Sweeping
legislation aimed at cleaning up the awarding of state contracts, one of the
issues that crippled the administration of former Gov. John G. Rowland, was
approved Monday by the legislature's government administration and elections
committee.
The legislation would standardize a mish-mash of contracting
rules and create a new state oversight board with the authority to ban a
contractor implicated in corrupt practices from doing business with the state
for up to five years.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell, a Republican who took office
after Rowland resigned last summer in the face of an impeachment inquiry and
federal corruption investigation, has asked the legislature for far-reaching
contracting reforms. Her office issued a statement lauding the committee
action.
"I think in the main this bill accomplishes what the governor
asked us to do," said Rep. Livvy R. Floren, R-Greenwich, a ranking Republican on
the Democrat-controlled committee.
The committee approved the bill, 15-4.
All four Republican opponents said they supported the central goals of the bill,
but objected to a provision sought by unions that sets pay and other standards
for companies that privatize state services.
Rep. Robert Farr, R-West
Hartford, said the standards effectively would ban privatizing any state
services. An attempt to strip the bill of the privatization language failed on a
voice vote.
Sen. Donald DeFronzo, D-New Britain, a committee co-chairman
and one of the bill's architects, said state contracting rules are so arcane
that the new rules cannot be fully implemented until October 2007.
On
that date a new State Contracting Standards Board would oversee all substantial
state contracts under the terms of a new state procurement code.
"There
is a ocean of regulations and statutes out there governing procurement in the
state of Connecticut now. Very disparate," DeFronzo said. "It varies from agency
to agency."
Rep. Christopher Caruso, D-Bridgeport, his co-chairman, said
he believes the proposed new rules and increased oversight would have stopped
the Rowland administration from awarding no-bid contracts to the Tomasso
Brothers, one of the contractors that gave Rowland gifts and favors.
"In
my opinion, it would have stopped it," Caruso said.
