NH INSIDER

CONCORD - Today, New Hampshire Republican senate candidate Kelly Ayotte welcomes struggling Arizona senator and former GOP presidential nominee John McCain to New Hampshire, to help push an insurance company-run health care system that protects Big Insurance's record profits instead of middle-class families and small businesses in New Hampshire.  
 
Both Ayotte and McCain have consistently defended the reckless interests of Big Insurance over middle-class families and small businesses. Ayotte has come out against meaningful reform, instead pushing a plan that would allow insurance companies to cherry-pick who and what they'd like to cover [Concord Monitor, 1/8/10]. She went so far as to sign a pledge to repeal health care reform, if elected, and refused to take a position on President Obama's proposal to create a Rate Increase Authority that would protect New Hampshire consumers from arbitrary and exorbitant premium increases [Fosters, 1/15/10; Union Leader, 2/25/10].
 
"Kelly Ayotte and John McCain have a lot in common these days," said Emily Browne, Press Secretary for the New Hampshire Democratic Party. "Both are facing contentious primaries, both are taking thousands from Big Insurance to shore up their campaigns, and both have chosen - at every step on the road to real health care reform - to stand with insurance companies and corporate interests instead of struggling middle-class families and small businesses."
 
Kelly Ayotte has taken $10,000 from the political action committees of massive insurers like Cigna, Blue Cross and Well Point since beginning her campaign. John McCain, this election cycle, has taken at least $7,500 [Opensecrets.org, Accessed 3/12/10]. 

 
CONCORD - In response to $370,000 in questionable payments made to John Stephen and the Lucas Group for so-called volunteer work, Rhode Island's Lt. Governor Elizabeth Roberts is calling on lawmakers to fine public officials who violate bidding laws. The Rhode Island Attorney General has also been investigating the payments.
 
John Stephen, working for the Lucas Group, consulted with Rhode Island on its Medicaid program. Rhode Island officials - including secretary of the Office of Health and Human Services, Gary Alexander, who campaigned with Stephen and held a fundraiser for him - publicly stated for months that the work was on a volunteer basis.
 
It was later publicly revealed that John Stephen and the Lucas Group received $370,000 for this so-called "volunteer" work - money that was awarded without any competitive bidding process.
 
Rhode Island's Lt. Governor Elizabeth Roberts yesterday urged the Rhode Island Assembly to put in place stiff penalties for violating the state's competitive bidding requirements.
 
"I was shocked to learn that a company that offered services voluntarily to the state, that never went through an open, public-bidding process and never had a contract from the state, was able to turn around and secure payment, and the state had no recourse," Roberts said, according to the Providence Journal.
 
"John Stephen charged Rhode Island taxpayers $370,000 for volunteer work?" asked  Raymond Buckley, chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party.  "If that's what John Stephen charges for 'volunteer' work there is no way New Hampshire taxpayers can afford to elect him Governor."
 
"It is not surprising that the Rhode Island legislature has to consider changing its laws because of John Stephen's behavior. New Hampshire taxpayers can't afford John Stephen's type of no -bid, no-ethics arrangements that benefit him and his political cronies.   

"John Stephen worked for state government for years. He should know about competitive bidding. He should also know that volunteers are not supposed to get paid for their volunteer work for the state.  John Stephen obviously doesn't think those laws apply if they stand in the way of his personal gain.  New Hampshire can't afford someone like John Stephen who thinks ethics and the law doesn't apply to him."
 
The scandal is reminiscent of those in the Administration of Stephen's mentor, Craig Benson. Benson paid tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars to a so-called volunteer named Linda Pepin.
 
"John Stephen apparently learned everything he knows about ethics from Craig Benson - something that should scare the people of New Hampshire," Buckley said.

The Providence Journal Story follows.

# # #
 
R.I. General Assembly bills would close no-bid loophole
01:00 AM EST on Friday, March 12, 2010
By Katherine Gregg

Journal State House Bureau
 
PROVIDENCE - Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts is asking lawmakers to close the loophole that allowed the Carcieri administration to make a $370,000 settlement payment to the Lucas Group for no-bid Medicaid consulting services that top aides to the governor had, for months, insisted were provided voluntarily.
 
Bills introduced in the House and Senate, at Roberts' behest, call for stiff penalties - including fines of up to $5,000 and possible dismissal - of any state employee "who has knowingly and willingly approved, authorized, accepted, or supervised the receipt from any person or business of any goods or services for which the state may be billed" without following the bidding requirements in state purchasing law.
 
The legislation would also prohibit the payment to any "person or business that provides goods or services to any state agency without possessing a lawfully authorized written contract."
 
