Senate Democrats will use public outrage at the scandals at the Veterans Affairs Administration — scandals that led to the resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki on Friday — to hold another vote on a bill that would expand veterans’ benefits and job training. The legislation was blocked by Republicans in February.
Washington Watch, Week of June 1
Posted inHealth, Politics
Rep. Larry Miller dies, made his illness a cause for science
Rep. Lawrence G. Miller, R-Stratford, died Sunday after a battle with cancer, one that Miller discussed a decade ago in advocating support for stem cell research and again in 2011 when he backed an effort to bank umbilical cord blood. An active Catholic, he said the Church was wrong in opposing embryonic stem cell research.
Posted inPolitics
Malloy did not seek retirement of Stebbins as top cop
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy offered effusive praise Friday of Col. Danny Stebbins, saying he did not seek or encourage Stebbins’ recently announced retirement as the commander of the Connecticut State Police.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy signs new CT budget into law
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed a controversial $19 billion budget Friday for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy, Cafero displeased with pension gaffe explanation
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Friday he’s not satisfied with one agency’s explanation about how it failed for five years to deliver – or even attempt to contact – a teacher’s pension beneficiary owed almost $200,000. And the top Republican in the House of Representatives said it might be time for an independent review of the state Teachers’ Retirement Board.
Posted inNews
CT lawmakers vote to keep feds from enforcing marijuana laws
WASHINGTON – Connecticut’s House delegation on Friday voted unanimously for a measure– sponsored by a California Republican — that would stop federal agencies from enforcing marijuana laws against state-approved medical marijuana programs.
Posted inNews
Esty, other gun control proponents, shift focus to mentally ill
WASHINGTON – After a shooting and stabbing rampage by a troubled California college student that left six dead last week, Rep. Elizabeth Esty and other gun control supporters are focusing on legislation that would strengthen a ban on gun sales to the mentally ill.
Posted inHealth
Malloy vetos substance abuse treatment bill opposed by insurance industry
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has vetoed a bill opposed by the insurance industry that would have required carriers to report information about the substance abuse treatment they have covered and their networks of mental health and substance abuse treatment providers.
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Politics
Malloy’s veto preserves ban on glass eel fishing
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Friday he has vetoed a bill at the heart of an unusual end-of-session deal: A measure that would have lifted the statutory ban on fishing in Connecticut waters for a species now under consideration for endangered status, the glass eel.
Posted inEducation, Politics
Regents opt to disappoint, not appoint, Sen. Donald Williams
An unusually high-profile search for a new Quinebaug Valley Community College president ended Friday with the selection of Carlee Drummer, an Illinois community college administrator, over the top leader of the Connecticut Senate, Donald E. Williams Jr. New leaders also were named for Asnuntuck and Three Rivers.
Posted inHealth
Bill could encourage ‘warm handoff’ for mental health treatment in CT
A somewhat technical measure could make it significantly easier for people to get mental health care, treatment providers say.
Posted inNews
Connecticut colleges receive millions from the Pentagon
WASHINGTON – Connecticut colleges have been increasingly benefiting from money from the Pentagon over the last few years, winning millions in contracts from the U.S. armed forces to conduct research on a wide range of products used in national defense — from sensors that track the health of soldiers to instruments that detect matter in outer space.
Posted inPolitics
Legislative candidates get first public financing grants of ’14
The State Elections Enforcement Commission voted Thursday to authorize its first public financing grants of the 2014 campaign: all to state legislators or challengers for legislative seats. No statewide candidate has been formally approved yet.
Posted inEducation, Money
CT never looked for teacher’s pension beneficiary owed $192K
The state hasn’t looked for five years for a teacher’s pension beneficiary owed $192,000, the state auditors reported Thursday. In a letter to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Auditors Robert M. Ward and John C. Geragosian also wrote they fear other beneficiaries have not received funds because of one agency’s longstanding failure to collect sufficient contact information.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Op-Ed: Remembering JFK on his birthday, and his gift to us
It’s hard to believe President John F. Kennedy might have turned 97 today. I often wonder how much better America could have been if not for losing his idealism and courage so soon.