The House of Representatives gave final approval Wednesday to a plan to cover the $317 million budget deficit despite the controversial sweep of firearm and ammunition permit fees.
May 31, 2017 @ 5:52 pm
Posted inMoney, Transportation
CT House schedules, then postpones debate on tolls
With passage far from certain, the House of Representatives postponed a debate promised for Wednesday night on a bill authorizing the state Department of Transportation to install a system of electronic tolls on major highways in Connecticut.
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Politics
Blumenthal: A Trump decision to exit Paris climate accord would cost CT jobs
WASHINGTON — Sen. Richard Blumenthal said President Donald Trump’s expected decision to pull the United States from the Paris climate accord will cost Connecticut jobs and hurt U.S. credibility overseas.
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
Malloy’s talks with Aetna were one-sided and futile
With flattery and an effort at common ground, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy wrote to Aetna’s chairman, Mark Bertolini, in March, requesting a meeting about how to keep one of the nation’s largest health insurers in Hartford. Malloy acknowledged Wednesday he never got his meeting with Bertolini, just subordinates who never articulated what changes Aetna desired to see in the only corporate home since its founding in 1853.
Posted inMoney
Senate GOP: Overhauling labor laws would save more than concessions
Updated at 3:55 p.m.
Calling $1.5 billion in proposed union concessions insufficient given Connecticut’s $5 billion budget crisis, Senate Republicans called Wednesday for legislators and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to dramatically reshape labor laws to force larger savings in wages and benefits — with or without union consent.
Posted inEducation
Looser high school graduation requirements head to Malloy
A bill to loosen high school graduation requirements is heading to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s desk after the House voted 148-0 Tuesday night to approve it.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Prospero’s tale (about first-onset psychosis)
When I was 18, I lived in a Chelsea flophouse. There was one bathroom per floor, and I had the deluxe with a tiny sink and two-burner stove for $46 per week. To my right was a guy with advanced alcoholism. He’d scream in the night, “Oh God, not again.” I tacked blankets to the wall to muffle his cries. It helped. On the other side was my best friend, Mark. I’d been crashing with him illegally when a room came free. As the prior occupant vacated, I raced down three flights to face the building’s owner, Mrs. S, whose office was at the front.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Let’s eliminate the pharmaceutical ‘gag order’ that costs patients money
Connecticut lawmakers need to continue their history and proactive approach to patient-focused legislation by passing a bill that will ensure patient consumers are not paying too much for their medication. S.B.445 would put an end to an insurance industry secret—where pharmacists are contractually prohibited from telling customers if there is an option for them to pay less for their medically necessary, and sometimes life-saving, prescription treatment options. It seems crazy but it’s true.
Posted inHealth, Politics
With Obamacare at risk in CT, 73K could lose subsidies
WASHINGTON — Connecticut is among several states in danger of losing all of the insurers who participate in their Affordable Care Act exchanges – a move that would leave tens of thousands of state residents scrambling for coverage and ways to pay for it. Insurers say chaos in Washington, D.C., is to blame.