• New voting machines

• Training for registrars

• Municipal elections

• Presidential election calender

The state Senate will form a bipartisan committee to investigate and possibly discipline former Senate Republican leader Louis DeLuca following his guilty plea for conspiring to threaten his granddaughter's husband, top senators announced this afternoon.

The six-member committee, composed of three Democrats and three Republicans, will be named within the next two weeks, and the full Senate could vote in November on whether to reprimand, censure or expel DeLuca. The committee could also decide to take no action following a series of public hearings.

[...]

"The committee will be thorough and deliberative, and will consider a variety of disciplinary options,'' Williams said, noting that DeLuca would be given the chance to present his case.

DeLuca was arrested in June on a warrant after the FBI stated that DeLuca met with Danbury trash hauler James Galante in April 2005 in order to have Waterbury resident Mark Colella intimidated because DeLuca believed that Colella was abusing his wife, Casey - DeLuca's granddaughter. Colella has denied the allegations, and DeLuca has repeatedly refused to resign as a senator over the past two months.

To recap:

• DeLuca had dealings with James Galante, an individual on trial for tax fraud, racketeering, and extortion based on a federal probe of organized crime in Danbury's trash industry.




• DeLuca promised an undercover agent that he "would use his influence to discover anything that could hurt Galante, and "'blunt it as best I can.'"




• DeLuca made a deal with Galante in which the trashman would "rough up" someone he thought was abusing one of his relatives




• Waterbury's Chief of police Neil O'Leary directly contradicted DeLuca's statement that the police offered no assistance for his relative that was being abused.

At a private, members-only meeting Tuesday, Democrats differed over an emerging plan to impose new restrictions on lobbyists, staff and lawmakers, according to some members who attended the meeting.

Some Democrats, such as Rep. Christopher Murphy, a freshman from Connecticut, said failure to deliver on their campaign promises to clean up Congress would be damaging now and in next year's election. He was one of a half-dozen freshmen to speak on the topic.

"Whether or not we clean up Congress might be the defining issue in my race," Murphy said afterward. "The Republicans are getting more like the Democrats on the big issues. What's going to be left is whether or not people feel Washington has changed."

After months of debate, Congressman Murphy can claim to live up to one of his promises with making making ethics reform a reality.

In what would be the most sweeping overhaul of ethics rules since the Watergate era, the House today gave final approval to a bill aimed at reining in the influence of lobbyists and repairing Congress' sullied image.

[...]

The bill require lobbyists to disclose more of their activities, including the campaign contributions they raise from clients, friends and relatives, a key source of their influence.

It would require lawmakers to disclose the special-interest items they slip into bills - a process, known as earmarking, that has figured prominently in congressional scandals. And it would deny congressional pensions in the future to lawmakers turned felons.

[...]

Government watchdog groups hailed the measure as "landmark reform."

"For the first time, citizens will be able to get a full picture of how lobbyists and lobbying organizations use money in Washington, D.C., to gain access and influence in Congress," Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer said.

Some said they would continue to press for more change, including creating an independent Office of Public Integrity to investigate ethics complaints.

"We will celebrate the progress today, but we can't stop," said Rep. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who won election last year by highlighting ethics.

At today's presser, Murphy talked about the passage of the bill.

May 1, 2007

The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500


Through: Mr. Arthur Cleaves, Regional Director - FEMA Region I
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
99 High Street, 6th Floor
Boston, MA 02110-2320

Dear Mr. President:

We are writing to voice our strong support for Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell’s April 30, 2007 request that you declare a major disaster for the State of Connecticut as a result of a major nor’easter which produced heavy rain, frozen precipitation, high winds, and coastal, riverine and urban flooding beginning on April 15, 2007.

On the morning of Sunday, April 15, 2007, a major nor’easter engulfed the State of Connecticut causing flooding along the Farmington, Housatonic and Connecticut rivers for several days. Flood warnings were cancelled on the Farmington River on April 20, 2007 and on the Housatonic River on April 21, 2007. Flood warnings continued for the Connecticut River until Friday, April 27, 2007 - twelve (12) days after the storm.

On April 15, 2007, Governor Rell took all necessary steps under state law when she executed the State Emergency Plan, and ordered activation of the State Emergency Operations Center. Governor Rell urged all motorists to avoid driving on the morning of April 16, 2007 due to widespread flooding. In addition, on April 17, 2007 Governor Rell directed the State Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security to solicit damage reports from State and local officials. Finally, on April 18, 2007 Governor Rell requested a Federal/State preliminary damage assessment (PDA) pursuant to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) regulations.

The State of Connecticut’s preliminary damage assessment demonstrates statewide flooding resulted in damage to over 2,406 residential units and more than 179 businesses. Private sector losses are estimated at $31,215,550 and public sector damages are estimated at $11,978,231. These preliminary damage assessments confirm major impacts to residents, businesses, and State and local government units.

