the public official or state employee or member of his or her immediate family is a director, officer, owner, limited or general partner, beneficiary of a trust or holder of stock constituting five per cent or more of the total outstanding stock of any class, provided, a public official or state employee, or member of his or her immediate family, shall not be deemed to be associated with a not for profit entity solely by virtue of the fact that the public official or state employee or member of his or her immediate family is an unpaid director or officer of the not for profit entity. “Officer” refers only to the president, executive or senior vice president or treasurer of such business.

(3) “Candidate for public office” means any individual who has filed a declaration of candidacy or a petition to appear on the ballot for election as a public official, or who has raised or expended money in furtherance of such candidacy, or who has been nominated for appointment to serve as a public official, but does not include a candidate for the office of senator or representative in Congress.

(4) “Board” means the Citizen’s Ethics Advisory Board established in section 1-80.

(5) “Gift” means anything of value, which is directly and personally received, unless consideration of equal or greater value is given in return. “Gift” does not include:

(A) A political contribution otherwise reported as required by law or a donation or payment as described in subdivision (9) or (10) of subsection (b) of section 9-601a;

(B) Services provided by persons volunteering their time, if provided to aid or promote the success or defeat of any political party, any candidate or candidates for public office or the position of convention delegate or town committee member or any referendum question;

(C) A commercially reasonable loan made on terms not more favorable than loans made in the ordinary course of business;

(D) A gift received from (i) an individual’s spouse, fiancé or fiancée, (ii) the parent, brother or sister of such spouse or such individual, or (iii) the child of such individual or the spouse of such child;

(E) Goods or services (i) that are provided to a state agency or quasi-public agency (I) for use on state or quasi-public agency property, or (II) that support an event or the participation by a public official or state employee at an event, and (ii) that facilitate state or quasi-public agency action or functions. As used in this subparagraph, “state property” means property owned by the state or a quasi-public agency or property leased to a state agency or quasi-public agency;

(F) A certificate, plaque or other ceremonial award costing less than one hundred dollars;

(G) A rebate, discount or promotional item available to the general public;

(H) Printed or recorded informational material germane to state action or functions;

(I) Food or beverage or both, costing less than fifty dollars in the aggregate per recipient in a calendar year, and consumed on an occasion or occasions at which the person paying, directly or indirectly, for the food or beverage, or his representative, is in attendance;

(J) Food or beverage or both, costing less than fifty dollars per person and consumed at a publicly noticed legislative reception to which all members of the General Assembly are invited and which is hosted not more than once in any calendar year by a lobbyist or business organization. For the purposes of such limit, (i) a reception hosted by a lobbyist who is an individual shall be deemed to have also been hosted by the business organization which such lobbyist owns or is employed by, and (ii) a reception hosted by a business organization shall be deemed to have also been hosted by all owners and employees of the business organization who are lobbyists. In making the calculation for the purposes of such fifty-dollar limit, the donor shall divide the amount spent on food and beverage by the number of persons whom the donor reasonably expects to attend the reception;

(K) Food or beverage or both, costing less than fifty dollars per person and consumed at a publicly noticed reception to which all members of the General Assembly from a region of the state are invited and which is hosted not more than once in any calendar year by a lobbyist or business organization. For the purposes of such limit, (i) a reception hosted by a lobbyist who is an individual shall be deemed to have also been hosted by the business organization which such lobbyist owns or is employed by, and (ii) a reception hosted by a business organization shall be deemed to have also been hosted by all owners and employees of the business organization who are lobbyists. In making the calculation for the purposes of such fifty-dollar limit, the donor shall divide the amount spent on food and beverage by the number of persons whom the donor reasonably expects to attend the reception. As used in this subparagraph, “region of the state” means the established geographic service area of the organization hosting the reception;

(L) A gift, including, but not limited to, food or beverage or both, provided by an individual for the celebration of a major life event, provided any such gift provided by an individual who is not a member of the family of the recipient does not exceed one thousand dollars in value;

(M) Gifts costing less than one hundred dollars in the aggregate or food or beverage provided at a hospitality suite at a meeting or conference of an interstate legislative association, by a person who is not a registrant or is not doing business with the state of Connecticut;

(N) Admission to a charitable or civic event, including food and beverage provided at such event, but excluding lodging or travel expenses, at which a public official or state employee participates in his or her official capacity, provided such admission is provided by the primary sponsoring entity;

(O) Anything of value provided by an employer of (i) a public official, (ii) a state employee, or (iii) a spouse of a public official or state employee, to such official, employee or spouse, provided such benefits are customarily and ordinarily provided to others in similar circumstances;

(P) Anything having a value of not more than ten dollars, provided the aggregate value of all things provided by a donor to a recipient under this subdivision in any calendar year does not exceed fifty dollars;

(Q) Training that is provided by a vendor for a product purchased by a state or quasi-public agency that is offered to all customers of such vendor;

(R) Travel expenses, lodging, food, beverage and other benefits customarily provided by a prospective employer, when provided to a student at a public institution of higher education whose employment is derived from such student’s status as a student at such institution, in connection with bona fide employment discussions; or

(S) Expenses of a public official, paid by the party committee of which party such official is a member, for the purpose of accomplishing the lawful purposes of the committee. As used in this subparagraph, “party committee” has the same meaning as provided in subdivision (2) of section 9-601 and “lawful purposes of the committee” has the same meaning as provided in subsection (g) of section 9-607.

