Connecticut auditors have found that a teacher’s union affiliate likely commingled, or misused, publicly donated funds for educators and first responders affected by the Sandy Hook School shooting.
Republicans lawmakers requested the auditor’s finding.
House Minority Leader Themis Klarides says she’s troubled by the results.
“As an attorney, if you commingle an account, you lose your license. And it doesn’t matter if you are going to pay it back. So I think these are important questions that need to be answered. And if we do not start doing things in a very black and white way to make sure that the public can trust us again, this is not going to get any better.”
The auditors found that in 2016 the state handed nearly $156,000 over to the United Labor Agency to administer. The agency is the charitable arm of the AFL-CIO.
Since then, the ULA distributed more than $6,000 to five eligible recipients. But the agency did not have the remaining funds available.
Sal Luciano, president of the ULA, says the auditors’ report came as a shock to the agency’s board. Luciano says the board has taken corrective action and the funds have been restored.
