Ken Dixon's Blog-O-Rama

Connecticut politics is a contact sport

Archive for November, 2012

State veterans can wear their military service on driver’s licenses, CT IDs

Friday, November 23, 2012 by:Ken Dixon
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From the governoer’s office:

“Governor Dannel P. Malloy and Lieutenant Gov. Nancy Wyman today announced that military veterans can now apply to have their status marked on a Connecticut Driver’s License or state-issued ID.  The Department of Motor Vehicles and AAA offices on January 2, 2013 will begin issuing drivers’ licenses and ID cards that will include the symbol of an American Flag to identify veteran status.

“We owe so much to the brave members of our Armed Forces,” said Governor Malloy.  “This symbol on drivers’ licenses and ID cards is a small step we can take to make sure our veterans have a more convenient way to access the benefits and services they have earned.”

“Adding this symbol to state issued IDs is great way to make sure that veterans always have the documentation they need when they attempt to access different services,” said Lieutenant Governor Wyman.  “Combined with the launch of our new website – www.Veterans.ct.gov – we are making it easier than ever for Veterans to received the benefits they are entitled to.”

“The veteran identifier on the CT driver’s license or state-issued ID card will help first responders, emergency rooms and healthcare providers to identify veterans that are eligible for programs and services from both the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and the VA.  We hope that veterans will see this as a symbol of our pride in them,” Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Linda Schwartz said.

“DMV is extremely proud to offer this service and honor all those who have sacrificed so much to protect our country,” DMV Commissioner Melody A. Currey said.

At least 30 days prior to visiting a DMV or AAA office, veterans must submit to the state Department of Veterans’ Affairs a completed application and proof of honorable discharge, such as a DD-214. The Department of Veterans Affairs will verify the veteran’s military status and electronically notify DMV of the request prior to the driver’s license or ID card being issued.

The application can be downloaded online at the Department of Veterans’ Affairs website by visiting www.ct.gov/ctva and clicking the “Application for Veteran’s Flag” link. The flag symbol will be added to veteran’s license or ID card at no additional cost at renewal time or when it is first issued.  Veterans can request a flag symbol by mailing an application and additional documentation to the state Department of Veterans’ Affairs at: CT DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS, ATTN: VETERAN’S FLAG ON DRIVER LICENSE OR ID CARD, 287 WEST ST., ROCKY HILL, CT 06067.

For more information on DMV services and office locations, please visit www.ct.gov/dmv.”

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State Auditors say CT Student Loan Foundation is ignoring FOIA requirements

Friday, November 16, 2012 by:Ken Dixon
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The Auditors of State Accounts just reported that the CT Student Loan Foundation is operating with only three ex officio members on the 11-member panel. More importantly, though, it is ignoring Freedom of Information Act Requirements.

“Our review of board meetings for fiscal years ended September 30, 2009, 2010 and 2011
revealed that the Foundation did not post meeting minutes, schedules of regular meetings for the
ensuing year, meeting agendas, and notices of special meetings to the Foundation’s website,” the audit says. The
Foundation did not file with the Secretary of the State the meeting agenda for the majority of its meetings.”

Here’s the Foundation’s mea culpa, which was discounted by auditors, noting that if the agency has a website, it has requirements to post FOIA-required notices and minutes:

“The Foundation believes that it has been complying with the Freedom of
Information Act and that, consistent with prior periods, all notices of all
Foundation Board meetings, both regular and special, were timely posted
with the Connecticut Secretary of the State. The Foundation has not retained
proof (fax confirmations) that it sent all such notices during the first 6 months
of 2009. Section 1-225 of the act requires posting of minutes, agendas, and
other materials on public agency websites “if available.” Since the
Foundation discontinued certain lines of business and minimized its staff in
2010, it has maintained only a basic website focused on investor reporting.
The act was amended in 2010 to clarify that public agencies of political
subdivisions were not required to post minutes of meetings. This amendment
addressed the concerns of small towns which, like the Foundation, lacked
websites or web managers that could perform frequent updates. The
Foundation is not actually a public agency, but was deemed to be the
functional equivalent of a public agency in a 1995 opinion from the Attorney
General, issued when the Foundation had scores of employees and operated
separate lines of business that were issuing student loan guarantees, making
student loans, and servicing student loans. The Foundation’s activities have
been greatly reduced since 1995, and for over two years, it has had no
facilities and no employees and has dedicated its activities primarily to
managing its current portfolio of loans and related debt financing with a
minimal staff, while executing the Foundation’s public purpose. The
Foundation, as operated today, is more analogous to the small towns that
sought and received explicit relief from website posting requirements. As the
Foundation is currently upgrading its website, it will voluntarily comply with
the website posting provisions of the act, commencing later this summer.”

