DCF: Play for Pay BINGO "No Nexus" Steal more kids, get more Federal Money, EXACTLY SPELLED OUT, the crime
Kathleen
officials were awarding Tomasso's construction company the contract to
build the $50 million Long Lane juvenile center for boys in
Middletown. The timing hasn't escaped federal investigators, sources
said.
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http://www.ctnow.com/news/local/hc-morano1228.artdec28,1,7084888.story?coll=hc-headlines-local
State Asked To Back Off
U.S. Seeks Exclusive Role In Cottage Probe
ADVERTISERS
By DAVE ALTIMARI
Courant Staff Writer
December 28 2003
Federal authorities investigating corruption in state government have
asked the chief state's attorney's office not to open its own
investigation of work done at Gov. John G. Rowland's Bantam Lake
cottage.
In the strongest indication so far that federal authorities are
focusing their corruption case on the governor himself, Assistant U.S.
Attorney John Durham has urged against a state investigation that
could hinder the newly re-energized federal probe.
Chief State's Attorney Christopher L. Morano said he is abiding by
Durham's wishes, for now.
"The U.S. attorney's office unequivocally stated their belief that the
initiation of a separate investigation by my office would in all
probability disrupt the federal investigation and would not be in the
public's interest," Morano said. "Their request in this case is
appropriate. They have invested a tremendous amount of time, effort
and dedication to the case."
Morano had requested and received all of the documents Rowland turned
over to federal authorities and the press earlier this month. But
state investigators had not progressed to the point of interviewing
contractors who worked at the governor's cottage.
Morano recently created a public integrity unit in his office to start
battling white collar crime aggressively rather than stand aside and
watch federal authorities prosecute cases, as it has over the past few
years.
Morano would not discuss the details of his meeting with federal
prosecutors. He said they have promised to pass along information they
gather during their investigation if it doesn't apply to any federal
cases. Morano said he has already shared a tip his office received
with federal authorities.
Theoretically, the investigations could co-exist if state
investigators look at different aspects of the cottage scandal from
those federal authorities are examining.
For example, sources said, a state investigation could look into the
possible misuse of state time, since Rowland has identified several
state employees who were involved in the renovation of the cottage. It
also could entail a deeper look at corruption throughout the
Department of Public Works.
Federal authorities are much more likely to be interested in three
people associated with the cottage scandal: Peter N. Ellef, the
governor's former co-chief of staff; Lawrence Alibozek, his deputy
chief of staff; and William Tomasso, a top executive of The Tomasso
Group, a company that does millions of dollars in contract work for
the state. The U.S. attorney's office has declined repeatedly to
comment on the investigation or whom it may be investigating.
Alibozek already has pleaded guilty in federal court to steering state
contracts to an unnamed company, identified by sources as The Tomasso
Group, in exchange for money and gold.
The yearlong probe by federal authorities did not shift toward the
governor himself until The Courant ran a story on Nov. 25 raising
questions about who had done work at the governor's Litchfield summer
cottage and who had paid for it. Until then, all indications were that
Ellef was the highest-ranking state official who was a focus of the
probe, sources familiar with the investigation said.
But the day after The Courant story ran, federal agents showed up with
subpoenas at the homes or businesses of four of the contractors the
paper had named in the story.
The visit that really seems to have piqued the interest of federal
authorities was to the New Britain offices of Christopher Link, owner
of Link Mechanical Services, who installed a propane heating system at
the governor's cottage in May 1999.
Link was recruited for the job by Tomasso and hired by Ellef. Tomasso
personally took Link out to the cottage so he could write up an
estimate that was then mailed to Rowland at the governor's mansion,
sources have confirmed.
Link sent the $5,680 bill to Rowland, but it was Ellef who called him
and asked for a duplicate of the bill. It was paid within a month with
checks written by the wives of Ellef and Alibozek on the couples'
joint checking accounts.
Rowland has not explained how the wives of Ellef and Alibozek came to
pay that bill or why they would do so.
He also hasn't explained why his wife, Patricia, would send a check to
Link four years later and then insist he keep it even after Link
informed her the bill had been paid years before, according to sources
familiar with the probe.
Neither would Rowland confirm that Tomasso personally arranged for and
supervised work at the cottage. In a statement Rowland released when
he admitted that he had lied about work at the cottage, he said
Tomasso employees had done gutter work there.
