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![handle is hein.sag/sagct0027 and id is 1 raw text is: CT Attorney General
Attorney General's Opinion
Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal
January 15, 2008
Honorable Anne Gnazzo
Department of Administrative Services
165 Capitol Avenue
Hartford, CT 06106
Dear Commissioner Gnazzo:
Your department has asked whether the state is responsible for paying increases to the
minimum wage when state contracts are silent as to which party will absorb the cost associated
with such increases. We conclude that the state has an obligation to reimburse contractors for
increases in the minimum wage that may occur during the term of a contract when the contract
is silent on that issue. Additionally, this office recommends that all state contracts specifically
provide for state responsibility for payment of increases in the minimum wage during a contract
term.
You informed this office that the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) delegated
authority to the Department of Public Works (DPW) to enter into two janitorial service contracts
(the Contracts). Subsequently, DPW awarded the Contracts to Connecticut Community
Providers Association (CCPA) in October 2003. The term of each Contract originally expired on
February 28, 2007. Prior to this expiration date, DAS informed DPW that the Contracts were
subject to a new law, Conn. Gen. Stat. § 4a-82(o), which, according to DAS's interpretation of
that law, extended the termination dates of janitorial service contracts through the end of a
4-year pilot program covering those types of contracts, ending in November 2010. This pilot
program exists in accordance with Conn. Gen. Stat § 4a-82(b) and is intended to create
janitorial work job opportunities for persons with a disability and persons with a disadvantage.
You also informed me that CCPA is willing to perform under the Contracts until November 2010
but it is seeking reimbursement for minimum wage increases that became effective in January
2006 and January 2007.
The Contracts are silent on whether the State has an obligation to reimburse CCPA for any
expenses that it incurs as a result of increases in minimum wages. Specifically you ask:
Pursuant to 4a-82(o) I contracts in effect on or after October 1,
2006 shall remain in effect through the term of the pilot program.
The statute does not contemplate increases in wages. The contract
does not allow for increases in wages except prevailing wage
increases. In the two cases we are dealing with right now, the
contractor has asked for in [sic] increase equal to that of what [the]
minimum wage has increased since the inception of the contract. At
the time the contractor bid these services they did not know that
their contract could be extended by four years. So to the question,
can we allow for a price increase where CCPA and its vendor have
documented the increase and explained that it is for the amount that
the state minimum wage has increased (by legislation) since the date
of contract award?](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.sag/sagct0027&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)