Expanded workers’ compensation benefits for firefighters with cancer, an issue derailed in the Connecticut General Assembly last year by a loud and bitter lobbying battle between municipalities and labor, seems likely to be resolved by a bipartisan-led compromise.
Firefighters, towns talk compromise on cancer bill
Posted inPolitics
New federal aviation bill would privatize controllers at Bradley
WASHINGTON — A new Federal Aviation Administration bill making its way through the U.S. House of Representatives has drawn mixed reviews from airports including Bradley International, those who fly smaller planes and one of the nation’s largest airlines – Delta. The hot-button issue for many is the move to privatize the nation’s air traffic controllers.
Posted inNews
Blumenthal wants quick action to replace Scalia; GOP leader says no
WASHINGTON – Like other Democrats, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he hopes the Senate will act quickly on a replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia, whose death was announced Saturday. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said not so fast.
Posted inNews
Courtney leads request to Obama for emergency money to fight opioid epidemic
WASHINGTON – Rep. Joe Courtney on Friday wrote a letter supported by more than 60 members of the U.S. House of Representatives asking President Obama to declare an opioid and heroin abuse epidemic and designate emergency funds to help states fight what he called a “national health emergency.”
Posted inEducation
Gargano, lightning rod at Regents, lands post in Bridgeport
Michael Gargano, whose departure as provost of the state’s largest public college system stoked faculty discontent with the system’s administration, has landed a new job as the president of St. Vincent’s College in Bridgeport.
Posted inPolitics
Newtown businessman says he’s running for Esty’s seat
The crowded field running for the 5th District congressional seat became larger Friday with the entry of Newtown resident and business executive Bill Stevens.
Posted inHealth
State says UnitedHealthcare can’t ax broker commissions
The Connecticut Insurance Department has blocked UnitedHealthcare’s plan to stop paying broker commissions for plans sold through the state’s health insurance exchange, but will let them pay a lower rate.
Posted inEnergy & Environment
A shifting ground for artificial turf in Connecticut
A number of cancer cases around the country among young athletes who played on artificial turf fields made with a crumb rubber filler have spurred calls for further research into the safety of the fields.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Keep Connecticut’s commitment to community action
As discussions and negotiations begin around the FY 2016-2017 midterm budget adjustments this legislative session, it is critical that the state continue its deep-seated commitment to Connecticut’s Community Action Agency (CAA) Network and antipoverty efforts. For more than 50 years, Connecticut’s CAAs, the state and federal designated antipoverty agencies, have provided basic human needs services such as food, shelter, heating assistance, and childcare to limited income individuals and families in all 169 cities and towns.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Police surveillance of citizens not new in Connecticut
Did you feel that shiver running up your spine? Then you’ve read about the Chicago Police Department’s use of sophisticated “Stingray” technology to spy on local citizens. Here in Connecticut, we’re no strangers to illegal police surveillance.
Posted inMoney, Politics
‘Imperfect’ Malloy asks for understanding on budget
STAMFORD – In the first of a series of open-ended town hall meetings, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy stood his ground Thursday on his intention to make deep spending cuts. But the governor did so in a tone more plaintive than combative, suggesting in his sixth year in office he was humbled by the fiscal challenges. He called himself an “imperfect governor.”
Posted inEducation
AFT’s Weingarten: Malloy budget ‘really horrible’ for education
Randi Weingarten, the leader of one of the nation’s largest labor unions, came to an inner-city school in Hartford Thursday to lambaste the budget cuts proposed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, a Democrat she helped re-elect in 2014.
Posted inHealth
Pino named to lead public health, just in time for Zika
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy named Dr. Raul Pino to lead the state Department of Public Health on Thursday, then immediately featured him at a briefing on the mosquito-borne Zika virus. Pino says there is no public health crisis, but the department is arranging testing of suspected cases contracted by travelers to warm-weather countries where the disease is present.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
State Sen. Beth Bye has no conflict of interest — or appearance of one
In his “Government Watch” column in The Hartford Courant last week, Jon Lender writes about a proposal by state House and Senate Republicans to “enact legislation stating that no member of the state Appropriations Committee can work for an entity that receives grant money or budget line items from the state.” Although it does not mention her by name, the proposal is plainly aimed at Sen. Beth Bye, the West Hartford Democratic who co-chairs Appropriations.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Let’s break the racial barriers to health-care access in Connecticut
As we celebrate Black History Month, we honor the commitment of civil rights, medical and political leaders, like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Dr. Thelma Patten Law and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. who believed all people need access to health care to complete their education, plan their lives and protect their families. Far too many African-Americans continue to face unequal access to proper health care and education services. As a result, African-American women are dying at higher rates than their white counterparts due to breast cancer, cervical cancer, HIV and other illnesses that can be detected early.