A year after withholding public disclosure of the price of taxpayer-funded purchases, Comptroller Kevin Lembo changed course.
FOI
Posted inNews
Connecticut refuses to disclose how much it pays for each coronavirus test
The state has redacted contracts because vendors say their prices for $50 million in taxpayer-funded tests shouldn’t be publicly disclosed.
Posted inEducation
Sen. Flexer’s last-ditch effort to shine light on administration of Dalio grant
Sen. Mae Flexer, D-Killingly, proposed amendments that would make the board subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
Posted inMoney
FOI complaint seeks documents delving into fiscal stability panel’s work
Two progressive policy groups have charged the state’s fiscal stability commission with failing to disclose documents — including those tied to a nonprofit that funded key budgetary consultants for the panel. They are asking the legislature to put off acting on the panel’s recommendations until their request for the documents is resolved.
Posted inPolitics
Senate GOP accuses Wade of FOI violation in Cigna merger
Senate Republicans asked the state Freedom of Information Commission on Friday to penalize Insurance Commissioner Katharine L. Wade, saying she and her department withheld documents related to the pending merger of Anthem and Cigna that another agency deemed to be public information.
Posted inEducation
The Basics: UConn Foundation transparency bill wins final passage
The state House of Representatives gave final passage Monday to a bill that will increase the information the University of Connecticut’s private fundraising arm must make public. The bill now heads to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s desk.
Posted inEducation, Politics
UConn disciplinary investigation tests limits of FOI
The Connecticut Supreme Court was urged on the opening day of its new term Tuesday to draw “a bright line” defining when public institutions of higher education must release findings of professional misconduct and other disciplinary records.
Posted inPolitics
House OKs stronger FOI access to arrest records
The House of Representatives unanimously voted Friday for legislation that would declare arrest reports to be public documents under the Freedom of Information Act, reversing a major element of a Connecticut Supreme Court decision.
Posted inPolitics
CT Senate leader opposes privacy bill as affront to FOI
In testimony delivered in quick succession Monday to two legislative committees, Senate President Pro Tem Donald E. Williams Jr., D-Brooklyn, strongly condemned post-Newtown legislation that would restrict public access to 9-1-1 recordings, police photographs and names of witnesses in drug or violent crimes.
Posted inPolitics
Opinion: CT government’s conflicted feelings about transparency
Gov. Dannel Malloy’s Executive Order #39, signed last month, creates an open data portal to “further Connecticut’s commitment to transparency, efficiency, social progress, and economic expansion.” But there are other kinds of actions — being undertaken by the state legislature — that would undercut the trend toward greater transparency.