Governor Dannel Malloy’s budget office says it's releasing funds to several state watchdog agencies after igniting a storm of controversy by withholding the cash.
Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management Ben Barnes announced he will be releasing the funds that were being held back from the Office of State Ethics, Freedom of Information Commission, and State Elections Enforcement Commission. The money for the three agencies totals $183,023.
The step came after a meeting with the leadership of those agencies late Friday.
Republican Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano asked the office of the Attorney General for a legal opinion on the holdbacks. He contended the governor is not allowed unilaterally to cut the budgets of watchdog agencies, under a 2004 statute. That law was passed in the wake of the scandals surrounding then-Governor John Rowland.
OPM had previously argued that this year’s budget, passed by the General Assembly, did give the governor latitude in making unspecified cuts.
In a statement, OPM Secretary Barnes said, “Independent of any legal interpretation of OPM’s authority with respect to budget reduction, I have voluntarily agreed that it is in the best interests of the watchdog agencies and the state to release the holdback of their appropriations. I believe they should have the resources necessary to continue their important missions through the remainder of this fiscal year.”
