Happy Thursday!
We have 75,754 signatures — thank you all. I no longer update this petition unless new information comes out. If you want to keep sharing, I believe 100,000 signatures will take it to the next level. This will be the 40th update.
Public Benefit Charge (PBC) are now tied to supporting unvetted non profit organizations!
Our money is now funneled to fund unvetted “nonprofit” organizations along with 41 other line items including EV charging stations baked into the PBC.
One nonprofit, the Nonprofit Accountability Group or NAG — which supports causes ranging from LGBTQIA2+ initiatives to housing justice and art programs for kids according to their website — has received approximately $192,513 in ratepayer funds.
This was reported by Inside Investigator author and award-winning journalist Marc E. Fitch. You can read the full article here.
Another good read titled "Unplugged" The 7 Billion dollar tax bill - Marc wrote in 2024 is still relative today.
According to the report, Connecticut ratepayer funds are being used to cover childcare, stipends, food, transportation, and bonuses for community organizations. PURA has also approved tens of thousands of dollars for NAG to hold multi-day workshops where participants receive stipends simply for attending.
Highlights from a December 2024 funding request in PDF totaling $83,764 include:
$10,000 for NAG founder Tenaya Taylor to attend and coordinate workshops, “docket-related meetings,” and outreach
$2,500 for participant transportation
$10,000 in stipends for workshop participants
$2,000 for childcare
$2,000 for translation services
$3,000 for food
$1,000 in bonus stipends for “perfect attendance”
The "Contact Us" link on their website is broken. Nice! (sarcasm)
If I want my money to go to a non profit, let me choose who to donate - DO NOT DECIDE FOR US!!!
Meanwhile, Connecticut State Republicans continue pushing to remove the Public Benefit Charge from our electric bills.
As many of you know, Marissa Gillett resigned shortly after being re-appointed by Governor Lamont. There is plenty of political drama surrounding this, which I won’t dive into here. However, if you want more detail, the following articles from CT Inside Investigator — a trusted and unbiased news outlet — are worth reading:
https://insideinvestigator.org/embattled-pura-chairwoman-gillett-to-step-down-in-october
https://insideinvestigator.org/pura-concedes-in-rate-case-as-lawmakers-try-to-dodge-discovery
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House and Senate Republican Leaders Vincent Candelora (R-North Branford) and Stephen Harding (R-Brookfield) were joined by Sen. Rob Sampson (R-Wolcott) in highlighting what they described as an ongoing lack of respect for Connecticut taxpayers’ money. The lawmakers said checks and balances are necessary in order to increase transparency in nonprofit earmark funding and prevent abuse of taxpayer dollars.
Our Public Benefit Charge seems to expanded to whatever the Democrats and PURA want without the slightest oversight.
Oh, BTW, Expect a 13% increase in 2026. View the Channel 3 report here.
Everytime I give an update with this new bullshit Connecticut is doing, it makes me sick! How can anyone survive in this state, especially seniors?
Please remember this in next year's election.
Not saying all democrats are bad and all republicans are good. I am simply saying that a change has to happen in Connecticut or these shenanigans will continue in this state unchallenged.
Tis the season for giving. If you are going to donate to a non-profit, please donate to the Yankee Institute and/or Inside Investigator. They call out bad actors in Connecticut and trust me, there's a lot of them!
God Bless
~scott~