Retreat: Lamont inaugural committee slashes maximum sponsorship in half after Courant column.

Governor Ned Lamont’s inaugural committee eliminated its top $50,000 sponsorship after a Hartford Courant column revealed the committee’s solicitation of state contractors and lobbyists. The top sponsorship package can be purchased for $25,000. Sponsorships will be acknowledged throughout the inaugural ball venue.

State law, according to the state’s ethics agency, allows state contractors and lobbyists, prohibited in other instances from making contributions to state officials, to make unlimited “gifts to the state” to underwrite the inaugural ball. The inaugural committee sent sponsorship packages to lobbyists, seeking to have members of the permanent government put the touch on their clients to finance the January 4th event.

While the inaugural ball can be a highlight for elected officials, it is a dreary obligation for lobbyists. Two registered lobbyists have found a way to score points with the honored politicians of the evening. Lobbyists Brian Durand and Steve Kinney are two of three volunteers helming the inaugural ball committee.

Tickets are $200 for anyone over 30 years old, $100 for those 30 years old and under.

Published December 20, 2022.