April 26, 2010 at 8:59 pm by Brian Lockhart
Over the weekend U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon at a Tea Party forum in Waterbury announced she was not going to move forward with a controversial proposal our newspapers reported Friday to pay college students $5 for every Republican signed up at on-campus voter drives.
A few sources were kind enough to provide footage of the Waterbury event, which is also being displayed at this blog - Consent of the Governed.
When you click on the above link, however, you’ll find that blog’s moderator focused on another piece of news - McMahon, who has pledged to spend $50 million of her family’s pro-wrestling fortune, told the Waterbury audience she will refuse a paycheck if elected to replace retiring Democratic U.S. Senator Chris Dodd.
In a March 16 blog post I challenged our gubernatorial and Congressional candidates – many of whom live in Fairfield County and have money to burn on things like a campaign for office – if they were willing to skip taking a salary if elected.
Greenwich Republican Tom Foley had already stated he would not accept the governor’s $150,000 pay check, and Greenwich Democrat Ned Lamont took me up on my challenge. I never heard from anyone else.
McMahon spokesman Ed Patru in an e-mail today confirmed McMahon, whose family runs Stamford-based World Wrestling Entertainment, will forgo the standard, $174,000 Congressional salary.
It’s a gesture and, as noted at Consent of the Governed, it’s newsworthy. Whether or not her decision sways voters remains to be seen. But McMahon – and Foley and Lamont for that matter – wouldn’t promise the pay cut if they didn’t think it mattered.
April 26, 2010 at 4:28 pm by Brian Lockhart
On Friday we reported that Linda McMahon’s campaign for U.S. Senate was raising some eyebrows by offering $5 bonuses to University of Connecticut Republicans who register new Republicans during an on-campus voter drive planned for this week.
The strategy is NOT illegal and was defended by McMahon spokesman Ed Patru as fairly common. But it raised concerns among elections officials and Republican Peter Schiff, who is vying with McMahon for their party’s nomination, called it “ACORN-ish” – a reference to the non-profit group whose paid voter drives have resulted in a variety of states, Connecticut included, launching fraud probes.
Video footage supplied Hearst Connecticut Newspapers showed McMahon promising voters at a weekend Tea Party event in Waterbury she would cancel the bonus program and Patru confirmed that today in an e-mailed statement:
“Yes, I can confirm that the bonus component of our voter registration effort has been dropped. It’s very important to Linda that every aspect of this campaign be in compliance with the law, and while bonuses are entirely within the framework of the law, we recognize that other organizations haven’t always been as stringent as we are. Out of an abundance of caution, and because we want to be sensitive to the concerns that were raised, we have dropped that particular component of the plan before launch.”
And here’s the exchange McMahon had this weekend:
———-
Q: This morning the headline in the Connecticut Post is “Is Linda buying votes?” …
Given that this is a thing that ACORN…
Why are you having a bounty on Republican registrations?
LINDA: Interestingly, thank you for asking that question. First of all, as strange as it may sound, I found out about that policy by reading the paper. Because it was a really good campaign thought. It is really about getting young people involved, paying them a small amount and getting them payment. But I stopped it yesterday because I don’t agree with a bounty on voters.
Applause
LINDA: I didn’t stop it because I thought it was illegal or anything like that. I just thought it was the wrong message to send and I didn’t like that message. I didn’t want that. I would rather pay a little bit more for those who are gathering votes than kind of bonus for signing someone up.
Q: Is somebody’s head going to roll in your campaign for making that decision?
LINDA: No, because I think they made it with the best intentions. We talked about it and it is all squared away.
———-
Also today House Majority Leader Denise Merrill, D-Mansfield, whose district is home to UCONN, proposed legislation banning such voter registration tactics. Here’s her press release:
MAJORITY LEADER MERRILL SEEKS LEGISLATION
BANNING BOUNTIES FOR REGISTERING NEW VOTERS
State House Majority Leader Denise Merrill (D-Mansfield, Chaplin) said Monday that she would immediately seek legislation banning bounties or other payments in exchange for the registration of new voters.
“I am very troubled by the practice of using money to influence or persuade a person to register to vote before an election,” Merrill said. “Any practice like this is fraught with the potential for voter fraud. I plan to seek immediately, by way of an amendment to a bill, legislation that would ban this practice.”
