Good morning and welcome back to the Tip Sheet, a weekly newsletter from Tom Dudchik’s Capitol Report written by Mike Cerulli.

This week, we’re recapping the drama that led to the resignation of Marissa Gillett. Plus, a powerful union has come out against a state investment in the Connecticut Sun.

Let’s dive in…

Gillett’s out

Talk about a Friday news dump…

Marissa Gillett, the embattled chair of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, announced she will resign effective next month.

The announcement capped a protracted drama that saw the inner workings of the state’s utility regulator put under a bright spotlight.

Gillett’s announcement came just a day after Vincent Candelora, the House minority leader, sent a letter to the House Speaker Matt Ritter requesting that a committee of inquiry be opened to investigate whether or not the PURA chair had lied during her re-confirmation hearing earlier this year.

That letter focused on an exchange in which Candelora asked Gillett about reports that she withheld staff access from the other PURA commissioners.

Candelora said that recent reporting by Ed Mahony led him to believe that Gillett “may have lied” in her response.

Ritter said he found Gillett’s response “at best misleading.”

Read Mahony’s reporting here.

Speaking to reporters after Gillett announced her resignation, Governor Lamont called the timing of Candelora’s letter “irrelevant.”

Gillett had been weighing her decision for a while, Lamont said. He insisted that he did not ask for her resignation.

Rob Blanchard, the governor’s spokesman, gave John Moritz a more detailed timeline of the behind-the-scenes decision making that led to Gillett’s resignation.

You can read Moritz’s reporting here.

Strange bedfellows: AFSCME & the GOP raise alarm about CT Sun proposal

In the latest twist in the months-long back-and-forth over the future of the Connecticut Sun, two unlikely allies are standing opposite Governor Lamont.

In quick succession, the legislature’s Republican caucuses and Council 4 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) both launched broadsides aimed at the Lamont-backed proposal to use the state’s public employee pension funds to take a minority stake in the Connecticut Sun.

The two unlikely political bedfellows offered differing critiques of the plan. Both see it as a risky investment. AFSCME opposes it outright.

“These members have put their hard-earned money into the pension fund, expecting a secure retirement, not for it to be used on a sports franchise that plays 18 games a year in Connecticut,” read a Council 4 Facebook post first reported by Keith Phaneuf.

The Republicans were slightly more measured in their approach, couching their criticism with a push for reforms to the state’s singularly centralized system of pension fund management.

In coming out against the potential investment, Council 4 has positioned itself as a public player in the fast-moving developments surrounding the future of the Sun. 

The government employee unions were always bound to be an important voice in the debate over whether or not to use some of their pension funds to coax the team into staying in Connecticut. Now, they’ve started to lay down their line in the sand.

Monk drops more FOI finds

If you’re one of the people who regularly texts or emails with Governor Lamont, you might’ve seen some of your messages pop up in one of two recent stories reported by Ginny Monk.

Monk obtained months worth of emails and text messages concerning the governor’s deliberations over the omnibus housing bill he ultimately vetoed shortly after the end of this year’s legislative session.

The messages provide unique insight into the thinking of a governor who is known for soliciting opinions from a variety of sources – while keeping a select set of favored sounding boards.

Among that roster of trusted advisors is the former state senator Will Haskell, tax commissioner and former Danbury mayor Mark Boughton, and Fairfield Democratic chair Steve Sheinberg.

All three hail from Fairfield County, the region where housing policy is perhaps most sensitive.

Tucked into the disclosed messages were some hints about what the governor’s inner circle is thinking as Lamont looks toward next year’s election.

“On plane to Nashville.. thanks for sharing this.. know it’s not going to be as fun.. but what third term is.. and world getting more angry and divided not less,” First Lady Annie Lamont wrote in response to an email describing negative reactions to the governor’s veto.

“I wanted to text you to encourage you to run for a third term!” Sheinberg, a power broker among Fairfield County party leaders, wrote to Lamont before describing the political liabilities of signing the bill.

“I don’t want to lose those towns…Our brand of being a moderate compassionate leader is a winning formula,” Boughton wrote of the Fairfield County suburbs.

Read Monk’s latest reporting on the H.B. 5002 messages here and her earlier reporting here.

We’ll be back next week with another edition of the Tip Sheet!