More cuts are on the way, but the governing board for the state’s community colleges and regional state universities adopted an already painful $1.2 billion budget Thursday that does not raise spending, even though the cost to provide existing programs and services will increase.
CSCU adopts flat $1.2 billion budget, but more cuts loom
Posted inMoney
Connecticut saw first monthly net job loss of 2016 in May
Connecticut posted a mixed jobs report for May on Thursday, recording the first monthly job loss of 2016, while the unemployment remained unchanged at 5.7 percent.
Posted inPolitics
Murphy ends filibuster saying two gun measures will get votes
WASHINGTON — Nearly 15 hours after he launched a filibuster to pressure GOP colleagues to allow votes on gun safety measures, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy said there had been an agreement to vote on measures barring those on a terrorist watch list from purchasing firearms and expanding background checks.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Connecticut’s Dept. of Developmental Services needs radical reform
How much additional evidence do we need that the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) must be radically restructured and reformed? As parents of adult children with intellectual disabilities, we were horrified to read the federal government’s chilling indictment of DDS’s failure to safeguard people in its care: Connecticut Did Not Comply with Federal and State Requirements for Critical Incidents Involving Developmentally Disabled Medicaid Beneficiaries (A-01-14-00002), released May 25.
Posted inEducation, Politics
State official says federal policy changes cut 6,100 from subsidized day care
WASHINGTON — The move to improve a child care subsidy program that helps low-and-moderate income families has also made it more expensive and forced Connecticut to cut 6,100 children from the rolls, a state official told a Senate panel Wednesday.
Posted inJustice, Politics
SEEC OKs record $325,000 settlement in Malloy campaign case
The Connecticut Democratic Party and the State Elections Enforcement Commission agreed Monday to settle a case that threatened to undermine campaign finance reforms inspired by the scandal that forced Gov. John G. Rowland from office in 2004. The party will pay a record $325,000 over 27 months to settle allegations of impropriety involving use of state contractor contributions in 2014 to support the re-election of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Why I fled Connecticut — and how much money I saved
In 2014 I made my exodus from Connecticut. So many people who left Connecticut, or those who plan on leaving Connecticut, are doing so for the same reasons I departed. The cost of living is too high, the taxes are out of control, the legislature believes they have to not only insert themselves into any perceived wrong-doing but that they need to regulate business and industry in the interest of… fill in the blank, but make sure it sounds like a noble cause. I have not heard anyone actually give rounded numbers of how much they saved by moving to another state. After review of my own financial and tax records, I can put some numbers to the claim of “lower cost of living.”
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Meriden Muslims: Orlando massacre was un-Islamic and un-American
As Muslim Americans who believe in the Messiah Ahmad of Qadian, we sincerely advocate how our faith condemns the tragic shooting in Orlando that affected so many innocent lives and fellow Americans. We wholeheartedly join Muslims and Americans, domestic and abroad, in offering sincere prayers for the victims and their families, especially during Ramadan.
Posted inNews
A Berkeley professor tries to explain Trump to labor in Hartford
Ian Haney Lopez is a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley, a high school and Harvard law classmate of Barack Obama’s and the author of “Dog Whistle Politics,” a historical analysis of the coded racial appeals politicians make to white voters. He talks a lot about Donald J. Trump these days, not always in ways one might expect.
Posted inNews
CT ethics board to consider Common Cause petition seeking Wade investigation
Connecticut ethics officials will consider a petition filed by Common Cause late Monday that asks them to rule on whether Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Katharine L. Wade’s ties to her former employer, Cigna, require her to recuse herself from reviewing a proposed merger of Cigna and Anthem. The Citizen’s Ethics Advisory Board will vote Thursday on whether a review will be done.
Posted inPolitics
Push intensifies for terror-list gun bill backed by CT lawmakers
WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats, including those representing Connecticut, escalated the pressure on GOP colleagues Tuesday to revisit and pass legislation that would prohibit those on the federal terror list from purchasing a gun.
Posted inJustice, Money
Judicial Branch to close Windham courthouse, 3 juvenile courts
The Judicial Branch announced Tuesday it would close the Windham courthouse, juvenile courts in Danbury, Stamford and Torrington, and two urban lock-up facilities as part of a larger reorganization to deal with a $77 million budget cut in the fiscal year beginning July 1.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Sorrow, anger, pain and questions about the Orlando massacre
I biked 26 miles yesterday but I still cannot overcome this sorrow, anger, pain and loss. I have emailed every single one of my students from Central Connecticut State University who could have possibly been at The Pulse in Orlando. Many of them do summer internships at Disney World. I am glad that all of them are safe.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
In defense of State Treasurer Denise Nappier
It appears that a good governance initiative has needlessly and erroneously evolved into a turf protection issue. In her capacity as trustee of the state retirement system, State Treasurer Denise Nappier has the legal obligation to assure that the system is administered in the best interest of the plan participants which logically includes effectively and efficiently managing the funds that are held in trust for the participants.
Posted inPolitics
CT lawmakers hope Orlando is a ‘tipping point’ on gun control
WASHINGTON — Gun control advocates in Congress, with Connecticut’s lawmakers taking a lead, are hoping the massacre in Orlando is a “tipping point” that overcomes the deep resistance in Congress to strengthening the nation’s federal gun law. Political points may be scored, but it’s not likely Congress will budge.