We have a "special plates" program, earmarked for low cost spay/neuter vouchers. It had over a million bucks in it. It's now down to $500,000 and there is $530,000 unaccounted for.
The Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal, is investigating the illegal transfer of the funds into a "general fund" in an effort to balance a sad budget. Read on:
HARTFORD -- The governor and General Assembly broke the law when they seized more than half a million dollars from funds created by specialty license plates that promote wildlife conservation and pet sterilization, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Wednesday.
Millions of dollars that state residents wanted directed toward specific causes, including the historic Amistad schooner, childhood cancer research, Connecticut greenways and other causes raided in recent budgetary tactics, could be at stake.
Blumenthal asked Gov. M. Jodi Rell to detail fund seizures that she and legislators made this year from dedicated accounts and transferred to the General Fund to balance the state budget.
In response, a spokeswoman for Rell said the governor has directed her budget chief to look into the issue, but wondered why Blumenthal singled out the Republican governor, when the Democratic-controlled Legislature also was responsible.
Blumenthal said during a morning news conference in his office that in all, 10 specific funds that are provided with voluntary donations from people who pay premiums on specialty license plates for their vehicles, should be protected. Whether by act of the General Assembly or administrative action by the governor, the funding transfers were illegal, he said.
"Neither the governor nor the Legislature can do it unilaterally," Blumenthal said. "What makes a transfer illegal is the use of contributed or donated funds."
The
Advertisement
announcement came less than a week after Blumenthal's warning about the illegality of a scheduled sweep of funds created by "Preserve the Sound" license plates resulted in the Democratic-controlled General Assembly withdrawing the plan during a special legislative session.
"There is a variety of good and worthwhile causes that are supported by Connecticut citizens who want to pay a bit above what is required for their license-plate fee," Blumenthal said.
He said there are a variety of factors that protect the funds from being diverted to the General Fund.
"So we are asking for a full accounting because apparently already more than $500,000, possibly millions of dollars, has been transferred illegally in violation of donor intent and the law of our constitution and basic fairness, to the General Fund," he said.
"The constitution guarantees that their intent must be respected and the governor and the Legislature cannot usurp it, change it, alter it, ignore it; they have to respect it," Blumenthal said. His initial ruling on the Long Island Sound Fund, which gets a portion of each "Preserve the Sound" license plate sold by the state Department of Motor Vehicles, prompted his interest in other accounts.
"As we began looking into the other funds, we found reason to believe, a strong, factual basis, that there has been already a transfer of more than $500,000 out of the Animal Population Control Fund and the Wildlife Conservation Fund," Blumenthal said.
Donna Tommelleo, a spokeswoman for the governor, said that Office of Policy and Management Secretary Robert L. Genuario will investigate the issue and respond to Blumenthal.
"The governor is somewhat surprised, however, that the Attorney General did not also direct his letter to legislative leadership since it was the Legislature that designated the change in the law," Tommelleo said in a statement.
Last Sunday, the Hearst Connecticut Newspapers reported that the "Caring for Animals" plates, which date back to 1998, have raised about half a million dollars to help provide vaccination and sterilization benefits for pets adopted from municipal animal shelters within a larger program in the state Department of Agriculture.
Last June, Rell took about $530,000 from the DOA's overall animal-protection fund and Democratic lawmakers took another half million dollars. Those diversions have threatened two other DOA programs that provide vouchers for pet sterilizations for low-income residents and fund a statewide spay-and-neuter program for feral cats.
Last month, Hearst Connecticut Newspapers reported that the "Preserve the Sound" plates are by far the most-popular plates sold, with more than 141,650, according to the DMV. About 8,500 Animal Population Control plates have been purchased; 1,433 wildlife conservation; 794 for the commemoration of the Amistad 1839 slave ship, a replica of which is home ported in New Haven and is Connecticut's Freedom Schooner; and 327 plates for childhood cancer research.
I cannot WAIT to get this biatch outta office!!!
12/02
Reply With Quote
. I would be FUMING! 
Bookmarks