Nine towns flipped from supporting Mitt Romney in 2012 to Clinton this year— most notably in the southwest part of the state that has tended to lean Republican in previous elections. Donald Trump, on the other hand, won over about 40 towns in the middle of the state.
About 50 towns flipped in 2016 presidential vote
Posted inCT Viewpoints
The Electoral College is unconstitutional
If voting is a “right” after a citizen turns 18 years old, then counting a citizen’s vote as null because of the state in which they reside is the equivalent of no vote at all, and a direct infringement on the “right to vote.” For a single vote towards a person of their choice should count as one, not as none.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
For supporting background checks, TRO bill, Klarides should step down
An open letter to Connecticut House Minority Leader Themis Klarides:
I am not one of your constituents, but felt compelled to compose this letter because I am deeply concerned and troubled at the path that we, as a state, are following. I am a life long resident of Connecticut, even electing to stay instate when I went away to college. I have seen it transform from a great place to live, put down roots and raise a family to a place I am now looking forward to leaving — all this in the span of just one generation.
Posted inEducation, Politics
CT joins lobbying fray over new federal education rule
WASHINGTON – Connecticut has joined a lobbying effort to change how federal money for schools with large populations of poor or disadvantaged students is distributed. The new regulation would bar school districts from “supplanting” the money they give to schools with poor students with federal money aimed at “supplementing” local funding.
Posted inPolitics
CT immigrants fear Trump-led backlash
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s policies on immigration are roiling the immigrant community in Connecticut, as they are across the nation. “Right now people don’t know what to expect,” said Carolina Bortolleto, an immigrant activist. “Everybody in the [immigrant] community feels things are dangerous and are scared.”
Posted inHealth
Concerned about your ACA plan? Repeal may take awhile
While it’s impossible to know exactly what changes are coming to the individual market and how soon they’ll arrive, one thing is virtually certain: Nothing will happen immediately. Here are answers to questions you may have.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Struggling families need expanded natural gas infrastructure
Connecticut, like many other states across the region, faces a real energy challenge in the coming years — one with very few good solutions. While the rest of the continental United States is enjoying the benefits of very low natural gas prices — and low electricity prices that are increasingly coupled to natural gas — New England is an outlier.
Posted inCT Viewpoints, Talking Transportation
Staying safe on the train
“I’m afraid to get back on the train,” said the trembling woman, obviously shaken and possibly injured in the Hoboken terminal train crash of a NJ Transit train in September. The shock of what she had seen was slowly sinking in and she was wondering how she was going to resume her life and its daily train commute after this horrific experience.
Posted inPolitics
CT Senate leaders blame Democratic losses on PACs, not policies
Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, blames the rare loss of Democratic legislative seats in a presidential year on the targeted spending by business groups, not voter dissatisfaction with Hartford after two decades of Democratic control of the Connecticut General Assembly. His GOP counterpart’s view: “Hogwash.”
Posted inPolitics
CT lawmakers returning to D.C. with Dem Party in disarray
WASHINGTON — Connecticut’s members of the U.S. House, all Democrats who were re-elected by healthy margins in a bad year for their party, will return to work next week amid a new political reality and with a Democratic Party in disarray.
Posted inPolitics
House Democrats endorse new leaders, pledge bipartisanship
The new leadership of the Connecticut House of Representatives pledged a stronger working relationship with minority Republicans on Thursday, a reflection of the difficulty they face in conducting business with fewer Democrats and more challenges.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Eroding revenues widen gap in next two-year state budget by $500M
The projected deficit in the next two-year state budget has swelled by more than $500 million because of declining revenue projections, state fiscal analysts reported Thursday.
Posted inHealth, Money
Same data, opposite conclusions: Did Medicaid cuts limit access to radiology?
When the state cut Medicaid payment rates for radiologists by 42.5 percent last year, doctors and patient advocates warned it would get harder for poor patients to get mammograms and other imaging services. A year and a half later, the state Medicaid agency says that hasn’t happened. But radiologists say it’s not that simple.
Posted inPolitics
A third state House recount: Belsito vs. Eastwood
Secretary of the State Denise Merrill’s office said Thursday that a third state House race will be subject to a recount: the re-election of Rep. Sam Belsito, R-Tolland, by 47 votes over Democrat Susan Eastwood in the 53rd District of Ashford, Tolland and Willington.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
‘Planned Parenthood stays open – no matter what’
Planned Parenthood has been here for 100 years, and one thing is clear: we will never back down and we will never stop fighting to ensure that Planned Parenthood patients have access to the health care they need. All people, including immigrants, people of color, the LGBTQ community, people of faith, and more, are entitled to and deserve high-quality health care without barriers.