State integrity news for Connecticut, from the Sunshine Review:

The Connecticut media have successfully stopped an overly broad FOIA exemption from being passed by the legislature. The legislature had included a FOI provision on the omnibus bill that would have exempted any documents tied to private companies requesting public economic assistance.

Specifically it read: "related to a request for assistance from a business or organization seeking to expand or relocate to this state, provided the disclosure of such records could adversely affect the financial interest of the state, the business or organization."

Read the rest of the story at Sunshine Review.

State integrity news for Connecticut, from the Connecticut Mirror:

After holding numerous meetings behind closed doors to finalize details on how teachers and principals will be graded, the State Department of Education has said the public and the media can attend the sessions from now on.

"Something is different at this meeting. At this meeting -- in the interest of transparency -- the state department has invited the press to join us," is how Elizabeth Shaw, the state's consultant with Education First, started Wednesday's "working group" meeting.

Read the rest of the story at the Connecticut Mirror.

State integrity news for Connecticut, from CT News Junkie:

The Senate gave final passage early Wednesday to a bill reworking the state’s campaign finance disclosure laws, sending it to the desk of Gov. Dannel Malloy, who’s less than supportive of it.

The bill aims to increase transparency in the election process by requiring corporations to disclose their campaign activity. It’s a response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which allowed corporations, unions, and special interest groups to funnel unlimited funds into political campaigns.

Read the rest of the story at CT News Junkie.

State Integrity news for Connecticut from WNPR:

State integrity news for Connecticut, from the Connecticut Post:

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's administration Monday announced that a probe into allegations state workers fraudulently sought federal disaster aid after last year's severe weather has caught 42 workers and cleared 685 others.

An additional 86 cases are in various stages of review, with another 240 applications under scrutiny.

"There's a lengthy process, here," Malloy spokesman Andrew Doba said.

Read the rest of the story at the Connecticut Post.

Corruption news for Connecticut, from the Connecticut Mirror:

The state's election cops intensified their warning to legislators Friday that their ability to oversee public campaign financing this fall is in jeopardy from deep budget cuts. The State Elections Enforcement Commission needs nearly double its existing contingent of account examiners if it hopes to monitor a projected caseload that includes nearly 340 campaign grants and more than 135,500 contributors, Executive Director Michael Brandi told an Appropriations Committee working group.

But even if the commission receives the extra resources, it still would tackle the 2012 state elections with less staffing that it had to monitor public financing in 2010 and 2008.

Read the rest of the story at the Connecticut Mirror.

Corruption news for Connecticut, from the Hartford Courant:

Critics have focused on news disclosures this year that some state "hazardous duty" employees — such as troopers, correction officers and prison nurses — inflate their salaries with overtime pay during the three years on which their pensions are calculated.

The state Senate Republican leader, John McKinney (pictured, right), in August called it an "abuse of Connecticut's public pension system." But newly obtained records show that, in effect, it's almost an essential part of that system — at least where hazardous-duty retirements are concerned. It's so widespread that at least four correctional workers have retired since Sept. 1 with overtime-pumped annual pensions that exceed their final year's base pay, public records show.

Read the rest of the story at the Hartford Courant.

Corruption news for Connecticut, from the Hartford Courant:

Some state employees who are suspected of food stamp fraud are highly paid officials earning more than $100,000 per year, officials said. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said that all 15 state employees who have been referred to agencies for disciplinary hearings are "relatively high wage-earners.''

As part of the first batch, investigators sought the highest-paid employees in order to make their initial cases. Malloy (pictured, right) said that the 15 identified so far were the "most obvious'' employees. The probe came alive when an investigator recognized the name of a fellow state employee who had applied for assistance under the one-time, emergency benefits that were awarded under the food stamp program.

Read the rest of the story at the Hartford Courant.

Corruption news for Connecticut, from the Stamford Advocate:

A second Connecticut agency is looking into allegations revealed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy (pictured, right) that some state workers may have been among scores of state residents who received federal food aid after Tropical Storm Irene, even though they made too much money to qualify for the program.

Malloy first mentioned the allegations Sunday, but didn't provide specifics on how much aid may have gone to people who didn't qualify for the low-income aid program. He said none of the allegations has been confirmed, but early reviews found examples of state worker conduct that could, if substantiated, lead to firings and criminal prosecutions.