The issue arose over the weekend when it was disclosed in a newspaper report that the U.S. Senate campaign of Republican Linda McMahon was paying $5 for each Republican registered during a voter registration drive in Merrill’s district at the University of Connecticut.
“I was shocked that this was being done in my own district,” Merrill said. “The fact that someone might take advantage of a student in need of money is appalling.”
Although the practice may not be illegal, concern has been raised by the U.S. Justice Department, which has contacted state officials who are also looking into McMahon’s campaign voter registration drive.
April 26, 2010 at 2:01 pm by Brian Lockhart
Here’s a print-only story that our newspapers ran Sunday about how it’s looking more and more like lawmakers are going to leave negotiating further union concessions to the next Governor/General Assembly.
State workers nearing end of wage freeze
Brian Lockhart, Staff Writer
State employee unions last April agreed to a two-year, $700 million package of concessions to help address the state’s budget crisis in exchange for no-layoffs during that same time period.
But with a key component of that deal — a one-year pay freeze — expiring July 1 and state government still clawing itself out of a fiscal hole, some lawmakers want unions to agree to additional give backs for 2010-11.
“The fiscal situation of the state they live in and work in has changed dramatically for the worst,” House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero,
R-Norwalk, said. “We need help.”
Legislative Republicans recently issued their own budget proposal, which relies upon the state workers agreeing to at least $150 million worth of additional concessions — an amount the GOP maintains would be covered by extending the salary freeze another year.
“If the average John Q. Public reads about the salary freeze ending, I think they’ll be upset,” Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Fairfield, said.
But the unions have so far balked at revisiting last year’s deal, and it is questionable whether the retiring Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell and the Legislature’s Democratic majority want to engage in battle with organized labor.
The Rell administration has been involved in spat with the unions since March when budget director Robert Genuario issued a letter urging they enter into talks.
Genuario’s correspondence became public after union leaders trashed it as “a cynical effort” that protected the state’s “super rich” at the expense of working families.
Genuario on April 13 responded with another letter that concluded: “I am still grateful for the effort, professionalism and collaboration that we engaged in last year as well as the result … I only regret that it does not appear likely to be repeated this year.”
House Majority Leader Denise Merrill, D-Mansfield, said it appears Rell has “backed off” of trying to negotiate further concessions, although the governor recently called for implementing another early retirement program.
Asked in an interview Thursday if she was still pursuing givebacks, Rell said “the decision rests with them (the unions) on coming back to the table.” And although critics have complained she let unions off easy last year, Rell added: “I’m very pleased with the package that came out.”
Union spokesman Matt O’Connor acknowledged the state’s ongoing budget crisis triggered a provision in last year’s agreement for the sides to sit down “and talk about other ways to save money.”
“There’s a vast difference between talking about collaborative ways we can help save money versus labor concessions,” O’Connor said. “We already did that last year.” He noted while 70 percent of members will see their pay freeze end July 1, others will have theirs imposed in the coming fiscal year. Salary raises would range from about 2 to 3 percent.
O’Connor said the unions offered Rell several other ideas for cutting costs over the winter, but Genuario in one of his letters wrote “they do not even purport to provide any meaningful or identifiable savings during this budgetary crisis.”
McKinney called the unions’ initial response to Rell “less than respectful” but said the governor could be doing more to pressure labor.
“The governor could be running out, talking to editorial boards, holding press conferences, going to the people of the state with her bully pulpit,”
McKinney said.
But McKinney and Cafero also believe Democratic leaders who enjoy union support have a responsibility to ask their constituents to engage in additional talks with Rell, particularly once the public understands the pay freeze is expiring.
“Everybody who serves in the Legislature understands there’s a close working relationship between Democratic leadership and (the unions),” McKinney said. “That’s not shocking news … In many ways they’re natural allies.”
But in separate interviews most Democratic leaders and other Democrats closely involved in the budget process expressed little to no interest in approaching the unions.
“Anything people would volunteer would be helpful, but the deal is the deal,” said Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney, D-New Haven.
Asked if Democratic leaders should publicly pressure labor leaders to sit down with Rell, Looney said: “That might be seen as posturing. It’s the responsibility of the executive to negotiate these things.” Rep. Cameron Staples, D-New Haven, co-chairman of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, agreed.
