May 4, 2010 @ 12:00 am

Kermit the Frog was right all these years. Despite what Gov. M. Jodi Rell declared in her State of the State address in February, it’s not easy being green, at least not in Connecticut. Last week, Gov. Rell proposed hijacking $54.5 million of energy efficiency and renewable energy funds annually to help plug the deficit. […]

In these tight fiscal times, state legislatures across the nation are examining almost every imaginable creative financing scheme to avoid program cuts and broad based tax increases. One of the more troubling is Connecticut’s plan to borrow to plug a $1.3 billion revenue hole intentionally left in the $18.9 billion state budget that begins July […]

A bill aimed at enticing businesses to open in the towns surrounding Bradley International Airport is headed for the governor’s desk. The bill that passed almost unanimously by the House Tuesday provides tax breaks and exemptions for existing and startup manufacturing businesses. The bipartisan bill will “help expand jobs in this state,” said Rep. Mike Alberts […]

The Senate has begun debate on an energy bill that turned into the session’s most heavily lobbied piece of legislation. Here is our most recent story.

Over Republican objections, the Senate Tuesday night gave final approval to a $362 million plan favored by Gov. M. Jodi Rell to build a new hospital tower and research facilities at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington. The legislation would make the financially troubled UConn Health Center part of a regional health network […]

The tentative state budget deal presented to legislators this morning relies on more than $15 million in savings tied to reduced prison populations, as well as additional cuts targeting tourism programs and an already-delayed state contract review agency. According to draft documents obtained by The Connecticut Mirror, the plan would reduce overall spending by $171.8 […]

Here are the bills marked as a “go” in the House today. The “go list” is a misnomer. These are bills ready to be debated, not ones that are guaranteed to come before the House. G O L I S T Tuesday, May 4, 2010 Cal. No. Title File No. Action FAVORABLE REPORTS 0113 Substitute […]

The Senate recessed at 1:30 a.m. today without debating an energy bill whose prospects are growing dimmer as the General Assembly nears its annual adjournment deadline of midnight Wednesday. The Senate Democratic majority followed Monday night’s session with a caucus to review changes in the bill and determine if there is the support to take […]

Texting while driving, budget transparency, vocational-technical education, child day care subsidies and concussions: While much attention is focused on the state budget, the state legislature is spending its last few days of the regular session dealing with myriad other issues as well. One bill sent to Gov. M. Jodi Rell Monday is aimed at improving […]

After hearing for the past three months about “ugly” budget-balancing options like imposing surcharges on electric bills and raiding clean energy programs that sustain thousands of jobs, state legislators could be asked as early as today to approve them. Sources said Gov. M. Jodi Rell and the legislature’s Democratic majority reached a tentative deal late […]

Connecticut has 792,934 Democrats. For the second time in four years, a Democrat trying to be elected governor has picked the same one to be his running mate: Mary Messina Glassman. Ned Lamont named her Monday as his partner in the race to become the first Democrat elected governor since 1986. Lamont’s chief rival for […]

Now that Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s administration has reviewed the federal health reform law, her office said Monday she will not join the multi-state lawsuit to challenge the act–despite calls from all 12 state Republican Senators to do so. “No, she will not be joining that suit,” said Rell’s spokesman Donna M. Tommelleo. “She wants […]

The clock appeared to run out late Monday on a controversial measure hailed by advocates as the key to stopping corporate tax cheats and panned by critics as the surest way to drive businesses out of Connecticut. The so-called “combined reporting” bill lay trapped on the Senate calendar, caught amidst a likely veto from Gov. […]