WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a bill that would authorize the spending of billions of dollars to shore up Amtrak and require the passenger rail company to study the feasibility of a high-speed service from Washington, D.C., to Boston that would make no stops in Connecticut.
House approves Amtrak subsidy, study of high-speed service skipping CT
Posted inEducation
Number of Connecticut kindergarten suspensions rising
The number of kindergarten students suspended from school for misbehaving is on the rise, the Connecticut Department of Education reported Wednesday. Minority children make up three-quarters of the suspensions, the department said, and charter school students are suspended twice as often as those in the public school districts where they are located.
Posted inEducation
Many vie to become state’s next education chief
Almost two dozen candidates have applied to become Connecticut’s next education commissioner. Members of the State Board of Education and the governor’s staff plan to interview six people over the next couple of weeks. “I thought we got a very strong field,” said Allan B. Taylor, chair of the State Board of Education. “It would […]
Posted inMoney, Politics
Municipal leaders upset with Malloy’s distribution of state aid
Municipal leaders say Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s proposed budget will reduce non-education state grants for about a third of Connecticut’s cities and towns in the next fiscal year, and the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities is calling on the administration to make sure all municipalities are “held harmless” in the budget.
Posted inPolitics
Esty, other lawmakers renew push for expanded gun background checks
WASHINGTON — Although they’ve been rebuffed by their colleagues before, a group of determined House lawmakers on Wednesday re-introduced legislation that would broaden FBI background checks of gun buyers.
Posted inEducation, Politics
CT school funding overpays wealthy towns, underpays needier, critics say
It seems like a reasonable standard: No town shall receive less state money to help run its schools than it did in the previous year. But in practice this means several Connecticut school districts in the wealthiest towns — towns that have fewer high-need students — are receiving more money from the state than they would otherwise be entitled to while needier districts get less.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Imagine freedom for Connecticut kids
The governor’s proposal to reorganize juvenile justice in Connecticut will dismantle a system that has reduced youth crime and saved taxpayers millions. It would likely lead to worse outcomes and be more expensive than the current system.
Posted inNews
Op-Ed: Imagine freedom for Connecticut kids
The governor’s proposal to reorganize juvenile justice in Connecticut will dismantle a system that has reduced youth crime and saved taxpayers millions. It would likely lead to worse outcomes and be more expensive than the current system.
Posted inPolitics
Amtrak may study high-speed service that would skip CT
WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives will vote on legislation Wednesday that would require Amtrak to determine the feasibility of a new high-speed service from New York City to Boston that would likely cross Connecticut but make no stops in the state.
Posted inPolitics
House approves Homeland Security funding
WASHINGTON – An impasse over funding of the Department of Homeland Security that threatened the paychecks of nearly 1,500 agency employees in Connecticut ended Tuesday as the House approved a bill that does not include riders to block President Obama’s immigration policies.
Posted inPolitics
W. Va. jail executive to lead municipal group in Connecticut
Joe DeLong, who resigned a month ago as the executive director of the West Virginia Regional Jail Authority, was named Tuesday as the top executive at the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities.
Posted inHealth
Access Health offers special April enrollment for health coverage
Access Health CT, the state’s insurance exchange, said Tuesday it will hold a special enrollment period during April to allow those who paid a penalty on their 2014 federal taxes for being uninsured to enroll for coverage for the balance of 2015 and limit penalties on their taxes next year.
Posted inPolitics
CT lawmakers split on Netanyahu speech
WASHINGTON – One Connecticut lawmaker decided to skip his speech to a joint session of Congress and others had differing reactions to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu’s forceful condemnation of U.S. efforts to reach an agreement with Iran over nuclear weapons.
Posted inPolitics
DeLauro skips Netanyahu speech
Washington – Saying he is “disrespectful to President Obama, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3rd District, had a change of heart and decided to skip Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu’s speech Tuesday to a joint chamber of Congress.
Posted inNews
Op-Ed: 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.