WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants has ratcheted up fear in that community and prompted Gov. Dannel Malloy to issue guidance to the state’s schools and law enforcement agencies on how to handle the new directives from Washington. “We’ve gotten a ton of calls from worried clients,” said Aleksandr Troyb, the chairman of the Connecticut chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
Malloy, advocates react to Trump immigrant crackdown
Posted inHealth
School-level immunization data could be released under proposal
Wondering how many children at your kid’s school aren’t vaccinated? If you live in Connecticut, there’s no way to find out. But that could change under a legislative proposal favored by the state Department of Public Health, which is currently prohibited from releasing data on immunization rates by school.
Posted inJustice
In Connecticut, a formula helps make bail decisions
With proposals for bail reform again on the table at the legislature, it’s important to understand how the present system assesses the risk posed by each defendant. It turns out, there’s a formula to help with that.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Fixes for the ACA from someone who actually works with it
With Congress beginning the process of repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, I am hearing a lot of questions about what comes next. People have suggested that Republicans have no ideas as to how to improve the situation, and many are worried we will go from the frying pan into the fire, so to speak. So as a proud Republican, who also happens to be an insurance agent having to deal with this law on a daily basis, I offer the following as ideas for a better way forward.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
The unthinkable is happening. What now?
The United States is poised to round up and deport as many as 11 million hard-working, tax-paying, property-owning, and child-rearing immigrants who happen to be undocumented. Before the election, I was told I was fear-mongering. Candidate Donald Trump would never do such a thing. He was just campaigning, not governing. The Republicans would never allow it. They would lose their foothold on Hispanic voters. Agribusiness would object. Who’d to pick the crops? Rural towns would resist. Deportation would decimate their tax bases. Well, it is happening.
Posted inPolitics
Push is on for more F-35s, Sikorsky helicopters and work for EB
Defense hawks are hoping the Trump administration will agree to a supplemental defense bill, and an increase in defense spending in the next annual budget. President Donald Trump has vowed to rebuild the military — and “to load it up” with “beautiful new equipment.”
Posted inJustice
ACLU praises CT prison reforms on solitary confinement
The national movement to limit the use of solitary confinement has come to Connecticut, where civil libertarians say they are on friendlier terrain than in many other states: Here they seek legislation that codifies in law reforms already adopted by the Department of Correction.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Battles over labor’s wages heat up at Capitol
The clash over labor costs intensified Tuesday at the state Capitol. While one panel split over a proposal to boost the minimum wage, labor groups rallied against changes to the prevailing wage law.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
In support of state income tax exemption for Social Security benefits
Only 12 other states tax Social Security benefits. Nearby states including Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania do not tax these benefits, and in some cases do not tax other retirement income as well. We need to make Connecticut a more affordable state so that our seniors can stay here.
Posted inEnergy & Environment
New farmland harvest – solar energy – creating political sparks
Two well-intentioned environmental polices – one encouraging more renewable power and the other the preservation of farms and forestland – are colliding. They are pitting farmer against farmer and environmental interest groups against one another, putting state departments at odds, and raising the always explosive issue of private property rights versus state policy.
Posted inHealth, Politics
DeLauro at the border: Trump’s immigration plans ‘inhumane, anti-American’
WASHINGTON – Rep. Rosa DeLauro traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border Monday to slam President Trump on his plans to crack down on undocumented immigrants — measures he is expected to move forward on this week through the signing of new executive orders. “A policy that separates families is an inhumane policy,” DeLauro said.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Malloy’s school funding plan does not go far enough
For more than two centuries, Connecticut has been colloquially known as “The Land of Steady Habits.” But our state’s tradition of arbitrarily, illogically, and inequitably funding its public schools is a bad habit Connecticut desperately needs to break. Unfortunately, Gov. Dannel Malloy’s recent budget proposal does not go far enough to address the fundamental flaws […]
Posted inPolitics
As Trump moves on immigration, ‘Dreamers’ hope they’re not the next target
WASHINGTON – As the Trump administration moves to crack down on undocumented immigrants, more than 8,500 youth in Connecticut, known as “Dreamers,” who were given temporary legal status, are hoping they won’t be next. “There’s a lot of fear in the community,” said Lucas Codognolla of Connecticut Students for a Dream.
Posted inHealth
Insurance coverage mandates would face more analysis under Malloy proposal
The prospect of requiring health insurance plans to cover specific treatments or services is an annual debate in the Connecticut General Assembly, often pitting patients who faced problems against critics who say mandates raise insurance premiums. Now the governor wants to change the process – a proposal that’s drawn both praise and opposition.
Posted inEducation, Health, Money, Politics
Angst over trains, guns, money, health insurance and Russian spies
Own a gun? Have health insurance? Seen any spy ships off the Connecticut coast? There were concerns over those items and more throughout the week.