February 7, 2011

In case you had any doubt about how active Sen. Richard Blumenthal would be on abortion-rights issues, it should be put to rest with this: “Today, Sen. Blumenthal became the first man ever featured as an author on the EMILY’s List website,” declared a news release from the group, which typically supports women candidates who […]

It’s a bill that doesn’t change state investment policy. It merely reaffirms the power of state Treasurer Denise L. Nappier to divest from companies who do business with Iran. But it was enough for Leonard Eisenfeld, a neonatologist at the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, to attend a public hearing today and retell the story of […]

Even as political leaders vow to shrink government at all levels, practitioners of occupations from pet grooming to tree trimming are asking state legislators to require licensing for their professions, Stephanie Simon reports at the Wall Street Journal. “Occupations prefer to be licensed because they can restrict competition and obtain higher wages,” Morris Kleiner, a […]

One of state government’s most controversial taxes, a levy on large estates, has been the centerpiece of a decade-long, see-saw battle that last swung in favor of high-earners just one year ago. But several forces, both political and fiscal, could tip the scales back in the other direction this legislative session. And while the income […]

Opponents of state mandates on what health insurance plans must cover have a new argument, and it comes from federal health reform. Under the law, the federal government will define a set of “essential benefits” that must be included in health plans sold in the exchange, the marketplace for private insurance that will open by […]

WASHINGTON–Top federal health officials are designing a new insurance program aimed at increasing the health care options for people with disabilities–and helping them avoid the financial collapse that often comes with severe medical crises. If successful, the program could also provide much-needed fiscal relief to states like Connecticut, where the Medicaid program, which pays for […]

Bristol Mayor Art Ward’s constituents had questions when they learned two group homes were moving into their neighborhood, but they never got satisfactory answers. Instead, he said, they got additional traffic and cars parked on sidewalks. Walter Glomb State lawmakers are now considering multiple bills that would require a public hearing on the location of […]

Connecticut not only faces one of the largest funding shortfalls in its retirement benefit programs of any state in the nation, but has been one of the slowest to respond over the last two-and-a-half years, according to a new study from a nonprofit economic development group. The Connecticut Regional Institute for the 21st Century, a […]