Statement on State Bond Commission Vote to Give Millions to Another Hedge Fund

Lori J. Pelletier, President of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, made the following statement in response to the State Bond Commission voting to give $32 million to AQR Capital, a Greenwich hedge fund:

“The Governor is still confused about last week’s election results. He doesn’t understand that giving another wealthy hedge fund tens of millions of taxpayer dollars does nothing to improve lives of working and middle class residents.

“Working people are angry. While the state continues to cut vital public services to the state’s most vulnerable and lay off critical service providers, the Governor leads the way to line the pockets of hedge fund managers with scarce taxpayer dollars.

“The Governor is fond of declaring a ‘new economic reality’ and bemoans the loss of middle income jobs in our state. Yet today, he again demonstrated that his ‘new economic reality’ is one in which he repeatedly rewards the wealthy and grows economic inequality.

“As a state, we have to make a decision. Do we want to have interpreters for the deaf and hard of hearing, adequately resourced schools, and accessible mental health services, or do we want to give a hedge fund tens of millions of dollars. We can’t do both.”

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