William V. Irons, the embattled former Senate president whose possible ties to CVS have come under state-police scrutiny, took two trips on the pharmacy giant's private jet in recent months -- trips that he has told colleagues he paid for.
In the waning days of his Senate rule, Irons acknowledged to other senators that he had joined his longtime friend Thomas M. Ryan, the chief executive of CVS, on a golf outing to the exclusive Augusta National course in Georgia, and to a World Series game in New York.
A CVS spokesman declined comment, but said that if a Rhode Island legislator were to fly on its corporate aircraft, he or she would have to reimburse CVS the equivalent of a first-class commercial flight.
Irons, who did not return calls seeking comment, told other senators about the trips shortly before he resigned, but said that there was nothing inappropriate because he had paid his own way.
Sen. J. Michael Lenihan, D-East Greenwich, recalled a meeting he had in Irons' State House office two days before Irons announced his resignation. At the time, Irons was at the center of a public controversy over his refusal to reveal whether CVS was a business client. Irons, an insurance agent, had used his Senate position to block pharmacy-choice legislation opposed by CVS.
Lenihan said that he was stunned when Irons confided that he was going to resign from the Senate. One reason, Irons told him, was that "other things might come out that are legal, but don't look very good."
Irons then told Lenihan that he had flown on CVS's corporate jet to a New York Yankees baseball game in New York. This was last October, when the Yankees played the Florida Marlins in the World Series. Irons and Ryan are Yankees fans.
"But [Irons] said he paid for it," said Lenihan.
Lenihan said that Irons did not mention any other trips. But Sen. Stephen D. Alves, D-West Warwick, said that Irons confirmed another trip, to Augusta National, in a private conversation shortly before Christmas.
Alves said that he had warned Irons about a rumor at a Christmas party, that the Senate president had flown on the CVS jet to Augusta to golf with Ryan around Thanksgiving.
"He said that it was true, but that he had paid his own way," said Alves. "I said, 'Hey, Billy, I'm not judging you. I just wanted you to know.' "
The subject also came up last week in a conversation between Irons and another senator, V. Susan Sosnowski, D-South Kingstown.
"He volunteered that he had gone on trips on the CVS jet with Tom Ryan, but that he had always paid his own way," said Sosnowski. "He said that he didn't see anything wrong with it, because he paid."
The new Senate president, Joseph A. Montalbano, D-North Providence, said that Irons also told him about his golf trip to Augusta, but said that he paid for it. Montalbano said that he 'firmly believes" that Irons reimbursed CVS, and, therefore, the trip was both legal and ethical.
"Do I think the perception of that presents a problem?" said Montalbano. "Yes, because most people don't get a chance to play Augusta.
"I wouldn't do it . . . because I don't want to be judged on perception. And it's not fair to be judged on perception and it's not fair for Senator Irons to be judged on perception."
CVS, through a leasing company, owns two Cessna turbo-jets that it keeps in a hangar at T.F. Green Airport -- a Citation X billed as the world's fastest business jet, capable of nonstop transcontinental and transatlantic flights, and a Citation VII, used for shorter flights. The planes are appointed with leather seats and staffed by a pilot and copilot.
"Free yourself from the constraints of space and time," proclaims an ad for the Citation X on the Cessna Web site. "The world's fastest business jet moves you from one opportunity to the next at nearly the speed of sound. Make time work for you at about 600 mph.
"Think of what this kind of freedom could do for your schedule."
The state ethics code is silent on the matter of corporate jets, but requires government officials to reimburse gifts from parties with business before them of $150 or more.
"You'd have to ascribe a dollar amount to the trip, and there's no concrete answer," said Katherine D'Arezzo, senior staff lawyer for the Rhode Island Ethics Commission. "In the case of a corporate jet, do you pay the equivalent coach or first-class fare [for a commercial flight]?"
Further details of Irons' trips -- such as who paid for meals, lodging, greens fees or World Series tickets -- were not available.
The friendship between Ryan and Irons was no secret at the State House. Irons was such an admirer, said Sosnowski, that when a bill was introduced to name the University of Rhode Island's new basketball arena after Ryan, who donated $5 million in personal and CVS funds, Irons insisted that his name be listed as a sponsor.
"He wanted his name on that bill," she said. "I remember him saying, 'Tom and I go way back.' He had a great deal of respect for Tom Ryan. I saw them as members of the business elite -- you know, birds of a feather flock together."
But their relationship has attracted controversy in recent months, beginning with questions regarding CVS's financial ties to an Irons ally, Sen. John A. Celona, D-North Providence. Late last year, The Journal reported that Celona, who chaired the Senate committee that regulates health care, had worked as a paid consultant for CVS.
Subsequent stories raised questions about Celona's ties to Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, which helped finance a public-access television show on health issues that Celona cohosted.
Then the spotlight turned to Irons, who, as chairman of the powerful Corporations Committee in the late 1990s, had blocked pharmacy-choice legislation opposed by CVS and Blue Cross. In 1999, after then-Senate Majority Leader Paul S. Kelly confronted Irons about his alleged financial ties to CVS and Blue Cross, Irons obtained an advisory opinion from the state Ethics Commission allowing him to preside over the pharmacy-choice bill, which he once again opposed.
But Irons, who has acknowledged selling insurance policies for Blue Cross, refused to disclose whether CVS was a client of his insurance business. The furor over that refusal helped lead to his stunning New Year's Eve announcement that he was quitting as Senate president. He will leave the Senate next month.
A few days before he announced his resignation, Irons met with Sosnowski, who chairs the Energy and Environment Committee, and mentioned his flights on the CVS jet.
"I was surprised," she said. "Given that CVS had been such a strong opponent of pharmacy choice, I would have erred on the side of caution and not done it. Legislators, as well as real people, have to make choices every day."
She said that Irons reiterated his determination not to identify his insurance clients.
"He felt very strongly about it -- he said that it was part of his ethics code," recalled Sosnowski. "He said that if he went down, he was going to go down holding onto his principles."
Lenihan, chairman of the Government Oversight Committee, called Irons' actions "perfectly legal, but terribly unwise" from a perception standpoint.
"It's my understanding that Bill and Tom Ryan are old friends," said Lenihan, "so there's an immediate tendency to link the two things [their friendship and Irons' actions on legislation of interest to CVS]."
As Irons defended his actions during their meeting, Lenihan said, "his emotions were close to the surface. There was a sense of sadness."
In the past few weeks, Irons' past and present colleagues have been questioned by the state police as part of a wider-ranging inquiry into lawmakers who work as consultants. Some of the questions involved Irons' trips on the CVS jet.
CVS spokesman Todd Andrews said that it would be "inappropriate" to address questions regarding Irons and CVS aircraft in light of the state-police probe.
"We believe this to be a prudent policy even though there has been a proliferation of misleading and often inaccurate information regarding our company," said a CVS statement.
"Our corporate policy is as follows: In the event a legislator were to fly on our corporate aircraft, he or she would be required to reimburse the company at a rate determined in accordance with applicable state or federal law. If a member of the Rhode Island General Assembly were to do so, we would take the position that such member should reimburse the company at the equivalent first class commercial aviation rate. This policy is strictly enforced."
With staff reports from Liz Anderson of the State House bureau. Mike Stanton can be reached at mstanton [at] projo.com
