Unless Connecticut gets its financial house in order, we will continue to be last or close to last (meaning bad), in many financial aspects such as debt, underfunded pensions and health care, gas taxes, property taxes, population growth, etc. After just having the largest tax increase in history, we are looking at huge deficits of […]
From one disgusted Connecticut resident
Posted inEducation, Politics
Connecticut sets post-Sandy Hook school building standards
State officials announced new school construction protocols Friday in response to the Newtown tragedy, including exterior surveillance, blast-resistant entryways and classroom door locks — all features that might have stopped or slowed Adam Lanza’s assault on Sandy Hook Elementary a year ago.
Posted inHealth
Connecticut’s Obamacare exchange chief: Expect a ‘clunky’ Jan. 1
As the next big milestone for the federal health law approaches, Connecticut’s health insurance exchange chief is once again warning that things aren’t likely to go smoothly.
Posted inNews
Feds announce new option for insurance customers facing cancellation
The federal government on Thursday offered a new option to people whose health plans are being discontinued, allowing them to purchase “catastrophic” insurance policies with high deductibles that the federal health care law prohibits most people from buying.
Posted inEducation
Connecticut’s early education plan gets a C, no federal funds
Gov. Malloy visits a preschool in Meriden with his director of early education and education commissioner The U.S. Department of Education has rejected Connecticut’s request for $37.5 million in Race to the Top funds aimed at overhauling day care centers and preschools by attempting to ensure they are safe and providing educational value. “The State […]
Posted inNews
College enrollment declines in Connecticut
Alex Tettey Jr. and his friends face a dilemma common to many students trying to finish college: Should they attend school part-time and work to cover some of their expenses? Should they put off enrolling until they can afford the costs? Or, should they take out thousands of dollars in student loans? “I was able […]
Posted inNews
Access Health releases instructions for getting a catastrophic plan
Access Health CT, the state’s health insurance exchange, released instructions Friday evening for people whose health plans are being discontinued and who want to buy a catastrophic policy for 2014. Catastrophic plans have lower premiums and higher deductibles than other policies sold on the exchange. They were intended only for people under 30, but the […]
Posted inNews
Blumenthal rails against Bills vs. Dolphins blackout
The blackout of the Buffalo Bills-Miami Dolphins game Sunday prompted Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., to press his campaign to end the blackout of sports games on television. In a joint press conference Friday with Rep. Brian Higgins, a Democrat who represents Buffalo, N.Y., in Congress, Blumenthal said an “outdated, really dinosaur” federal law from the […]
Posted inMoney, Politics
More than $500 million available for election-year state budget
There could be more than $500 million available to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the legislature this spring as they prepare the final state budget before the 2014 elections. According to the regular monthly report filed by Malloy’s budget staff with Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo’s office, this fiscal year’s budget is on pace to run $273 million in the black.
Posted inNews
CT unemployment rate drops to 7.6%
The state’s unemployment rate dropped to 7.6 percent in November as a surging retail sector helped Connecticut gain about 4,000 jobs, the state Labor Department reported Thursday. The jobless rate, which stood at 7.9 percent in October, also was down compared with the 8.3 percent unemployment rate in November 2012. But while education, health services […]
Posted inPolitics
Malloy road-tests a stump speech for 2014
The soft opening of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s unannounced re-election campaign is under way. Over the late summer and fall, Malloy has honed the elements of a 2014 stump speech, road-testing themes and images calculated to create a quickening sense of progress after decades of stagnation.
Posted inNews
Lawmakers: Time to replace Metro-North?
While several legislators said Connecticut should find a new operator for its commuter rail service to New York City, the state’s top transportation official said replacing Metro-North isn’t a viable option right now. Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker defended the rail service, noting that while changes must be made in light of recent crashes […]
Posted inHealth
Insurers extend Obamacare payment deadline to Jan. 10
People who sign up for health plans through state insurance exchanges by Dec. 23 will have until Jan. 10 to make their first premium payment and receive coverage effective Jan. 1, the insurance industry announced Wednesday. Previously, federal officials had announced that people would have to make their first payment by Dec. 31 to be […]
Posted inEducation, Health
Little help for Connecticut’s many homeless youths, advocates say
Chancharay Tyson: "I had nowhere to go. It was scary." It’s been a rough four years for Chancharay Tyson who, at 18, “aged out” of state custody after years of living in numerous group homes as a foster child. A year later, with nowhere to live after leaving her abusive boyfriend, the Norwich 19-year-old again […]
Posted inNews
Donate and support The Connecticut Mirror today. Win a tablet – or two.
Today is The Connecticut Mirror’s last single-day donor drive of the year. The winning proposition is threefold – your tax-deductible donation supports quality nonprofit journalism at its finest; you receive a gift; and you are entered to win a Samsung Galaxy Tablet (two will be given away). Click here to donate at any one of […]