Brinkley charms Conn. lawmakers

BOSTON, May 28 (UPI) -- While the Massachusetts Senate began its budget debate Wednesday, Connecticut lawmakers were abuzz over a visit by supermodel Christie Brinkley.

A former cover girl, Brinkley urged Connecticut lawmakers Tuesday not to divert $84 million in energy conservation funds to help address the state's budget deficit.

"How could anyone think about taking money away from conservation?" she asked during a Statehouse news conference, the Hartford Courant reported.

Because the state is facing a $1 billion deficit in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, Gov. John G. Rowland has proposed diverting $84 million from the Energy Conservation & Load Management Fund and the Clean Energy Fund into the general fund.

If approved, the proposal would end a number of conservation initiatives.

"Connecticut has a wonderful program to promote energy conservation, a model of what a state can do to protect its residents, children and environment," Brinkley said. "It must be preserved."

While Brinkley flashed her dazzling smile and posed for pictures with dozens of lawmakers, it was unclear if she swayed any votes during her three-hour visit.

Her host for the day, Democratic state Rep. James O'Rourke, was encouraged, however.

"I think her coming here will be a big shot in the arm for restoring the money where it belongs," O'Rourke said.

Democratic and Republican leaders have been trying to come up with a compromise budget that Rowland would accept. They were to meet again Wednesday, and a vote could come this week.

The Republican governor recently vetoed a Democrat spending plan because it depended too much on higher taxes and not enough on cuts to bring the budget in line.

In Massachusetts, the state Senate began to debate its proposed $22.5 billion spending plan for fiscal 2004. The Boston Herald reported that special interests have filed some 600 amendments that will have to be acted upon before a final document is sent to a House-Senate conference committee.

The Boston Globe, meanwhile, reported Wednesday that some state senators are preparing to debate a proposal to authorize slot machine gambling in the state once the budget has been completed.

Backers say slot machines at several sites in the state could bring in up to $300 million a year, funds that could help bridge a $3 billion deficit in fiscal 2004.

Even if approved by the Senate, such a gambling proposal faced a bleak prospect of approval in the House, which has already rejected two slot machine bills this session.

In Rhode Island, Gov. Don Carcieri is hoping to preserve some $37 million in cigarette excise and sales taxes that could be lost next year if the Narragansett Indians go ahead with plans to open a tax-free tobacco shop, according to the Providence Journal.

Carcieri has promised to help the 2,600-member tribe find other income sources to replace the proposed roadside shop at its headquarters in Charlestown, R.I.

The governor, who contends the tribe lacks the legal right to open the shop, has vowed to fight its opening.

"The law is very clear," Carcieri said.

Narragansett Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas said, however, the federally recognized tribe has a right to sell tax-free cigarettes on its settlement lands.

"We feel we have a right and they (state officials) feel we don't," said Thomas, the Journal reported.

Other than casino gambling, tobacco is the most profitable business a tribe can own, Thomas said.

The Narragansetts want to sell tax-free cigarettes as do tribes in some others states, such as Arizona and New York. The $4.25 price for a pack of cigarettes in Rhode Island includes a $1.32 state excise tax and a 7-percent sales tax.

In Vermont, legislators resumed work Wednesday hoping to complete a budget so they can adjourn this week for the year.

One topic of discussion is how to allocate the estimated $84 million the state will receive over the next year and a half from the federal government as a result of the tax cut package approved last week by Congress.