The CT Mirror (https://ctmirror.org/)
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, keenly aware of the unwelcome role his record is playing in the campaign to succeed him, spent one of his final State Bond Commission meetings Thursday defending state borrowing made during his tenure to promote economic development statewide and help Connecticut’s struggling capital city.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy may be enjoying more economic good fortune during his last year in office than he did in the first seven years combined. State income tax receipts tied to Wall Street continue to surge, potentially leaving Connecticut with $2 billion in reserves 12 months from now.
Victims of sexual assault in Connecticut on Thursday joined others across the country in backing Christine Blasey Ford, a college professor who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault decades ago when both were attending a teenage party. Meanwhile, Ford’s lawyers began negotiations with Senate Republicans regarding the conditions on her testimony.
One year after Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico, there a debate about whether the storm has created political winds that will prompt Connecticut’s Puerto Ricans to shed their reputation as unlikely voters.
Employees at the state’s two juvenile detention centers are being injured and going out on workers’ compensation at significantly higher rates than usual, leading to increased risks for the remaining staff and the children held in the facilities, union officials say. Those able-bodied staff remaining are left to work mandated overtime shifts multiple times a week, resulting in exhaustion and potentially unsafe conditions for the juveniles housed in Bridgeport and Hartford.
A long-time director at Access Health CT was named the new chief executive officer of the state’s health insurance exchange. The exchange’s board of directors voted to appoint James Michel as the permanent CEO at its Thursday meeting. Continue Reading →
The idea of a single health information exchange across the state of Connecticut seems simple: Gather all health information in one place and make it available to every practitioner involved with a single patient to provide the best care possible. Unfortunately, in Connecticut this process has been anything but simple. Instead, it has been enormously expensive and time-consuming — costing the state $23 million and 11 years of work which, to this date, have yet to produce an exchange. Continue Reading →
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ned Lamont unveiled a jobs plan Wednesday centered on three business tax cuts — and a previously disclosed middle-class income tax break — none of which he could provide without solving a much-larger state budget deficit. Continue Reading →
WASHINGTON – A new political tool that tracks sentiment on social media every day showed that more people said nice things about Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ned Lamont than his Republican rival Bob Stefanowski . But the Political Atlas said Stefanowski had Lamont beat when it came to “favorability” which also took into account how many times his name was mentioned on social media. Continue Reading →
Washington – A coalition of environmental groups that oppose the federal government’s plan to sell Plum Island to the highest bidder are making progress on several fronts. The federal government has agreed to conduct a new environmental impact study of the proposed sale on the island’s diverse flora and fauna, while several bills that would block the sale are under consideration in Congress. Continue Reading →
Connecticut hospitals and health networks have received an estimated $1.2 billion in outpatient facility fees from 2015 through 2017, according to data announced on Tuesday. These fees are collected for a wide-range of services, including oncology, eye surgery, psychotherapy and primary care, provided at off-site facilities run by hospitals and health networks. Continue Reading →
The leader of Connecticut’s cybersecurity efforts said Tuesday that Washington, with a deeply polarized Congress and faction-riven White House, has abrogated its role in defending the nation’s electrical grid, natural gas system and public water supplies against hackers that are growing bolder, more numerous and more sophisticated. Continue Reading →
Department of Correction health care workers stood in the pouring rain outside a Hartford prison Tuesday to rally against staffing vacancies and demand an agreement from gubernatorial and legislative candidates to fill empty jobs they say are undermining quality inmate care. Continue Reading →
Ben Barnes, who has overseen Connecticut’s budget as the secretary of the Office of Policy and Management from the first days of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration, is on a short list of candidates interviewed for the vacant post of chief financial officer at the state’s system of community colleges and regional universities. Continue Reading →
A new state tax break is available this school year to help parents pay for private K-12 school tuition – a development triggered by the federal tax overhaul. The state has for years allowed parents to avoid paying state income taxes on up to $10,000 each year that they put into a college savings account, known as a 529 CHET account. In addition, they have not had to pay taxes on the money when it is withdrawn or on the investment earnings when they use it to pay for college. Now, those state tax benefits have been extended to allow parents and relatives to also use these 529 accounts for private, elementary and secondary school. That’s because the federal tax law that was changed last December on these accounts extends a federal tax benefit to include K-12 tuition. Continue Reading →