Link's visit to the cottage coincides with the time when state
officials were awarding Tomasso's construction company the contract to
build the $50 million Long Lane juvenile center for boys in
Middletown. The timing hasn't escaped federal investigators, sources
said.
Copyright 2003, Hartford Courant
==========
Bill Curry: "Rowland's Numbers", "Play for Pay"
http://www.actionlyme.com/LARA.htm
http://www.actionlyme.com/CURRY_FOR_KIDS.htm
Child Advocate:
DCF RECKLESS, IRRESPONSIBLE, LACKING ACCOUNTABILITY.
The STATE of Scum. The Poor, the Sick, and the
Children are the Revenue. FEDERAL REVENUE.
KISS MY ASS, CONNECTICUT DCF. You are the lowest
low-life scum to ever walk the Earth. You can
rot in Hell, after you spend the rest of your
lives in jail, with Rowland.
REPORT ON BILLS FAVORABLY REPORTED BY COMMITTEE
COMMITTEE: Appropriations File No.:
Bill No.: HB-5021
PH Date:
02/13/98
Action/Date:
JFS-3/24/98
Change of Reference:
TITLE OF BILL:
AN ACT MAKING ADJUSTMENTS TO THE STATE BUDGET FOR THE BIENNIUM
ENDING JUNE 30, 1999.
SPONSORS OF BILL:
Governor Rowland
REASONS FOR BILL:
The bill would implement midterm adjustments to the biennial budget
adopted
last year. These adjustments reflect technical
changes (necessitated by changes in caseloads, increases in fixed
operating
costs, court orders, etc.) and a realignment of priorities.
In addition, Governor Rowland included several new initiatives (see
"Response from Administration/Agency" below).
RESPONSE FROM ADMINISTRATION/AGENCY:
Michael W. Kozlowski, Secretary and Marc S. Ryan, Deputy Secretary,
Office
of Policy and Management - testified in
support of the Governor's proposal. ****The proposed increases in
spending are
attributed to higher than expected spending
requirements in federal entitlement programs (Medicaid and Temporary
Family
Assistance), **** lower than budgeted savings from the
Early Retirement Incentive Plan, the carryover effect of current
year
deficiencies and the Governor's new initiatives. These
intitiatives are in the areas of education, children's health, child
protection, public safety, elderly services, the environment, and
economic development.
INREASED PETITIONS FOR TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS:
http://www.cga.state.ct.us/2001/jfr/h/2001HB-06669-R00APP-JFR.htm
Exactly spelled out. Steal more kids, get more
Federal money. The Governor's and Marc Ryan's
overall plan. The Governor owns an Insurance
Company, and Hartford is the Insurance Capital
of the World.
REPORT ON BILLS FAVORABLY REPORTED BY COMMITTEE
COMMITTEE:
Appropriations Committee
File No.:
Bill No.:
HB-6669
PH Date:
4/20/2001
Action/Date:
JFS - 4/20/01
Reference Change:
TITLE OF BILL:
AN ACT MAKING DEFICIENCY APPROPRIATIONS AND TRANSFERRING FUNDS FOR
AGENCIES WITH PROJECTED DEFICIENCIES FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE
30, 2001.
SPONSORS OF BILL:
Governor Rowland
REASONS FOR BILL:
The bill authorizes funds for several state agencies to allow them to
cover shortfalls in the current fiscal year. Since it is difficult to
anticipate extraordinary circumstances that may place additional
demands on agencies (court orders, increased caseloads, public health
concerns, etc.), deficiency appropriations are necessary in order for
agencies to meet their fiscal obligations.
RESPONSE FROM ADMINISTRATION/AGENCY:
Marc S. Ryan, Secretary, Office of Policy and Management - Secretary
Ryan urged favorable consideration of the bill, including the
substitute language he submitted. He stated that the proposed
substitute submitted by OPM allows the state to meet all of its
financial obligations for the current fiscal year without going over
the spending cap. This would be achieved by appropriating
approximately $50 million in additional expenditures to bring
appropriations up to the cap and transferring lapses and allotment
rescissions to cover additional needs.
Secretary Ryan also provided testimony on two items - the shortfall in
two Fringes Accounts (Employer Social Security Tax and State Employees
Health Service Cost) in the Special Transportation Fund and the
shortfall in the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Fund.
