Yet another topic for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and his New Jersey counterpart, Chris Christie, to disagree about: Medicaid. Christie has been getting national attention for his plan to cut $540 million from the state’s nearly $5 billion Medicaid program. Josh Lederman of the Associated Press reports that New Jersey is expected to seek federal […]
June 13, 2011
Posted inHealth
Victories for at-risk kids despite a tight budget
Conventional wisdom says nobody leaves a legislative session completely happy, certainly not when a gargantuan deficit hangs over the proceedings. But when those of us who advocate for kids in the juvenile justice system left the Capitol, we felt… well, victorious. Many measures to improve the system passed and are expected to be signed into […]
Posted inNews
Courtney, Himes demand Weiner resign over Twitter
WASHINGTON — Rep. Joe Courtney says he first realized at a Medicare town-hall meeting in Norwich exactly how big a problem Rep. Anthony Weiner’s salacious conduct on Twitter was going to be for House Democrats. The first question he fielded was about Weiner, not Medicare. “To me, that’s sort of is Exhibit A of what […]
Posted inNews
Summer ad fling a precursor to rebranding Connecticut
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy was introduced today as the “tourism governor” at the kickoff of a quickly assembled summer advertising campaign, but a better measure of his right to that title will come later this year as his administration forges a marketing identity for the state. “We are in engaged in selecting a team to […]
Posted inNews
Volatile personal income jumps, but economy slows
Personal income rose nearly 5 percent in the first quarter of 2011, but state officials need to beware that revenue from a just-increased income tax relies more than ever on volatile earnings tied to an uncertain stock market, according to the latest quarterly report from the University of Connecticut. The warning about tax volatility was […]
Posted inNews
Himes calls for Weiner resignation after more photos surface over the weekend
WASHINGTON — Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District, called today for Rep. Anthony Weiner’s resignation, making him the first in Connecticut’s congressional delegation to urge the New York congressman’s ouster over inappropriate photographs Weiner sent to women via Twitter. Weiner has so far resisted calls from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and others to give up […]
Posted inNews
For many with disabilities, life is a waiting list
“New normal” for Kevin Martin is listening to his 7-year-old daughter’s bedtime stories by telephone. It’s family dinners of takeout food at his nursing home. And it’s waiting. A lot of waiting. “I’m kind of in limbo,” he said during a recent visit with his wife and daughter. Martin and his wife, Lisa Hodes, are […]
Posted inEducation
How educated are Connecticut legislators?
One in five Connecticut legislators does not have a college degree, according to a report released Sunday by The Chronicle of Higher Education. New Hampshire has the least formally educated statehouse, with 43 percent of their 424 legislators having no college degree. Connecticut falls in line with the national average in the percent of legislators […]
Posted inMoney, Politics
Woody Allen, the debt ceiling, and the congressional schedule
When discussing this year’s odd congressional schedule recently, Rep. Joe Courtney quoted Woody Allen’s famous phrase: “80 percent of success is showing up.” “At some point,” Courtney said, “in trying to get things done you have to have people here.” Hard to argue with that. By Courtney’s measure (or Woody Allen’s) it’s not clear how […]
Posted inPolitics
Murphy camp touts UAW nod, says more labor support to come
Chris Murphy’s bid for the U.S. Senate got a boost Monday with the endorsement from the United Auto Workers. Murphy’s campaign announced that the UAW Region 9A would back his campaign to succeed retiring Sen. Joseph Lieberman. “They become the first statewide organized labor union to endorse in the 2012 CT-SEN race,” Kenny Curran, Murphy’s […]
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Victories for at-risk kids despite a tight budget
Conventional wisdom says nobody leaves a legislative session completely happy, certainly not when a gargantuan deficit hangs over the proceedings. But when those of us who advocate for kids in the juvenile justice system left the Capitol, we felt… well, victorious. Many measures to improve the system passed and are expected to be signed into […]