“It’s the governor’s responsibility to reach out to the unions,” he said. “People can make statements but the real issue is negotiation.” Merrill said she is uncertain if the unions should be asked to make further concessions.
“A lot of union members feel they have given up a lot,” Merrill said.
Besides the one-year pay freeze, last year’s concessions package included unpaid furlough days and higher health care co-payments.
And Rep. John Geragosian, D-New Britain, co-chairman of the Appropriations Committee, said although he would welcome additional givebacks, he understands why public employees do not want to be labeled scapegoats for a fiscal crisis caused by the national recession and Wall Street excess.
“Let’s put it this way — they gave $700 million. That’s more than any other entity gave. Taxpayers should say `thank you’,” Geragosian said.
But the other Appropriations Committee co-chairman — Sen. Toni Harp, D-New Haven — said she would like the unions to sacrifice more.
“I would be interested in them considering additional concessions. I think it would help us out a lot,” Harp said.
Harp said the end of the one-year pay freeze “came fast and we thought our revenues would be far more stable. We’re now wishing something more had been negotiated.” But Harp also questioned whether it made more sense to leave further concessions talks to the new governor and General Assembly when they take office next January.
“Reality is next year this time we’re probably going to be asking them again,” Harp said. “And I know it will be a higher ask than last year.”
April 23, 2010 at 12:50 pm by Brian Lockhart
Hartford Courant columnist Rick Green poses that question in today’s column. It’s an interesting read, particularly for readers in lower Fairfield County. Current Lt. Governor Mike Fedele has lived most of his life in Stamford.
We delved into what Fedele does back in November because he is citing his experience in office as one reason he should be the Republican nominee for Governor this year. We also spoke to some prior “second-in-commands”:
Fedele’s time with Rell: Will it help?
Lieutenant governor has his eye on state’s top spot
By Brian Lockhart
In the coming weeks, when Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele officially announces his candidacy for governor, he plans to emphasize the executive experience he garnered as Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s second-in-command these past three years.
“Do I have a leg up? Clearly I have that experience that no one else does,” Fedele said recently when asked to compare himself with some of the other potential contenders for the 2010 GOP nomination.
But has Fedele’s role as part-time lieutenant governor, mostly filling in for Rell at meetings or public events, really given him an advantage in the race for full-time chief executive?
“In Connecticut, the office of lieutenant governor is inherently a relatively weak office,” Democrat Kevin Sullivan said.
Sullivan was state Senate president when, in 2004, he took over as lieutenant governor from Rell, who had became governor after the resignation of Republican John G. Rowland.
Rell tapped Fedele, one-time Republican state representative from Stamford and founder of the Pinnacle Group computer-consulting firm, as her running mate in 2006, and their ticket won a four-year term.
“Most who have held (the lieutenant governor’s job) in recent years — even those who have gone on to be governor — would probably tell you the opportunities and the experience they had before were more important in shaping their ability to become governor than the time they served in that office,” Sullivan said.
Compared with peers in some states, the statutory responsibilities of Connecticut’s lieutenant governor are few. The part-time position moderates Senate sessions and fills in for the governor when he or she has a scheduling conflict or is out of town or otherwise incapacitated.
“In Texas, for example, the lieutenant governor is considered more powerful than the governor. He runs the Senate with full power and authority. He presides, calls votes, makes the calendar and assigns committee members,” said Julia Hurst, executive director of the National Lieutenant Governors Association. “In the state of Indiana, the lieutenant governor has 42 statutory duties, including running the departments of agriculture and commerce and being director of homeland security.”
But Hurst continued: “Beyond some of those examples that are really easy to point to, lieutenant governors are a mixture of where they derive authority and power from. Some through the governor, some through personal initiatives, some from the Legislature and some from the Constitution.”
Candidates for the job in Connecticut often run for office envisioning a partnership with the chief executive that extends beyond their formal duties.
“It’s as big or as small as the governor allows it to be,” said Mary Glassman, Simsbury’s Democratic first selectwoman, who was New Haven Mayor John DeStefano’s running mate when he challenged Rell in 2006.
“I accepted (the nomination) because I believed in the issues that our platform was raising, and thought I could be an important voice in raising some of those issues that weren’t being addressed in our state.”
