Pete DeGregorio has seen it for months: Customers come into his New Haven bait and tackle store, stock up on gear to go fishing in nearby Long Island Sound, then find out a license will cost them $40 per person. “It’s ridiculous. It’s just too expensive and people are walking out,” said DeGregorio, owner of […]

Despite calls for an immediate resolution of problems that threaten the state’s public campaign finance program, the House of Representatives Tuesday approved a bill that only buys more time for a fix if the state loses a court appeal to rescue the program. Almost 250 committees have been formed for the 2010 elections, and are […]

A bill extending the seven-day window the legislature has to respond to a court decision on the state’s embattled campaign finance program was passed by the Senate Wednesday and signed by Gov. M. Jodi Rell. A federal appeals court is currently considering the state’s appeal of a lower court ruling that the public finance law […]

Lawmakers decided not to approve a bill that would have required seat belts on every school bus by 2024 and instead voted to study the costs. Rep. John Geragosian, D-New Britain, co-chairman of the Appropriations Committee, said a study needs to be completed first because there are too many discrepancies for what the requirement would […]

Backers of a bill to require insurers to pay for items related to medical conditions, such as prosthetics, wigs and colostomy supplies, hope to win a veto-proof majority for the measure now that they have a price tag for it. “It’s 72 cents,” said Sen. Edith Prague, D-Columbia, referring to the monthly cost per policyholder. […]

House members voted Tuesday to give themselves 30 days to fix the state campaign finance program if a federal appeals court upholds a trial judge’s decision concluding that the program is unconstitutional. Before the 137-12 vote, several lawmakers said the present 7-day window was insufficient, calling it “a ticking time bomb.” “This bill simply gives the General […]

The statewide energy assistance program will run out of money at the end of the month if legislators fail to restore the nearly $2 million in funding that was cut, the head of the program says. “If we don’t get something soon then we won’t have money. It’s sad,” said Patricia Wrice, executive director of […]

A deal has been struck between House and Senate Democratic leaders and Republican Governor M. Jodi Rell to help close the $371 million deficit projected for this fiscal year, House Speaker Christopher G. Donovan and Rell said today. “We agreed that pretty much, I mean 99.9 percent, we had a basis for an agreement. It’s […]

The State Bond Comission today approved funding for a new public health laboratory in Rocky Hill–an action opposed by neighbors and area legislators. “It should be in a more isolated location,” said Sen. Paul R. Doyle, D-Wethersfield. “If it’s not OK for New Britain”–one of a dozen other sites considered– “then why is it OK […]

Democrats and a local union from Rocky Hill were successful last month in stalling funding for a public health laboratory in Rocky Hill, but the project’s chances look better when Gov. M. Jodi Rell brings it up for a vote again today. Democrats on the State Bond Commission last month blocked release of $69.4 million […]

It wasn’t the fiscal lifeline that town leaders were hoping for, but they said they will happily take the small amount of money an increase in the hotel tax and town fees will generate. The Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee on Monday passed two bills — one increasing the hotel tax from 12 to 15 […]

Chamber of commerce leaders are calling on the legislature to reject the 15 different bills that mandate increased health insurance coverage for various medical conditions. “We need a moratorium on new health care mandates,” said JoAnne Ryan, president of Northwest Connecticut’s Chamber of Commerce. Chamber leaders say the costs imposed on insurance companies will be […]

Passage of national health care reform apparently has ended a long-running stalemate between the legislature and the Rell administration over seeking federal reimbursement for a state-funded health care program. Three times over the last seven years, the legislature has directed the state Department of Social Services to apply for millions of dollars in federal matching […]

Despite last-minute uncertainty over whether taxing “excessive” executive bonuses will raise enough money to pay for the Democrats’ jobs plan, the legislature’s finance committee overwhelmingly voted in favor of the bill Thursday. The bill exempts 48,000 small businesses in the state from the $250 annual business entity tax, a move that will cost the state […]

On an issue pitting struggling newspapers against financially-strapped towns, the General Assembly has come down on the side of the press–at least for this year. The state’s newspapers held on to an important source of revenue as the legislature rejected pleas from municipalities to relax the rules on legal advertising and allow them to post […]