The financial services sector accounted for 14 percent of all employment and 22 percent of all wages in Connecticut in 2015, according to a new report released Tuesday by a major regional business association.
Report: Financial services sector remains key part of NE economy
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Six design principles for a new, fair CT school funding formula
Connecticut’s K-12 public school funding system is fundamentally broken. That is the simple and unfortunate truth that boards of education, superintendents, principals, teachers, and education reform advocates have known for years. Lacking a fair funding formula we are shortchanging our communities, and most importantly our children who deserve access to a quality public education.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
‘Driver’s Ed’ needed for understanding Connecticut health insurance
Just as an uneducated driver is more likely to be involved in a mishap on the road, a healthcare consumer who does not understand health insurance is at greater risk for adverse financial and/or clinical consequences when navigating the complex and evolving healthcare landscape.
Posted inEducation, Health, Money, Transportation
A legacy of debt: Squeeze on state’s priorities only getting tighter
State government’s surging retirement benefit costs are likely to have a big impact on programs and taxes over the next two decades. But they already have sapped significant funding from key priorities, including transportation, higher education, health care and social services. Second in a series.
Posted inPolitics
CT Lawmakers press opposition to Trump travel ban
WASHINGTON – Connecticut lawmakers on Monday were on the front lines of Democratic opposition to President Trump’s executive order regarding Muslim immigrants, fashioning legislation and participating in protests aimed at derailing the new policy.
Posted inHealth
With time running out, Obamacare signups lag amid uncertainties
With one day left in the sign-up period for private insurance coverage, the Connecticut health insurance exchange’s enrollment has slowed down compared to past years, and the marketplace’s chief executive thinks confusion about the future of Obamacare could be a factor.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy offers tax break to bolster insurance industry
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Tuesday he would propose reducing the state’s insurance premium tax by one-seventh in his new budget next week, a move that would save insurance companies $11 million next fiscal year.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Re-invest in college opportunity for Connecticut
Education remains the clearest pathway to better jobs and promising futures in the U.S.A. By 2020, 70 percent of jobs will require post-secondary education; as such, Connecticut must recommit to educational opportunity for all by ensuring that all residents have access to an affordable, quality public higher education.
Posted inEducation, Health, Money, Politics
A legacy of debt: Connecticut standing on its own fiscal cliff
The budget that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy will present to the legislature Feb. 8, in an attempt to close $3 billion in deficits over the next two years, is only a portent of a far greater, long-term challenge facing the state. First in a series.
Posted inHealth
Home health agencies seek delay for electronic system
Home care agency leaders say a new electronic system the state’s Medicaid program requires them to use has been beset by problems and has led some agencies to consider phasing out service to Medicaid clients. But the state agency overseeing it says anecdotal information suggests it could be improving services.
Posted inNews
Yale law students help halt deportations
A Yale Law School team helped convince a judge Saturday to temporarily stop the government from deporting foreigners detained at U.S. airports based on an executive order by President Donald Trump. But the order has quashed about a dozen refugee families’ plans to resettle in New Haven in coming weeks.
Posted inNews
Week starts badly for Aetna, then focus quickly turns to Trump
Catch up on a week in Connecticut that started with an antitrust setback for Aetna, then focused heavily on the effects of President Trump’s executive orders. The budget for child protection and the state’s response to the opioid crisis were also in the news.
Posted inPolitics
Roger Stone and the Trump phenomenon
If anyone is familiar with the inner workings of President Donald Trump’s political campaign, it is Connecticut native and author Roger Stone. In this Sunday conversation, he talks about Trump’s rise to power and dismisses as “nonsense” a recent New York Times report that intelligence agencies are investigating him and two other Trump political operatives for alleged ties to the Kremlin.
Posted inEducation
What we learned (and didn’t) about Betsy DeVos at her confirmation hearing
After weeks of skewering criticism from public school advocates who have painted her as an extremist who opposes public education, Betsy DeVos — the billionaire philanthropist and school-choice advocate — used her Senate confirmation hearing to repeatedly stress that her support for policies such as private-school vouchers is about giving parents control over their children’s education.
Posted inHealth
New strain on nursing homes: Keep patients out of hospitals
Since 2012 the federal government has been penalizing hospitals for high rates of patients returning within 30 days of discharge. But now, nursing homes also are being held accountable for hospital readmissions.