Malloy, Cafero, early jockeys in the 2014 governor’s race. LBJ quoted by the Republican

Thursday, November 15, 2012 by:Ken Dixon
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Gov. Dannel P. Malloy this afternoon rejected criticism from House Minority Leader Larry Cafero on the budget deficit that’s pumping up like a balloon at a Thanksgiving Day parade. “Representative Cafero has expressed his desire to become the governor of the state of Connecticut,” Malloy told reporters in the Capitol. “I think you folks are going to have to get used to putting everything into context and I’m sure that will appear in your papers every time  you report what he has to say. Having said that, he’s wrong. I don’t know how else to say it.”

Cafero, a few hours later, in a phone interview in which he quoted a President Lyndon B. Johnson line about one’s inability to shine a particular substance: “I’m still taking down campaign signs from last week’s election and he’s saying I’m running in 2014. Isn’t it fair to say he’s expressed a desire to run for re-election? He’s been very clear. He wants to put his remarks in the best light. Everything he ran on, everything he declared in that authoritative ‘don’t-question-me’ manner has gone wrong.”

Malloy praises the re-election of 4th District Rep. Jim Himes

Tuesday, November 6, 2012 by:Ken Dixon
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Governor Dannel P. Malloy on Congressman Jim Himes’ victory in the 4th Congressional District:

“Jim Himes has been an advocate for common sense public policy since his election in 2008. Whether the issue is education, job creation or just the nuts and bolts of outstanding constituent services, Jim is there at the forefront.  He will serve the residents of the 4th Congressional District well in the coming Congress.”

