State treasurer divided from Malloy over $325M in borrowing

In this Jan. 21, 2015 photo, Connecticut state treasurer Denise L. Nappier speaks at Vance Village Elementary School in New Britain, Conn., to kick off the 2015 CHET Dream Big Competition. CHET, or the Connecticut Higher Education Trust, is a tax-advantaged, low-cost savings program specifically designed to help families save for future college costs. (AP Photo/The New Britain Herald, Kevin Bartram)

In this Jan. 21, 2015 photo, Connecticut state treasurer Denise L. Nappier speaks at Vance Village Elementary School in New Britain, Conn., to kick off the 2015 CHET Dream Big Competition. CHET, or the Connecticut Higher Education Trust, is a tax-advantaged, low-cost savings program specifically designed to help families save for future college costs. (AP Photo/The New Britain Herald, Kevin Bartram)

The least visible of Connecticut’s statewide office holders has just reaffirmed her presence in a bold fashion — and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy probably wished she hadn’t hadn’t.

State Treasurer Denise Nappier, a fellow Democrat and the longest tenured constitutional officer in Connecticut, has gone public with her misgivings over the borrowing levels in Malloy’s budget proposal.

In a letter to Malloy that was posted late Friday on the state treasurer’s website, Nappier warned the governor that $325.2 million in general fund debt service in the Malloy’s two-year fiscal plan could make Connecticut unattractive to investors and bondholders.

“I am concerned that even if one were to accept budgeting for bond premiums not yet received, the adjustments made are too aggressive,” Nappier wrote.

It’s rare for another constitutional officer from the same political party to question the governor publicly. That cannot sit well with the Malloy administration, which issued this letter in response to Nappier late Monday.

The first black woman state treasurer in the U.S., Nappier won a fifth term last November over Trumbull GOP First Selectman Tim Herbst. She oversees more than $50 billion in state funds, including nearly $30 million in retirement assets of state pensioners, teachers and select municipal employees.

Nappier has mostly stayed out of the public eye for most of the 2014 campaign and since her re-election, with the exception of monthly meetings of the State Bond Commission.

Neil Vigdor