Regarding the newly-announced, Bridgeport/inter-municipality police-pursuit policy in which the police departments of all of the cooperating municipalities would have cross-border, carte-blanche police- pursuit prerogatives, there are obvious contra-indications that should obviate such a simplistic, unqualified policy.
Cross-border police-pursuit policy values suburban property over lives
Posted inMoney
Connecticut not alone in facing budget deficits
Connecticut is not alone in its budget woes, but it does have less margin for error in dealing with them than other states, according to new reports from two nationally recognized policy think-tanks.
Posted inPolitics
Blumenthal, Murphy face new Senate landscape after ‘nuclear’ deployment
WASHINGTON — While angered that the GOP “went nuclear,” changing Senate rules to win confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, Sen. Chris Murphy said he will still try to work with Republicans on common interests, while Sen. Richard Blumenthal warned of “repercussions.”
Posted inPolitics
Tribes make pitch to improve odds for third casino in Connecticut
The Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribal nations made a lobbying blitz Thursday in the hopes of improving their odds of winning authorization to jointly develop Connecticut’s first casino off tribal lands. One House leader says odds of passage are still just 50-50.
Posted inEducation
CSCU regents adopt tuition hikes, consolidation framework
Updated at 8:13 p.m.
The Board of Regents for Higher Education adopted tuition increases that will eliminate more than half the $35-million budget deficit the state’s largest public college system is facing in the next fiscal year. The board also adopted the framework of a plan to dramatically consolidate the administrative and operational structures of many of the system’s colleges.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Aetna to quit Iowa’s ACA exchange, may leave all others
WASHINGTON — Aetna announced Thursday it is leaving Iowa’s Affordable Care Act marketplace and is considering abandoning the three remaining state exchanges it sells policies in this year. Aetna’s is the latest in a steady drip-drip-drip of announcements from insurers about their concerns over staying in the ACA’s state exchanges.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Open carry pistol permit bill punishes the law-abiding
The General Assembly’s Judiciary Committee is considering H.B. 6200, a bill that would allow police officers to demand to see one’s pistol permit if they “observe” a pistol or revolver. The problem with this bill is that it targets only the law-abiding. The purpose of this bill is squarely to punish legal behavior — behavior that the advocates of this bill dislike.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Suzio, Linares bills on electoral vote put party above country
I am concerned about two bills proposed in the Connecticut General Assembly; SB 108 introduced by Sen. Len Suzio, 13th District, and SB 133, introduced by Sen. Art Linares, 33rd District. These bills would change how Connecticut awards its Electoral College votes to presidential candidates.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Lawmakers forcing Waterbury charter school’s future into ‘limbo’
As the leaders of Brass City Charter School, the only public charter school in Waterbury, we know firsthand how special our school is to our community. But despite our successes, and even in light of recently being named a School of Distinction by the state, the future of our school and our students is in limbo, and it’s our lawmakers who are the ones keeping us there.
Posted inEducation
CT scraps using state test scores to compute teacher ratings
State education board Chairman Allan B. Taylor and Education Commissioner Dianna Wentzell both praised the action as an important clarification of the role state tests should play: a goal-setting tool for teachers, not part of a formula for rating an individual teacher’s effectiveness in the classroom. State teacher unions had fought using the state tests as part of teacher evaluations for years.
Posted inMoney
House endorses farm-based breweries in Connecticut
The House of Representatives began moving legislation Wednesday with the passage of a string of bipartisan bills, including measures authorizing farm-based breweries and expanding an “angel investor” tax credit program.
Posted inPolitics
Larson takes on Social Security, again
WASHINGTON — Rep. John Larson on Wednesday reintroduced a bill that aims to boost both Social Security benefits and the program’s solvency.
Posted inJustice
Another prison facility closes as CT inmate population shrinks
The administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Wednesday the closure of the 254-bed Radgowski annex at the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center in Montville, saving about $3 million in annual operating costs.
Posted inHealth, Politics
FDA nominee Gottlieb says he’d challenge Trump on vaccines
WASHINGTON — Scott Gottlieb, a Westport doctor, calmly defused tough questions from Democrats during the confirmation hearing Wednesday on his nomination to head the Food and Drug Administration, promising to safeguard the agency’s rigorous review of drug and medical devices.
Posted inMoney
Wall Street agency warns CT budgets will be bleak for years
A major Wall Street credit rating agency warned investors Wednesday that Connecticut’s weak economy and surging retirement benefit costs are likely to plague state budgets and test the state’s fiscal management for several years to come.