As the clock ticks down to the last day of the legislative session Wednesday, the House of Representatives has yet to act on legislation, approved unanimously in the Senate, which would bring accountability to the operations of the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative.

The House should approve the bill and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy sign it into law. There is no reason not to act.

The primary mission of the cooperative is to enter into contracts to purchase electric energy for distribution by the municipal utilities that collectively own it — Groton Utilities, Norwich Public Utilities, Jewett City Department of Public Utilities, Bozrah Light & Power, and two Norwalk utilities.

Unlike consumers served by private electricity distributors, the ratepayers of these municipal utilities have no choice but to buy their power from the hometown utility. So while the cooperative is once removed from public control, it should serve those ratepayers and be held accountable.

That accountability was sorely lacking when from 2013-2016 CMEEC Chief Executive Officer Drew Rankin arranged extravagant trips to the Kentucky Derby. Approved by the cooperative’s board members, made up of executives from the municipal utilities, the trips for them, their families and invited guests collectively cost about $1 million.

There was no evidence of utility officials conducting any business on these trips, which only became general public knowledge when disclosed by investigative news reports last year, to the surprise of many elected leaders in the member towns. If not for that reporting, those utility executives and friends would almost certainly have attended the 2017 “Run for the Roses” as well.

In light of these events, the proposed legislation is necessary to restore public confidence that the operation of the cooperative is focused only on benefitting ratepayers and not creating slush funds for the betterment of municipal utility executives.

It would add members to the CMEEC board of directors who are appointed by the legislative bodies of the municipalities. Local councils, mayors and selectmen need to know what is going on with the cooperative. This would assure that.

Except for proprietary information, all CMEEC financial and governing documents would be accessible to the public.

The legislation also mandates that CMEEC hold retreats and meetings in the state. This may be an overreach. One could make the case for legitimate meetings outside the state. But the restriction is understandable in light of the past abuses.

Perhaps most importantly, the legislation would require a five-year financial review by a forensic auditor, with findings made public. Only in that way can the public know whether the Derby excursions were an excessive but isolated case of managerial misconduct or symptomatic of broader abuses.

Senators from this region played a key role in fashioning the legislation and moving it forward, including Appropriations Committee co-chairs Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, and Sen. Paul Formica, R-East Lyme. Freshman Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton, was particularly aggressive in assuring the legislation had teeth.

House members from southeastern Connecticut need to make sure the legislation does not stall in that chamber.

The CMEEC CEO, Rankin, has been belligerent in his opposition to this effort to bring accountability to the operations he oversees. Since these reasonable steps should in no way interfere with the legitimate functioning of the cooperative, it makes a person wonder what Rankin is really worried about.

Rankin was particularly out of line in attacking Somers in an email sent to state senators.

“We all know this (legislation) is nothing more than Senator Somers inflicting what personal based pain and punishment she can to Groton Utilities, the City of Groton and CMEEC,” wrote Rankin.

No, we don’t all know that. In fact, it’s a ludicrous statement. Somers is doing her job as an elected leader in making CMEEC accountable to the public. She is not acting out of animus.

A bipartisan group of senators later called for Rankin to resign because of the attack on Somers. That attack is only part of a long list of reasons why a resignation might be in order. Perhaps the only reason the CMEEC board has not made a change in CEO is that they followed Rankin down the path to the Derby.

Pass the legislation.

The Day editorial board meets with political, business and community leaders to formulate editorial viewpoints. It is composed of President and Publisher Timothy Dwyer, Executive Editor Izaskun E. Larraneta, Owen Poole, copy editor, and Lisa McGinley, retired deputy managing editor. The board operates independently from The Day newsroom.