Connecticut State Budget Chief Resigns

CONNECTICUT — Gov. Ned Lamont has announced the resignation of his budget chief and secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, Melissa McCaw.

McCaw has held the office since January 2019.

The update came during a Friday afternoon news conference in Hartford.

McCaw will take a job with the town of East Hartford as finance director, after immediately taking a few weeks leave of absence from her OPM job. Jeff Beckham, deputy secretary at OPM has been named McCaw’s temporary replacement.

The change in gigs comes as McCaw's office has been at the center of controversy — and a federal grand jury investigation — over no-bid school construction contracts. Her former deputy, Konstantinos Diamantis, left his job managing school construction grants for the state in 2021.

McCaw has not been named in the scandal, first reported by Hearst Connecticut.

Lamont praised McCaw on her last day of work for the state, saying: "I've got confidence in her as secretary of OPM. I think she did a very good job."

In a statement issued Friday, McCaw said she was grateful for the governor's faith in her, and the opportunity he provided.

"We have weathered the pandemic, expanded services, maintained a budget surplus and paid down our pension liabilities by nearly $2 Billion over our annual payments without raising a penny in taxes. Now, we are in a very strong fiscal position and poised to offer tax relief to Connecticut residents and especially seniors," McCaw said.

On Thursday, Connecticut House and Senate Republicans called for a bipartisan formal inquiry into the allegations.

"We know from many media reports that the FBI has turned an eye toward some of the actions tied to this governor's administration, and while those federal investigators determine whether criminal activity has transpired, it's incumbent upon our body—the legislature—to figure out whether bond money and other taxpayer dollars have been handled properly in the school construction process," House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora and Senate Republican Leader Kevin Kelly said in a statement issued Thursday.