January 25, 2010 @ 12:00 am

U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman today endorsed the re-confirmation of the suddenly embattled Federal Reserve chairman, Benjamin Bernanke. On this score, the independent from Connecticut is standing with the Obama administration. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who is running to succeed the retiring U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, is among the Democrats distancing themselves from Bernanke. […]

Who has a state legislator on the payroll? Three public employee unions have one. So do Northeast Utilities, the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce, Tweed-New Haven Airport, municipalities and non-profits that rely on state funding, and single-issue advocates like the Marijuana Policy Project. About 70 percent of legislators hold jobs outside the General Assembly, bringing both […]

State ethics laws provide only limited transparency into the financial dealings of Connecticut’s part-time legislators. To whom do they owe money? Disclosure is voluntary. How much stock do they own? Impossible to say. By contrast, Congress and a dozen states require lawmakers to disclose within ranges the amount of outside income they receive and the […]

Connecticut’s Sheff vs. O’Neill desegregation court ruling led to a spurt in education funding, a $2 billion expansion of magnet schools and renewed attention to the state’s troubled urban districts. But did it help children learn? Yes, says University of Connecticut researcher Casey Cobb-and not just for inner city students, but for their suburban classmates […]