Political Capitol

Earlier this evening Democratic and Republican legislative leaders met with reporters at the capitol for a de-briefing on this afternoon’s budget talks with Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell.

I took the opportunity to ask Senate President Donald Williams, D-Brooklyn and House Speaker Christopher Donovan, D-Meriden, if they thought the state’s unions needed to make additional sacrifices because of the ongoing fiscal crisis.

Some critics have said the concessions public employees agreed to last year were not enough.

But when Rell a few weeks ago urged the unions to go further, they condemned the move as a show of “cynical disrespect” for state workers and “Connecticut’s struggling working families.”

Regardless, the legislature’s Republican minority last week called for state workers to make $150 million in additional concessions through wage freezes, furlough days and changes in healthcare benefits.

So I figured it was time for Williams and Donovan to weigh in. But they instead dodged the question and said Rell was no longer seeking additional savings from the unions. And soon the press conference was over.

As Williams and Donovan walked away I asked Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Fairfield and House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero, R-Norwalk, if it would be helpful to have Democratic leaders publicly step forward and urge public employees to make additional sacrifices.

“That would go a long way to getting them to the table,” McKinney said, calling the unions’ initial response to Rell “less than respectful.”

“If at this stage Democrats are saying ‘we have no expectation you should give anything else’ they’re going to take their cue from that,” Cafero said.

The General Assembly’s Republican minority yesterday unveiled a new budget proposal, found here.

Of particular interest to me is the GOP’s desire to do away with the state-paid drivers provided all Constitutional Officers who aren’t Governor, including the Lt. Governor.

I wrote a report last year headlined “Fedele Defends Need for Security: Trooper Made $142K Last Year.” The story focused on the fact that part-time Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele of Stamford is the only other state official besides his boss assigned a state trooper for a driver, even though it could be argued other policy-makers have higher profiles and make more controversial decisions.

That trooper – Massimo Delia, who grew up in Stamford – earned $142,888.05, the most of the 11 officers assigned the Governor’s office.

In an interview for the story Fedele – who is not the first Lt. Governor in Connecticut to have a driver – told me he has been the subject of unspecified threats since taking office in early 2007. And sure enough, last August state police announced the arrest of a man for allegedly sending Fedele threatening e-mails in December, 2008.

And then there was that little incident about two months ago when an ex-state worker got into it with Fedele over, of all things, Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s Chief-of-Staff M. Lisa Moody.

So I asked House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero, R-Norwalk, today if the GOP really wanted to deprive Fedele of his security.

Cafero said since Fedele is supposed to be the state’s second-in-command “I could see the argument (for a driver). Absolutely.”

“But we don’t have the luxury to have the Comptroller – with all do respect, she’s a great lady, does a great job – but nine out of ten in the state don’t know we have a Comptroller. And the Secretary of the State has a driver. Their jobs are not such they’re getting death threats and security is an issue. Give me a break. They get as many threats as I get,” said Cafero, who drives himself to the capitol.

The 35-year-length of a new contract with an inexperienced partnership to manage Connecticut’s 23 rest stops has legislators considering whether the General Assembly, not the executive branch, should have final review on contracts of ten years or longer.

We asked several leading gubernatorial candidates whether they would be willing to share that power with the General Assembly. Here’s what they said:

Former Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy is on board with the idea, and fellow Democrat and Simsbury First Selectman Mary Glassman even suggested the General Assembly approve contracts of five years or more.

Rudy Marconi, Ridgefield’s Democratic First Selectman said: “At minimum there should be better communications and collaboration between the executive branch and legislature whenever it involves significant long-term commitments and agreements.”

Greenwich Democrat Ned Lamont did not address the specific question.

Republican Oz Griebel of Simsbury said such a change would only make Connecticut less business-friendly, while Lt. Governor Michael Fedele echoed the sentiments of his boss, retiring Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell, that the bill raises seperation of powers issues.

Greenwich Republican Tom Foley said there is no need for legislative involvement, but former Republican Congressman Larry DeNardis said the executive branch’s having authority to execute contracts “does not mean input should not be gotten from the legislature.”

Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton wants to leave the General Assembly out of contracting.

“The legislature has a hard time balancing a budget. They refuse to make difficult decisions on anything, let along manage negotiations that are required for a deal this complex. This is a function best left to the executive branch,” Boughton said.