(6) “Immediate family” means any spouse, children or dependent relatives who reside in the individual’s household.

(7) “Individual” means a natural person.

(8) “Member of an advisory board” means any individual (A) appointed by a public official as an advisor or consultant or member of a committee, commission or council established to advise, recommend or consult with a public official or branch of government or committee thereof, (B) who receives no public funds other than per diem payments or reimbursement for his or her actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of his or her official duties, and (C) who has no authority to expend any public funds or to exercise the power of the state.

(9) “Person” means an individual, sole proprietorship, trust, corporation, limited liability company, union, association, firm, partnership, committee, club or other organization or group of persons.

(10) “Political contribution” has the same meaning as in section 9-601a except that for purposes of this part, the provisions of subsection (b) of said section shall not apply.

(11) “Public official” means any state-wide elected officer, any member or member-elect of the General Assembly, any person appointed to any office of the legislative, judicial or executive branch of state government by the Governor or an appointee of the Governor, with or without the advice and consent of the General Assembly, any public member or representative of the teachers’ unions or state employees’ unions appointed to the Investment Advisory Council pursuant to subsection (a) of section 3-13b, any person appointed or elected by the General Assembly or by any member of either house thereof, any member or director of a quasi-public agency and the spouse of the Governor, but does not include a member of an advisory board, a judge of any court either elected or appointed or a senator or representative in Congress.

(12) “Quasi-public agency” means Connecticut Innovations, Incorporated, the Connecticut Health and Education Facilities Authority, the Connecticut Higher Education Supplemental Loan Authority, the Connecticut Student Loan Foundation, the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, the State Housing Authority, the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority, the Capital Region Development Authority, the Connecticut Lottery Corporation, the Connecticut Airport Authority, the Connecticut Health Insurance Exchange, the Connecticut Green Bank, the Connecticut Port Authority and the State Education Resource Center.

(13) “State employee” means any employee in the executive, legislative or judicial branch of state government, whether in the classified or unclassified service and whether full or part-time, and any employee of a quasi-public agency, but does not include a judge of any court, either elected or appointed.

(14) “Trust” means a trust in which any public official or state employee or member of his immediate family has a present or future interest which exceeds ten per cent of the value of the trust or exceeds fifty thousand dollars, whichever is less, but does not include blind trusts.

(15) “Business organization” means a sole proprietorship, corporation, limited liability company, association, firm or partnership, other than a client lobbyist, that is owned by, or employs, one or more individual lobbyists.

(16) “Client lobbyist” means a lobbyist on behalf of whom lobbying takes place and who makes expenditures for lobbying and in furtherance of lobbying.

(17) “Necessary expenses” means a public official’s or state employee’s expenses for an article, appearance or speech or for participation at an event, in his official capacity, which shall be limited to necessary travel expenses, lodging for the nights before, of and after the appearance, speech or event, meals and any related conference or seminar registration fees.

(18) “Lobbyist” and “registrant” shall be construed as defined in section 1-91.

(19) “Legal defense fund” means a fund established for the payment of legal expenses of a public official or state employee incurred as a result of defending himself or herself in an administrative, civil, criminal or constitutional proceeding concerning matters related to the official’s or employee’s service or employment with the state or a quasi-public agency.

(20) “State agency” means any office, department, board, council, commission, institution, constituent unit of the state system of higher education, technical high school or other agency in the executive, legislative or judicial branch of state government.

