Gov. Dannel P. Malloy recently warned Wall Street the state plans to increase borrowing dramatically over the next year. But while Connecticut uses borrowing primarily to finance capital projects, Republican legislative leaders fear the planned spike also signifies that a disturbing trend of borrowing to cover day-to-day expenses will get worse.
Malloy to Wall Street: Expect state borrowing to jump 40 percent this year
Posted inPolitics
Rowland sentenced to 30 months
John Rowland has earned a second term — a second term behind bars. Rowland, a 57-year-old former Connecticut governor, received a 30-month sentence Wednesday morning in U.S. District Court in New Haven for conspiring to hide work he did for a failed 2012 Republican candidate for U.S. Congress, Lisa Wilson-Foley.
Posted inNews
Op-Ed: Today in Connecticut it’s National Ag Day
Connecticut’s Farm Service Agency is part of National Ag Day being marked today as a time to pause and honor the American farmer. America’s farmers are the most productive and efficient in the world, with each one helping feed more than 144 people.
Posted inEnergy & Environment
Connecticut oil dealers battle cold, snow, prices and policy
A cold winter and low oil prices help a little as Connecticut oil dealers fight to remain relevant in the face of state policy that encourages people to switch from oil to gas heat.
Posted inHealth
Op-Ed: CT assembly should enact informed consent law for nursing home elders
We have a responsibility to protect our elders from harm and assure that they receive the best care possible. The Connecticut General Assembly should act swiftly to pass a law requiring informed consent before the administration of pharmacological dementia treatment to senior citizens in long-term care.
Posted inNews
Op-Ed: Bridgeport’s comeback driven by jobs, development, and clean energy
Today, you can stand on a white sandy beach of a re-opened Pleasure Beach in Bridgeport and look out onto Steelpointe Harbor where development is finally happening. There are new and improved views like this across the city, and many more to come as part of its comeback.
Posted inPolitics
CT lawmakers tackle Social Security solvency problem
WASHINGTON – Connecticut lawmakers are promoting a plan they say would shore up the solvency of the Social Security system for 75 years — and give about 11 million seniors a tax break. U.S. Rep. John Larson, D-1st District, and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., introduced bills in the House and Senate Tuesday they say would eliminate a projected shortfall in the Social Security program.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
It is time to unshackle Connecticut’s juvenile defendants
When we use shackles in juvenile court, we are not seeing youth with a potential for reform. That is not juvenile justice. In fact, that is no justice at all.
Posted inNews
Gaming expansion draws considerable support, some opposition
While Gov. Dannel P. Malloy was noncommittal Tuesday about a proposed expansion of gaming in Connecticut, it drew support from business, labor and municipal leaders.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
CT policy recovering welfare benefits damages poor families
Government assistance should not be treated as a loan, and the law that allows the state to seize the estates of deceased welfare recipients hurts the surviving family members — the very people public assistance is supposed to help lift out of poverty. The law should be changed.
Posted inNews
Malloy names Hamden mayor as his new municipal liaison
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy named Hamden Mayor Scott Jackson on Tuesday to join his budget office as its chief liaison with cities and towns.
Posted inHealth
Malloy still conflicted on right-to-die proposal
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Tuesday that he remains conflicted about a controversial proposal to allow physicians to prescribe lethal medication to terminally ill, mentally competent patients who request it.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Gov. Malloy eliminates vital funding for low-income families
Connecticut’s Community Action Agencies, the state and federally designated antipoverty agencies covering every city and town in Connecticut, are dealing with a devastating cut in Gov. Dannel Malloy’s proposed FY 2016-2017 biennial budget.
Posted inPolitics
Connecticut’s unlikely history of casinos gets a new chapter
Failing to slam the door on casino gambling in 1991, Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. cut the deal in 1993 that both gave the industry a foundation and firmly capped its reach in Connecticut — until now. Today, the legislature’s Public Safety and Security Committee holds a public hearing on what appears to be the strongest attempt in two decades to expand casino gambling off tribal lands.
Posted inHealth
Congress ‘doc fix’ would halt big drop in Medicare fees
WASHINGTON – The U.S. House of Representatives hopes to unveil a proposal this week that would end years of tension and bickering between Congress and the nation’s doctors. A 21 percent cut to fees paid to doctors by Medicare is hanging in the balance.