Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has called on state lawmakers to restructure Connecticut’s contributions into its cash-starved teacher pension fund, deferring some expenses for decades but mitigating huge, projected cost spikes in the coming 15 years.
December 2017
Posted inCT Viewpoints
A Steeler fan in New England
As a physician who trained in many parts of the country, I have had to deal with my fair share of difficult patients – Mafia thugs during my internship in Providence, drunken young men swinging at me at a Bronx hospital and fearsome manacled prisoners from Rikers Island and Sing Sing. But it wasn’t until I established my cozy suburban ophthalmology practice in Connecticut that I encountered the most reprehensible patients of all – who routinely tempt me to violate the Hippocratic Oath and do maximum harm – the smug New England Patriots fan.
Posted inEducation, Money, Politics
Shifting pension costs from state to teachers costs CT $20M
The transfer of tens of millions in required annual contributions to the teachers’ pension fund from the state and onto educators will increase the state’s long-term pension debt by more than $20 million, according to state Treasurer Denise L. Nappier.
Posted inNews
A taxing week in Washington delivers a Christmas gift to business
It has been a taxing week in Washington – literally and, for some, figuratively – and not without its headaches in Connecticut, too. The big development, of course, was the Republican Party’s passage of a huge tax reform bill that will bring big benefits to business, some temporary relief to the middle class, and a projected $1.5 trillion in additional debt for a future Congress to worry about.
Posted inHealth, News
An unusual collaboration fighting the scourge of Hepatitis-C
While there is wide debate about the effects of the opioid epidemic and other health challenges, the silent scourge of Hepatitis-C is roiling Connecticut’s low-income communities. Hartford official Cecil “Ngoni” Tengatenga is attempting to change that narrative, and he has formed an unusual partnership with the leaders of Baka Fana, a rock band with a political tilt. In this Sunday Conversation they talk about their unusual effort to reach a population that doesn’t read very well.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Trump’s dark deregulation
At a recent event to tout his administration’s efforts to rid the federal government of what he contends is burdensome red tape, President Donald Trump used oversized gold scissors to cut a piece of red ribbon strung between two stacks of paper. In short order, he promised, his administration would excise some 165,000 of the more than 185,000 pages in the Code of Federal Regulations.
Posted inEducation
Takeaways from Betsy DeVos’s summit on innovation in K-12 education
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos used her bully pulpit last week to again call for more school innovation, especially technology-infused “personalized learning.”
Posted inPolitics
CT reviewing lifeline Congress throws children’s health program
Connecticut officials said Friday they were unsure what the temporary lifeline Congress threw the Children’s Health Insurance Program — known as Husky B in Connecticut — would mean for the state.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
What Connecticut can learn from Massachusetts
ConnCAN was pleased to see The Mirror’s recent in-depth comparison of education outcomes between Connecticut and Massachusetts. As Jacqueline Rabe Thomas’ series pointed out, Massachusetts and Connecticut share more than just state boundaries. Our states are similar in many ways, including that our public schools serve similar students with similar learning needs. But our neighbors are doing a better job of educating all students, especially those in poverty and students of color. Massachusetts students also outperformed all other states in math and reading for grades four and eight on the Nation’s Report Card (NAEP).
Posted inCT Viewpoints
‘The arc of the moral universe… bends toward justice’
On December 12 – more than five decades after the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham — the people of Alabama made clear their intention to set right the hateful murders and destruction. They chose to trust the women who asserted that Republican candidate Roy Moore had sought them out and acted indecently towards them and they delivered their verdict that Moore was not fit to represent the people of Alabama in the U.S. Senate.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
The House should act on this federal animal cruelty bill
Last week, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed legislation introduced by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn) to crack down on extreme animal cruelty, taking a critical step towards enactment of the first general federal animal cruelty law. The Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act, if approved by the House of Representatives, would prohibit malicious animal cruelty that occurs in interstate commerce or on federal property, providing federal enforcement authority to supplement state anti-cruelty frameworks.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Federal tax changes further polarize debate over state income tax
Now that Congress has passed a massive federal tax overhaul, political observers here agree it could have a chilling effect on future proposals to raise the Connecticut income tax — even 14 months from now when a huge deficit looms in state finances. But liberals and conservatives were split over whether this is a good thing, as huge pressures are projected to test state finances in unprecedented fashion in the coming years.
Posted inMoney
CT lawmakers vote against funding bill they say falls short
WASHINGTON — With the clock ticking toward a government shutdown, the U.S. House and Senate on Thursday approved a short-term spending bill that may give temporary relief to thousands of Connecticut families who have been notified that health coverage for their children will soon end. But Connecticut’s lawmakers voted against the bill because it fails to provide relief from deportation for immigrant youth or long-term funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program or community health center grants.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Tax bill glitch endangers future of Newman’s Own and actor’s foundation
WASHINGTON — The Westport-based Newman’s Own Foundation was on the verge of securing a provision in the federal tax overhaul that would have spared it from an unusual 200 percent tax hike it is facing, when the Senate parliamentarian forced lawmakers to strip it out of the massive bill. That decision could result in the sale of late actor Paul Newman’s food company and significantly damage the foundation’s ability to continue to fund charities.
Posted inHealth
Friday is deadline to buy health insurance through Access Health
With one day left of open enrollment, 106,000 Connecticut residents were enrolled in health insurance through Access Health CT, the state’s exchange, and officials reminded residents that they still will face a federal tax penalty if they don’t have insurance in 2018.