The specter of nuclear war dwarfed all the other news last week, but President Donald Trump still found time to unleash a tweetstorm on Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal.
Nuke talk creates an uncertain time, which stands still for the state budget process
Posted inHealth, Politics
Senate Democrats delay HHS nominee over women’s health funding
Last week, 65 administration nominees sailed through Senate confirmation without any debate. One candidate left out was Dr. Brett Giroir, a Texas physician, who is the president’s choice for assistant secretary of health.
Posted inPolitics
Secrecy and suspicion surround Trump’s deregulation teams
By and large, the Trump administration’s teams assigned to dismantle federal regulations are stacked with political appointees, some of whom may be reviewing rules their former employers sought to weaken or kill.
Posted inPolitics
Murphy, Malloy say Trump to blame for white supremacist violence at UVA
WASHINGTON — Sen. Chris Murphy on Saturday accused President Trump of giving license to “racism, anti-Semitism and homophobia” that fueled passions at violent white supremacist and neo-Nazi protests at the University of Virginia on Saturday. Meanwhile GOP lawmakers criticized Trump for failing to condemn white supremacists at the rally.
Posted inNews
As Blumenthal ups Trump emoluments battle, Grassley asks ‘What about Clinton?’
WASHINGTON — Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who is leading a group of Democratic lawmakers in a lawsuit accusing President Donald Trump of violating the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause, has been chided by Sen. Charles Grassley for not taking possible violations of that clause by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton into consideration.
Posted inMoney
With municipal aid on chopping block, a cordial chat
Evidently resigned to a shrinking pool of state aid, leaders of two municipal associations pressed Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Friday about granting Connecticut’s cities and town flexibility in dealing with public employees to achieve off-setting efficiencies, long a politically fraught topic at the State Capitol.
Posted inMoney
Despite unsolved deficit, CT must observe sales tax holiday
Connecticut remains without a budget six weeks into the new fiscal year, but by law officials must still move forward with the state’s 17th-annual sales tax holiday later this month. The Department of Revenue Services estimates the state will miss out on about $4.1 million in revenue.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
The Citizens Election Program must be protected
Before Connecticut’s Citizens’ Election Program, unions or corporations could donate as much as they wanted directly to candidates, and expect favors in return. Some current legislators are proposing the program’s elimination as a way to save money during the current budget negotiations. Fully funding the CEP is crucial to Connecticut’s ability to transcend the days of “Corrupticut.”
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Connecticut’s budget needs to encourage more higher ed, not hamper it
Connecticut is not getting the message sent by General Electric, Aetna and other corporations who have either left the state for greener pastures or are contemplating a move. GE pulled up stakes and relocated its corporate facilities from Fairfield to Boston, where it felt there was a far more robust “innovation pipeline,” a greater talent pool and stronger incubation opportunities. Aetna is also moving its corporate office, a bastion in Hartford for more than a century, to seek better opportunities in Manhattan.
In light of these losses, you would think we would be doing everything in our power to convince companies that Connecticut has the talent to support the needs of its employers by prioritizing funding for higher education and financial aid.
Posted inEducation, Health
Budget cuts may erode gains in school mental health services
With no state budget and school beginning in less than a month, many Connecticut districts may have to cut back on recently expanded mental health services or make room for them in their own budgets.
Posted inMoney
On Day 41 without a budget: New bus service to UConn
New bus service from Hartford to UConn underscores two things: One, going 41 days without a budget has not created a daily sense of crisis in Connecticut, where state offices, parks and beaches remain open. And two, not all spending is jeopardized by ongoing talks seeking sufficient spending cuts and revenue increases to close a $2.3 billion deficit.
Posted inPolitics
Blumenthal: North Korea strike near Guam would put military action on the table
“Military action would have to be considered in response to an attack,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal said in Hartford Thursday. “I’m not going to predict what that action should be, but every step should be used to convince the North Koreans that they face devastation and destruction.”
Posted inJustice, Politics
Blumenthal: Raid on Manafort home indicates ‘probable cause’ of criminality
WASHINGTON – Sen. Richard Blumenthal on Thursday said an FBI raid on New Britain native Paul Manafort’s home last month is an indication of criminal wrongdoing. Manafort is a key figure in the investigation into whether there are any ties between the Trump campaign and Russian attempts to influence the 2016 presidential elections.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Watershed moment missed with state union contract
Our Connecticut State Legislature was faced with a truly historic choice; either dig our state out of a $5 billion biennial fiscal abyss responsibly or, once again, allow the state unions to reap asymmetrical benefits that significantly exceed both the private sector workforce and state employees from any other state in the country. The legislature chose the latter, and one of the most critical opportunities to change our state’s fiscal trajectory was squandered with the renegotiation of our state union workers contract.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Real structural changes, billions of dollars in savings for taxpayers
Democrats in the State Senate voted last week to approve significant concessions and structural changes — the types of structural changes many of us have long sought — to Connecticut’ state employee labor agreements (SEBAC). This vote is just the latest step Democrats in Connecticut have taken to make government more affordable and more efficient for our taxpayers, and the labor concessions in this agreement represent the most critical piece crafting our next biennial state budget — eliminating about a third of the projected state budget deficit.