State Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo confirmed Friday that Connecticut’s finances are back in balance — for now. But the state’s chief fiscal watchdog reminded officials that Connecticut is due to test its revenues again shortly after the April 18 income tax filing deadline, and that the potential for more red ink remains very real.
News
Posted inJustice
Session Notes: See what Malloy saw in a German prison
CBS’s 60 Minutes takes viewers Sunday on the same tour of Germany’s prison system that inspired Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and his correction commissioner, Scott Semple, to try a different way to treat younger defendants and inmates.
Posted inPolitics
CT Right to Life slams Trump’s call to punish women who have banned abortions
WASHINGTON — Connecticut Right to Life on Friday slammed GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump, who said women who have abortions should face some form of punishment if the procedure is banned. The organization said the nation should not entrust the presidency to “a novice.” The Trump campaign has since backed off the statement.
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Health
Most CT schools don’t test water for lead, but that could change
WASHINGTON – Most of Connecticut’s more than 1,000 schools and child care centers don’t have to test their water for lead under federal or state laws. But the tragedy in Flint, Mich., has spawned a number of proposals to better combat lead contamination in schools and elsewhere.
Posted inHealth
A push for more data on how insurers cover mental illness
Mental health practitioners, advocates, insurance companies and the Connecticut Insurance Department agree on the need for data to determine whether stories of people struggling to get coverage for mental health care are isolated incidents or signs of a deeper problem. But they disagree on a legislative proposal that one proponent says would require collecting data “essential” in making that determination.
Posted inPolitics
CT Latino panel urges Congress to act quickly to help Puerto Rico
WASHINGTON — Connecticut’s Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission has asked Congress for quick action on legislation to help Puerto Rico with its $72 billion debt crisis.
Posted inPolitics
Murphy, legislators help kick off grassroots effort for Clinton
WASHINGTON — Sen. Chris Murphy said Thursday that he and other state Democratic officials are helping to launch a phone bank aimed at helping Hillary Clinton win the state’s April 26 Democratic primary.
Posted inEducation
Session notes: Leader of CT higher education agency retiring
Jane Ciarleglio, the longtime leader of the state agency that oversees state financial aid and for-profit colleges, is retiring Friday.
Posted inNews
Session Notes: Malloy hits N.C. on anti-LGBT law
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced an executive order Thursday banning official state travel to North Carolina, joining a growing list of public officials and corporations to condemn that state’s passage of a law hostile to the gay and transgender communities.
Posted inPolitics
Wolf files overdue finance report, names new team
August Wolf, the only announced Republican candidate for the 2016 U.S. Senate race in Connecticut, named his new leadership team Thursday, an effort to stabilize a campaign rocked by turnover, unusually public dissension and fundraising challenges. He also filed his long overdue end-of-year finance report.
Posted inEducation
After contract storm at state universities, relative calm in community college talks
The Board of Regents is seeking cost savings from community college faculty and staff, whose response has been notably less confrontational than that of faculty at the regional Connecticut state universities when asked for givebacks last November.
Posted inJustice
Malloy hears from homeowners with crumbling basements
ENFIELD — The good news Wednesday night was that at least a dozen of the people waiting to question Gov. Dannel P. Malloy had minimal interest in Connecticut’s intractable budget problems. The bad news: They came to talk about their crumbling basements, a problem that may affect thousands.
Posted inJustice
With broad support, bail reform seems inevitable
Pushed by a coalition that stretches across the political spectrum, reform is coming to Connecticut’s bail system. The only question seems to be how far and how fast the General Assembly is prepared to go.
Posted inEducation
Michelle Rhee group merges with education advocates with CT roots
Updated at 7 p.m.
The national 50CAN education reform group – whose founding was inspired by the Connecticut-based advocacy group ConnCAN – is merging with StudentsFirst, a national group that was started by the controversial past chancellor of Washington, D.C., schools, Michelle Rhee.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy: State workers to get layoff notices in about two weeks
The major round of state employee layoffs that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration has been hinting at since February is about two weeks away, the governor said Wednesday.