STAMFORD – Four days after sparking an outcry, Jeb Bush delivered a kinder, gentler call for immigration reform Thursday night at a Republican awards dinner named for an icon of moderate GOP politics: his late grandfather, U.S. Sen. Prescott S. Bush of Connecticut.
Jeb Bush in Stamford: Immigration reform ‘huge opportunity’
Posted inPolitics
Federal grand jury indicts former Gov. John Rowland
A federal grand jury Thursday indicted John G. Rowland on seven counts, accusing the former Republican governor, congressman and conservative radio host of soliciting two congressional campaigns in 2010 and 2012 to secretly pay him as a political consultant.
Posted inEducation
Lawmakers vote to require better responses by CT colleges to sexual assaults
The House bill seeks to improve how all higher education institutions in Connecticut respond when a student comes forward to report an assault, and to boost prevention through bystander training akin to the “see something, say something” campaign.
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Politics
In rare move, House kills proposed GMO grass seed ban
In an unusual move that could have ripple effects for the rest of the legislative session, the state House killed a proposal favored by the Senate’s top lawmaker Thursday.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Op-ed: Recommendations to the Common Core Task Force
As we start to implement Common Core Standards, instead of playing the blame game, we should concentrate on moving those districts that are behind in implementation forward.
Posted inPolitics
CT defense giants increasingly political as Pentagon budget shrinks
WASHINGTON – Connecticut’s largest defense contractors are stepping up political donations to key lawmakers as competition increases for shrinking defense dollars.
Posted inEducation, Politics
100 days in, New Haven’s Toni Harp jarred by teen murders
In her new job as mayor of New Haven, Toni Harp knew she’d be working more than full time. She didn’t expect, she said, to be working seven days a week from 8 a.m. until 9:30 or 10 or 11 p.m.
Posted inEducation
Democrats unveil plan, and funding, for step toward universal pre-K
Thousands of Connecticut students start kindergarten each year already trailing their peers academically because they didn’t attend preschool. Democratic legislative leaders announced Wednesday they intend to pass legislation that will pay for thousands more children to enroll in public schools’ preschool programs.
Posted inHealth
Senate votes to allow nurse practitioners to practice independent of doctors
The Connecticut state Senate voted 25 to 11 late Wednesday night to allow nurse practitioners to practice independent of physicians, a controversial concept that has gained traction amid growing concerns about the availability of primary care providers in the state.
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Politics
CT Senate votes to ban sales of genetically engineered grass seed
The state Senate voted 25 to 11 Wednesday night for legislation that would ban grass seed that is genetically engineered to resist pesticides and herbicides, an issue that the Senate leader calls necessary to protect the environment. Opponents call the bill an overreaction to a product not yet on the market.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy challenges Boehner, Part II
Washington – Gov. Dannel Malloy is tussling with House Speaker John Boehner again, this time over long-term unemployment benefits.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Op-ed: Buyers beware (of Common Core)
Let’s look the governor, the commissioner of education and the State Board of Education in the eye and say: No Sale.
Posted inHealth
CT scales back Medicaid repayment rules for some recipients
Connecticut officials are scaling back the circumstances in which the state can seek repayment from the estates of Medicaid recipients when they die. This addresses what some say is a barrier to getting Medicaid-eligible people to sign up for the program under Obamacare.
Posted inPolitics
GOP candidate Boughton quits Mayors Against Illegal Guns
Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton resigned Wednesday from Mayors Against Illegal Guns, an affiliation that has brought him grief from gun owners in the six-way race for the Republican nomination for governor.
Posted inEducation
Report: Many Connecticut charter schools ‘hyper-segregated’
State law requires education leaders to “reduce racial, ethnic and economic isolation” to advance the state’s interests, but an advocacy group reports that most of Connecticut’s charter schools are “hyper-segregated.”