These news briefs are part of The Connecticut Mirror’s 2026 political coverage. For more news about the 2026 legislative session, campaigns, elections and more, sign up here for The Issue, the CT Mirror’s weekly politics newsletter.
Murphy wants money out of youth sports
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said he’s seeing firsthand the effects of private equity’s growing involvement in youth sports.
He argued the company that owns his son’s traveling hockey league is trying to extract as much money out of families with practices like banning livestreaming. Black Bear Sports offers a paid streaming service to watch the games.
That’s why he introduced the “Let Kids Play Act” this week, which would ban “vulture” practices of investors that “causes harm or creates long-term risk of harm to an acquired entity in order to extract profit.”
“It’s OK for youth sports to just be youth sports,” Murphy said.
— Lisa Hagen, Federal Policy Reporter
Community College audit found too much paid leave
A report from the state auditor last week found CT State Community College granted excessive paid administrative leave to multiple employees.
The auditor reviewed the five highest administrative leave payments and found all exceeded the 60-day limit in many state employee collective bargaining agreements. The average leave among the five employees was 277 days; the longest was 769 days.
The employees were paid $401,075 while on leave.
Management agreed with the finding and said it is now working with other state agencies to use paid leave in “very limited capacity.”
— Theo Peck-Suzuki, Education Reporter
New Eversource leadership
Eversource announced on Thursday that it named Don Scacco as the next head of its electric utility operations in Connecticut, succeeding Steve Sullivan.
Scacco, a Connecticut native, currently serves as the company’s vice president of electric field operations in Connecticut. Eversource is the state’s largest electric utility, serving about 1.3 million customers.
In a press release, Eversource said Sullivan is retiring after nearly 40 years at the company, including the last five as its head of electric operations in Connecticut. Scacco will take over the position starting July 6.
— John Moritz, Energy and Environment Reporter
State finds Hartford schools face deficit, audit continues
Hartford Public Schools has often cited its roughly $22 million deficit as evidence that it needs more state funding. But last month, the state revealed that a preliminary review of the district’s books found it may actually have a small surplus.
Now, a new review from the state points in the opposite direction: Hartford’s deficit may actually be $7 million bigger than the district forecast. A more in-depth audit of the district’s finances is ongoing.
At a Wednesday meeting of the State Board of Education, Hartford Superintendent Andraé Townsel criticized the state for creating “confusion and mistrust.”
— Theo Peck-Suzuki, Education Reporter
Student mental health improving
The Connecticut State Department of Education shared data Wednesday from the 2025 Connecticut School Health Survey.
The survey, completed by roughly 3,800 high school students, asks questions relating to safety, wellness and suicidality. Several metrics showed improvement from 2023, the last time the survey was conducted.
Results include a drop in the number of students feeling sad or hopeless every day for over two weeks, from 35.2% to 30.1%, and the number seriously considering suicide, from 15.7% to 12%. In addition, fewer students answering the survey said they’d experienced bullying.
— Theo Peck-Suzuki, Education Reporter