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OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
CONNECTICUT
WILLIAM TONG
ATTORNEY GENERAL
January 24, 2023
By Email
Lawrence S. Fox
Chair, State Contracting Standards Board
165 Capitol Avenue, Suite 1060
Hartford, Connecticut 06106
Re: Requestfor Formal Opinion
Dear Chairman Fox:
You wrote seeking a formal legal opinion concerning the Port Authority's ability to enter
into public-private partnerships via their enabling statutes.
The Connecticut Port Authority is a quasi-public agency charged with, among other things,
coordinating the development of Connecticut's ports and harbors, with a focus on private and
public investments. To achieve its goals, the Port Authority is broadly empowered to enter into
contracts, joint ventures, and partnerships with both governmental and private entities.
In 2011, the legislature created a special type of public-private partnership, codified at
Chapter 55d of the General Statutes, and authorized state agencies to enter into such partnerships
under certain circumstances. The statute creating these partnerships expressly included a quasi-
public agency in the definition of state agency for purposes of the section. Conn. Gen. Stat. 4-
255(a). As explained below, the Port Authority, as a quasi-public agency, was able to enter into these
Chapter 55d partnerships to the same extent and on the same terms as other quasi-public agencies
from the time the Port Authority was created until the statute was modified in June 2021.
The Port Autority's Creation and Powers
In 2015, the General Assembly established the Connecticut Port Authority as a quasi-public
agency. In 2018, the General Assembly explicitly gave the Authority the duty and power to:
* Make and enter into all contracts and agreements that are necessary, desirable or
incidental to the conduct of its business[.]
165 Capitol Avenue
Hartford, Connecticut 06106
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