The Office of State Ethics has advised Rep. Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, that nothing in the state ethics code bars him from continuing his job with AFSCME, an influential public-employee union, as he becomes speaker of the House of Representatives next week. Labor costs are certain to be a major issue in 2017.
December 30, 2016 @ 2:04 pm
Additional cuts to public education will hurt our students
The Connecticut Association of Boards of Education (CABE) and the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS) are very concerned about the mid-year cut of $20 million in education aid to municipalities announced by the Office of Policy and Management yesterday. These cuts are schedule to take effect immediately and will result in diminished educational opportunities for the students who attend Connecticut’s public schools.
Home care agencies warn new system could cause major problems
Starting Jan. 1, the state will begin requiring home care workers to use a new electronic system for reporting the time they spend caring for certain clients – a change forecast to save the state millions of dollars. But home care providers worry problems could leave them unable to make payroll. And one major agency says it will refuse to use the new system.
CT prison education cuts likely to hurt rehabilitation effort
Just this month, The Crime Report – a publication out of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York – congratulated Connecticut as a model of prison reform, saying the rates of imprisonment in the state are the lowest they’ve been in 20 years. The party seems premature, even undeserved when one knows what’s really happening inside the state’s prisons. As a part of Gov. Dannel Malloy’s budget cutting frenzy, Connecticut’s correctional education – the programming most likely to aid a prisoner’s rehabilitation – is disappearing.
State appeal of education ruling: 5 things to know
State attorneys have submitted a brief to the Connecticut Supreme Court in an effort to persuade the justices to throw out much of a Superior Court order deeming the state’s educational funding system unconstitutional. Here are five things to know about the state’s case as it moves forward.