Upon discovering that three Biblical excerpts were included in my university’s required “Literature Humanities” seminar, I was shocked. After dropping out of my Confraternity of Christian Doctrine education at a young age, my exposure to the Bible had been nonexistent. “Don’t ask, don’t tell” is the liberal social norm that dominates in Connecticut when it comes to religious beliefs. Consistent with that norm, my public high school education avoided Biblical references. Whenever students mentioned the Bible, my teachers uncomfortably shuffled their feet, awkwardly looked to the side, and quickly changed the subject. Consequently, participating in classroom Bible analysis was an enlightening culture shock.
Study of religions in high school would build understanding and diversity
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Connecticut politicians don’t lack for tactics, they lack vision
With the political conventions to select gubernatorial candidates for the November elections coming up in the next few weeks, I would like to offer some observations. Regardless of party, these apply to all candidates. First, we as the general public know the lobbyists and legislators under the gold dome are more interested in their personal benefit and aggrandizement than in improving the lives of 3.5 million Connecticut residents. If they were interested in us, they would have a 401(k) pension instead of the current defined benefit pension, with mileage and years of service included. Most of the news is inside baseball antics that do not change the price of rice (taxes or services either).
Posted inMoney
Collective bargaining, not money, dominates this budget fight
Connecticut’s legislative leaders struggled into the early morning Wednesday in negotiations to resolve what may be the state’s strangest budget fight: It’s not about money.
Posted inHealth
Drug-price transparency bill passes legislature with no dissent
A bill designed to help Connecticut officials peer into the black box of drug pricing won final approval from a unanimous state Senate early Wednesday, and will now go to the governor. Proponents of the measure called it a necessary first step toward curbing expensive prescription drug prices.
Posted inPolitics
On bipartisan vote, Connecticut bans bump stocks
The state Senate voted 26 to 10 Tuesday night for final passage of a bill that bans the sale and ownership of bump stocks in Connecticut, joining a growing number of states that have prohibited the rapid-fire rifle accessory used by the Las Vegas shooter who killed 58 people and injured hundreds last October.
Posted inHealth
Reforms to stem Whiting abuses head to the governor
Spurred by urgent demands that horrific abuse at Whiting Forensic never happen again, the state House of Representatives unanimously gave final approval to a series of reforms designed to increase oversight of the facility. The House vote was 148 to 0.
Posted inNews
CT lawmakers condemn Trump’s pullout from Iran nuclear deal
Members of Connecticut’s congressional delegation were quick Tuesday to condemn President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would withdraw the United States from the Iran nuclear accord.
Posted inHealth
Bills approved mandating ‘essential benefits,’ helping uninsured pregnant women
A bill headed to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s desk would give uninsured women the ability to sign up for health insurance after they learn they are pregnant. A second bill sent to the governor requires individual and small-group health insurance policies to cover the same 10 “essential health benefits” the Affordable Care Act mandates.
Posted inMoney
Bill to limit Hartford bailout faces opposition — from other cities
A compromise measure to effectively end the state’s fiscal bailout of Hartford after five years has stalled in the House — because of opposition from Bridgeport and New Haven.
Posted inMoney
Will Democrats, Republicans beat the buzzer with a budget deal?
With the General Assembly facing an adjournment deadline of midnight Wednesday, negotiations over the state budget hinged Tuesday on whether to focus on short-term fiscal and political needs or grapple with the economic challenges facing the lawmakers and new governor who will take office in January.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
A big mistake: Defunded services to Connecticut’s most at-risk youth
Last week we learned that state funds for critical programs that serve high-risk youth and families was “swept” as “an inadvertent casualty” of the transfer of juvenile justice services and its funds from the Department of Children and Families (DCF) to the Court Support Services Division (CSSD), a branch of the Department of Justice. The transfer resulted in a $7 million shortfall for DCF-funded behavioral health services. Letters have been sent to providers informing them funding for these programs will be eliminated as of June 30, 2018. And the high-risk children are those with substance use, mental health, and behavioral problems severe enough to land them in juvenile court and in jeopardy of out-of-home placement. One hundred kids and their families, in one Waterbury program alone, are to be terminated from services.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
The National Popular Vote is not a ‘workaround’
In your May 5 article Connecticut commits to national popular vote for president, you write that the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact “essentially is a constitutional workaround, a way to undo a 200-year-old element of the Constitution without amending it.” It’s disappointing to see the CT Mirror repeat this canard that was used by state legislators opposed to electing the president the way they are elected: where every vote cast matters and the candidate who receives the most votes wins. The NPV Compact is not a “workaround” that undoes the Electoral College.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Two monuments, but only one to be proud of
On Saturday, April 28, I attended the ceremony unveiling a monument in New Britain for the Borinqueneers – the Puerto Rican Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army. The audience members were dressed up for the occasion holding Puerto Rican flags, veterans were in full uniform, and it was a festive environment full of pride. It was a culmination of six years of hard work to find a location, seek state funding and obtain city support to commemorate a unit that became a national icon in Puerto Rico and among Puerto Ricans on the mainland for their heroic combat role, especially during the Korean war.
Posted inEducation, Politics
Holocaust bill gets a vote, and CT House gets a blessing
It was a unique ending to a legislative debate: Rabbi Philip Lazowski, a Holocaust survivor who has watched the rise of a neo-Nazi movement that denies history, blessed the House of Representatives on Monday after it unanimously passed a bill requiring schools to teach a lesson about the Holocaust and other genocides.
Posted inEnergy & Environment
Energy bill sails through Senate over ferocious opposition by environmental, solar groups
After months of acrimonious wrangling over a new energy policy already delayed by more than a year, the Connecticut Senate overwhelming passed a plan that will fundamentally reimagine how the state values the solar energy people generate on their roofs.