In a recent article “CT still lags most states in saving for public-sector pensions,” the Connecticut Mirror wrote about a report from Pew Charitable Trusts on the strength of pension funds around the country. The Pew report ignores a number of important pieces of context regarding the growing strength of the Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds which provides a safe and secure retirement for many Connecticut families.
Connecticut’s ‘defined benefits’ pension system best for retirees
Posted inPolitics
CT Democrats seek new ruling to resolve Malloy campaign investigation
The Connecticut Democratic Party has asked a Superior Court judge to make a declaratory ruling that federal election law pre-empts the State Elections Enforcement Commission from deciding whether the party illegally financed some of its support for the re-election of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Murphy presses for mental health overhaul
WASHINGTON – Sen. Chris Murphy has teamed up with a Louisiana Republican to press for an overhaul of the nation’s mental health system at a time when Congress – stung by a rash of mass shootings by mentally unstable people – may be willing to consider changes.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
GMO labeling: Is it necessary, wise, useful or misleading?
The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a bill that would block states such as Vermont and Connecticut from requiring food producers to label products containing genetically modified organisms. CTViewpoints would like to examine this issue and welcomes informed commentary exploring its complexities. Read more here for details.
Posted inMoney, Politics
New CT budget gets mixed reviews from Wall Street
While praising Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the legislature for adopting a two-year plan that is balanced and relies on few one-time revenues, the agencies also noted that Connecticut continues to struggle with “tepid” revenue growth and a small budget reserve that leaves the state vulnerable to “future fiscal shocks.”
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Connecticut’s juvenile detention program needs reform
Sexual abuse. Physical abuse. Emotional abuse. Neglect. Sex Trafficking. Community violence. Violent deaths of family and friends.
This is just a partial list of the traumas that many – if not most – youth who become involved in the juvenile justice system in Connecticut have experienced in their short lives. No wonder that they become willing to act “by any means necessary” in order to survive and protect those close to them — even if this lands them in juvenile prisons such as the Department of Children and Families’ Training School for boys and Pueblo Unit for girls.
Posted inNews
Senate Democrats block Planned Parenthood defunding bill
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats on Monday blocked a Republican effort to strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood following the release of undercover videos that have raised questions about the organization’s harvesting of fetal tissue for research laboratories.
Posted inPolitics
CT senators urge boycott of stores that don’t wait for gun checks
WASHINGTON – Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy want some of the nation’s largest sporting goods stores to wait for the FBI to complete background checks on gun purchasers in all cases – and hope customers boycott those stores if they don’t.
Posted inNews
Senate vote to be first round in drive to defund Planned Parenthood
WASHINGTON — Connecticut’s Democratic senators may help fend off an attempt in the Senate to defund Planned Parenthood on Monday, but that’s not the end of a GOP campaign that could include the threat of a government shutdown.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Don’t blame medicines for higher health care costs
The insurance industry’s blame-everything-on-medicines rhetoric simply does not hold up to the facts. Just this week, the federal government projected that, even with new treatments for hepatitis C, high cholesterol and cancer, medicines will continue to account for just 10 percent of health care spending through the next decade, the same share as in 1960. It is time for a more balanced discussion of health care costs that moves beyond simple sound bites and political rhetoric and considers the big picture.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy administration approved costly financing for UConn outpatient facility
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration approved the controversial financing method for a University of Connecticut Health Center project that auditors say cost the state $77 million in “unnecessary” interest.
Posted inHealth
Depression screening urged for pregnant women, new moms
A new proposal by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that all women who are pregnant or within a year of giving birth be screened for depression.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Crisis pregnancy centers should be accountable for lies, misinformation
Connecticut has long been a national leader in reproductive rights, yet as long as so-called crisis pregnancy centers are allowed to operate without oversight or regulation, dispensing lies and misinformation, they threaten all the progress we’ve made. The right to have an abortion means little when these centers are falsely telling women the procedure is dangerous or deadly. Now that we have clear evidence that these centers lie about medical information while posing as real providers, we have an obligation to hold them accountable for their actions. Connecticut women deserve medically accurate, unbiased healthcare, and they deserve better than CPCs.
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
CT lawmakers push back on pharmaceutical issue in TPP
WASHINGTON – As negotiators for a massive Pacific Rim trade pact meet in Maui for a final round of talks, Connecticut lawmakers are pressing for changes they say will keep the price of key medicines affordable for patients who need them overseas and in the United States.
Posted inPolitics
Blumenthal, Murphy back short-term highway bill, reject longer one
WASHINGTON – Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy on Thursday both voted for short-term and against long-term legislation that would keep hundreds of millions of dollars in federal highway money flowing to Connecticut.