Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s transportation rebuilding program took several hits this past legislative session as the governor sought to entice legislators to accept more long-term spending cuts.
Malloy trades transportation setbacks for budget savings
Posted inPolitics
Wolf to petition for Senate primary, calls GOP convention ‘rigged’
August Wolf launched a petition drive Wednesday to force a Republican primary for U.S. Senate with an angry attack on the GOP delegates who snubbed Wolf’s yearlong campaign Monday and endorsed Rep. Dan Carter, a candidate for five weeks.
Posted inCT Viewpoints, Talking Transportation
Connecticut’s ‘lockbox’ is log jammed at the Capitol
I hope you’ve been following CT-N to watch our dysfunctional legislature in recent weeks as they struggle to fill a $900 million budget gap. Not only could they not get a new budget together before adjourning (only to be summoned back this week for a special session), but the legislative logjam left several important measures in limbo. Among them, the long debated “lock box” for special transportation funding.
Posted inEducation, Health, Justice, Money, Politics, Transportation
Nonpartisan analysts: Tentative CT budget wipes away lots of red ink
The tentative plan to close a $1 billion hole in Connecticut’s finances starting July 1 also would wipe away more than 40 percent of the red ink threatening state government after the November elections, nonpartisan fiscal analysts reported Tuesday evening.
Posted inPolitics
Establishment well-represented among Trump’s CT delegates
Connecticut’s delegation to the Republican National Convention will be a mix of neophytes smitten with the outsider politics of Donald J. Trump, as well as pillars of a GOP establishment still adjusting to him as the party’s presumptive nominee. The delegation includes three former state chairs, six legislators and a Greenwich fundraiser who was an ambassador under George W. Bush.
Posted inEducation
Obama says he’ll miss Huskies, Auriemma
WASHINGTON – For the fourth time in four years, President Obama on Tuesday praised the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team for winning the NCAA championship. “So there’s an old saying, you can’t win all the time, except this team wants to consistently bust that cliché,” Obama said.
Posted inMoney, Politics
CT budget details trickle out as partisan debate heats up
While Democratic legislative leaders released one key document tied to a tentative state budget deal, others remained under wraps. And Democratic leadership in the Senate, where a budget debate tentatively is expected to begin on Thursday, rebuffed a Republican call to delay any debate until all budget-related documents were available for public review.
Posted inPolitics
Pistone says he’ll run as independent for 5th District seat
WASHINGTON — John Pistone received no support from Republican delegates at their party’s convention Monday night for his bid to run against Democratic Rep. Elizabeth Esty, but says he’ll run as an independent anyway.
Posted inEducation
Nonprofit offers financial aid for undocumented students
The organization – TheDream.US – announced Tuesday that it plans to provide scholarships of up to $20,000 for students at schools in Connecticut and Delaware.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Charter schools need more support from Connecticut.
Charter schools like the ones my children attend have answered many parents’ prayers, encouraging personal and academic growth and providing an appealing alternative to failing district schools. However, despite these schools’ high performance, they receive $4,000 less per student per year in state aid than Connecticut’s low-performing district schools. This funding gap has had a real impact on charter schools in Bridgeport and throughout the state.
Posted inPolitics
CT GOP backs Carter for Senate, denies Wolf primary margin
State Rep. Dan Carter, R-Bethel, a three-term legislator and former military pilot, won the Republican endorsement for U.S. Senate on Monday in a rejection of the yearlong campaign of August Wolf, the businessman and Olympian who was the GOP’s only candidate until last month.
Posted inPolitics
Clay Cope wins landslide in 5th, Daria Novak a squeaker in 2nd
Connecticut Republicans endorsed Clay Cope, the first selectman of rural Sherman and one of the GOP’s few openly gay elected officials, in a landslide Monday as their congressional candidate in the 5th District. Daria Novak won a narrow contest in the 2nd District, but could face a primary from Ann Brookes.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Details on CT budget deal remain under wraps six days later
By mid-afternoon Monday, nearly six days after Democratic legislative leaders announced a tentative deal on a new state budget, full details of that agreement still hadn’t been released to rank-and-file lawmakers or to the general public.
Posted inPolitics
GOP 5TH District campaign goes negative as convention nears
WASHINGTON — On the eve of the Connecticut GOP convention, two Republican candidates hoping to replace Rep. Elizabeth Esty in Congress are embroiled in accusations of dodgy business dealings and criminal records.
Posted inPolitics
CT GOP chair lifts convention ban on Hearst reporter
Connecticut Republican Chairman J.R. Romano said Monday he will issue a press credential for Monday night’s state convention to Neil Vigdor, a Hearst Connecticut Media reporter who was told last week he would be banned.