Governor Rell has determined that the April 15, 2007 major nor’easter is of such severity and magnitude that the financial costs exceed the State of Connecticut and affected local governments capabilities. Supplementary federal assistance is necessary to ensure continued appropriate cleanup and repair operations, and to ensure public safety. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. Sections 5121-5206 (Stafford Act), we strongly urge immediate and favorable consideration of Governor Rell’s request for the following federal assistance: (1) Public Assistance for Fairfield, Litchfield, Hartford, and New Haven counties; (2) Individual Assistance which includes Individuals and Households Program, Disaster Unemployment Assistance, Small Business Administration disaster loans, and Farm Service Agency loans for Fairfield, Litchfield, Hartford, New Haven, and Middlesex counties; and (3) that the Hazard Mitigation Program be made available statewide.

We thank you in advance for your consideration of this matter.

Sincerely,

Christopher J. Dodd
United States Senator

Joseph I. Lieberman
United States Senator

John B. Larson
Member of Congress

Joseph Courtney
Member of Congress

Rosa L. DeLauro
Member of Congress

Christopher Shays
Member of Congress

Christopher Murphy
Member of Congress

Today, Congressman Chris Murphy (CT-5) aggressively questioned Mr. R. David Paulison, Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) at a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing about the agency's slow response to Connecticut in the aftermath of the mid-April storm that left significant damage behind.

"When that spring storm hit Connecticut, small towns didn't have the resources available to them to clean up the mess and quickly address property damage issues. FEMA dragged its feet in declaring a disaster," said Murphy.

After the storm, which began over the weekend of April 14 and 15, and continued into Monday, April 16, Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell announced that she would ask FEMA to declare portions of Connecticut a major disaster for businesses, homeowners, and municipalities. FEMA did not declare a disaster until May 11 for municipalities only; the agency did not extend that declaration for businesses and homeowners until June 14 - two months after the storm.

In response to Murphy's questioning about the delay in declaring a disaster in Connecticut, Mr. Paulison agreed that it took too long in this case, noting that it should take less than two weeks to make the determination.

Yesterday, I attended the The Southern Fairfield County Young Dems BBQ and caught up the man who's looking to give the shameless rubber stamp phony Chris Shays his pink slip in 2008, 4th CD candidate Jim Himes.

For those who don't know, recently, Himes raised eyebrows with his impressive fund raising figures for the second quarter and energized the crowd of over 100 who withstood the rain while Himes delivered his vision of change in the way things are done in Washington.

It kind of reminded me of a certain Democrat who challenged another of President Bush's rubber-stampers not so long ago...

I'll post my full video report on the Young Democrats event, as well as more coverage of Himes, later this week.

In Bethel, elections officials have been preparing for the change for several months, said Mary Legnard, Republican registrar of voters.

Optical scan machines were used during the budget referendum in May so officials would be used to them by November.

"We no longer use lever machines. They're gone," Legnard said. "I don't see any problems if there is a primary."

Bethel Democratic Town Committee chairman Joseph DaSilva said he would prefer that lever machines were still in use because of their reliability.

"I think it will be an adjustment for a lot of people. The lines will be longer, because people will take more time to vote. The longer you've been voting, the longer the adjustment will take," DaSilva predicted.

Say goodbye to those old voting machines...

A ban on old lever voting machines will have voters all over Connecticut casting their ballots by scanner.

Connecticut State Secretary, Susan Bysiewicz and Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal held a news conference this afternoon to announce plans to ban the old lever voting machines in all future elections.

Connecticut is switching its voting technology to optical scanner machines.  This year's municipal elections will mark the first time that the technology will be used statewide. Officials say that voting by optical scanner leaves a reliable paper trail.

As everyone is well aware, any post on the reliability of the new voting machines sparks an interesting debate among the MLN community and this topic will certainly come up during the Secretary of State's guest post later this week.

• If you haven't already, please download Mayor Boughton's latest Finance Disclosure Report as well as the Republican Town Committees report. We'll have the Democrats breakdown posted online this week.

• Don't think for a second that the parade ordinance saga is over...far from it.

• With school opening in September, I'm going to pose a question to those who claimed to care about the welfare of Danbury's children.

• Another case of irresponsible development is coming to a conclusion and I'll explain why the Republicans in the 1st and 2nd ward, as well as Mayor Boughton should be concerned.

• Did BigT put his foot in his mouth again? Wait and see the latest from the man who wants residents to kill members of the immigrant community and why it might be time for the state to launch an investigation regarding remarks made on that disgusting show.

• Be on the lookout for more episodes of Danbury Live posted online.

• Is HatCityBLOG being picked up in the mainstream media as well as branching over to public access?