The state’s health care advocate, Kevin Lembo, in a unique move last week, announced he was seeking the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor in 2010 before actually being asked by one of the several gubernatorial contenders to be their running mate.
Lembo said the position may not be considered important, but he noted that under state election law, candidates for lieutenant governor can be chosen in a primary, as was the case in 2006 with Glassman, who was not DeStefano’s original choice as running mate.
“It’s a constitutional office in and of itself and, with the right governor, can really be charged with doing much more than the traditional cutting of ribbons and presiding over the Senate,” Lembo said. “It really is a measure of the strength of the governor that you serve under — whether you get experience that may be transferable at some point in the future to that job.”
But typically, according to Sullivan, governors mainly want their second-in-command to stick to the script and avoid stealing the spotlight.
As a lieutenant governor from a different party than Rell, Sullivan said he was able to enjoy a certain amount of independence not traditionally given others who have held that office, including Fedele.
“I could choose to be an advocate in a public hearing on an issue that (Fedele) can’t because he has to be the spokesperson for the administration,” Sullivan said.
Asked whether being Rell’s second-in-command has prepared him for the job of chief executive, Fedele said that Rell clearly thought he was ready from the start or she would not have chosen him as her running mate in 2006.
“Right now, as we’re speaking, I am the governor,” Fedele said, referring to Rell’s being out of state for Thanksgiving. “God forbid there’s something important, assuming we couldn’t reach the governor, I’d have to make that decision. And when you pick your lieutenant governor, that’s one of the things you look at. I think that’s what Gov. Rell has looked at.”
Fedele said he is not involved in every aspect of running the state.
“First and foremost, there’s only one governor,” he said.
But he added that Rell “has been awesome in allowing me to do those things that were important to me. She has not stifled me.”
It does not appear Fedele’s limited role within the Rell administration has evolved much from his first year in office in 2007, when The Advocate reviewed schedules heavy on public appearances, visits to schools and dinners with free time in between.
According to Fedele’s calendar, during two weeks surrounding Rell’s key Feb. 4 budget address, he participated in two discussions of the spending package: a one-hour conference call with legislative leadership Jan. 28 and a half-hour meeting Feb. 2 with state budget staff from the Office of Policy and Management.
His busiest day was Feb. 5, spent on radio call-in interviews to promote Rell’s budget message. But other days were sparse. On Jan. 30, he chaired a one-hour morning state Bond Commission meeting for Rell, and the only other event on his schedule was a funeral.
Much of the balance of his scheduled time was filled with visits to various companies — Fedele has sought to improve the state’s business outreach — military sendoffs, breakfasts and dinners.
“If you look at a calendar, you take it with a grain of salt,” Fedele said. “Just because there’s blocks of time doesn’t mean I came home, put my feet up and drank coffee. It’s no different than a business schedule. You go to an office, and they don’t have a meeting today, but that doesn’t mean they came to work and played on the Internet.”
And Sullivan said Fedele’s work moderating Senate debates, particularly during this contentious budget year, cannot be discounted.
“I would think on that score, given the amount of special sessions this year, he’s probably run up a bunch of hours,” Sullivan said.
Former Republican Lt. Gov. Peter Cashman, of Fairfield, who served for a brief period in the 1970s under the late Gov. Thomas Meskill, said anyone in that position can provide valuable advice to the governor behind the scenes.
“I was in every meeting, and he listened to whatever I had to say,” Cashman said of his relationship with Meskill. “Did I help run the state? No. Was I able to voice my opinions? Yes.”
It is unclear how much Rell has sought and relied upon Fedele’s input, although he said he is a “sounding board when she has things she wants to talk about.”
Rell has tasked Fedele with important responsibilities such as the search for a new Department of Transportation commissioner and co-chairing a task force charged with overseeing ongoing efforts by computer expert Sean Thakkar to upgrade the state’s criminal justice information technology.
Rell also appointed Fedele to the HealthFirst Authority, a bipartisan group created by the Legislature in 2007 to consider how to improve health care in Connecticut. But according to authority minutes, Fedele attended only two of the 12 meetings held from October 2007 to October 2008.
Fedele has since become involved in a state committee charged with exploring how to improve the exchange of health information through technology.