(P.A. 77-600, S. 1, 15; 77-605, S. 14, 21; P.A. 79-493, S. 1, 9; P.A. 81-395, S. 6, 9; P.A. 82-423, S. 1, 8; P.A. 83-249, S. 1, 14; P.A. 84-335, S. 1, 4; P.A. 86-99, S. 29, 34; P.A. 88-139, S. 1; 88-225, S. 1, 14; P.A. 89-245, S. 1; 89-360, S. 8, 45; 89-369, S. 1; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-8, S. 54, 63; June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-1, S. 1, 20, 22; P.A. 92-149, S. 7, 12; P.A. 93-413, S. 13, 16; P.A. 95-79, S. 3, 4, 189; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-5, S. 17, 19; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-6, S. 1, 14; P.A. 98-179, S. 13, 30; P.A. 99-56; P.A. 00-43, S. 16, 19; 00-99, S. 13, 154; P.A. 01-143, S. 4, 8; P.A. 04-143, S. 23; 04-198, S. 2, 6; P.A. 05-183, S. 1; 05-287, S. 38; P.A. 06-76, S. 3; P.A. 07-1, S. 5; June 11 Sp. Sess. P.A. 08-3, S. 9, 13; P.A. 10-101, S. 1; 10-117, S. 87; P.A. 11-53, S. 15; 11-84, S. 16; P.A. 12-116, S. 87; 12-147, S. 1; June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 12-1, S. 183; June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 12-2, S. 163; P.A. 13-180, S. 36; 13-244, S. 1; 13-299, S. 2; P.A. 14-94, S. 1, 29; 14-182, S. 2; 14-212, S. 5; 14-217, S. 169; 14-222, S. 4; P.A. 15-18, S. 1; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 15-5, S. 36.)

