Given Gov. Ned Lamont’s reluctance to fund the State Contracting Standards Board, some lawmakers are exploring new legal options to insulate the watchdog agency from the governor’s control — including moving it from Executive Branch oversight to the Legislative Branch. The new two-year state budget legislators negotiated with Lamont included $450,000 to fund five additional positions. Currently, the board’s only staffer is Guay, its executive director. But shortly after that was passed, legislative leaders — at the request of the Lamont administration — included a provision in a subsequent budget policy bill that barred the board from spending $450,000 of its annual allotment. CSEA-SEIU Local 2001 Executive Director David Glidden agreed Tuesday that more funding for the contracting board is essential, but legislators must be careful what they trade to get it.
https://www.theday.com/statenortheast-news/20210908/lawmakers-want-to-shield-contracting-watchdog-from-executive-branch