Some at the Capitol say Fedele’s influence has been further limited by a prickly relationship with M. Lisa Moody, Rell’s longtime chief of staff, and close friend and confidant.
“I think it hindered him early on,” an observer said. “She was afraid Fedele would outshine Rell.”
Asked about Moody, Fedele said: “We want this governor to do well, this administration to do well. Sometimes we may have a difference of opinion how to get there, but at the end of the day, our objective is the same. Everybody’s got different styles.”
Cashman said he believes at this point in the 2010 gubernatorial race, what’s important for Fedele is that he has the name recognition and reputation among party leaders to clinch the nomination.
“Those are the people who matter,” Cashman said. “The public, for the most part, doesn’t know who their congressman is. Just do a survey. ‘Who’s your state representative? Who’s your state senator? Who’s your lieutenant governor?’ Name recognition is something that’s achieved in a campaign for governor, but you’ve got to get the nomination, and that’s why I feel Mike Fedele should be in a strong position.”
And if Fedele earns the GOP nod to succeed Rell, Hurst said some national trends are on his side.
“We commissioned a study several years ago that showed statistically that lieutenant governors have a greater rate of becoming governor through one method or another than any other local, state or federal official,” Hurst said.
April 22, 2010 at 9:24 pm by Brian Lockhart
I’ve spent a fair amount of time this week asking if there’s a chance state unions might head back to the bargaining table – perhaps gently urged along by the legislature’s Democratic majority – and agree to some additional concessions as lawmakers struggle with the budget deficit.
The unions have not signaled any interest in engaging in discussions of additional give backs with Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s administration. And they don’t have to. Organized labor reached a two-year deal with Rell (one that was approved by the Democratic-majority legislature) that is in place until July 1, 2011.
Republican legislators last week publicly urged the unions to consider around $150 million worth of concessions, but Democratic leaders and the Democratic chairs of the budget-related committees have remained mum. The typical response to my questions about the unions offering more concessions is a.) It’s between the unions and Rell b.) They’ve sacrificed enough c). That would be nice, but Rell brokered a two-year deal and a deal’s a deal.
But when I today approached Sen. Toni Harp, D-New Haven, co-chairman of the legislature’s Appropriations Committee, she said: “I would be interested in them considering additional concessions. I think it would help us out a lot.”
That might not be an earth-shattering quote, but trust me, compared to the other responses I’ve gotten so far it’s pretty blunt.
April 22, 2010 at 3:46 pm by Brian Lockhart
Republican Governor M. Jodi Rell told a couple of reporters this afternoon that she is not going to cave in to pressure from legislative Democrats to withdraw nine judicial nominations.
“I’m not withdrawing their names,” Rell said during an appearance at the Connecticut Convention Center.
For readers in our lower Fairfield County coverage area, said names include that of Robert Genuario of Norwalk, a well-respected former Republican state Senator-turned-Rell’s budget chief.
Nearly 90 members of the General Assembly’s House of Representatives earlier this week petitioned their leadership to postpone a vote on the nominations until Rell acknowledges and addresses the Judicial Branch’s financial crisis and restores previously imposed cuts. The nominations are also opposed by Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford and Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, co-chairs of the Judiciary Committee, which is scheduled to review the nominations tomorrow at 10 a.m.
“This isn’t a trading game,” Rell said, arguing she is only filling around half of the existing vacancies on the bench. “This should not be about politics.”
UPDATE: A tentative deal has been struck today that paves the way for a vote on Rell’s nominees. According to McDonald: “There is an agreement in principle between the executive branch and Judicial Branch … I’m still getting details of it but under the proposal the Judicial Branch would have vastly more control and autonomy over their budgetary operations (and) would require collaboration with the legislature before the Governor could rescind any budget appropriations (and) make certain budget adjustments to facilitate more Judicial Branch activities in the coming year.”
Sen. Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Fairfield, said he too understands that a “deal’s worked out.”
Rell’s office had not comment.
And here’s an Associated Press story from earlier this week on the request in the House to delay action on the judges:
HARTFORD — Nearly 90 members of the state House of Representatives have asked their speaker to delay a vote on nine of Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s judicial nominees, saying the state court system cannot afford new judges.
The Democratic lawmakers said Rell, a Republican, first needs to deal with the judicial branch’s financial woes.
