A legislative committee Wednesday approved bills that would salvage the state’s endangered public financing system for campaigns with new rules, smaller grants and a greater reliance on private dollars. If approved by the full legislature, the bills also would preserve a ban on contributions by lobbyists and state contractors. Without the legislation, a court ruling […]

Gov. M. Jodi Rell said that the chairman of United Technologies Corporation told her today that his company is under pressure from the federal government to move its manufacturing from Connecticut to lower-cost states. Rell said she called UTC chairman and chief executive Louis Chenevert about his company’s complaints to Wall Street analysts about the […]

CROMWELL – U.S. Rep. John B. Larson, D-1st District, said today that the state’s congressional delegation did not appreciate United Technologies’ threat last week to relocate more manufacturing out of state. UTC’s complaints to Wall Street analysts about the cost of doing business in Connecticut came as the congressional delegation is pushing for military aircraft […]

After months of hearings and negotiation, U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Connecticut, today proposed financial legislation that he called the “most significant reform since the 1930s.” “It creates a sound economic foundation to grow jobs. It protects consumers. It reins in Wall Street. It ends too-big-to-fail, and it prevents another financial crisis of this magnitude,” […]

HAMDEN — It’s been a long time between races for Larry DeNardis. Twenty-eight years after leaving Congress and one week before his 72nd birthday, DeNardis declared his candidacy for governor Thursday at a museum dedicated to a bygone industrial age, bringing to seven the number of Republicans actively seeking the job. “Connecticut needs a governor […]

FARMINGTON – An upbeat Gov. M. Jodi Rell framed a $352 million plan to improve the University of Connecticut Health Center as transforming the delivery of health care for “generations to come.” But the proposal rolled out Tuesday to a standing ovation by UConn staff and students relies on the influence of two lame ducks: […]

In a season when the “outsider” label is in vogue, Dannel P. Malloy touted his love of government and experience as mayor of Stamford on Wednesday in announcing his candidacy for governor. Malloy filed campaign papers in a state office across from the State Capitol, then told a waiting crowd of more than 100 supporters […]

A Hartford Superior Court judge said Wednesday he expects to begin hearing evidence next month about whether Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz meets the statutory qualifications for attorney general. But questions about her qualifications receded in the face of a new controversy over a constituent-services data base that other candidates say appeared to be […]

FARMINGTON — Gov. M. Jodi Rell and a coalition of regional hospitals announced today they are backing a $236 million investment in a new hospital at the financially troubled University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington. Key to the plan is a new healthcare network involving former critics of efforts to rebuild the state’s flagship […]

A Hartford Superior Court judge opened proceedings today in a case that could determine if Susan Bysiewicz, the Democratic front-runner in the race for attorney general, is legally qualified to hold the office. Without objection from attorneys for Bysiewicz, Judge Michael R. Sheldon accepted the Connecticut Republican Party as an intervenor in the case, meaning […]

The lineup promised fireworks: Linda McMahon, a WWE executive who has acted in wrestling melodramas; Peter Schiff, a CNBC pundit with a rabid following; and Rob Simmons, a former congressman, soldier and spy. But for 60 minutes Tuesday, constrained by a televised debate format that discouraged confrontation, the three Republican U.S. Senate candidates found agreement […]

At a televised U.S. Senate debate Monday night, Merrick Alpert took the stage as an underdog trying to hook Democratic primary voters with calls for universal health care, diplomatic relations with Cuba and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, already ordained by pollsters and party regulars as the Democratic candidate-in-waiting, responded with […]

Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s latest deficit-mitigation plan would take $12 million from the Citizens’ Election Program, possibly leaving the system of publicly financing campaigns with insufficient funds for the 2010 elections, advocates said Tuesday. Surprised legislators said Rell’s proposal to take money from the fund undermines efforts by an administration-led working group to formulate changes […]

Economists say Connecticut will continue to lose jobs for another two years. His own analysts are predicting that the next governor and legislature will face a $3.8 billion deficit, an astonishing 20 percent hole in the state budget. But House Speaker Christopher G. Donovan is bullish on Connecticut’s economy. In speeches to skeptical business groups […]