It sounds kind of abstract and nerdy, but state officials want feedback on a draft data plan they hope could lead to better outcomes in the opioid crisis, climate change resiliency, and the workforce pipeline.
Feedback sought on data plan that could improve Connecticut life
Posted inPolitics
Hatfield opposes 3D-printed guns, loses endorsement of gun group
With the gun lobby, it seems to be all or nothing. Susan Hatfield, the endorsed Republican candidate for attorney general, said Friday that her opposition to untraceable 3D-printed firearms — a position the President Trump has hinted he might adopt — has cost her the support of the state’s largest gun owners’ group, the Connecticut Citizens Defense League.
Posted inNews
Boughton visits home with crumbling foundations, calls on insurance companies to help
WILLINGTON — Republican gubernatorial contender Mark Boughton on Friday visited one of thousands of Connecticut homes whose concrete foundations are crumbling beneath them, making the pitch that if elected, he would tackle the slow-motion disaster by initially taking the insurance companies to task.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
In the year of #MeToo and Time’s Up, legislators helped some
In the year of #MeToo and Time’s Up, what was the General Assembly’s record addressing policy issues that impact women and girls disproportionately? Similar to last year, the results were a mix of wins, losses, and missed opportunities.
Posted inPolitics
Bysiewicz v. Zimmerman: Experience v. ‘a different kind of candidate’
The Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor, Susan Bysiewicz and Eva Bermudez Zimmerman sparred over taxes, experience and Connecticut’s massive pension debt Thursday during their only debate, a live-streamed forum at NBC Connecticut in West Hartford.
Posted inEnergy & Environment
CT poised to catch brunt of Trump’s auto standard rollbacks
The Trump administration has unveiled its proposal to dramatically weaken auto emission and efficiency standards. Few states will feel the consequences of it more than Connecticut.
Posted inHealth
Blumenthal presses state for protections in ‘short-term’ health plans
WASHINGTON – Sen. Richard Blumenthal on Thursday said he’s talked with state officials about placing consumer protections on any new health insurance policies sold in Connecticut once the new Trump administration regulation on short-term plans takes effect in about 60 days.
Posted inJustice
Murphy, gun control groups ramp up fight against Kavanaugh
WASHINGTON – Gun control groups, who are among the most active in the “stop Kavanaugh” movement, were helped by Sen. Chris Murphy on Thursday as they ratcheted up their opposition to President Donald Trump’s choice to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court.
Posted inMoney
Legislators uncertain about legalizing sports betting before ’19
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Thursday his administration could have a proposal ready soon for legislative consideration on a new state system for managing and profiting from sports betting. Whether lawmakers will come back to consider it before the new legislature and governor take office in January are another matter.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
What’s at stake in the race for lieutenant governor
Two hours before dawn on August 22, 1991, a tie vote in the state Senate was broken by Lowell Weicker’s lieutenant governor, whose action guaranteed that a state income tax would be imposed on the people of Connecticut. The spending spree enabled by that infamous vote was the chief cause of our subsequent economic decline. Since the tax took effect, we rank dead last in economic growth among the 50 states. It matters who breaks ties in the Connecticut Senate.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Criticisms of the kneeling protest are ‘hollow, self-serving, gratuitous’
The continuous unfolding news accounts of Haddam Selectwoman Melissa Schlag and her exercise of free speech rights by taking a knee on July 16 and kneeling on both knees at (the July 30) Monday’s Board of Selectmen fortnightly meetings have drawn the attention of the state and nation, with a mix of ire and support by local residents and veterans as her actions were vilified loudly by political campaigners for statewide office, and later with an additional pile on by other candidates.
Posted inPolitics
Republican debate for lieutenant governor turns on ‘electability’
WEST HARTFORD — At a debate of the Republican candidates for lieutenant governor Monday night, Darien First Selectman Jayme Stevenson argued that the GOP needs a Number Two who would be most electable in a November election, not most popular in an August primary. Stevenson says Joe Markley is too conservative and Erin Stewart too unaccomplished and friendly with labor.
Posted inPolitics
A ‘crypto-anarchist’ hands Democrats a new gun issue
You probably never heard his name before today, but Cody Wilson emerged this week as an influence in the Connecticut primaries for governor and attorney general: He is a self-described “crypto-anarchist” from Texas who wants to sell America a downloadable blueprint for the 3D printing of untraceable plastic firearms.
Posted inNews
Increased ticketing for distracted driving is making a difference
Starting today, police officers will be out in force across Connecticut pulling over drivers who are using handheld mobile phones.
Posted inHealth
CT Insurance Dept. mulling expansion of ‘short-term’ plans
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration on Wednesday issued final rules that would allow states like Connecticut to allow the sale of cheaper, skimpier health care plans that were originally intended for short-term use but now be available for 364 days, or nearly 12 months at a time. Now, it’s up to state officials to allow the sale of these short-term plans, which do not have to cover pre-existing conditions.