“They will not be approved by the House of Representatives until the budget issues are addressed,” said Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, the House chairman of the General Assembly’s Judiciary Committee. “There’s a real crisis over there.”
House Speaker Chris Donovan, D-Meriden, said he was aware of the lawmakers’ concerns and hopes to clear up the matter with Rell as part of continuing budget talks.
“We’ve been having ongoing conversations about that,” he said. “She understands where I’m coming from, and I understand where she’s coming from.”
Lawlor and Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford, the committee’s Senate chairman, warned Rell in December against appointing new judges given the budget cuts she had made to the judicial branch. Rell originally appointed 10 judges, which Lawlor estimates would cost $2.5 million, but one dropped out from consideration this week.
The Judiciary Committee is scheduled to meet Friday to consider the nominees. Lawlor said if Rell does not pull them from consideration, the panel likely will send the nominations to the House floor with an “unfavorable” recommendation because of the budget issues, not because of the nominees’ qualifications.
He said Rell could avoid the embarrassment for the nominees, call a special session this summer and resubmit their names once the budgetary matters are cleared up.
The appointments come as the judicial branch is in the process of closing a courthouse in Bristol and juvenile courts in Norwalk and Willimantic. Lawlor said the branch has also closed three law libraries and is considering closing more.
In January, Judge Barbara Quinn, the chief court administrator, warned legislators the branch was identifying additional rounds of court closings and program cuts that she said would be painful and disruptive.
Rell’s office refused to comment on the petition, which was circulated during Tuesday’s session of the House of Representatives. A spokeswoman from the judicial branch also declined to comment.
Last month, Rell said appointing qualified judges to the bench is a top obligation for state officials and “should not be subject to political gamesmanship and horse-trading.” She said there are 20 vacancies, and she was only filling half.
Among Rell’s nominees to the Superior Court are Robert Genuario, the governor’s budget director, and John Danaher, her public safety commissioner. Rell is not seeking re-election, and these would be among her final judicial appointments.
House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, suggested Democrats are playing politics with the nominations.
“It is my suspicion that the delay has less to do with budgetary matters or otherwise, but more to do with the hope that it would be a Democratic governor that could fill those vacancies,” Cafero said. “And if that’s the case, then I think it’s unprecedented and it’s truly a shame. You can’t run a judiciary without judges.”
Democrats denied the allegation.
April 22, 2010 at 2:09 pm by Brian Lockhart
Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell told me this afternoon during an appearance at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford that she is “not opposed to the concept” of allowing the General Assembly final review of long-term state contracts.
“But I’d be cautious,” she said.
Legislators are currently weighing a proposal that would give the General Assembly 30 days to reject contracts of ten years or more. If no action is taken, the contract would automatically go into effect.
The idea was proposed by Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford in response to concerns being expressed by himself and others over the terms and economics of a 35-year contract the Rell administration entered into late last year with a private company to upgrade Connecticut’s highway rest stops and provide fuel and food to travelers. For confidentiality purposes legislators were only made privy to the nitty gritty of the deal after it was inked.
Rell’s budget director, Robert Genuario of Norwalk, testified earlier this session that the proposal infringes on the powers of the executive branch. And the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Research recently agreed that could pose an issue.
Rell said she would have to understand the intent of such a move and scrutinize the language of any legislation, which she would have the right to veto.
April 21, 2010 at 6:26 pm by Brian Lockhart
I bumped into state Transportation Commissioner Joseph Marie at the capitol today and asked him his reaction to recent reports the Governor is considering offering another early retirement incentive to whittle the ranks of state employees during the budget crisis.
Marie was hired by Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell in 2008 to fix what many acknowledged was a broken agency already suffering from a loss of institutional knowledge to prior years’ early retirement plans. The DOT staffing levels were impacted further by last year’s early retirement package.
“My first reaction was ‘gasp’,” Marie said. “Another round is going to be difficult to work through.”
Marie acknowledged Rell has allowed him to replace some of the personnel lost last year – “In many respects we fared better than a lot of state agencies” – and he believes the DOT is “starting to ‘click’ as an organization.”
He said if a new early retirement plan is offered, the agency will obviously do what it must to adapt, but it will be even more difficult than in 2009.
“It will be deeper than it was the first time around,” Marie said.
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