CT House & Senate GOP: Comptroller’s CSCU Report is “Black Eye for the State of CT.”

For Immediate Release

CT Republican House and Senate Lawmakers today provided reactions regarding the Comptroller’s report on the CT State Colleges and Universities Special Examination.

Connecticut Republican minority leaders Sen. Stephen Harding and Rep. Vincent J. Candelora said:

“Make no mistake—this is a black eye for the State of Connecticut. While we appreciate Comptroller Scanlon’s proposals to address spending abuses and procedural failures within the CSCU system, restoring public trust demands bold and decisive action.

That begins with terminating the employment of CSCU Chancellor Terrence Cheng. His continued leadership over a system in clear disarray undermines efforts to restore stability and confidence among students, parents, staff, and taxpayers alike.

The troubling transactions revealed in today’s report may well be just the tip of the iceberg, emphasizing the critical need to extend the audit process and fully expose how this system has been mismanaged. Failing to act decisively not only excuses unacceptable behavior but also risks eroding trust in all our public institutions.”

Appropriations Committee Ranking Members Sen. Eric Berthel and Rep. Tammy Nuccio said:

“Connecticut families are already struggling with skyrocketing tuition costs, making immense sacrifices to provide their children with the opportunity for a better future. That’s why every dollar spent in our public higher education system must prioritize students and affordability, not luxury, and if the state employees who took part in this lavish and unnecessary spending had a conscience, they would pay that money back. We doubt that will happen, which is why they should be ordered to pay it back, and the system that allowed for it to happen should be overhauled.

The timing of this news could not be worse – just last session, institutions of higher education came to lawmakers asking for more funding and were given hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, while special education funding for our local schools was shorted as a result.

The state does not have limitless funds, and waste and abuse like this undermines the public’s trust at a time when accountability is more important than ever, especially given the fact that families in our state are struggling, while some high-salaried public employees are apparently dining out on the taxpayer’s dime.”