Last week our colleague Dan Riehl reported that a building used by the Connecticut Communist Party, chaired by Joelle Fishman, was believed to be a shoe-in to receive $300,000 in Connecticut tax-payer funds for building renovations via the state’s Bond Commission, headed by Governor Dannel Malloy (Democrat & Working Families Party).
Despite a ranking as a “Sinkhole” state of the nation, by the Institute for Truth in Accounting (IFTA), and the fact that the state continues to borrow from its capital project accounts to pay operating bills, Gov. Malloy was all for taxpayer money funding repairs for headquarters of the Communist Party in his state.
But on Monday, Gov. Malloy did an amazing turn-around and suddenly pulled the funding proposal for the building, called the People’s Center, from the Bond Commission’s agenda, just prior to its meeting, citing complaints from military veterans who protested the use of taxpayer funds for the building. The governor said:
This particular request has engendered a fair amount of controversy because of the ties — the fully legal ties — of some of the individuals to the Communist Party. But ultimately, what that represents to people who have served in various conflicts became a concern to me.
State Rep. Chris Coutu (R-Norwich) organized a veterans’ demonstration outside the People’s Center last Friday. “I’m really proud that Hartford isn’t going to be embarrassed by giving $300,000 to a community center that basically facilitates the communist party,” said Coutu, who is running for the 19th District state Senate seat.
As reported here, the People’s Center funding proposal had been pulled from the agenda in April as well because of questions about the center’s tax status and its ties to the Communist Party. It was placed back on the agenda by state Sen. Toni Harp(D-New Haven), with the support of Gov. Malloy.
A proposal is rarely, if ever, rejected from the Connecticut Bond Commission twice. This outcome is the result of the efforts of citizen activism, state lawmakers actually doing their job of protecting the interests of taxpayers, and top-notch investigative reporters getting accurate data, and informing the public. This is the way things are supposed to work…even in liberal Connecticut.
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