AN ACT CONCERNING LOBBYIST CONTRIBUTIONS DURING LEGISLATIVE SESSIONS.

House of Representatives
sHB5547 / File No. 552 1

General Assembly File No. 552
February Session, 2026 Substitute House Bill No. 5547

House of Representatives, April 9, 2026

The Committee on Government Administration and Elections
reported through REP. BLUMENTHAL of the 147th Dist.,
Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the House, that the
substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING LOBBYIST CONTRIBUTIONS DURING
LEGISLATIVE SESSIONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subsection (e) of section 9 -610 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 2
1, 2027): 3
(e) For purposes of this subsection and subsection (f) of this section, 4
the exclusions to the term "contribution" in subsection (b) of section 9 -5
601a shall not apply; [the term ] "state office" means the office of 6
Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, State Comptroller, 7
State Treasurer or Secretary of the State; [and the term ] "state officer" 8
means the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, State 9
Comptroller, State Treasurer or Secretary of the State; "municipal office" 10
means an elective office for which only the electors of a single town, city, 11
borough or political subdivision may vote, but does not include the 12
office of state senator or state representative; "municipal officer" means 13
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an elected officer for which only the electors of a single town, city, 14
borough or political subdivision were permitted to vote, but does not 15
include a state senator or state representative; and "political 16
subdivision" has the same meaning as provided in section 9 -372. 17
Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter, [to the contrary,] during 18
any regular session of the General Assembly, during any special session 19
of the General Assembly held between the adjournment of the regular 20
session in an odd -numbered year and the convening of the regular 21
session in the following even-numbered year or during any reconvened 22
session of the General Assembly held in an odd -numbered year to 23
reconsider vetoed bills, (1) no lobbyist or political committee established 24
by or on behalf of a lobbyist shall make or offer to make a contribution 25
to or on behalf of, and no lobbyist shall solicit a contribution on behalf 26
of, (A) a candidate or exploratory committee established by a candidate 27
for nomination or election to the General Assembly, [or] a state office, a 28
municipal office or the office of judge of probate , or (B) a political 29
committee (i) established for an assembly or senatorial district, (ii) 30
established by a member of the General Assembly, [or] a state officer, a 31
municipal officer, a judge of probate or such [member or officer's ] 32
member's, officer's or judge's agent, or in consultation with, or at the 33
request or suggestion of, any such member, officer , judge or agent, or 34
(iii) controlled by such member, officer , judge or agent, to aid or 35
promote the nomination or election of any candidate or candidates to 36
the General Assembly, [or] a state office, a municipal office or the office 37
of judge of probate , and (2) no such candidate or political committee 38
shall accept such a contribution. The provisions of this subsection shall 39
not apply to a candidate committee established by a member of the 40
General Assembly or a candidate for nomination or election to the 41
General Assembly, at a special election for the General Assembly, from 42
the date on which the candidate or the [chairman] chairperson of the 43
committee files the designation of a treasurer and a depository 44
institution under section 9 -602 with the State Elections Enforcement 45
Commission, to the date on which the special election is held, inclusive. 46
[, or to an exploratory committee established by a member of the 47
General Assembly to promote his candidacy for an office other than the 48
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General Assembly.] 49
Sec. 2. Subsection (f) of section 9-608 of the general statutes is repealed 50
and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2027): 51
(f) If an exploratory committee has been established by a candidate 52
pursuant to subsection (c) of section 9 -604, the treasurer of the 53
committee shall file a notice of intent to dissolve it with the appropriate 54
authority not later than fifteen days after the candidate's declaration of 55
intent to seek nomination or election to a particular public office, except 56
that in the case of an exploratory committee established by a candidate 57
for purposes that include aiding or promoting the candidate's candidacy 58
for nomination or election to the General Assembly or a state office, the 59
treasurer of the committee shall file such notice of intent to dissolve the 60
committee not later than fifteen days after the earlier of: (1) The 61
candidate's declaration of intent to seek nomination or election to a 62
particular public office, (2) the candidate's endorsement at a convention, 63
caucus or town committee meeting, or (3) the candidate's filing of a 64
candidacy for nomination under section 9 -400 or 9 -405. The treasurer 65
shall also file a statement identifying all contributions received or 66
expenditures made by the exploratory committee since the previous 67
statement and the balance on hand or deficit, as the case may be. In the 68
event of a surplus, the treasurer shall, not later than the filing of the 69
statement, distribute the surplus to the candidate committee established 70
pursuant to said section, except that [(A)] in the case of a surplus of an 71
exploratory committee established by a candidate who intends to be a 72
participating candidate, as defined in section 9 -703, in the Citizens' 73
Election Program, the treasurer may distribute to the candidate 74
committee only that portion of such surplus that is attributable to 75
contributions that meet the criteria for qualifying contributions for the 76
candidate committee under section 9 -704 and shall distribute the 77
remainder of such surplus to the Citizens' Election Fund established in 78
section 9 -701. [, and (B) in the case of a surplus of an exploratory 79
committee established for nomination or election to an office other than 80
the General Assembly or a state office (i) the treasurer may only 81
distribute to the candidate committee for nomination or election to the 82
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General Assembly or state office of such candidate that portion of such 83
surplus which is in excess of the total contributions which the 84
exploratory committee received from lobbyists or political committees 85
established by lobbyists, during any period in which the prohibitions in 86
subsection (e) of section 9 -610 apply, and (ii) any remaining amount 87
shall be returned to all such lobbyists and political committees 88
established by or on behalf of lobbyists, on a prorated basis of 89
contribution, or distributed to any charitable organization which is a 90
tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 91
Code of 1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code 92
of the United States, as from time to time amended. ] If the candidate 93
decides not to seek nomination or election to any office, the treasurer 94
shall, within fifteen days after such decision, comply with the provisions 95
of this subsection and distribute any surplus in the manner provided by 96
this section for political committees other than those formed for ongoing 97
political activities, except that if the surplus is from an exploratory 98
committee established by the State Treasurer, any portion of the surplus 99
that is received from a principal of an investment services firm or a 100
political committee established by such firm shall be returned to such 101
principal or committee on a prorated basis of contribution. In the event 102
of a deficit, the treasurer shall file a statement thirty days after the 103
decision or declaration with the proper authority and, thereafter, on the 104
seventh day of each month following if on the last day of the previous 105
month there was an increase or decrease in such deficit in excess of five 106
hundred dollars from that reported on the last statement filed. The 107
treasurer shall file supplemental statements until the deficit is 108
eliminated. If the exploratory committee does not have a surplus or 109
deficit, the statement filed after the candidate's declaration or decision 110
shall be the last required statement. If a candidate certifies on the 111
statement of organization for the exploratory committee pursuant to 112
subsection (c) of section 9-604 that the candidate will not be a candidate 113
for the office of state representative and subsequently establishes a 114
candidate committee for the office of state representative, the treasurer 115
of the candidate committee shall pay to the State Treasurer, for deposit 116
in the General Fund, an amount equal to the portion of any contribution 117
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received by said exploratory committee that exceeded two hundred fifty 118
dollars. As used in this subsection, "principal of an investment services 119
firm" has the meaning set forth in subsection (e) of section 9 -612 and 120
"state office" has the same meaning set forth in subsection (e) of section 121
9-610, as amended by this act. 122
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:

