Kelly, Candelora: Today’s forum brings us no closer to truth or transparency

March 7, 2022

Kelly, Candelora: Today’s forum brings us no closer to truth or transparency - CT Senate Republic

KELLY, CANDELORA STATEMENTS ON THE SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM FORUM

 

HARTFORD – Senate Republican Leader Kevin Kelly (R-Stratford) and House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora (R-North Branford) issued the following statements in reaction to today’s legislative forum related to the state’s school construction financing program, which is allegedly the subject of a federal investigation:

 

“Today’s forum brings us no closer to holding government accountable for respecting the sacrifices of taxpayer,” said Senate Republican Leader Kevin Kelly (R-Stratford). “It’s clear that no legislative investigation has begun. This was not a hearing. This was not an investigation. This was not a thorough examination of all the stakeholders. Lawmakers were instructed to limit their questions in length and scope to exclude discussion of past actions of the executive branch. You can’t have an informational forum if you don’t want to find out the information. The FBI is investigating alleged wrongdoing that misappropriated taxpayers’ sacrifices. But today CT Democrats showed that they don’t want to know anything about that investigation or alleged disrespect of taxpayers. This doesn’t restore public trust. It fans the fire of taxpayer angst. Republicans repeatedly called on lawmakers to work together to bring balanced, bipartisan, legislative hearings to fruition. Our calls are ignored. Today’s extremely limited forum brings us no closer to truth or transparency.”

 

House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora (R-North Branford) said: “Today’s quick-pitch ‘informational’ forum was not only wholly inadequate given the significance of the issue at hand, it represented a continuation of a disturbing trend that has Democratic leadership controlling the message and policy that’s coming out of this building by limiting the number and scope of questions we ask. The idea that elected legislators ‘resist the temptation’ to inquire about what transpired in the school construction bidding process during a forum about fixes to the system is ridiculous. Nothing said or presented today will give Connecticut residents an iota of confidence that Democrats are prioritizing transparency over party politics when the governor’s bureaucrats deflect even the simplest questions, such as ‘what went wrong here?’ There’s no reason we can’t hold an official legislative investigation into how we’ve arrived at this point. Given what citizens witnessed today, it’s more apparent than ever that this type of inquiry is needed.”