Gov. Dannel P. Malloy opened his second term Wednesday with a warning of a sclerotic Connecticut whose economy and quality of life are threatened by crumbling and clogged highways and inadequate and underfunded mass transit. The solution will be expensive, but how expensive was a topic for another day.
Malloy outlines transit goals, puts off cost for another day
Posted inPolitics
Malloy takes oath for second term: ‘I most assuredly do’
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s second term as Connecticut’s 88th governor began Wednesday at 2:15 p.m. as Andrew McDonald, the state Supreme Court’s first gay justice and the governor’s former legal adviser, administered the oath of office in the cavernous drill shed of the State Armory. Asked if he would swear to uphold the duties of the office, Malloy raised his right hand and replied, “I most assuredly do.”
Posted inPolitics
Scribner resigns from House for state liquor control job
Rep. David Scribner has resigned from the state House of Representatives to become a state liquor control commissioner. Scribner, a Republican, has represented Bethel, Brookfield and Danbury for the last 15 years. He has been the ranking Republican on the legislature’s Transportation Committee since 2003.
Posted inPolitics
Maynard’s unexpected return upstages an inauguration
The General Assembly opened its 2015 session Wednesday on an emotional note as the Senate welcomed the surprise return of Sen. Andrew M. Maynard, D-Stonington, who was re-elected without campaigning after sustaining a traumatic brain injury last summer.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy gets two extra weeks to solve next budget deficit
Despite insisting throughout the campaign that state government really wasn’t facing a deficit next year, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy asked for and received legislative approval Wednesday to postpone his next budget presentation by two weeks until Feb. 18.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Fiscal issues in forefront as Malloy, legislators start new terms
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is to focus on how to modernize the state’s aging web of highways, bridges and railroads in a State of the State Address as he begins his second term today, but he and the General Assembly will be facing significant fiscal challenges in 2015. An overview of the key issues confronting the 2015 legislative session.
Posted inHealth
Hospital reports of surgical, medication errors climb
Connecticut hospitals reported record numbers of patients killed or seriously injured by hospital errors in 2013, with large increases in the numbers of falls, medication mistakes and perforations during surgical procedures, a new state report shows.
Posted inEducation
School choice: Future of new magnet schools uncertain
When state legislators placed a moratorium on building new magnet schools outside the capital region five years ago, they wanted to know if these schools were worth the large investment before boosting enrollment further. So they ordered the state education commissioner to assess magnet school performance and submit a plan for their future. That plan is now four years late, magnet schools approved before the moratorium will probably be full by the start of the next school year, research is incomplete on their impact and many legislators are reluctant to open new schools.
Posted inNews
Capitol security gets new test on Wednesday
The state Capitol complex’s security system, which was activated after the 2014 session, will get its first serious test Wednesday when hundreds of visitors arrive for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s inauguration and the opening of the 2015 General Assembly session.
Posted inPolitics
Ohio joins dustup over claim by Connecticut to be ‘first in flight’
The Ohio state legislature has introduced a resolution disparaging Connecticut’s claims to be “First in Flight,” reigniting a fight over whether the Wright brothers or Gustave Whitehead, a German immigrant who lived in Fairfield, were the first to fly a powered aircraft.
Posted inMoney
Lembo wants state to save more for those rainy days
Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo intends to change state government’s saving habits with a new reserve system that takes into account Connecticut’s lucrative-yet-volatile relationship with Wall Street.
Posted inPolitics
Judge postpones the sentencing of John G. Rowland
The inauguration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy will not have to share time on the evening news Wednesday with the sentencing in U.S. District Court of a predecessor, John G. Rowland.
Posted inNews
Dianna Wentzell expected to be interim education commissioner
Dianna Wentzell is expected to be tapped Wednesday to lead the Connecticut Department of Education while the State Board of Education searches for a replacement of outgoing commissioner Stefan Pryor.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Administrator Susan Weisselberg named governor’s deputy budget director
An administrator for the New Haven public school system will become the new deputy budget director for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy later this month. Susan Weisselberg, who also has served as chief legal counsel to the state House Democratic Caucus, will succeed Karen Buffkin as deputy secretary of the Office of Policy and Management on Jan. 26.
Posted inPolitics
Murphy breaks Senate tradition with high-profile stands
WASHINGTON – With his fight for gun control, defense of the Affordable Care Act and clashes with President Obama on foreign policy, Sen. Chris Murphy broke with a Senate tradition that freshmen should be seen and not heard. “I don’t think there’s a waiting period anymore for freshmen,” he said. “My constituents did not elect me to be a shrinking violet.” (This is the seventh and final story in a series about the roles each member of the Connecticut congressional delegation played in the 113th Congress.)