I should point out legislators are not asking to negotiate, but, before a contract of this nature is signed, to get a full briefing on the economics so they can either allow it to pass or send the executive branch back to the drawing board to try and craft a better deal.

The non-partisan Office of Legislative Research recently weighed in on the topic:

CAN THE LEGISLATURE RETROACTIVELY OVERTURN AN EXECUTIVE BRANCH CONTRACT OR GIVE ITSELF THE POWER TO APPROVE FUTURE CONTRACTS? IF NOT, WHAT CAN THE LEGISLATURE DO?

The legislature would probably face constitutional challenges if it enacted a law retroactively overturning executive branch contracts or giving itself the power to approve future contracts.

A law retrospectively invalidating a contract could raise a constitutional impairment of contract issue (U. S. Const. art. I, §10, clause 1).

And while there are certain limited instances where the legislature has final approval over collective bargaining contracts, a law giving the legislature final approval over plaza service contracts would most likely be held to violate the separation of powers doctrine (Adams v. Rubinow, 157 Conn. 150 (1968)). Under that doctrine, the power to contract for these types of projects is exclusively an executive power, and if the legislature had final approval, it would impair with the inherent powers of the executive, thus violating the separation of powers.

The legislature can limit or restrict the executive branch‘s contracting powers by setting standards and procedures for awarding contracts or authorizing an official or board to terminate contracts for cause. It has already set standards and procedures DOT must follow when awarding plaza service contracts (CGS § 13b-20n).

The legislature has also created the independent State Contracting Standards Board to terminate contracts for cause (CGS §4e-7). Effective October 1, 2011, the board can do this for violating ethics laws (CGS §1-84 and §1-86e), as determined by the Citizen‘s Ethics Advisory Board and wanton or reckless disregard of any state contracting and procurement process by any person substantially involved in that process. The board can also terminate a contract if the Attorney General notifies the contracting agency that an investigation into the process has concluded the contract was awarded comprised of fraud, collusion, or other criminal violation.

Linda McMahon has sunk around $14 million of her own personal wealth into her bid for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate – and the nominating convention is still one month away.

In contrast fellow Greenwich millionaire Ned Lamont spent a total of around $15 million when he challenged fellow Democrat, U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Stamford, in 2006.

Today’s campaign finance filing day with the Federal Election Commission and all eyes will most certainly be on Republican Linda McMahon, the World Wrestling Entertainment founder and political newcomer who is self-financing her bid for her party’s nomination for U.S. Senate.

McMahon spokesman Ed Patru sent me the following snapshot of her filing:

Total Receipts: $8,037,571
Total Loans: $8,000,000
Total Contributions: $37,234 ($5,454: self-capped at $100/contributor;
$31,780: in-kind contributions; PACs: $0)
Cash on Hand: $4,302,202

And here’s a little bit of information from former Republican Congressman Rob Simmons’ campaign for the same U.S. Senate seat. Simmons and McMahon are considered front runners for the GOP nomination, with McMahon leading in a recent Quinnipiac University poll but having a higher percentage of “unfavorables” than Simmons in Monday’s Rasmussen poll.

“Our FEC report will show us with over $1.4 million cash on hand raised from nearly 14,000 donors, including nearly $550,000 raised this quarter – a very respectable sum considering the Senate campaign’s lower profile given (retiring Democratic U.S. Senator Chris) Dodd’s departure, and the intense competition for money by so many Republican candidates for governor and Congress,” said Simmons’ spokesman Jim Barnett in an e-mail.

State lawmakers concerned with what they are learning about the terms of a 35-year contract governing the state’s highway rest stop operations have scheduled an informational hearing on the topic for Monday.

Although legislators were not privy to the details prior to the contract being signed by Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s administration late last year, it should be noted a state Department of Transportation staffer on December 4th e-mailed members of the Transportation Committee and other stakeholders offering a detailed briefing on the completed deal.

A few days later DOT officials met with the committee’s co-chairmen, but no one else took the agency up on its offer. And I have not heard any complaints from either of them – Sen. Donald DeFronzo, D-New Britain or Rep. Tony Guerrera, D-Rocky Hill.

So the DOT has for four months been willing to sit down to explain the contract and answer questions.

Here’s that invitation:

Now that negotiations have concluded on the service plaza initiative, I wanted to provide you with highlights of the agreement and some of the changes you will be seeing at our service plazas. Please see the attached word document. Also, below are links to the DAS website for the actual copy of the RFP and the concession agreement. If you click on the concession agreement link and scroll down to page 178, you will be able to view the conceptual drawings of the new buildings and renovations. They are in black and white, but I will be delivering a set of color copies to the committee next week.

