Senate Democratic leaders want to give Connecticut companies an advantage over out-of-state firms competing for state contracts.
They said some of those companies come from states with laws on the books that make it difficult or impossible for Connecticut firms to compete for state contracts.
For example, they say a Michigan printing company can win a state contract in Connecticut to print the state’s Register and Manual, but a Connecticut printing company cannot do the same there because Michigan only allows in-state firms to bid on state printing contracts.
Senate President Donald Williams, D-Brooklyn, said 20 states have preferences for hiring in-state companies.
He hopes to enact a reciprocal preference law this session. It would say that whenever an out-of-state company bids on a Connecticut project, it should be treated the same way that out-of-state firms are treated back home.
“Connecticut companies deserve a level playing field and right now that doesn’t exist,” Williams said Tuesday.
But Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s office pointed out how the legislature, in 1988, passed legislation that requires the Department of Administrative Services to give preference to supplies, materials and equipment produced, assembled or manufactured in Connecticut, as well as services based in this state.
DAS handles a large portion of state government purchasing.
“The preference language is in certain state contracts,” said Christopher Cooper, a spokesman for the Republican governor.
He said there have been concerns in other states about the constitutionality of imposing tough preference laws. But he said Rell is willing to look at the idea to see how it would be structured.
