Republican legislative leaders renewed their call Thursday for a professional board to oversee future investments of state pension funds, particularly given Gov. Ned Lamont\u2019s interest in using those assets to keep the WNBA\u2019s Connecticut Sun playing here.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere needs to be structure and fiscal responsibility and a level of respect for taxpayer money and for public employees\u2019 money,\u201d Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, said during a late morning press conference in the Legislative Office Building.<\/p>\n
With the Democratic-controlled General Assembly expected to come into special session next month, Republicans pledged Thursday to reintroduce a bill that would create a board of financial experts who would share authority with the state\u2019s treasurer over the investment of the more than $60 billion in pension assets Connecticut holds.<\/p>\n
Currently, the treasurer has sole authority to invest those funds, with some limitations. The state does have an Investment Advisory Council that approves a general strategic plan for investments the treasurer must follow. It also stipulates specific shares of the total pension assets that must be placed in various investment categories.<\/p>\n
But Sen. Ryan Fazio of Greenwich, ranking GOP senator on the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, said Connecticut is the only state in the nation that gives an elected treasurer this much discretion. Having a team of investment professionals \u2014 rather than one person \u2014 making these decisions would better ensure that the protection and growth of workers\u2019 retirement savings is prioritized, he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not calling for anything different than what any other state in the country and its taxpayers and its state\u2019s employees have,\u201d said Fazio, who introduced an investment reform bill last legislative session only to see it voted down by the Democratic-controlled finance committee.<\/p>\n
Fazio, who opened a campaign<\/a> for governor last month, added that his proposal is not a commentary on Treasurer Erick Russell, a New Haven Democrat. Fazio and other GOP leaders said Russell, who has been treasurer since January 2023, has made progress during his brief tenure in reversing state investment trends that have underperformed for decades.<\/p>\n But Republicans said the prospect of investing significant pension assets in the WNBA franchise \u2014 a possibility Lamont raised earlier this month<\/a> \u2014 has many worried.<\/p>\n The priorities behind pension investments should be maximizing returns, which, in turn, protects workers\u2019 retirement savings and Connecticut\u2019s taxpayers, Harding said. But, at first glance, the potential Connecticut Sun investment appears more like an economic development initiative, or even a political maneuver.<\/p>\n Lamont, who is weighing a third term for governor, has expressed a desire to keep the team in Connecticut, either at the Mohegan Sun casino, where it currently plays its home games, or at the recently renamed PeoplesBank Arena in downtown Hartford, formerly known as the XL Center.<\/p>\n