A small, almost unnoticeable, cut in the state budget could have a devastating impact on the thousands of Connecticut residents who use public libraries. Since 1976, the state’s libraries have implemented one of the most cost-effective methods imaginable of resource sharing in a state that has turned away from formal regionalism and has 169 separate […]

At first, I was prepared to give Gov. Malloy a whole lot of rope on his budget.  I understand the need to cut spending and raise revenue, and I’m prepared to do my part. But then I read the fine print.  I still understand the need to address the State’s deficit, but to do so […]

Gov. Malloy’s proposal to trim state expenses and cut personnel costs provides a good foundation for the General Assembly to build upon. Clearly he understands that we can’t solve our fiscal crisis without growing our economy and getting people back to work, and that it must be done in a way that makes our state […]

The world is a different place in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash and the Great Recession — but not for Connecticut’s new governor, who emerged this week in his budget address as a traditional tax-spend-and-borrow Democrat. Here are Governor Malloy’s proposals for fiscal year 2012 beginning in July: $1.5 billion in new permanent […]

Governor Malloy deserves great credit for presenting the first fiscally honest budget in many years, avoiding the quick-fix gimmickry that has contributed to our current revenue shortfalls, such as a reliance on one-time revenues and borrowing.  His reforms are a first step toward a budget that improves fairness, is more adequate to the state’s needs, […]

The motto of the Connecticut Council of Small Towns is, “We’re working to keep small towns strong.” To this end, COST analyzes policies being considered at the Capital with several questions in mind: Will they make Connecticut’s 139 smaller communities, those suburban and rural towns under 30,000 in population, better places in which to live […]

You may have heard or read about post-election recounts after the recent primary. The reports were incorrect. There were no recounts. Connecticut law calls for something else, a recanvass. The current recanvass law and procedures are inadequate to assure that the every vote is counted accurately and the correct winner certified. Experience shows that the […]

Recent actions by the Connecticut General Assembly to rescue the public financing of political campaigns shows that lawmakers can act fairly quickly when a shared cause, and their own interests, are at the center of the debate. Because so many candidates for the legislature are relying on public financing for their campaigns (rather than having […]

The first major feature of Obama Care is being launched, high-risk health insurance pools, which cover citizens previously denied insurance due to prior conditions. Congratulations, Republicans! Yes, Republicans, because expansion of high-risk health insurance pools was the central element of the GOP’s common-sense alternative to the grandiosity of Obama Care, aka the Affordable Care Act […]

As a physician over the last 20 years or so, I have become quite used to abiding by the new regulations presented by insurance companies, our national medical societies, pharmaceutical companies, and the national government. Sometimes, I’ll admit, I have felt like I had little input, that I was being controlled by forces beyond my […]

This past Tuesday we learned that Connecticut was once again shut out of the federal Race to the Top competition. While this news was disappointing, it was not wholly surprising – we were starting from way behind, and as much progress as Connecticut made with its reform legislation this year, we already knew that a […]

The Foley campaign is engaged in politics of the worst kind by attacking the State Elections Enforcement Commission and attempting to impugn the integrity of a nonpartisan state agency.  To charge the agency as corrupt is outrageous and irresponsible. What is most disturbing is that the Foley campaign flouts the law and then sues the […]

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 is over 2,300 pages long. The Glass-Steagall Act, the landmark bank reform bill of 1933, was about 100 pages long. Less is more. Glass-Steagall gained strength from its simplicity. The 1933 Congress concluded that the combination of investment banking and commercial banking (and other […]

Is it possible to close the achievement gap without an assessment of the impact of institutional racism and structural inequities on education policy and practice? Clearly money and legislative action – whether federal, as in No Child Left Behind, or state, as in the settlement action due to Sheff v. O’Neill – alone or together […]