You asked if Governor Rell is proposing converting vacant state buildings into homeless shelters.

We did not find any information indicating that the governor is proposing to convert vacant state buildings into homeless shelters. The governor's office stated that the governor would typically make public any proposals toward the beginning of a legislative session (January 7, 2009, marks the beginning of the next session).

However, the governor's office did note that the Department of Public Works (DPW) does lease certain state buildings to nonprofit organizations at a reduced rate. Of these “lease outs,” as they are known, DPW rents space at Uncas-on-Thames to a nonprofit that happens to run a shelter. But that is the only case of a lease out being used as a shelter, according to Douglas Moore, DPW Chief of Staff. (For the lease outs, nonprofits pay only operating costs and thus the rents are significantly below market rates, Moore said.)

For your reference, the attached document is a list of vacant state properties.

JH:ts