Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Friday vetoed a bill that would have prohibited him or future governors from cutting education-cost sharing grants to cities and towns as a means of addressing a budget shortfall that develops during the fiscal year. He also allowed a bill to become law without his signature, a first for the governor.
June 1, 2018
Connecticut legislators balk at on-line betting on sports
The Connecticut General Assembly is unlikely take up on-line gambling when it returns in special session to consider legalizing sports betting — viewing betting by smartphone as a concept that needs deeper study and public input, legislative leaders said Friday.
UConn Health must correct ‘blatant misuse of taxpayer dollars’
Over the past few months, multiple situations have come to light unveiling a pattern of failures at UConn Health that have severely damaged the public’s trust in your institution. We have seen blatant misuse of taxpayer dollars, failure to implement basic oversight, and apparent disregard for your core responsibilities to the state and people of Connecticut. I am writing today to ask UConn Health to commit to rebuilding public trust.
Former Speaker: Megan’s law good policy, but sometimes misused
I want to commend Tom Condon for his May 21 piece (Sex offender registry: More harm than good?) chronicling Connecticut’s sex offender registry, and for raising some provocative issues around the registry’s evolution and consequences. As chief sponsor of Connecticut’s original Megan’s Law, let me say first — unequivocally — that I believe the state’s sex offender registry is good public policy, constitutionally sound, and has done far more good than harm.
The calculus of dumbing down community college math
I challenge the validity of the transfer of credits for the course Calculus III from Connecticut community colleges to the University of Connecticut. Generally speaking, the standards associated with the teaching of the Calculus III (multivariable) course at Connecticut community colleges are very low. The community college classes do not teach the “essential” Fundamental Theorems of Multivariable Calculus – Gradient, Green’s, Stokes and Divergence. They are called fundamental for a reason! These four theorems set the foundation for Maxwell’s Equations.
Seldom retiring, Betty Gallo is quitting nonetheless
On every hot-button issue of the past four decades, Betty Gallo seemed to have a client, dogging legislators on behalf of the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, the Innocence Project and a long roster of other advocacy groups, taking up causes that often traveled the arc from Quixotic in one session to law in another. No more. Gallo says the 2018 session was her 41st and her last, ending a remarkable run as the lobbying voice of progressive politics in Connecticut.
Santos, early out of the gate for Esty’s seat, has tough race ahead
Manny Santos, a former Marine and the state Republican party’s endorsed choice to break the Democratic deadlock on Connecticut’s representation in Congress, hopes to win Rep. Elizabeth Esty’s seat with a traditional GOP message of lower taxes and fewer regulations. But he first has to beat other Republicans who want the party’s nomination instead.