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Posted on 07/22/2008 8:56:45 AM PDT by Graybeard58
HARTFORD -- The House speaker, Senate president and Gov. M. Jodi Rell gave themselves $6 million in the 2008 budget to spend as they saw fit -- and they spent nearly all of it.
House Speaker James A. Amann, D-Milford, had $33,000 left when the books closed June 30, and Rell still had $129,000. Senate President Donald E. Williams Jr., D-Brooklyn, spent all of his $2 million share.
The two Democratic leaders and the Republican governor spread the money around the state. They also brought some money back home and supported favorite causes.
Amann provided $191,000 to two charities that are near and dear to the speaker and his wife. Rell approved a $300,000 grant to the hometown of her chief of staff. Williams directed $50,000 to a small, nonprofit publishing house in his district.
The two-year, $36 billion budget that was approved last year included $6 million a year for Amann, Williams and Rell to essentially spend at their discretion.
"It is not a slush fund," Amann said.
Williams said all spending proposals for the money are vetted through the governor's budget office.
The individual grants that the three leaders had the governor's Office of Policy and Mangement distribute in fiscal 2008 ranged from $489 to $300,000.
Rell provided a $20,000 grant to the PTA at the Anna Lopresti School in Seymour, $10,000 to the Little Guild of St. Francis for the Welfare of Animals in Cornwall, and $50,000 to the financially troubled Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford.
Williams directed $30,000 to the Rocky Hill Athletic Booster Club, $5,000 each to three neighborhood associations in Waterbury, and $10,000 to the town of Preston.
Amann approved $150,000 for the Allington Fire District in West Haven, $250,000 for the town of East Lyme, $150,000 for the Ralphola Taylor Community Center in Bridgeport, and $75,000 for the Western Hills Golf Course in Waterbury.
Amann also directed $91,000 to Donate Life Connecticut, a coalition of statewide organizations involved in organ and tissue donation. His wife, Terri Amann, the recipient of a kidney transplant, is a member of the all-volunteer, nonprofit organization.
The speaker also provided $100,000 to the National Kidney Foundation. His wife had represented the foundation on Donate Life Connecticut's board.
Amann said he sees no conflict of interest because his wife is an unpaid volunteer for both organizations. The speaker also said his support for organ donation and the National Kidney Foundation goes back to the early 1990s.
Rell provided $300,000 to a school restoration project in Vernon, the hometown of M. Lisa Moody, her chief of staff and a former member of the Vernon Town Council. This was the largest of the 145 grants that the governor, Amann, and Williams awarded.
The governor's office said Vernon didn't get any special treatment and Moody wasn't the one who proposed the grant.
"The idea originated with the governor. ... Lisa's only involvement was to call the town manager to get the details on projects that were pending," said Rich Harris, a Rell spokesman.
Williams secured a $50,000 grant for the Curbstone Press, a small, nonprofit publisher known for publishing books on social issues and human rights in Willimantic.
"It is amazing we have Curbstone Press in Connecticut, let alone in northeastern Connecticut," Williams said.
Overall, Williams gave out $470,000 in grants to communities and organizations in his eight-town Senate district.
Amann handed out $220,000 in his hometown of Milford, including $150,000 to help pay for repairs to three Catholic elementary schools.
"A lot of the Catholic churches around the state and nation are getting older, and they don't have the funding they used to have," Amann said. "Our churches in Milford have been rocks in our community for my whole life."
He also directed $20,000 each to the Milford International Little League Inc. and the state-run Platt Technical High School for new baseball and football fields.
Amann said the remaining $30,000 paid for a new elevator at the Milford VFW. He said aging veterans of World War II were having trouble walking up and down the stairs there.
Rell lives in Brookfield, and she represented the town and neighboring Bethel in the legislature. The governor gave $25,000 each to the Brookfield Library Foundation and the Friends of the Arts in Brookfield. She also approved a $32,500 grant for Bethel.
Additionally, Rell gave $100,000 to the Women's Center of Greater Danbury. The nonprofit group helps victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, runs an emergency shelter and offers education and training programs. The center serves Danbury and a dozen towns, including Bethel and Brookfield.
Libertarian ping! To be added or removed freepmail me or post a message here.
Allow me to translate: The House speaker, Senate president and Gov. M. Jodi Rell took for themselves $6 million the state extorted from taxpayers with threat of imprisonment and ruin, and they spent it as they saw fit. This is why there was an American Revolution. These individuals are theives and liars, oh, and demigogues.
I know I didn’t support any of these guys, but can I have some of the taxpayer’s money, anyway?
Dad said that the citizens should have voted for Tom Scott in 1994!!
Politicians steal, but no more than their voters who steal by proxy.
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