This new agreement was signed on November 18th and is effective on December 7th. It is anticipated that the long-term concession agreement will transform all 23 service plazas along the major highways with more restaurant choices and stores and upgraded comfort facilities. Including projected revenues, initial construction and reinvestments, the benefit to the State of Connecticut is estimated to be almost $500 million over the term of the agreement.

Under the new agreement, all 23 service plazas will include a Subway, a Dunkin’ Donuts and a convenience store. Additionally, McDonald’s will be one of the food providers at eight of the turnpike locations and the larger service plazas on the turnpike will have a variety of additional food offerings. Alliance Energy, a large New England petroleum-marketing distributor, will provide fuel and operate the convenience stores. This partnership effort includes a modernization investment using private capital of approximately $178 million. Three of the existing service plazas will be entirely replaced and the remaining 20 will undergo an array of renovations. In most cases the arrangement of fuel islands will be changed to accommodate more drivers and offer greater convenience and safety. ConnDOT is excited about this initiative because in addition to the improvements noted above, it will have a positive impact on our economy by creating approximately 100 construction jobs during the first five years, and adding approximately 250 jobs once the transformation has been completed. Equally as important, the majority of the companies involved are Connecticut-based.

The Department would like to provide committee members with a more thorough briefing some time in the near future and discuss any questions you may have. I’ll work with committee leadership to set something up.

An observant reader this morning pointed out state GOP Party Chairman Chris Healy back in February donated $100 to Greenwich resident Tom Foley’s gubernatorial campaign, according to Foley’s April 10 campaign finance report.

So what?

Well, Healy is supposed to be the party’s honest broker. The guy that all of the Republicans competing for Republican Congressional and gubernatorial nominations at the May convention count on to remain impartial.

U.S. Senate candidate Rob Simmons’ camp has already raised some concerns about whether Healy is instead trying to help Linda McMahon secure the nomination to run for the seat held by retiring Democrat Chris Dodd.

So when, out of several Republican candidates for Governor, Healy cuts a check to Foley and it shows up on a financial report, it’s bound to get noticed and, fair or not, result in similar accusations of favoritism.

I called Oz Griebel’s gubernatorial campaign about the $100 to Foley and was told they were aware of it.

“Given that Chris has repeatedly stressed CT GOP’s neutrality in competitive primaries, we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt this time and assume his $100 contribution to Oz was lost in the mail or cyberspace – and that a check is forthcoming,” Griebel spokesman Ashley Maagero said.

Healy said he is not playing favorites. He got a request in the mail from Foley’s campaign and responded. He said he always encourages candidates to ask voters for money, because people don’t just wake up in the morning and decide to donate to a particular party or cause. Healy intends to do the same with a recent request from another Republican running for Governor – former Congressman Larry DeNardis.

“Foley sent me something in the mail. I sent him $100. I should have probably not done it but it’s such an automatic thing,” Healy said. “Maybe I should be more careful. Probably. But to say I’m in the tank because I wrote a $100 check to Tom – it’s silly.”

And I apologize to Chris in advance for this post costing him more money as all the other candidates line up to demand their fair share.

Democratic Party Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo has also been trying to navigate her way through questions of favoritism involving some of her party’s candidates. The Norwich Bulletin has those stories.

In February I wrote an article and a blog post about concerns within Republican Rob Simmons’ campaign for U.S. Senate that GOP Chairman Chris Healy’s impartiality ahead of May’s nominating convention had been compromised. Healy’s wife has a job with Linda McMahon,  the Greenwich resident and founder of Stamford-based World Wrestling Entertainment who is running an aggressive, self-funded campaign for the Republican Senate nomination.

Simmons organized a press conference at the capitol building in Hartford Monday and I took the opportunity to ask him directly if he still believes Healy cannot be counted on to be an honest broker because his wife is employed by the competition.

“I don’t want to respond to that question,” Simmons said. “I’ve had discussions with him on the subject … Based on those discussions I expect him to be objective.”

I shot Healy an e-mail for comment. Has he taken any steps to avoid any perceived improprieties/conflicts in the run up to the convention and to make Simmons’ camp more comfortable?

Healy responded: “This issue of my wife’s employment is not an issue – never has been and I’m not going to add anything to it.”