Section 1 January 1, 2027 9-610(e)
Sec. 2 January 1, 2027 9-608(f)

Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 1(e), " political subdivision, as defined in section 9 -372," was
changed to "political subdivision" to delete redundant language.

GAE Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO

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The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of
the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not
represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general,
fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional
knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final
products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact: None
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill expands the current ban on contributions and solicitations by
lobbyists and lobbyist political action committees (PACs) to include
municipal and probate elections, resulting in no fiscal impact to the state
or municipalities.
The Out Years
State Impact: None
Municipal Impact: None

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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 5547

AN ACT CONCERNING LOBBYIST CONTRIBUTIONS DURING
LEGISLATIVE SESSIONS.

SUMMARY
This bill extends the sessional ban on contributions and solicitations
by lobbyists and lobbyist political committees (known as PACs) to
additional entities. It also eliminates an exemption from these bans for
exploratory committees established by state legislators to promote their
candidacy for non-legislative offices.
Specifically, it expands the ban to cover (1) candidate or exploratory
committees established by candidates for municipal office or probate
judges; (2) PACs established, requested, or created in consultation with
candidates for municipal offices or probate judges, or their agents; or (3)
PACs controlled by candidates for state, legislative, or municipal office,
or probate judges, or their agents, to assist in the nomination or election
of any candidate for state, legislative, or municipal office or probate
judge.
Current law and the bill prohibit (1) lobbyists and PACs established
by or for a lobbyist from making or offering to make contributions to or
on behalf of these committees, (2) lobbyists from soliciting contributions
for them, and (3) the committees from accepting the contributions.
Under current law, the ban generally applies to contributions or
solicitations for (1) candidate or exploratory committees for a legislative
or statewide office and (2) PACs established by or for legislators or state
officers or controlled by them or their agents.
Under the bill, a “municipal office ” and “municipal officer ” are
elected offices or officers for which only the electors of a single town,
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city, borough, or political subdivision may vote (other than state senator
or representative). As under current law, the ban applies during regular
legislative sessions, any special session held between the end of a long
session and the start of a short session, and any veto session held in an
odd-numbered year.
The bill also makes technical and conforming changes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 2027
COMMITTEE ACTION
Government Administration and Elections Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 19 Nay 0 (03/23/2026)