Sen. Welch: Legislature Should Adopt Executive Order Procedure, Improve Transparency and Accountability

Hartford, CT – State Senator Jason Welch (R-Bristol) is asking legislative leaders on the Government Administrations and Elections Committee (GAE) to consider a bill proposal that would adopt standards to insure the public has notice of the order and to insure legislative oversight.

“As a legislative body we have the responsibility and authority to be the people’s representatives. It is our job to set standards of transparency and accountability concerning executive orders for this administration and any administration in the future,” said Sen.Welch.

Sen. Welch recently wrote a letter to the leaders of GAE with the request. In the letter Welch notes: because the Connecticut State Constitution and Joint Rules of the General Assembly limit the introduction of proposed bills by individual legislators in short sessions, I am respectfully requesting that your committee raise the bill.

Such procedures should include the following provisions:

1. Absent a state of emergency, the Governor must give the legislature and the public notice and an opportunity to be heard before adopting an executive order.

2. Any executive order requiring action by an administrative agency or adopting a new state policy must include assessment and reporting requirements so that the legislature and the public can receive notice of the results of its implementation and evaluate its success.

Welch points to a 1977 Connecticut Bar Journal Article which noted with alarm that “Connecticut’s governors have issued executive orders with increasing frequency and with ever broadening purposes” and warned that, with virtually no standards limiting the scope of executive orders or requiring a public process for their adoption, executive orders “represent a potential vehicle for the abuse of the authority we grant to” the Governor. ” The author called upon the legislature to assert its authority as “the people’s representatives” and adopt standards for executive orders to insure public notice and input as well as legislative oversight. 51 Conn.B.J. 383 (1977).

“This advice went unheeded and today we still have no statutory standards or procedures for executive orders. Moreover, the historic trend noted by the author over 35 years ago has continued unabated,” added Sen. Welch. “Governor Malloy has issued 38 executive orders in his first three years in office, more than twice as many as any other modern Governor.

“Regardless of your political persuasion, the sheer number and scope of these executive orders – ranging from tax policy, state budgetary standards, business regulation, state contracting and employee rights – raises serious questions regarding the proper balance of power between the executive and legislative branches as well as the rights of our constituents to be notified and heard on matters of state policy.”

The power to issue executive orders flows from Section 5 of Article Four of the Connecticut Constitution which vests “supreme executive power” in the Governor. This broad power is circumscribed. The Governor cannot encroach upon the legislature’s authority and responsibility to enact the laws of this state.

“As elected representatives accountable to our constituents, it is the legislature’s duty to establish statewide laws and policy and to ensure that such laws and policies are implemented efficiently and produce positive results. Lofty sounding executive orders, with no follow up assessment or public reporting of results, do not serve the public interest and deprive the legislature of the information it needs to fulfill its constitutional duty,” remarked Sen. Welch.

The letter to the GAE leadership concludes with this: establishing a process for public notice and input prior to the adoption of a non-emergency executive order as well as effective assessment and legislative reporting requirements will not infringe upon the Governor’s executive authority.

However, such standards would go a long way to instill a degree of public transparency and involvement in the adoption of executive orders and maintain the proper balance of power between the legislative and executive branches of government.