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.
Sessions threat on immigration could cost CT millions in federal grants
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.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Dems, GOP test their arguments on labor cuts, tax increases
Ostensibly called to protest the GOP’s labor bills, a news conference of pro-union Democrats in the General Assembly on Friday began to sound like the stirrings of a revolt against the governor’s push for employee concessions and his resistance to any significant new revenue, including a tax increase on the wealthy.
Posted inPolitics
Himes: GOP wants to keep Congress’ Russian probe from public
WASHINGTON — Rep. Jim Himes, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said the GOP head of the panel wants to hide its probe of any ties between the Trump campaign and Russia behind closed door. “It’s a naked attempt to shut down an open hearing,” Himes said.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Anthem’s cost savings at center of merger suit appeal argument
WASHINGTON — Anthem and the Justice Department faced off in court Friday over the insurer’s proposed merger with Cigna, with the legal wrangling centered on whether any savings from the deal would justify shrinking the market for large employer insurance policies from four to three carriers.
Posted inEducation
Tuition hikes pitched for public colleges and universities
The president of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system is proposing a two-year $800 hike for the four regional state universities and $210 for community college students.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Quality education requires balanced approach to teacher recruitment
Just as we expect the standards for doctors to remain high and the requirements for becoming a lawyer to remain rigorous, we should expect that the systems preparing those who teach our students remain focused on quality and readiness, writes Jahana Hayes, the 2016 National Teacher of the Year.