Connecticut’s consumer counsel, the Senate co-chairman of the legislature’s Energy and Technology Committee, and the AARP’s director of advocacy explained their proposed ban on variable electric rates for residential customers in The Connecticut Mirror’s first Google Hangout of the 2015 session.
CT Mirror/AARP Google Hangout: Banning variable electric rates
Posted inHealth
Delphin-Rittmon promoted to lead mental health department
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has named a clinical psychologist with experience working in state and federal mental health agencies to lead the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
Posted inHealth
The special Obamacare sign-up period: What you need to know
The deadline to sign up for private insurance under the federal health law this year is long past, but some state residents who are currently uninsured will have a 30-day window to sign up for plans during April — if they meet certain criteria. Here are the details.
Posted inAnnouncements
Today’s launch: Welcome Trend CT and CT Viewpoints to The Mirror family
The Connecticut News Project, Inc., welcomes two new offerings today for its growing audience — Trend CT, which will focus on public-interest data, and CT Viewpoints, an opinion forum.
Posted inHealth, Politics
CT official: VA’s failure to share data hurts vets at risk of prescription abuse
WASHINGTON — Connecticut veterans are escaping the notice of a state program aimed at combating prescription painkiller abuse, an epidemic among those veterans; and the federal government’s Department of Veterans Affairs is to blame, a state official says.
Posted inPolitics
Introducing Vote Hound: In Connecticut, does one party really rule?
Most roll call votes in the Connecticut legislature are easy to analyze: They are either unanimous or follow party lines. Vote Hound helps you find and analyze the other kind of votes, the ones where the patterns are not quite so clear. Explore the latest interactive database from The Connecticut Mirror and Trend CT.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Bridgeport public schools losing big money to charters
Recent claims about charter schools and their funding by the state director of the Northeast Charter Schools Network are false and misleading, at least as they pertain to Bridgeport. According to one city school administrator’s calculations, charter schools will siphon away over $26 million dollars from our school system over the next five years.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Governor’s budget cuts would damage Connecticut’s cultural life
The governor’s proposed budget, now under consideration by the Connecticut General Assembly, would eliminate state support of the Connecticut Humanities Fund, a competitive grant pool that supports public programs and initiatives that tell our state’s stories, illuminate our history and enrich the lives of people of all ages across the state. Now is not the time to abandon the state’s long-term investment in heritage and culture.
Posted inPolitics
Malloy appointee seeks greater say over watchdogs
An appointee of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy asked legislators Friday to help her exercise greater administrative control over the state’s watchdog agencies, including one investigating the governor’s campaign finances.
Posted inEducation
More charter schools? Education Committee leaves decision to budget panel
Lawmakers on the legislature’s Education Committee have decided not to take a position on whether new charter schools should open in the state over the next two years. The committee instead decided Friday to leave the question up to the General Assembly’s budget-writing Appropriations Committee.
Posted inEducation
CSCU leader asks for contract concessions; faculty unions balk
Updated at 3:39 p.m.
With plans to cut spending by $22 million, the president of the state’s largest public college system is asking union leaders for concessions. But the presidents of the two largest unions representing employees at the community colleges and Central, Eastern, Southern and Western Connecticut state universities say they aren’t interested.
Posted inNews
Op-Ed: Merrill — It is time to strengthen Connecticut’s election system
Connecticut is unique among the 50 states in how we run elections — and not in a good way. I have proposed professionalizing election administration in Connecticut by restructuring the office of registrar.
Posted inNews
Op-Ed: Modernize elections, but not the Secretary of the State’s way
The Registrars of Voters Association of Connecticut recognizes that there are things we must do to improve in the way elections are administered in Connecticut, but disagrees with the Secretary of the State’s proposal. For instance, we would like to see an election night reporting system that is automated, and doesn’t rely on the hundreds of hand calculations done by weary poll workers late into the evening on Election Day.
Posted inEducation
Tuition increases approved to help cover CSCU system’s growing budget
Enrolling in Connecticut’s public community colleges and regional state universities will be getting more expensive, and students are concerned. The Board of Regents for Higher Education voted Thursday to increase tuition and fees next school year by 4.8 to 5.3 percent, and is also considering staff reductions and layoffs.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Medicare fees to drop sharply as Senate falters on ‘doc fix’ bill opposed by CT senators
Updated at 10:43 a.m. Friday
WASHINGTON – The Senate’s failure to act on a bill, opposed by Connecticut’s senators, means fees paid to doctors who treat Medicare patients will drop sharply at the end of the month. If Congress, which left on a two-week Easter recess, acts as soon as it returns, the government says it may be able to avoid the fee cuts.