A portion of the deficiency in the Social Security account is a result
of greater snow and ice removal costs than were budgeted. The balance
of the deficiencies in the Social Security account and the Health
Service account is due to a larger than anticipated percentage of
fringe benefits for Department of Transportation employees charged to
the Special Transportation Fund rather than federal funds.
The deficiency in the Mashantucket Pequot Mohegan Fund is due to lower
than budget recoveries from General Assistance audits.
Richard Blumenthal, Attorney General - The Attorney General requested
a deficiency appropriation of $420,000 to pay outstanding bills from
the Oracle Corporation relating to his agency's Y2K computer
conversion project. The Dept. of Information Technology allowed funds
to lapse at the end of FY 00, although work remained outstanding under
the contract with Oracle.
H. Wayne Carver, Chief Medical Examiner - Dr. Carver requested a
deficiency appropriation of $385,000. In addition to the cost of the
increasing number of cremation certificates, the agency's new billing
procedures have led to the submission of a large number of outstanding
bills by the assistant medical examiners in the field, who perform
death investigation services on a per case basis.
Thomas Kirk, Ph.D., Commissioner, Dept. of Mental Health and Addiction
Services - Dr. Kirk requested a deficiency appropriation of $7.3
million. The department needs $4 million to offset a deficiency in
Personal Services for salary increases for psychiatrists to improve
recruitment and retention efforts within DMHAS. The Governor's
recommended budget for the FY 02-03 biennium includes funding to
annualize the cost of the salary increases. The agency needs $3.3
million to address a deficiency in the General Assistance program. The
projected shortfall is due to a 20% increase in client caseload over
the last two years and a spike in eligibility in the first part of the
fiscal year.
Patricia Coker-Wilson, Commissioner, Dept. of Social Services -
Commissioner Coker-Wilson requested a deficiency appropriation of
$72.2 million to offset shortfalls in the following areas:
· Medicaid - Shortfalls in Medicaid are attributable to
increased costs of pharmacy services (and slower than anticipated
implementation of cost savings initiatives), home health care,
hospital inpatient services and psychiatric reinsurance claims.
· ConnPACE - The shortfall in ConnPACE is due to increases in
caseload, increases in the cost of pharmaceuticals and discontinuance
of Medicaid managed care plans for seniors.
· Other Expenses - The agency has experienced overruns regarding
its contracts that support program activities. Most of these contracts
are necessary to meet federal requirements, set rates, provide quality
review, etc., for Medicaid providers. Many of the contracts are driven
by volume increases in entitlement programs.
· Data Processing - The deficiency in the Data Processing
Services account are attributable to the impact of higher caseloads in
Medicaid on the Medicaid Management Information System contract.
· State Administered General Assistance (SAGA) - The shortfall
in the SAGA account can be attributed to medical expenses, which have
exceeded original projections. Medical costs, particularly pharmacy
costs, continue to grow at rates that cause DSS some concern.
· Temporary Family Assistance (TFA) - The TFA deficiency is the
result in variations in caseload.
Tom Gilman, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Children and Families -
Deputy Commissioner Gilman requested a $20.6 million deficiency
appropriations to offset projected shortfalls in the following areas:
· Board and Care (Adoption Account) - The number of subsidized
adoptions and subsidized guardianships is expected to exceed the
projections by 675.
· Board and Care (Residential Account) - The number of children
in need of intensive levels of residential treatment has been
accelerating. DCF is projecting at least 225 placements over the
appropriated level. In addition, the department has experienced a
large increase in the number of youth with mental retardation who are
in need of placement.
· No Nexus Special Education - Based on increases in the number
of children placed in residential treatment facilities, there is a
projected increase of 50 no nexus youth over the budget level. DCF is
responsible for the education costs of those children. The cost per
child is approximately $34,000 per year. An additional growth factor
is the increase in the number of termination of parental rights
petitions approved by the courts, which leads to a child being defined
as no nexus.
· Other Expense Account - The factors influencing the deficiency
in OE are: 1) difficulty in achieving the $900,000 budgeted savings,
2) office expansions and expenses associated with moves that were
originally anticipated to occur last fiscal year; 3) fuel and energy
costs that exceeded budget estimates, 4) the need to contract for
psychiatrists at Long Lane School and Riverview Hospital due to an
inability to hire state employees for these positions, and 5) travel
costs incurred by social workers in order to achieve the required
visitations with children and youth in out-of-state placements.
:-)))