Connecticut Republican lawmakers called for the creation of an inspector general’s office to investigate unethical behavior and alleged corruption in state government, citing local news stories about alleged waste and fraud.
House and Senate Minority Leaders Vincent Candelora of North Branford and Stephen Harding of Brookfield said they want to empower an inspector general to open investigations and demand state records because they do not believe that Gov. Ned Lamont and the Democratic majority in the legislature are serious about addressing cases of waste, fraud and abuse.
“It’s about time we finally do something about the taxpayer dollars that are being used on this waste and this fraud and this corruption, and this is not speculation anymore,” said Harding.
In an attempt to prove their point, Republicans highlighted a number of news headlines from recent years, which they displayed on poster with red thread connecting them to a photograph of Lamont’s face.
Those headlines included stories about the spending habits by the chancellor of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system, a Department of Motor Vehicles employee who was investigated for flipping cars he purchased from a tow yard, and two alleged bribery schemes involving Connecticut’s former state deputy budget director Kosta Diamantis.
The Republican leaders also noted a recent political deal that could land Sen. John Fonfara, D-Hartford, a seat on Connecticut’s utility regulatory board.
In combination, Candelora said those cases highlighted a “culture of corruption” in the state government, and he argued that the Democratic supermajorities in the legislature were stonewalling any type of legislative oversight into those matters.
“We have an administration that classifies this activity as ‘small ball’ and continues to ignore the waste and abuse of taxpayer money,” Candelora said.
Lamont’s staff called the Republican press conference on Thursday a distraction while the governor’s office was dealing with the potential fallout of federal funding cuts being implemented by the President Donald Trump’s administration.
“While the Republicans are busy trying to distract the public with string boards and crafts, Gov. Lamont is focused addressing deep cuts to public health programs that save lives and keep our communities safe,” Rob Blanchard, the governor’s spokesperson, said. “Republican legislators can ignore what happens in Washington, but rolling back federal funding for health care or education will impact on our state budget and their constituents.”
Republicans similarly accused the governor of ignoring what was going on in the state government.
House Speaker Matthew Ritter, D-Hartford, said the Republican leadership had not spoken to him prior to Thursday about creating an inspector general’s office to investigate issues in state government.
Ritter, who frequently mentions how he works amicably with his Republican colleagues, said he is always willing to discuss their proposals, but he said Republicans seemed more focused on holding the press conference than passing legislation.
“I don’t think their first goal was to talk to anybody,” Ritter said.
Candelora and Harding said they were holding the press conference because they felt ignored and sidelined by the Democratic majority in the legislature. They pointed to the newly formed Government Oversight Committee as evidence of that.
Lawmakers created the Government Oversight Committee this year so there would be a dedicated committee focused on government transparency and accountability. But the Republicans said that body has spent many of its hearings this year weighing legislation that was already being considered by other legislative committees.
“I’d like to see us actually digging in and finding out what’s going on inside all of our state agencies, finding out how the money is spent,” said Sen. Rob Sampson, R-Wolcott, who is the ranking member on the oversight committee. “That’s what needs to happen to provide the proper transparency to the public. And I was really hoping that’s what the committee was going to do, but, you know, to date, it hasn’t.”
Senate Democratic leaders did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment for this story. But Ritter said he doesn’t understand why there is suddenly a need to fund an inspector general’s office.
“Generally speaking, I don’t know what has occurred that would require a new office to be created,” Ritter said.
Ritter pointed out that many of the issues that Republicans highlighted on Thursday have already been investigated, and in cases where there was evidence of criminal wrongdoing, charges have been filed.
The questionable spending by Terrence Cheng, the chancellor of Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, was the subject of a state audit, though he was only found to have violated the state spending restrictions on meals and alcohol.
Meanwhile, the allegations against Diamantis, the state deputy budget director, were investigated by federal prosecutors and are going to be the subject of two federal criminal trials later this year.
“There is no question there has been corruption in Connecticut,” Ritter said, noting that former Republican Gov. John Rowland went to federal prison.
But Ritter questioned what role an inspector general would play, if it was created. He noted that Connecticut already has the Auditor of Public Accounts, the Connecticut Attorney General’s office and the U.S. Attorney’s office, which are responsible for investigating such matters.
Candelora and other Republicans argued one more set of eyes would not hurt.
This story was originally published in the Connecticut Mirror.