Guilty plea today in smokeshop/Donovan case

Friday, November 2, 2012 by:Ken Dixon
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Here is the release:
David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DAVID MOFFA, 53, of Middlebury, pleaded guilty today before United States District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to a federal conspiracy charge stemming from a scheme to direct illegal campaign contributions into the campaign of a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives.  MOFFA is the former President of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
According to court documents and statements made in court, in August 2011, the State of Connecticut applied for a court order enjoining Roll Your Own (“RYO”) smoke shops from continuing to operate without complying with state law governing tobacco manufacturers.  RYO smoke shops are retail businesses that sell loose smoking tobacco and cigarette-rolling materials and offer customers the option of paying a “rental” fee to insert the loose tobacco and the rolling materials into a RYO machine, which is capable of rapidly rolling large quantities of cigarettes.  Customers do not pay a tax on the RYO cigarettes when rolled by the RYO machines, in contrast to cigarettes purchased over-the-counter.
On November 2, 2011, MOFFA, RYO smoke shop owners and others met at Smoke House Tobacco in Waterbury and discussed the possibility that the Connecticut General Assembly would enact legislation harmful to RYO smoke shop owners’ business interests during the 2012 legislative session.  MOFFA advised the other attendees that another individual, Ray Soucy, could help the RYO smoke shop owners prevent the enactment of harmful legislation.  MOFFA then called Soucy, and shortly thereafter Soucy arrived at Smoke House Tobacco and joined the meeting.  Soucy advised the others that he was a “friend” of a member of the Connecticut General Assembly (“Public Official Number 1”).  According to Soucy, Public Official Number 1 could influence whether the anticipated legislation would be enacted.  Soucy then engaged in a telephone conversation with Public Official Number 1 for the purpose of arranging a meeting between certain RYO smoke shop owners and Public Official Number 1.  The meeting was scheduled for the morning of November 16, 2011 at a restaurant in Meriden.
On November 30, 2011, MOFFA met with Soucy and RYO smoke shop owners at Smoke House Tobacco.  During the meeting, MOFFA discussed with the RYO smoke shop owners that they should make a $5,000 contribution to Public Official Number’s 1’s campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives at a fundraising event to be held on December 8, 2011.  MOFFA volunteered to serve as a conduit contributor in order conceal the fact that the RYO smoke shop owners were actually financing the contributions.  On that date, MOFFA told one RYO smoke shop owner “You give me the money, I’ll give you a check.”
At a meeting at Smoke House Tobacco on December 8, 2011, two RYO smoke shop owners provided MOFFA with $2,500 in U.S. currency.  MOFFA then wrote a check for $2,500 in his wife’s name, making it payable to Public Official Number 1’s Campaign Committee, and provided Soucy with his wife’s biographical information so that Soucy could fill in a contribution envelope provided by the Campaign Committee.  Soucy and the two RYO smoke shop owners then went to the fundraising event, where they delivered two $2,500 contributions, including the contribution in MOFFA’s wife’s name to the Campaign Committee.  Following the event, MOFFA met the group for dinner.
On approximately January 31, 2012, the Campaign Committee submitted to the Federal Election Commission (“FEC”) a report of the Campaign Committee’s receipts and disbursements for the period October 1, 2011 through December 31, 2011.  The report falsely reported that it had received a $2,500 contribution from MOFFA’s wife when, in fact, neither MOFFA nor his wife had made a contribution to the Campaign.
On June 1, 2012, FBI special agents investigating this matter interviewed MOFFA.  During the interview, MOFFA falsely stated that he did not receive any cash in exchange for writing the check to the Campaign Committee.
Today, MOFFA pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to make false statements to the FEC and to impede the FEC’s enforcement of federal campaign finance laws.  Judge Arterton has scheduled sentencing for February 21, 2013, at which time MOFFA faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to $250,000.
On July 24, 2012, Harry Raymond “Ray” Soucy pleaded guilty to one count of devising a scheme to bribe a public official, and one count of conspiring to make false statements to the FEC and to impede the FEC’s enforcement of federal campaign finance laws.  He awaits sentencing.
Six other individuals have been charged as a result of this investigation.  As to these defendants, U.S. Attorney Fein stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Christopher M. Mattei and Eric J. Glover.

Gov Malloy says insurers cannot impose “hurricane deductibles.”

Thursday, November 1, 2012 by:Ken Dixon
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Here’s the release from the governor:

“(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Dannel P. Malloy and Connecticut Insurance Department Commissioner Thomas B. Leonardi today announced that Connecticut homeowners will not face higher-cost hurricane deductibles resulting from the impact of this week’s damaging storm.

“The state moved very swiftly to alert the industry that this storm – although devastating to so many – did not meet the criteria for a hurricane deductible under state law.  Homeowners will not have to pay high-cost hurricane deductibles for damage resulting from this storm,” Governor Malloy said.  “Based on the lessons learned from Tropical Storm Irene, we have built stronger consumer protections into our insurance laws.  The Insurance Department will be working with the industry to monitor these claims.”

In the wake of Tropical Storm Irene, Governor Malloy signed into law new criteria for insurers in order to impose the higher hurricane deductible.  The law requires that a hurricane warning be issued for Connecticut and that the National Weather Service record sustained hurricane force winds of at least 74 miles per hour.

Commissioner Leonardi notified the industry on Tuesday that based on data from the National Weather Service, Storm Sandy did not meet the statutory criteria and therefore “companies may not impose a hurricane deductible on Connecticut claims.”

“Our consumers and the industry deserve and received clarity from this state as soon as possible,” Commissioner Leonardi explained.  “The Insurance Department is monitoring the industry closely to ensure that carriers fully comply with all state insurance laws.  Our priority is protecting Connecticut policyholders and we stand ready – as we have for every disaster – to assist policyholders with questions and complaints.”

The Insurance Department has set up a special Storm Sandy webpage that offers a number of important resources including, toll-free claims numbers to companies, locations of mobile claims vans, flood insurance claims filing information, and more.  Consumers with additional questions can contact the Insurance Department by phone at 1-800-203-3447 or 860-297-3900, or by utilizing the online contact options.”

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