The two senators will join Rep. Toni E. Walker, D-New Haven, under a new arrangement in 2017 that will see three chairmen of the committee rather than the traditional two.
Osten, Formica, join budget committee leadership
Posted inPolitics
Text of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s 2017 State of the State
“Cuts in specific areas, or outright eliminations, should not be taken to mean that certain work is not valued. It simply means that we can no longer afford to do it all, and that our spending must be focused on the very core, essential services for our residents.
And to be clear, saving money isn’t just about cutting line-items, or reducing headcount. Agencies will continue to modernize systems, reduce waste, and increase productivity in order to cut costs as much as possible before impacting services, or the valuable employees who provide them.”
Posted inPolitics
Coleman, Kane resign minutes before session opens
With six minutes to spare, Sen. Rob J. Kane, R-Watertown, and Sen. Eric Coleman, D-Bloomfield, handed in resignation letters Wednesday morning, consummating a carefully choreographed deal freeing each legislator to accept a new job while maintaining the balance of power in an evenly divided Senate.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Mastery exam task force report due soon — its findings ‘predetermined’
In a few days the Mastery Examination Task Force will be submitting its Final Report and Recommendations to the Connecticut Legislature’s Education Committee which had asked for a study of student assessment practices in our public schools. Having monitored the progress of this task force during its one-and-a-half years of meetings, I contend that their findings were predetermined at or even before the task force began its deliberations.
Posted inEducation, Money
Malloy budget chief: Scale back aid for local school construction
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy will push to scale back spending on local school construction projects in the next state budget because Connecticut is on pace to exceed its borrowing limit.
Posted inEducation, Health, Money, Politics
As the 2017 legislative session opens: What to know
The 2017 legislative session begins today, kicking off a five-month frenzy as lawmakers work to craft a budget in the face of bleak fiscal problems and debate topics ranging from school funding to legalizing pot. Here’s a look at what to expect.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Towns watching grant cut as harbinger of things to come
Connecticut’s municipal leaders are watching closely to see how swiftly —if at all — lawmakers and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy release $30 million in promised-yet-withheld capital improvement funds for cities and towns once the new legislative session gets underway.
Posted inPolitics
Kane, Coleman would resign from Senate under tentative deal
Democrats and Republicans negotiated a tentative deal Tuesday night in which Sen. Rob J. Kane, R-Watertown, and Sen. Eric Coleman, D-Bloomfield, would resign Wednesday morning in a carefully choreographed arrangement that would free each legislator to accept new jobs while maintaining the balance of power in an evenly divided Connecticut Senate.
Posted inPolitics
Subtle GOP protest expected as House elects Aresimowicz speaker
Rep. Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, can expect to be elected speaker of the House on the first day of the 2017 legislative session Wednesday without either opposition or support from the growing Republican minority – a calculated, if subtle, protest of Aresimowicz’s continued employment by a major public-sector union, AFSCME Council 4.
Posted inPolitics
Reacting to Larson ‘sit-in,’ House imposes fines for protests
WASHINGTON — Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday beat back Democratic attempts to quash new rules for the chamber that include punishment for lawmakers who break “decorum” by using cell phones to record protests on the chamber floor.
Posted inPolitics
Blumenthal, CT House members, sworn in on fractious first day of Congress
WASHINGTON – Sen. Richard Blumenthal was sworn in to his second six-year term in the U.S. Senate, and all five Democratic House members from Connecticut began a new term as well, as the 115th Congress was gaveled in on Tuesday.
Posted inPolitics
Dargan resigns House seat, accepts nomination to pardons board
The Democrats’ slim majority in the state House of Representatives grew slimmer at 1:31 p.m. Tuesday when Rep. Stephen D. Dargan, D-West Haven, handed in a resignation letter, a precursor to accepting an appointment to the Board of Pardons and Paroles.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
‘News Year’ resolutions for Connecticut TV in 2017
We’re going to see a lot of changes in Connecticut television news in 2017. New Haven’s ABC affiliate, WTNH, is getting a new owner for the second time in two years. WFSB, the state’s top-rated news station, is reportedly cutting back on sports coverage – eliminating dedicated sportscasts at 6 p.m., and instead only giving sports a few minutes of coverage at 11 p.m., and only on Wednesdays through Sundays. And News 12 Connecticut plans to begin broadcasting its shows from studios in New Jersey, starting in March.
Posted inHealth
5 health care stories to watch in the 2017 legislative session
From an ailing state budget to potential changes in the way the state oversees what services hospitals deliver, state lawmakers will be dealing with a variety of health-related issues during the upcoming legislative session. Here are five to keep an eye on.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
State should not cut the military funeral honors program
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.