December 8, 2010

Gov.-elect Dan Malloy made an unscheduled visit Wednesday to the year’s largest gathering of environmental policymakers and advocates, and told the crowd he would be “highly supportive of your goals, which are my goals.” Malloy arrived at the annual summit of  the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters just before noon. He walked to the front […]

Richard Blumenthal announced his first hire for his U.S. Senate office on Wednesday, tapping Laurie Rubiner, an expert in health and women’s issues, to be his chief of staff. Rubiner is a former aide to ex-Sens. Hillary Clinton, a Democrat from New York, and the late John Chafee, a moderate Republican from Rhode Island. Between […]

The Senate on Wednesday passed a one-year patch to avoid a looming 25 percent cut to physician reimbursements for Medicare. The payment reduction is set to take effect on Jan. 1, so lawmakers must deal with the issue before they break for the holidays. The Senate bill still has to win House approval. And it […]

After two unsuccessful statewide campaigns in four years, Ned Lamont says he is strongly disinclined to make another run at Joe Lieberman in the 2012 race for U.S. Senate. Lamont, 56, who ran for Senate in 2006 and governor in 2010, said other potential Democratic candidates have called to gauge his interest in a rematch […]

The state is still falling far short of compliance with a court order to reduce the racial isolation of Hartford’s largely black and Hispanic school population, and advocates say drastic changes will be needed to avoid further legal action. “State officials need to take this court order much more seriously. If they continue down the […]

Ready to pay state sales tax on all clothing purchases? How about on gasoline and heating fuel? While the potential furor over such moves might give legislators nightmares, they could be part of a tax reform effort that both helps Connecticut’s poorest households and reduces the huge state budget deficit, according to the new quarterly […]

With a new legislative session just a month away, the state Department of Environmental Protection this week is touting its efforts to streamline the permitting process–efforts some business leaders say are a good beginning, but not enough. DEP has long been criticized by the business community and state legislators over the length of time it […]

Earning an associates degree from a community college is not only significantly cheaper than earning a bachelor’s degree from a four-year college, but the two-year degree provides almost the same return on investment, University of Connecticut economist say. “It is very clear that for a very limited investment, community colleges return pretty high results,” said […]