Senator McKinney Again Calls For State Legislature To Create Office Of Inspector General

I-84 Investigation Highlights Need For State Office Dedicated To Eliminating Government Fraud & Corruption

Senate Minority Leader Pro Tempore John McKinney (R-Fairfield) today renewed his call for the General Assembly to pass legislation creating an Office of Inspector General that would be charged with rooting out and eliminating fraud and corruption in state and municipal government.

“I am absolutely convinced that the overwhelming majority of those who work for, or under the direction of, state and local government are honest men and women doing their best for the taxpayers. I certainly do not want to speculate about who is to blame for the problems with the I-84 project. But, as we’ve seen repeatedly, it only takes a few bad apples to cause horrible, expensive, problems – and, at the same time, destroy the taxpayers’ trust. We won’t know the truth about problems with the I-84 project until the investigations are over. And, I have faith that Governor Rell, Attorney General Blumenthal, DOT Commissioner Carpenter, and the federal government will get to the bottom of this. But I believe it would have been better for Connecticut if we had had in place a state office empowered and equipped to act as soon as the first hint of a problem appeared,” said Senator McKinney.

Senator McKinney noted that his proposal to create an Office of Inspector General is not new. He has called for the creation of such an office several times, and has sponsored, supported and testified in favor of legislation.

“Governor Rell has made tremendous progress in her ongoing efforts to clean up state government. She has acted quickly and decisively with respect to the I-84 situation, as she has whenever there is a problem. I believe that the creation of an Office of the Inspector General can only help her efforts,” said Senator McKinney.