State Taxpayer Group Raises Questions

On Discretionary Spending

HARTFORD (AP) — A statewide watchdog group is raising questions about millions of dollars in discretionary funds controlled by Governor M. Jodi Rell and leaders of the state Senate and House of Representatives.

The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations asked state Auditor Robert Jaekle this month to review the accounts in which Rell, state House Speaker James Amann and state Senate President Donald Williams Jr each control $2 million.

Those discretionary accounts, which are in the state budget through 2009, contain money that each leader can disperse as he or she sees fit without a public hearing.

Susan Kniep, a former East Hartford mayor and president of the statewide taxpayer organizations group, said its members learned about the accounts last week and consider them little more than slush funds.

“This is outrageously bad,” she said. “This is unbeknownst to the public.”

Jaekle says that since no one has claimed the money is being spent illegally, an audit is not likely to occur.

Although he is aware some people believe the funds are “pork-barrel spending that does not have the necessary controls,” he said, that sentiment alone does not trigger an audit.

Amann, D-Milford, and Williams, D-Brooklyn, say there are appropriate checks and balances on the accounts, which the state Office of Policy and Management oversees and disseminates.

“It’s not like I have a barrel of money in my office and I write the checks,” Amann said.

Amann has allocated about half of the $2 million he controls during the current fiscal year, contributing to community groups, school projects, nonprofit organizations and other recipients. Many were in or near his hometown of Milford.

“I’m proud of what we’ve done for Milford. What, is the speaker not supposed to bring home money to his hometown?” Amann told the New Haven Register.

Neither Rell nor Williams have spent any of the $2 million they control in the current budget, according to spokesmen for their offices.

Rell spent last year’s allocation on a dairy farm initiative and funding for the State Contracting Standards Board, intended to reform the contracting process in light of ethics and corruption concerns.

Rell spokesman Christopher Cooper said the governor supports eliminating the contingency dollars, but believes enough safeguards exist to ensure the money is properly spent.

“The governor has no problem getting rid of it. She has favored projects being vetted and prioritized through the agency of jurisdiction,” Cooper said.

Some of Williams’ allocations last year included money for libraries, fire departments, police technology and other projects in communities statewide.

“We think it’s important that legislative leaders have the ability to address constituent needs as needs arise and help with some of these valuable projects,” said Williams’ spokesman, Derek Slap. “The senators and representatives are the ones on the ground and are very tuned into the needs of the community.”