With more than 1,800 blood donations canceled in Connecticut because of recent severe weather, American Red Cross officials called the governor’s office, hoping Gov. Dannel P. Malloy could help spread the word about the need for donors. “He said, ‘I can do you one better,’” Paul T. Sullivan, CEO of the American Red Cross Connecticut […]

Connecticut’s leaders are understandably obsessing over the state’s fiscal crisis, but a prominent economist warned Monday that the bigger and more difficult challenge to its long-term economic health is anemic population growth and an aging workforce. Barry Bluestone of Northeastern University told a Hartford audience that the state must continue smart-growth zoning policies that encourage […]

WASHINGTON–Rep. Rosa DeLauro has snagged one of the most coveted committee assignments for the coming Congress. But it couldn’t have come at a worse time. She will be the top Democrat on the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees labor, health, education, and myriad other federal programs. The panel is charged with divvying up billions of […]

For nearly two decades, state-mandated wage levels for public construction projects have been a topic of heated debate between municipalities and labor unions. Now, with Connecticut facing a record-setting budget deficit and 9 percent unemployment, both sides are hopeful that economic factors will push the debate in their favor. Town leaders say the current system […]

Ronald Reagan was born 100 years ago next Sunday, and the upcoming centennial–as well as tributes from President Obama and other unlikely sources–is generating much commentary. A sample: Reagan had less to do with the fall of Communism than his devotees believe today, Walter Shapiro says at Politics Daily, and conservatives have conveniently airbrushed his […]

Attorney General George Jepsen is taking pains not to criticize his predecessor and fellow Democrat, Richard Blumenthal, but he is quickly showing some stylistic differences in his first month in office. For one thing, Jepsen is acknowledging the work of his subordinates. As was the case in today’s announcement of a $4.25 million antitrust settlement […]

As governors all over the country prepare to deal with huge budget deficits, public employee union contracts and benefits are coming under increasing scrutiny, Melissa Maynard reports at Stateline.org. Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy won election last year with strong union support, but he also has promised to seek $2 billion in cuts to the […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Friday the state should move to increase the minimum age for kindergarten, without waiting until it can afford expanded pre-school for low-income students whose public education is delayed. “I think we should be setting the age based on what we know about the likelihood of success, or increased opportunities for […]

The new realities of Washington politics came to Hartford today as rail advocates and congressional Democrats publicly courted a Republican critic of Amtrak and President Obama’s vision of a national rail network. The GOP takeover of the House means that a key railroad subcommittee now is in the hands of U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., […]

WASHINGTON–When it comes to political targets, the Independent Payment Advisory Board has a lot to offer. Sure, it might sound like a benign, obscure federal panel, a backwater of health care reform that almost no one has heard of. But it’s bureaucratic. It’s unelected. And it has a lot of power-or it will, anyway, when […]

Junior Senate Democrats waged a behind-the-scenes campaign to shake up the committee assignment process and snag some plum seats on panels ordinarily dominated by veterans, Ryan Grim reports at Huffington Post. Their goal was to free up spots on what are termed the “Super-A” committees: Appropriations, Finance, Foreign Relations, Armed Services and Commerce. These committees […]

What are you doing for Data Privacy Day? Attorney General George Jepsen marked the day — Friday, Jan. 28 — by joining Jerry Farrell, the consumer protection consumer, in reaching a settlement with Google regarding information the internet giant must provide about its privacy breach. The deal resolves Google’s objection to a civil investigative demand,  […]

State agencies dismissed three more holdovers this week from former Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s administration. But unlike some earlier dismissals, this week’s firings did not question the applicants’ credentials, but rather cited ongoing efforts to eliminate positions. Nora Duncan, 37, of Manchester, was let go as legislative program manager for the Department of Public Works. […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Thursday he did not seek the resignation of the chairman of Connecticut State University System’s Board of Trustees, but said he wasn’t surprised by Karl Krapek’s decision in light of CSU’s “real tough year.” “I can certainly understand given the trials and trepidations of that board and some of the […]

With state officials staring at the worst deficit in Connecticut history, and public colleges and universities still reeling from a series of public fiscal embarrassments, the broad budgetary flexibility higher education has enjoyed for more than two decades could begin to shrink–but not without a fight. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said this week that his […]