At their second meeting in less than 24 hours, Republican gubernatorial nominee Tom Foley accused his Democratic opponent, Dan Malloy of pandering to a state employee union.
Foley, as promised, released a document Wednesday afternoon showing that Malloy promised a state employee union in a questionnaire that there would be no layoffs if he was governor. Foley promised the same last night during the televised debate.
In question number four of the Administrative and Residual Employees union questionnaire asks: “Will you support state employee layoffs after the Gubernatorial Agreement ends July 2011?”
Malloy checked the “No” box and wrote: “We’ve been very clear that we have no interest in laying off state employees.”
Foley accused Malloy of having to “sell his soul to the unions.”
Malloy’s campaign consultant Roy Occhiogrosso said Malloy feels the unemployment rate of 9.4 percent is high enough in the state and has no interest in laying people off.
He said it’s a statement Foley has made too.
“We can cut state government through attrition,” Foley said Tuesday during the televised debate. “State workers have nothing to fear with me being governor.”
Occhiogrosso suggested that maybe state workers are worried Foley would do to the state what he did to the Bibb Co., in Macon, Georgia “where he laid off 2,000 workers” and “made the town disappear.”
Foley’s has denied he had any involvement with the layoffs at the Bibb Co.
