Employers are increasingly misclassifying their employees as contractors to trim costs, so Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and the Chief State’s Attorney’s Office said they want to substantially increase the fines. “This is cheating, plain and simple,” Blumenthal said about employers labeling full-time employees as independent contractors. “We will no longer tolerate misclassifications.” Blumenthal said the […]

Rep. Antonio Guerrera, co-chairman of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, set out to require installation of seat belts on all school buses now, but he’s satisfied with a compromise that will have every child buckled up sometime around 2024. “This was a huge, huge move,” the Rocky Hill Democrat said Monday after the committee approved the […]

Public universities may soon be required to inform state legislators before they approve tuition increases under terms of a bill overwhelmingly voted out of committee Tuesday. “It’s appropriate for us to have this information,” said Sen. Mary Ann Handley of Manchester, co-chairman of the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee, before the vote. The proposal […]

Thousands remain with out power following this weekend’s storm, and Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced today the state is investigating the response from the two largest electric companies. “I’m concerned about the response in the first hours of the storm,” Rell said during a press conference, noting that almost 40,000 customers remain without power. Rell […]

A bill that would require public hearings and disclosure of data justifying health insurance rate hikes was approved by the legislature’s Insurance and Real Estate Committee today on a 14-5 vote. “It’s needed,” said Sen. Joseph J. Crisco, Jr. of Woodbridge, co-chairman of the committee, following the vote. The proposal was launched last year after […]

Correction Officer Kevin Brace doesn’t know why a convicted arsonist at the prison where he works was able to get his personal information through a Freedom of Information request that can reveal his home address, but he can’t imagine it’s a good thing. “It’s paper terrorism,” said Brace. “They can get my personal information and there is […]

A proposal requiring seat belts on school buses moved one step closer to reality, as the legislature’s Transportation Committee voted in favor of the bill Monday 29-7. A compromise was made prior to the vote that would require only new buses have seat belts beginning July 2012. Originally, co-chairman Rep. Antonio Guerrera, D-Rocky Hill, sought […]

The legislature’s Transportation Committee backed away from a proposal to immediately implement electronic toll collection at major state border crossings, but directed the Department of Transportation to study the idea. Rep. Antonio Guerrera, D-Rocky Hill, had been pushing for tolls to open immediately at seven state border locations, but said he did not have the […]

Proposals to reinstate tolls on state roads have failed in recent years, but with Connecticut facing huge deficits, the Transportation Committee’s co-chairman says the idea is gaining momentum. “If we implement them today we are talking millions of dollars this year,” said Rep. Antonio Guerrera, D-Rocky Hill, whose committee will hear testimony on tolls today. […]

Sunday alcohol sales will remain off limits  in Connecticut after a bill that would have lifted the old holdover from the state’s “Blue Laws” died in committee. The committee did not vote down the Sunday sales bill, but they will not meet again before their committee’s deadline to vote the bill out of committee for […]

So many Medicaid patients at Leeway nursing home in New Haven fail to pay their bills that the facility has a hard time operating, executive director Martha Dale told legislators Tuesday. She wants to be able to evict them after 60 days. “We don’t have money to spare,” she said. “They have income but somehow […]

Students who habitually skipped class at Cromwell High School used to be suspended from school for up to 10 days. But that all changed last year when an in-school suspension program was launched at the school: Now students are only sent home if they pose a danger or are a disruptive to others. “It just […]

A fresh idea is catching on at the State Capitol: budget transparency. A searchable database of the state’s checkbook. Available online for free. Kind of like the one set up a month ago by a conservative think tank. The new website created by the Yankee Institute for Public Policy showing all state expenditures, including payroll, […]

The familiar battle-lines were drawn Monday: Package store owners from border towns complained they lose money because they can’t open on Sundays, while a broader-based liquor retailers’ association said ending Connecticut’s Sunday sales ban would drive mom-and-pop shops out of business. Still, about 100 people filled the Program Review and Investigations Committee hearing room for […]

A key state legislator said Thursday he has the votes to override a veto of proposed legislation that would limit the governor’s authority to cut the budget of the state’s Judicial Branch. The measure also would restore $6.1 million in cuts that otherwise would force the closure of three courthouses and nearly a third of […]