News

A state legislative panel has scrapped a controversial plan to auction off firearms seized in Connecticut crimes. The Public Safety Committee opted not to act on the bill, which had been raised on behalf of the Coalition of Connecticut Sportsmen, before the committee’s deadline on Thursday. “I didn’t have one legislator come to me and […]

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,” […]

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 […]

State government has emptied its savings to reduce the budget deficit, and Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s budget chief said this week it’s time for cities and towns to do the same. But municipal officials said their budget reserves already have been reduced to compensate for shrinking state aid. More importantly, they added, communities can’t exhaust […]

Minority Republicans in the state House of Representatives called Thursday for the cancellation of tens of millions of dollars in bonuses due next month to senior state employees. House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero, R-Norwalk, said the legislature and Gov. M. Jodi Rell should immediately repeal the law giving longevity bonuses to employees with 10 […]

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

Minority Republicans in the state House of Representatives called Thursday for lawmakers to cancel “longevity” bonuses due next month to 4,000 senior state employees. House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero, R-Norwalk, also said Gov. M. Jodi Rell should ask unionized state employees to forfeit their longevity pay as state government grapples with a growing budget […]

With nearly 170,000 Connecticut residents struggling to find employment, a state legislative panel has endorsed new restrictions on when businesses can research individuals’ credit and criminal backgrounds. “Nearly half of the employers in this country go into workers’ credit history during the hiring process,” said Rep. Matthew Lesser, D-Middletown, co-sponsor of the bill restricting credit background checks. […]

When Walter Harrison became president of the University of Hartford, he was astonished that a state regulatory process was holding up a proposed new academic program to train cantors, the officials who sing or chant prayers in synagogues. The campus already had well-known programs in music and Jewish studies, and Harrison didn’t understand why a […]

An appeal from moderate Democrats for decisive leadership to close the state budget deficit left some lawmakers questioning Tuesday whether a rift has opened within the General Assembly’s majority party. A coalition of four senators and 11 representatives sent a letter to party leadership urging immediate action to close the $518.4 million deficit for 2009-10 […]

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: […]

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 […]