New administration, new routines. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy still turns heads just by standing in line in the Legislative Office Building cafeteria, fetching his mid-morning coffee. A WTNH cameraman spotted Malloy today, and started recording the visit. The governor made the rounds in the cafe, introducing himself to some employees and bantering with those he’s […]

State legislators, who spent much of the past campaign pledging to make job growth a top priority, now have to decide how often they want to be reminded of that. The legislature’s nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis, which analyzes every bill to determine its potential cost to state government, recently filed a plan outlining how […]

A fast-moving Nor’easter slowed near Cape Cod this afternoon, delaying an end to a storm that state officials say dumped 14 to 30 inches across Connecticut. Snow is now expected to continue until 7 p.m. over parts of the state. As reported by the Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, these were the estimated […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Wednesday night that the state was on the path to normalcy after a record-breaking storm that forced the closure of state offices, schools, courts and many companies as it dropped more snow on Connecticut in 12 hours than the state had ever seen in a full day. “Connecticut will be […]

The state Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security reported this morning that snowfalls exceeded 20 inches in Rocky Hill and Newtown by 7 a.m., with forecasts calling for accumulations ranging from 16 inches to 26 inches. Statewide, the totals ranged from 14 to 22 inches. Heavy snow is expected through 10 a.m., with rates […]

With at least one foot of snow covering Connecticut, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy today cancelled the first shift for non-essential state employees and asked private employers to consider keeping their workers home. In a televised briefing at 6 a.m. from the Emergency Operations Center in Hartford, the governor said heavy, windblown snow had contributed to […]

WASHINGTON-Despite tight budgets and ballooning enrollment, Medicaid programs in Connecticut and across the country were able to preserve or even expand health care services to the poor in 2010, according to a new report released Tuesday. But 2011 could be dramatically different. Arizona officials have already moved to cut off Medicaid coverage for people in […]

State Sen. Edith G. Prague took her accustomed place as co-chairman of the General Assembly’s panel on aging Tuesday, with one important difference: It is now a full-fledged legislative standing committee. Prague, Williams and members of the new standing committee “We’ve been waiting a while to become a regular committee,” a grinning Prague said at […]

Although news coverage of major stories and the public’s interest in them generally were in sync, there were times in 2010 when they diverged markedly, a Pew Research Center analysis says. Comparing the results of weekly national opinion surveys with weekly reviews of press coverage, Pew found that the public tended to maintain interest longer […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed an emergency order Tuesday night that will allow him to quickly close the state’s highways and take other steps if deemed necessary Wednesday as a Nor’easter spreads up to two feet of snow across Connecticut. “We are declaring a civil preparedness emergency in anticipation of snow fall of 18 to […]

With Connecticut businesses facing a General Assembly session fraught with proposed mandates and tax hikes, advocates say the legislature’s relative lack attention to an expensive new unemployment assessment is not a good sign. As the legislature’s Labor and Public Employees Committee voted Tuesday to again raise a controversial measure to mandate paid sick leave for […]

In three press briefings, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy gave Connecticut a glimpse Tuesday of his style as storm-watcher-in-chief: With a Nor’easter expected to blanket most of the state with at least a foot of snow Wednesday, his stance was less warm and fuzzy and more of the don’t-be-stupid school. “I am urging people to complete […]

State lawmakers will soon have to deal with the hangover of passing a sweeping and expensive education reform law and then failing to capture the federal Race to the Top grant to pay for it. Up first for reconsideration: increased graduation requirements. “It is painful for me to say, but if we don’t find the […]

By delivering a more-than 200-page report to state legislators last week, members of the SustiNet board opened the next chapter in the debate over a proposed state-run health insurance plan. It’s a fight that will likely hinge on cost. Supporters say the proposed health plan, envisioned as a public option that would combine state employees […]

There is good news and bad news for state employees. Many of them can sleep in Wednesday, thanks to the storm. But there’s a catch: the sleepy heads have to accept the fact they are non-essential, a label to be worn uneasily in these tough fiscal times. “No state employee except essential state employees – […]