February 8, 2011 @ 12:00 am

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy disclosed plans late Tuesday to create a new Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, a move expected to enhance energy planning efforts while reducing spending across three existing agencies. The proposed merger, to be included in the budget Malloy will propose next week to cover the next two fiscal years, also […]

WASHINGTON–Nine months after his campaign was staggered by reports that he had incorrectly claimed to have served in Vietnam, Sen. Richard Blumenthal made what seemed to be a similar misstatement Tuesday, putting himself at the center of the action in the historic 1973 Supreme Court case that legalized abortion. Audio of Blumenthal’s remarks “I’m new […]

The Malloy administration announced plans Tuesday to move the HUSKY and Charter Oak health programs out of managed care and increase care coordination in the state’s other Medicaid programs, an effort officials said would save money while giving the state more control over health programs that serve more than 500,000 people. Wyman and Barnes announce […]

For the last year there has not been enough room in homeless shelters to house everyone in need, a new report released Tuesday says, leading to “scores of people” being turned away because there is no space for them. “We are at capacity 24/7. The day we opened with 50 additional beds we were full,” […]

WASHINGTON–The emotionally-fraught issue of abortion usually doesn’t get much attention in Connecticut. Pro-life lawmakers haven’t been able to get much traction with Republican legislative leaders in recent years, and so pro-choice Democrats haven’t had much of a fight on their hands. Not so in Washington, where Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal has jumped head first into […]

Requiring preschool teachers of students from low-income families to have a bachelor’s degree may sound like a good idea, but not to Noribel Roman; for her, the recent state law means she would have to spend about $20,000 to earn a bachelor’s degree to keep her low-wage job. Noribel Roman “Considering what we get paid here, […]

The Connecticut delegation split on Tuesday over reauthorization of several provisions in the Patriot Act, the post-Sept. 11 law that dramatically expanded FBI counterterrorism powers. House Republicans failed to win the two-thirds majority necessary to pass the measure, a temporary extension that sought to buy time for hearings and debate over three provisions that are […]

Rep. Kelvin Roldán, D-Hartford, sent out a press release today on his legislative email soliciting photographic evidence of the poor snow-removal performance of the administration of Mayor Pedro Segarra. One thing Roldán didn’t mention: He is considering challenging Segarra for mayor. “In community meeting after community meeting Hartford residents have expressed concern about hazardous road […]

A federal development progrtam aimed at helping poor communities has been used to fund hundreds of upscale projects, including hotels, condominiums, office buildings and a car museum, David Dietz reports at Bloomberg Markets Magazine. The 10-year-old New Markets Tax Credits program is supposed to be used in areas with at least a 20 percent poverty […]

Confused about health care reform? An MIT economist involved in developing the legislation has a solution: a graphic novel–essentially a super-sized comic book–to explain it all, Christine McConville reports at the Boston Herald. Jonathan Gruber, a nationally recognized health economist, said his three comic-loving kids encouraged him to use the hip format of the graphic […]

Greenwich Republican Tom Foley used his new public policy forum Tuesday to decry a state income tax increase one week before Gov. Dannel P. Malloy — who defeated Foley last November — is expected to propose a plan to close the largest deficit in state history. In a paper titled “Don’t Kill the Golden Goose,” […]