History: P.A. 77-605 redefined “political contribution”; P.A. 79-493 redefined “candidate for public office”, “gift”, “immediate family”, “member of an advisory board” and “public official” and included treasurers as officers of businesses in Subdiv. (a); P.A. 81-395 substituted reference to Sec. 9-335(18) for reference to Sec. 9-348q(a) in Subdiv. (i); P.A. 82-423 amended Subdiv. (d) to change food and beverage exception from under $25 to under $50; P.A. 83-249 amended Subdiv. (i) to broaden the definition of “political contribution”; P.A. 84-335 amended Subdiv. (j) to include sheriffs and deputy sheriffs in definition of “public official”; P.A. 86-99 amended definition of “political contribution” to reflect technical changes made in chapter 150; P.A. 88-139 added definitions of “blind trust” and “trust”, redefined “business with which he is associated” to include references to sole proprietorships, firms, corporations, trusts and other profit or nonprofit entities, and redefined “person” to include sole proprietorships and trusts, relettering Subdivs. as necessary; P.A. 88-225 included “any member or director of a quasi-public agency” in definition of “public official”, included “any employee of a quasi-public agency” in definition of “state employee” and inserted new Subdiv. defining “quasi-public agency”, relettering former Subdivs. as necessary; P.A. 89-245 amended the definition of “quasi-public agency” in Subdiv. (l) to rename Connecticut Product Development Corporation as Connecticut Innovations, Incorporated; P.A. 89-360 redefined “quasi-public agency” to include the New Haven Family Alliance; P.A. 89-369 limited exception in definition of “gift” for food or beverage costing less than $50 per person and consumed on a single occasion to an occasion “at which the person paying, directly or indirectly, for the food or beverage, or his representative, is in attendance”; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-8 deleted reference to New Haven Family Alliance in definition of “quasi-public agency”; June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-1 added exception to definition of “business with which he is associated” in Subdiv. (b), substantially amended definition of “gift” and exceptions to “gift” in Subdiv. (e), redefined “quasi-public agency” in Subdiv. (l) by adding Lower Fairfield County Convention Center Authority and Connecticut Convention Center Authority, and added Subdivs. (o) to (r), inclusive, defining “business organization”, “client lobbyist”, “necessary expenses” and “lobbyist” and “registrant”; P.A. 92-149 redefined “client lobbyist”; P.A. 93-413 included Connecticut Coastline Port Authority in definition of “quasi-public agency” in Subdiv. (l), effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 95-79 redefined “person” and “business organization” to include a limited liability company, effective May 31, 1995; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-5 amended Subsec. (e)(1) by changing Sec. 9-333b(b) Subdiv. reference from (11) to (10), effective July 1, 1997, and applicable to elections and primaries held on or after January 1, 1998; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-6 amended Subsec. (e) by expanding Subdiv. (5), by changing limit to $50 in Subdiv. (9), inserting new Subdiv. (11) re food or beverage consumed at a publicly noticed reception, adding new Subdiv. (14) re admission to charitable or civic event, adding new Subdiv. (15) re anything of value provided by employer and adding new Subdiv. (16) re anything of value of not more than $10, effective January 1, 1998 (Revisor’s note: In Subdiv. (11) of Subsec. (e) a hyphen between “publicly” and “noticed” was deleted editorially by the Revisors for consistency with customary statutory usage); P.A. 98-179 amended Subsec. (l), defining “quasi-public agency”, by deleting the Connecticut Convention Center Authority and adding the Capital City Economic Development Authority, effective June 1, 1998; P.A. 99-56 amended Subsec. (k) by adding an appointee of the Governor to the definition of “public official”; P.A. 00-43 amended Subsec. (k) to include members of the Investment Advisory Council as “public officials”, effective May 3, 2000; P.A. 00-99 deleted reference to sheriff and deputy sheriff in Subsec. (k), effective December 1, 2000; P.A. 01-143 amended Subsec. (l) by changing Connecticut Coastline Port Authority to Connecticut Port Authority, effective July 6, 2001; P.A. 04-143 redefined “quasi-public agency” in Subsec. (l) to eliminate Connecticut Port Authority from definition, effective July 1, 2004; P.A. 04-198 applied provisions to Sec. 1-86d, made technical changes in Subsecs. (e)(10) and (h) and defined “legal defense fund” in Subsec. (s), effective June 3, 2004, and redefined “quasi-public agency” in Subsec. (l) to include Connecticut Lottery Corporation; P.A. 05-183 replaced definition of “commission” with definition of “board”, effective July 1, 2005; P.A. 05-287 amended Subsec. (e)(2) to provide that excepted services are those services provided to aid or promote the success or defeat of any political party, any candidate or the position of convention delegate or town committee member or any referendum question, effective July 1, 2005; P.A. 06-76 amended Subsec. (l) to delete reference to Connecticut Hazardous Waste Management Service; P.A. 07-1 amended Subsec. (e)(5) to include reference to a state or quasi-public agency, added Subsec. (e)(17) re training provided by a vendor and added Subsec. (t) defining “state agency”, effective February 8, 2007; June 11 Sp. Sess. P.A. 08-3 amended Subsec. (e)(12) to add requirement that gift provided by an individual who is not a family member of recipient shall not exceed $1,000 in value and amended Subsec. (k) to include spouse of the Governor; P.A. 10-101 amended Subsec. (e) by making a technical change in Subdiv. (12) and adding Subdiv. (18) re exclusion of certain benefits provided by prospective employer to student of public institution of higher education from definition of “gift”; P.A. 10-117 redefined “quasi-public agency” to include Health Information Technology Exchange of Connecticut in Subsec. (l), effective June 8, 2010; P.A. 11-53 redefined “quasi-public agency” in Subsec. (l) to include Connecticut Health Insurance Exchange, effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 11-84 redefined “quasi-public agency” in Subsec. (l) to include Connecticut Airport Authority, effective July 1, 2011; pursuant to P.A. 12-116, “vocational-technical school” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “technical high school” in Subdiv. (t), effective July 1, 2012; P.A. 12-147 replaced “Capital City Economic Development Authority” with “Capital Region Development Authority” in Subdiv. (l), effective June 15, 2012; June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 12-1 deleted “the Connecticut Development Authority” and made a technical change in Subdiv. (l), effective July 1, 2012; June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 12-2 added “and Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority” and made a technical change in Subdiv. (l), effective July 1, 2012; P.A. 13-180 added provisions, codified by the Revisors as Subdiv. (5)(S), re expenses paid by a party committee, effective June 18, 2013; P.A. 13-244 redesignated existing Subdivs. (a) to (t) as Subdivs. (1) to (20) and made technical and conforming changes, redefined “gift” in redesignated Subdiv. (5)(E)(i)(II) to add exclusion for participation by public official or state employee at an event, redefined “quasi-public agency” in redesignated Subdiv. (12) to change Connecticut Housing Authority to State Housing Authority and redefined “client lobbyist” in redesignated Subdiv. (16) to substitute “lobbyist” for “person”; P.A. 13-299 redefined “quasi-public agency” to delete reference to Lower Fairfield County Convention Center Authority, effective July 1, 2013; pursuant to P.A. 14-94, “Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority” and “Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority” were changed editorially by the Revisors to “Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority” and “Connecticut Green Bank”, respectively, in Subdiv. (12), effective June 6, 2014; P.A. 14-182 made a technical change in Subdiv. (5)(S), effective June 12, 2014; P.A. 14-212 amended Subdiv. (12) to redefine “quasi-public agency” to include State Education Resource Center, effective June 13, 2014; P.A. 14-217 amended Subdiv. (12) by adding “Connecticut Student Loan Foundation”, deleting “Health Information Technology Exchange of Connecticut” and making technical changes, effective July 1, 2014; P.A. 14-222 amended Subdiv. (12) to redefine “quasi-public agency” to include the Connecticut Port Authority and to make technical changes, effective October 1, 2015; P.A. 15-18 amended Subdiv. (12) to redefine “quasi-public agency” to include the Connecticut Student Loan Foundation and the State Education Resource Center and to delete the Health Information Technology Exchange of Connecticut; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 15-5 amended Subdiv. (12) to redefine “quasi-public agency” to include the Connecticut Port Authority, effective July 1, 2015.