The Carcieri administration had maintained for months that consultants working for the Lucas Group had volunteered their time. But in June, the administration agreed to pay a $370,000 settlement to the firm for its "significant" work on a "global waiver" giving Rhode Island unprecedented freedom in how it spends its Medicaid dollars on health care for the poor, the elderly and the disabled.
 
One partner in the Lucas Group was John Stephen, a former New Hampshire health and human services commissioner and failed GOP congressional candidate in New Hampshire. Rhode Island's secretary of the Office of Health and Human Services, Gary Alexander, campaigned with Stephen and held a fundraiser for him.
 
In response to inquiries from The Journal about the June settlement, the administration subsequently acknowledged that the governor's then-chief of staff, Brian Stern, was intimately aware of the extent to which the state relied on a team of consultants, without a contract, to negotiate the terms of the Medicaid agreement with the federal government in the final days of the Bush administration.
 
"As negotiations heightened and demand for information increased significantly, the relationship moved from informal assistance to a more definitive work plan as it became clear that the expertise and specialized human resources of the Lucas Group were needed to achieve the waiver," Carcieri spokeswoman Amy Kempe said in response to Journal inquiries.
But, "no formal contract was ever signed and [no] formal purchase order was ever issued to the Lucas Group for payment and no payment to them was made until the settlement was reached," she acknowledged.
 
Stern was subsequently nominated by Carcieri - and approved by the state Senate - for a Superior Court judgeship.
"I was shocked to learn that a company that offered services voluntarily to the state, that never went through an open, public-bidding process and never had a contract from the state, was able to turn around and secure payment, and the state had no recourse," Roberts said. "This bill will ensure that this scenario will not happen again."
 
Describing himself as outraged, Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch promised in June to launch an investigation. His investigation has not yet resulted in any action or written findings by his office.

Cornish -- Former state senator and current DNC Member Peter Burling of Cornish, released the following statement applauding Senators Jackie Cilley and Deb Reynolds for their courageous effort to repeal the LLC tax:
 
"I know Deb and Jackie are taking heat from some members of the Republican Party for offering alternative ways to raise revenue if the repeal of the LLC Tax passes.  That's absolutely typical of the Republicans who never offer any substantive alternatives and are always looking to downshift costs onto the property tax payer."

Kelly Ayotte is Quick to Defend Reckless Political Hold-Up of Benefits Last Week, But Stays Silent Whether She Supports Bill to Preserve Benefits for Thousands of Unemployed Across NH

CONCORD- After rushing to defend the political stunt work of Sen. Jim Bunning from Kentucky, who held up extending unemployment benefits for nearly a week, Republican senate candidate Kelly Ayotte has stayed silent on whether she supports the bill coming before the senate today which would preserve these benefits for the thousands of middle-class families across New Hampshire who rely on them to make ends meet.
 
Over the weekend, Ayotte defended Sen. Bunning, who kept the senate in gridlock for nearly a week, threatening unemployment benefits for families across the Granite State. Now, as the full senate is set to vote on preserving these benefits, will Ayotte fall in line with the Washington GOP once again and oppose help for New Hampshire's middle class?  
 
"Kelly Ayotte finally finds her voice, and the only thing she uses it for is to defend Washington gridlock and the GOP's disastrous political stunt work," said Emily Browne, Press Secretary for the New Hampshire Democratic Party. "She has stayed silent on whether she would actually support this bill, which will deliver crucial unemployment benefits to the men and women of this state who desperately need them. Kelly Ayotte is proving once again that the only time she'll stand up is when Republicans in Washington prop her up, rather than when the middle-class families of New Hampshire truly need her."

Kelly Ayotte Takes Her Fourth Position on the Recovery Act Since Announcing Candidacy

CONCORD - Yesterday, Republican senate candidate Kelly Ayotte took yet another new position on the Recovery Act. Since declaring her candidacy, Ayotte has flip-flopped on the issue an astonishing four times. On Wednesday, when she was voicing her opposition for the bipartisan jobs bill passed by Congress, she suggested it be paid for with remaining stimulus funds [ABC News, 3/310]. But yesterday, at a candidate's forum in Portsmouth, Ayotte told the audience the Recovery Act money be used to pay down the deficit [Portsmouth Herald, 3/5/10].

As Attorney General she embraced the use of Recovery Act money to fund New Hampshire programs. But as a candidate for US Senate, she has consistently advocated against the Recovery Act, going so far as to sign a pledge to repeal it if elected.

"Which is it Kelly?" said Emily Browne, Press Secretary for the New Hampshire Democratic Party. "Should we spend the money, take it back, put it toward job creation or use it to pay down the deficit? New Hampshire families don't need political whiplash or another candidate who doesn't know where she stands. They need strong leadership and someone in Washington who will fight to get them back to work."