Connecticut SB 324: AN ACT CONCERNING GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT OVER FRAUD AND WASTE AND ESTABLISHING THE OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT AND EFFICIENCY.

Bill Text

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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 324
February Session, 2026

AN ACT CONCERNING GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT OVER FRAUD
AND WASTE AND ESTABLISHING THE OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT
OVERSIGHT AND EFFICIENCY.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. (Effective from passage) (a) There is established a working 1
group to study and recommend legislation regarding preventing the 2
waste of taxpayer dollars by establishing partnerships between state 3
agencies and private providers to improve the delivery of services, 4
reduce the cost of such services and foster investigations to uncover 5
fraud and waste, including, but not limited to, claims of fraud and waste 6
concerning employee contracts, remuneration of employees and 7
pension benefits. 8
(b) The working group shall consist of the following members: 9
(1) Two appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, 10
one of whom has expertise in fraud detection and one of whom has 11
expertise in state agency contracts; 12
(2) Two appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, one of 13
whom is a representative of a state employee collective bargaining unit; 14
(3) One appointed by the majority leader of the House of 15
Representatives; 16

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(4) One appointed by the majority leader of the Senate; 17
(5) One appointed by the minority leader of the House of 18
Representatives; 19
(6) One appointed by the minority leader of the Senate; 20
(7) The Commissioner of Administrative Services, or the 21
commissioner's designee; 22
(8) The Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, or the 23
secretary's designee; and 24
(9) The Attorney General, or the Attorney General's designee. 25
(c) Any member of the working group appointed under subdivision 26
(1), (2), (3), (4), (5) or (6) of subsection (b) of this section may be a member 27
of the General Assembly. 28
(d) All initial appointments to the working group shall be made not 29
later than thirty days after the effective date of this section. Any vacancy 30
shall be filled by the appointing authority. 31
(e) The speaker of the House of Representatives and the president pro 32
tempore of the Senate shall select the chairpersons of the working group 33
from among the members of the working group. Such chairpersons shall 34
schedule the first meeting of the working group, which shall be held not 35
later than sixty days after the effective date of this section. 36
(f) The administrative staff of the joint standing committee of the 37
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to government 38
oversight shall serve as administrative staff of the working group. 39
(g) Not later than December 31, 2026, the working group shall submit 40
a report on its findings and recommendations to the joint standing 41
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 42
relating to government oversight, in accordance with the provisions of 43
section 11-4a of the general statutes. The working group shall terminate 44

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on the date that it submits such report or December 31, 2026, whichever 45
is later. 46
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2026) (a) For purposes of this section 47
and sections 3 to 5, inclusive, of this act, "governmental agency" means 48
a state agency or a quasi-public agency, "state agency" and "quasi-public 49
agency" have the same meanings as provided in section 1-79 of the 50
general statutes, "legislative leaders" means the president pro tempore 51
of the Senate, the speaker of the House of Representatives and the 52
minority leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and 53
"executive director" means the executive director of the Office of 54
Government Oversight and Efficiency. 55
(b) There is established an Office of Government Oversight and 56
Efficiency that shall act to detect and prevent fraud, waste and abuse in 57
the management of state personnel, in the use and disposition of state 58
property and in the collection, disbursement and expenditure of state 59
and federal funds administered by governmental agencies. The Office 60
of Government Oversight and Efficiency shall also evaluate the 61
economy, efficiency and effectiveness of governmental agencies in the 62
performance of their delegated duties and functions and of private 63
entities that contract with such agencies to provide government 64
services. 65
(c) The office shall be under the direction of an executive director, 66
who shall be appointed by the legislative leaders, with the advice and 67
consent of either house of the General Assembly. A committee 68
consisting of the legislative leaders and the chairpersons and ranking 69
members of the joint standing committee of the General Assembly 70
having cognizance of matters relating to government administration 71
shall submit to the legislative leaders the names of three candidates for 72
appointment to the po