It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Joe Bruno, the former Republican State Senate majority leader who faces trial in November over federal corruption charges. You may recall how Bruno landed a job as CEO of an obscure software-development company just four days after retiring from office in July 2008. The Latham-based firm, CMA Consulting Services, is run by Kay Stafford, the widow of a Republican state senator. At the time Bruno started there, half of its revenue was coming from New York State government contracts. Well, what do you know? Bruno is quite the good-luck charm. In March, CMA scored what may be its largest state contract ever: a $22 million deal with the Office of General Services to supply renew previous contracts with state agencies for their human-resource software. A state spokesman did not reply to a request for explanation as to why the old software needed to be renewed. But a spokesman for CMA, Kris Thompson, assured us that since taking the job, Bruno has not had any dealings with Albany procurement. “Joe Bruno has not been involved in any aspect relating to any New York State contracts since joining CMA last year,” says Thompson, who previously worked as a Senate Republican spokesman under Bruno.
