Panel to probe Rowland

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The Connecticut legislature will form a bipartisan committee to investigate the scandal surrounding Gov. John G. Rowland and recommend whether he should be impeached, the leader of the state House said yesterday.

“It is the most difficult decision that I’ve had to make,” said House Speaker Moira Lyons, a Democrat.

The announcement was made after she met privately with the Republican governor yesterday.

Mr. Rowland had asked legislators not to hold impeachment hearings, warning that it would create a partisan rift within the legislature, but he did an about-face Tuesday and said he endorses a process that is fair and objective.

The governor last month admitted accepting gifts and free work on his vacation cottage from politically connected friends, state employees and a contractor, accusations he initially had denied. He has maintained that he never returned the favors and has apologized many times for lying about the gifts.

Federal agents said Mr. Rowland is the subject of an investigation.

Two of Connecticut’s three Republican members of Congress have called on Mr. Rowland to resign, as have at least 11 of the 15 Republican state senators.

In a brief statement yesterday, Mr. Rowland commended the legislature for “setting up this very fair and deliberative process.”

“I want the people of this state to know something,” he said. “I will continue to do this job, to the best of my abilities, each and every day.”

Dean Pagani, the governor’s chief of staff and spokesman, has said that Mr. Rowland remains committed to finishing his third four-year term, which expires in January 2007.

The formation of the committee of inquiry is one step below starting the impeachment process, a second option that Miss Lyons said she had been considering. She said the House will meet in special session as soon as next week to form the committee, which she said will have subpoena powers.

House Minority Leader Robert Ward agreed that the committee is an appropriate next step. “Certainly as a Republican leader, we take no pleasure in this,” he said.

If impeached in the state House, made up of 95 Democrats and 56 Republicans, Mr. Rowland would stand trial in the Senate, which has 21 Democrats and 15 Republicans.

Public opinion of the governor has plummeted. A University of Connecticut poll released Monday found that 63 percent of state residents think Mr. Rowland should resign. The poll, conducted after his admission, had a margin of error of four percentage points.

On Tuesday, the State Ethics Commission issued a draft ruling that public officials cannot accept expensive gifts from employees or state contractors.