We are encouraged by Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s efforts to fight climate change head on, but we need all decision makers to also recognize that climate change is an urgent threat to public health. Our politicians, from President Trump on down, should note that climate change is not an issue relegated to environmentalists anymore. It’s now a primary concern for health professionals, parents, educators and all responsible citizens who believe they have the right to breathe clean air.
Climate change is also a public health issue in the Northeast
Posted inCT Viewpoints
A government turning on the people it promised to help
The new administration is turning on the very people it promised to help. And Congress is riding that wave with its new health-care proposal, balancing the budget on the backs of the poorest among us through drastic changes to existing health insurance and devastating changes to Medicaid.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Meet some Connecticut Muslims, learn about Islam’s core values, at Thursday symposium
In the rude awakening of the Westminster attack, my Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is bringing our nationwide True Islam educational campaign countering extremism to our State Capitol on Thursday. Discover how True Islam enriches our great country during our exhibition in the Legislative Office Building’s Concord hallway from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Posted inHealth
As costs rise, will narrow network insurance plans catch on in CT?
Would you buy a health plan that covered fewer hospitals and doctors if the premiums were 10 percent less? So-called narrow-network plans haven’t had much traction in Connecticut, but some think that’s likely to change.
Posted inPolitics
Democrats back ban on ‘dark money’ in state campaigns
With a bill that could test the limits of the states to regulate campaign finances, the House Democratic leadership is asking the General Assembly to effectively ban dark money from Connecticut elections and restrict the role of independent expenditures in the 2018 races for governor and legislature.
Posted inPolitics
Sessions threat on immigration could cost CT millions in federal grants
WASHINGTON — Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Monday threatened to strip states and cities that do not cooperate completely with a federal immigration law of Justice Department local law enforcement grants, which could put millions of dollars received by Connecticut and several cities in the state at risk.
Posted inPolitics
Bill requiring release of presidential tax returns advances
Could a state make casting its electoral votes contingent on the candidates for president and vice president releasing their last three annual tax returns — a convention flouted in 2016 by Donald J. Trump? Legislation testing that notion was approved Monday night by a legislative committee.
Posted inJustice, Politics
Blumenthal, Murphy not yet among Dems opposing Gorsuch
WASHINGTON — At least 19 senators have said they will not vote for Judge Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation to the Supreme Court, but Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy have not joined that group, at least not yet.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Lawmakers must correct irrational school funding system
Gov. Dannel Malloy has proposed massive changes in education funding and the legislature is beginning to work on his proposals. While it is extremely unlikely that the governor’s radical proposals will be adopted, the legislature needs to correct the irrational funding system that now exists. Sixty witnesses testified at the Education Committee’s recent hearing on the subject.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Shifting services to community can make state’s human services better
The huge state deficit means there is a stark choice ahead for legislators: Preserve an antiquated system and balance the budget with brutal spending cuts that eliminate services for thousands of the state’s most vulnerable individuals. Or take the opportunity to update and modernize the state’s delivery of services in a way that maximizes dollars and provides the vital care that some families have waited for years to get.
Posted inHealth
Sick after hours? How to navigate your health care options
There’s no shortage of options for patients who are sick after hours or on weekends and don’t need to go to the ER: urgent care centers, retail clinics, even virtual visits through telemedicine. But what will you get from each of them? How do you decide where to go? Here’s some advice.
Posted inEducation
She’s aging out of DCF care, graduating college and beating the odds
Ashley Foster will soon be graduating from college, defying the odds against foster children. One in five leave the state’s care without having a high school diploma or GED, few have a college degree and the majority are unemployed. Many go on to become homeless or incarcerated shortly after they leave care – things Foster is determined to avoid. She sat down to talk with The Mirror at her apartment in East Haven as she braces for aging out of the Department of Children and Families’ care.
Posted inNews
Budget crunch, jobs, hearings and a heroic health-care worker
Fiscal matters continue to be the focus of the state legislature as it tries to craft a budget that will address a two-year deficit in the $3 billion dollar range.
Posted inTransportation
Sharply opposing views about New Haven’s Union Station
State and city officials, along with a chorus of community activists, offered starkly competing visions last week at a state legislative hearing room as a dispute over the future of New Haven’s Union Station burst into public view.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Death of GOP health care bill increases CT Dems’ calls to fix Obamacare
WASHINGTON — With the stunning failure of the GOP to win support for its health care bill Friday, Connecticut Democrats increased their calls for reforms to the Affordable Care Act that would keep it alive. “If they want to work together to enact improvements to the Affordable Care Act, I will be there,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro.