Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Session over, but still a few things rattling along

  • Other
  • by Paul Stern
  • June 16, 2019
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

The week after a Connecticut legislative session ends is typically pretty slow on political news, but the politicians always have time for a few ceremonial signings and press conferences to keep things stirred up.

In Washington, D.C., stirred up is the daily normal – in this case on both national and international fronts.

Last week at the State Capitol, State Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano complained that the recently passed $43.4 billion budget is unconstitutional because it relies on yet-unrealized union contract savings to be in the legally required balance.

mark pazniokas :: ctmirror.org

Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano

Not so, responded Gov. Ned Lamont, who signed into law a new gun-storage measure that honors the memory of Ethan Song, who lost his life in a firearm accident. Lamont’s spokesperson met Fasano with a stinging rebuke when he observed on Friday that the bid for a consultant to help with the contract savings had only gone out the day before.

It probably felt good to escape, even temporarily, the fuss over United Technologies’ decision to move its headquarters out of Connecticut as part of its proposed merger with Raytheon – a deal that is, in fact, not a done one.

Even so, despite an explicit denial by UTC CEO Greg Hayes that Connecticut’s taxes and business climate are not driving the company out of the state, the move is prompting plenty of talk about what’s wrong with Connecticut’s business climate and economy.

One issue that clearly needs to be addressed is the state of Connecticut’s cities, as illustrated in the collaborative series of articles on that subject undertaken by The Connecticut Mirror, Connecticut Public Radio, Hearst Connecticut Media, The Hartford Courant, the Republican-American (of Waterbury), the Hartford Business Journal and Purple States.

Another ongoing struggle is over finances for the state’s colleges and universities. With the entire state budget struggling under the strain of its unfunded pension liabilities, but the reductions to the University of Connecticut won’t force it to impose any new tuition increases over those it has already imposed. The Connecticut State Colleges and Universities are having to make up higher deficits this year – moves that will “minimize the impact on students.”

The U.S. military academies are colleges, too, and like colleges are having to address what one member of Congress calls “a sexual assault crisis” on their campuses. As is usually the case in Washington these days, the effort is contentious.

Even something as relatively unimportant as the paint job on Air Force One was an issue last week after U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, pushed through an amendment that would require congressional approval before President Donald Trump can redo the aircraft’s iconic white and sky-blue paint scheme put in place by President John F. Kennedy.

Connecticut Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, meanwhile, continued their so-far fruitless effort to pass legislation to reduce gun violence and, last week, to hold gun-makers accountable for the damage their weapons cause by ending their immunity from lawsuits.

Both lawmakers both expressed their dismay at Trump’s comments that he would welcome political input from a foreign nation and the Republican Party’s willingness to let him — an act that is illegal, according to the chairman of the Federal Election Commission.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Paul Stern Paul is the part-time assistant editor and the primary handler of the Mirror's Viewpoints commentaries. He has more than 40 years of reporting and editing experience at newspapers in New Jersey, Florida and Connecticut. He worked 22 years at the Hartford Courant in various editing roles including as deputy state editor, assistant editor of Northeast Magazine, and as an associate editor at Courant.com.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Best of 2019: Key Dems press bill to increase minority recruitment at Coast Guard Academy
by Ana Radelat

The bill is a response to allegations of discrimination and a racially hostile environment at the school.

Navy cuts number of EB Virginia-class subs in new contract
by Ana Radelat

Electric Boat wanted the Navy to include 10 subs, and possibly 11, in the so-called "Block 5" contract. But the Navy agreed to only nine.

Electric Boat facing mounting challenges as sub work ramps up
by Ana Radelat

There continue to be concerns about EB’s ability to build the new Columbia-class submarine alongside its smaller Virginia-class attack subs.

Talk of gun violence, little else
by Paul Stern

In national politics last week there was talk of little else than gun violence, white nationalism and gun control following the fatal shootings of 31 people in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas. There was little more than talk, too.

Politics and the ‘dark psychic force of collectivized hatred’
by Paul Stern

President Donald Trump insists he is not a racist, but 51 percent of Americans believe he is, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released last week. Certainly his “send her back” comments about Somalia-born U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and last week’s jabs at U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings of Baltimore did nothing to dispel that […]

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion A call to save arms: is vaccination really the solution?
by Genevieve Diamant

Economic modelling done by professional statisticians is often used to claim that the ounce of prevention provided by a vaccine is much better than the pound of cure that well-funded hospitals, fully staffed with professional nurses and doctors, using effective pharmaceutical remedies, can provide. But is this actually true?

Opinion School vouchers are a quick way to correct racial injustice
by Joseph Bentivegna MD

When I was in first grade, I was mistakenly given an eighth-grade portion of food that I could not possibly finish. As I was presenting my uneaten portion to the woman at the garbage disposal, a redoubtable nun towering over me said, “Joseph, the pagan babies in Africa are starving and you’re wasting that good food.” I responded, “Sister, if I eat the food, the pagan babies still won’t get it.” Wap! The nun backhanded me across my face and the tray went flying.

Opinion Letter to representatives: Oppose the Transportation and Climate Initiative
by Viewpoints Contributor

I have one question, when is enough, enough? I am a lifelong Cheshire resident writing in opposition to the recent rejoining of TCI (Transportation and Climate Initiative) and the gas price hike that will result.

Opinion Healthcare: The key to a new age of economic development
by Stephanie Thomas

Connecticut needs affordable health care options so that businesses and nonprofits, which are integral contributors to our state economy, can exist and thrive.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO