Honorable Claudia Baio AGO 2015-6 No. 2015-06
Connecticut Attorney General Opinions Office of the Attorney General State of Connecticut November 18, 2015 Honorable Claudia Baio Chairperson Govermental Accountability Commission c/o State Contracting Standards Board 999 Asylum Avenue Hartford, CT 06105 Dear Chairperson Baio: You have asked for an opinion about the responsibilities of the Executive Administrator of the Office of Governmental Accountability (OGA) with regard to labor relations. In particular, you ask who - the Executive Administrator or the head of the individual agencies - has authority to respond to labor grievances. We conclude that, under the statute governing the OGA, responsibility with regard to labor grievances is shared, such that OGA and its Executive Administrator serve in a support role, modeled after the Small Agency Response Team program of the Department of Administrative Services, with final decisionmaking authority remaining with the heads of the individual agencies.[1] Public Act No. 11-48 (Act) established the OGA, with the Executive Administrator as its administrative head. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 1-300(a). The OGA "shall provide personnel, payroll, affirmative action and administrative and business office functions and information technology associated with such functions" for the Office of State Ethics, State Elections Enforcement Commission, Freedom of Information Commission, Judicial Review Council, Judicial Selection Commission, Board of Firearms Permit Examiners, Office of the Child Advocate, Office of the Victim Advocate and State Contracting . Standards Board (collectively, Agencies). Id, § 1 -300(b). However, the Act also provides that "[n]othing in this section shall be construed to affect or limit the independent decision-making authority" of the Agencies, and "[s]uch decisionmaking authority includes, but is not limited to, decisions concerning budgetary issues and concerning the employment of necessary staff to carry out the statutory duties" of the Agencies. Id., § 1-300(c) (emphasis added). In construing a statute, the objective is to give effect to the apparent intent of the legislature. Chairperson, Conn. Med. Examining Bd. v. FOIC, 310 Conn. 276, 283 (2013). To ascertain a statute's meaning, Conn. Gen. Stat. § 1-2z directs that the text first be considered along with its relationship with other statutes. If...
