Lawmakers Ask Governor to Resign

Some Democratic legislators said Saturday they would pursue impeachment proceedings against Gov. John G. Rowland if he does not step aside, but a top aide said the Republican has no plans to leave office over his admission that a state contractor helped pay for work on his summer home.

Dean Pagani, Rowland’s spokesman and chief of staff, said the governor had not been accused of any wrongdoing and was cooperating fully with federal investigators.

The three-term governor admitted Friday that friends, contractors and subcontractors paid for work on his summer home ranging from gutters to a hot tub. Those contributing included the Tomasso Group -- a major state contractor -- and a former co-chief of staff under investigation in a federal corruption probe.

The written statement came 10 days after Rowland insisted that he alone paid for the improvements on the house.

Under state ethics laws, it is illegal for the governor to take any gifts worth more than $10 from people doing or seeking to do business with the governor’s office. The Tomasso Group has many contracts with the state but not the governor’s office.

Rowland said Friday that although he paid for more than $30,000 in improvements to the cottage in Litchfield, friends, contractors and subcontractors paid for some of the work. He said none of them received any benefit from the state in exchange.

State Democratic Party Chairman George Jepsen on Saturday called on Rowland to temporarily step aside during the ongoing federal corruption investigation. Five Democratic state lawmakers stood behind Jepsen and said they would seek Rowland’s impeachment if he did not step down.

Newspapers in Manchester, New London and New Britain called for Rowland’s resignation Saturday.