The General Assembly’s labor committee today narrowly approved legislation that would require businesses with more than 50 employees to offer up to five paid sick days. The committee voted 6-4 for a bill praised by the Working Families Party as a matter of social justice and detested by the Connecticut Business and Industry Association as […]

G. Kenneth Bernhard of Westport resigned today from the Citizen’s Ethics Advisory Board over campaign contributions he made in violation of state law. “I have had a few days to consider recent events…It is apparent that my service will be a distraction to the important work that the Board does for the people of our […]

U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District, moved quickly to distance himself from Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel of New York, who was admonished today by the House Ethics Committtee. Himes said he would donate to charity campaign contributions from Rangel, a noted rainmaker for Democrats. “I admire Mr. Rangel for his decades of leadership on civil […]

The signs were intriguing. He dropped hints. He showed up for the opening day of the General Assembly. He put a deposit on a condo in Bridgeport. But Chris Shays said today today he is not running for governor. Shays, the Republican congressman who moved to Maryland after losing his 4th District seat in 2008, […]

House Majority Leader Denise W. Merrill, D-Mansfield, formally began her campaign for secretary of the state today in Mansfield. “There are few duties more important than ensuring that our Democracy is working, that every citizen’s rights and privileges are protected, and every vote is counted appropriately,” Merrill said. She is seeking to succeed Susan Bysiewicz, […]

The state Department of Labor will staff its telephone call centers for filing unemployment claims from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and Monday, which are state holidays, Gov. M. Jodi Rell said today. “Despite some early signs of improvement in the economy, our state continues to struggle with record unemployment levels – and […]

The snow was late in reaching Hartford today, but Gov. M. Jodi Rell still pushed the region’s employers to release their employees early to keep to the highways clear for the afternoon rush. “By late morning, the snowfall was already beginning to take a toll on driving conditions in Fairfield County and along the Interstate […]

Governor M. Jodi Rell today designated Wednesday as a day of mourning for the five men killed Sunday in an explosion at the Kleen Energy power plant in Middletown.  Rell ordered Connecticut state flags to be flown at half-staff from sunup to sundown and asked residents to observe a moment of silence at 11 a.m., […]

Gov. M. Jodi Rell today named retired U.S. District Judge Alan H. Nevas to lead a multi-agency inquiry into the explosion that killed five workers Sunday at a power plant under construction in Middletown. A congressional committee also intends to hold a public hearing into the disaster, according to members of the state’s congressional delegatin. […]

The Democratic race for governor heated up today over Ned Lamont’s opposition to state legislation that would require businesses to offer paid sick days to employees. Dannel P. Malloy, the former Stamford mayor, criticized comments Lamont made in an interview with the Connecticut Mirror. “There are certain basic rights that should be afforded to any […]

Towns across the state are required by law to spend thousands of taxpayer dollars to print notices in local newspapers to inform the public of government happenings – a mandate Gov. M. Jodi Rell wants the legislature to repeal. But at a time when they are already struggling to stay afloat,  newspapers say the loss […]

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Williams, members and guests: We gather today to mark the opening of the 2010 legislative session and we do so at a time of continued challenge, continued anxiety. None of us need to be reminded of the unparalleled struggles that we have endured over the last 22 months. Our nation […]

State Comptroller Nancy S. Wyman said today that the estimated budget deficit for 2010 rose by $1.7 mllion last month to $515 million. “While revenues are showing some signs of stabilizing, virtually every tax category is still down from where it was last year at this time,” Wyman said. Sales tax revenue was off 7.3 […]

State of the Union edition. Two essentials: A transcript, from the New York Times, and a link from CBS to what probably will be the longest-remembered moment of the night, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s judicially-tempered reprise of “You lie!” Healthcare: Sam Stein at The Huffington Post notes that much of Obama’s address was aimed […]