Copyright Hartford Courant
Senate Republicans in Hartford, according to their leader, believe “protecting taxpayer dollars is one of our most sacred duties.” At the end of June, they added giving an estimated $180,000 in bonuses to staff members as a sacrament of their public religion. When no one was looking, they handed out tens of thousands of dollars in out-of-nowhere, bonuses of as much as $10,000 to dozens of their staff members. As the budget year was nearing its June 30 end, the Senate Republicans and the other three political caucuses at the Capitol had not spent the all the money the caucuses allocate to themselves each year. What’s not spent is turned back to the state treasury. Senate Republican Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, decided to hand out bonuses. Harding, the new high priest of the swamp, refuses to provide details of the bonuses—that only his caucus paid to employees. I asked Harding who decided to pay the bonuses, how the amounts were determined, what the total cost was, whether the other 10 Republican senators were consulted, and if he sought their approval. He replied, “Like all state employees, Senate Republican staff compensation is a matter of public record and is easily searchable. Particularly for the more senior positions, our compensation levels are at or below the comparable positions found in the other legislative caucuses.” Go figure it out yourself is not the response of a confident leader committed to transparency. It’s more like the reaction of a politician who has been caught in the act of spending thousands in taxpayer money in a way that isn’t done by others and contradicts his public persona. Records indicate dozens of Senate Republican staff members received bonuses of between $3,000 and $10,000 in July, covering the final pay period of the 2025 budget year. Those Senate Republican bonuses came just before a 2.5% annual cost of living increase lifted paychecks beginning in July. The compensation system at the legislature also allows for salary increases of up to 3% a year, more if a job is reclassified. Legislative employees also receive health insurance benefits that are more generous than what most other states and municipalities offer–let alone what Jane and John Q. Public can afford. The Senate Republicans often complain that state government spends too much money–and much of it not wisely. One of their loudest budget hawks is state Sen. Rob Sampson, R-Southington. He has recently bestowed Golden Fleece Awards on state agencies. Sampson and Sen. Jeff Gordon, R-Woodstock, gave one to “the Office of Health Care Strategy for spending 84% of its taxpayer-funded budget on out-of-state consultants. OHS, congratulations on successfully wasting the taxpayers’ hard-earned money.” That announcement came at the end of July, a couple of weeks after their caucus employees received those bonuses. Sampson has had three months to award a Golden Fleece Award to an obvious recipient—himself and his fellow Senate Republicans. On Friday, Sampson, in response to questions about the raises, sounded different than he usually does when addressing state spending. “As you know, I’ve always believed taxpayer dollars should be spent carefully, and frankly, compensation at that level in state government deserves scrutiny,” Sampson wrote. “I’d be surprised if our Democratic counterparts weren’t paid even more.” Some Senate Democratic staff members may make more, and if they do there’s a reason. They have responsibilities, but do not receive bonuses. The Senate’s 25 Democrats exercise power. That takes more work than trying to conjure performative acts to grab some attention. The Senate Republicans went from only 12 members to a mere 11 after last year’s election. The biggest winner in the bonus bonanza was the Senate Republican chief of staff, John Healey. He made $201,339 in 2024 and is on course to make $220,375 this year, according to state payroll records. There’s more, a lot more. Healey reports himself as also a “Managing Director in Mesirow Public Finance. He focuses on providing custom finance solutions and debt offerings for municipalities and other governmental entities and expanding the firm’s presence in the New England market.” Healey’s LinkedIn page says at Mesirow he is a “licensed municipal bond underwriter and municipal advisor,” listing that job above his position as the chief of staff for Senate Republicans. With legislative employees working somewhere other than their offices at least a couple of days a week, some could easily manage a modest side hustle. Such a position as managing director of a bond business could take more time management planning or the silent acquiescence of the caucus leadership, especially Harding. Healey is a practiced hand at strategic silence. When he worked as an assistant to former House Republican Leader Lawrence Cafero, Healey was known as “Johnny Angel.” Cafero was pulled into a federal criminal sting operation at the Capitol. It included an attempt by an informant to give Cafero a $5,000 cash campaign contribution, which he would decline to keep. Healey was told to explain how to make appropriate donations, which also were later returned. The video of the informant incident caused some uncomfortable moments at a 2013 federal criminal trial of a House Democratic staff member. Healey was a driving force to dump former Senate Republican Leader Kevin Kelly in an unusual midterm change at the top of the caucus in 2024. Harding was first-term senator chosen by the narrow majority of rebels to replace Kelly and bring back Healey. Healey served two years as chief of staff to Erin Stewart, the New Britain mayor exploring a run for governor. The Senate Republican raises will not help Ryan Fazio, the Republican state senator who launched a bid for governor last summer. Fazio wrote Friday, “I was not consulted about the decision [to award raises] and was not aware of it until after it happened.” Now they know. A shrug from Fazio and his shrinking band of colleagues may not satisfy the constituents they promised to watch every nickel paid into state coffers. Kevin F. Rennie can be reached at kfrennie@yahoo.com
