As we come to the conclusion of another calendar year, we face the elimination of the State of Connecticut’s participation in funeral honors for our military fallen. Again, it’s a budget line item that exemplifies insensitivity and callousness toward the providers of our freedom and our way of life in this country.
State should not cut the military funeral honors program
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Three news laws top his list of state legislation effective today
Most of the legislation the General Assembly passed in 2016 has already taken effect, but there are a handful of laws that go into effect on Jan. 1, 2017. Here’s a look at some of the most important legislation that will ring in the New Year:
Posted inPolitics
Ethics opinion: Aresimowicz can be House speaker, union staffer
The Office of State Ethics has advised Rep. Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, that nothing in the state ethics code bars him from continuing his job with AFSCME, an influential public-employee union, as he becomes speaker of the House of Representatives next week. Labor costs are certain to be a major issue in 2017.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Additional cuts to public education will hurt our students
The Connecticut Association of Boards of Education (CABE) and the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS) are very concerned about the mid-year cut of $20 million in education aid to municipalities announced by the Office of Policy and Management yesterday. These cuts are schedule to take effect immediately and will result in diminished educational opportunities for the students who attend Connecticut’s public schools.
Posted inHealth
Home care agencies warn new system could cause major problems
Starting Jan. 1, the state will begin requiring home care workers to use a new electronic system for reporting the time they spend caring for certain clients – a change forecast to save the state millions of dollars. But home care providers worry problems could leave them unable to make payroll. And one major agency says it will refuse to use the new system.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
CT prison education cuts likely to hurt rehabilitation effort
Just this month, The Crime Report – a publication out of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York – congratulated Connecticut as a model of prison reform, saying the rates of imprisonment in the state are the lowest they’ve been in 20 years. The party seems premature, even undeserved when one knows what’s really happening inside the state’s prisons. As a part of Gov. Dannel Malloy’s budget cutting frenzy, Connecticut’s correctional education – the programming most likely to aid a prisoner’s rehabilitation – is disappearing.
Posted inEducation, Justice
State appeal of education ruling: 5 things to know
State attorneys have submitted a brief to the Connecticut Supreme Court in an effort to persuade the justices to throw out much of a Superior Court order deeming the state’s educational funding system unconstitutional. Here are five things to know about the state’s case as it moves forward.
Posted inEnergy & Environment
Supreme Court upholds Connecticut’s energy strategy
The state Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a legal challenge by oil dealers to a comprehensive energy strategy Connecticut adopted in 2013 to encourage a greater reliance on natural gas by residential and commercial customers.
Posted inEducation, Money
CT identifies $50 million in mid-year cuts to municipalities
City and town leaders learned Thursday how much less the state will be sending their municipalities for education and construction projects for the fiscal year that ends July 1.
Posted inHealth
Aging and addicted: The opioid epidemic affects older adults too
As the nation grapples with a devastating opioid epidemic, concerns have primarily focused on young people buying drugs on the street. But America’s elderly also have a problem.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Task force recommends legal help for child custody, eviction and restraining order cases
On Dec. 15, the Connecticut Task Force to Improve Access to Legal Counsel in Civil Matters issued its final report and recommendations. The Connecticut Bar Association supports the findings of the task force.
Posted inMoney
One study finds Connecticut a fine place to do business
A new study issued this month by the Council on State Taxation concludes Connecticut actually is tied for the most favorable business climate — if one considers not just the cost of doing business, but the potential for earning big profits here. But it warns against interpreting that to mean that Connecticut is a low-tax environment overall.
Posted inPolitics
Larson: Dems will defy fines, other sanctions, aimed at stopping protests
WASHINGTON — Rep. John Larson, an architect of a sit-in rebellion of House Democrats last summer, said he and his colleagues will not be deterred by new House rules that will levy fines on such future behavior. He calls the Republicans’ proposed new punishments “Putin-esque.”
Posted inTransportation
Malloy goes to DMV for some good news, seriously
He doesn’t deliver his State of the State address until next week, but Gov. Dannel P. Malloy proclaimed Wednesday that the state of the much-maligned Department of Motor Vehicles is, well, better. In fact, it’s 55 percent better, as measured by average wait times.
Posted inJustice, Politics
Lembo to critics: ‘Your crazy’s showing’
Activists from across the country are inundating Kevin Lembo with taunts like “faggot” and “Satan” — but that’s not stopping him from moving to prevent state government from forwarding charitable donations to an anti-gay lobbying group.