Connecticut is in serious trouble. You can’t pick up a newspaper without reading another negative headline about our state’s dire economic condition. Connecticut has the heaviest tax burden in the country, one of the least friendly business climates, the nation’s highest per capita debt, dangerously unfunded pension liabilities, and the dubious distinction of being the […]
Connecticut: Time for a higher standard of government
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A Labor Day message: Economic security is very much a women’s issue.
Connecticut was among the first states to enact Labor Day legislation in 1887, a full seven years before the U.S. Congress made it a federal holiday. Labor Day was created to recognize trade unions, secure workers’ safety and generally honor the contributions of laborers everywhere. And yet, more than 100 years after its passage, how well do we, as a society, really honor our workers?
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Connecticut lawmakers face ‘whale of a fight’ when Congress returns
Washington — When Congress returns from summer recess, it will once again find itself on the brink of disaster. Unless Congress acts, the federal government will shut down Oct. 1, and the nation will run out of cash to pay its bills by mid-October. Congress must figure out a way to avoid these disasters, and under […]
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As UConn builds more labs, research funding shrinks
Farmington — Leslie Loew, a researcher at the University of Connecticut, had planned to study the use of fluorescent dye and light to help doctors better repair life-threatening heart rhythms, but his funding was cut so that research will have to wait. Many research projects have stalled at the University of Connecticut as research funding […]
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DSS modernization has made things worse, some say
Glenda Perez said she’d already sent in the paperwork needed to maintain her food stamps when she got a notice last month saying they were being discontinued. She called the state Department of Social Services, using the single phone number that everyone in the state who wants to reach a worker is supposed to use. […]
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CT Hurricane Sandy victims can apply for homeowner grants
Washington — Nearly a year after Hurricane Sandy slammed into Connecticut, the super storm’s victims can apply for grants, in the amounts of between $10,000 and $150,000, to repair and fortify their homes. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy Friday said Sandy-hit homeowners can apply for assistance through the state’s “Connecticut Recovers” website. The money for the […]
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Connecticut Democrats hire labor liaison
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy playfully pretends he is unaware that 2014 is an election year, but the Connecticut Democratic Party signalled the opposite Friday by beefing up its staff: Jennifer Smith is the party’s liasion with labor. “Labor Day honors the great improvements union workers fought so hard for, and the victories on behalf of […]
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Justice Department to limit role in state marijuana laws
The federal government announced Thursday that it will not try to pre-empt laws in states, including Connecticut, that have legalized marijuana for medical or recreational use as long as the law is strictly enforced. The memo sent to all 50 states reiterated that the federal government still considers the drug illegal, but will not intervene […]
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DSS extends Medicaid, food stamps for 15,500 households
The state Department of Social Services announced Thursday that it would extend medical and food benefits for about 15,500 poor households at risk of losing them Sept. 1. The move is intended to prevent people from losing Medicaid or food stamps as the department deals with problems related to a major change in its handling […]
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Connecticut tax receipts on the rise in 2012-13
There are some new positive signs in state government’s finances. As officials prepare to close the books next week on the last fiscal year, preliminary estimates show that receipts from all major taxes were on the rise in 2012-13. Though the last budget technically ended June 30, receipts from several taxes continue to accrue through […]
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Report: Youth unemployment threatens state’s economic future
Growing youth unemployment coupled with persistent wage gaps along racial and ethnic lines threaten Connecticut’s long-term economic future, according to a new report released today by a New Haven-based public policy research group. The annual Labor Day weekend report from Connecticut Voices for Children recommends that state officials strengthen access to “high quality” elementary and […]
Posted inHealth
State social services officials failed to notify auditors promptly of benefits fraud
State Department of Social Services officials notified law enforcement officials in timely fashion — but not the state auditors — while investigating three incidents of suspected benefits fraud between 2010 and early 2012, the auditors reported Thursday. In a letter to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Auditors John C. Geragosian and Robert M. Ward wrote that […]
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White House announces new gun-control measures
Washington — At a ceremonial swearing-in Thursday for the new chief of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Todd Jones, Vice President Joe Biden said the Obama administration will use its authority to implement two new gun control measures. One new policy would end a government practice that lets military weapons, sold or donated […]
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Split on Syria: Connecticut lawmakers disagree about use of air strikes
Washington — Congress is splitting into two camps — hawks and doves — on the question of whether the U.S. should launch air strikes against the Syrian government, and the Connecticut congressional delegation is mirroring that division. The Obama administration is seeking international support for air strikes on Syria in light of the reported use […]
Posted inHealth
Easier enrollment process could mean thousands more with coverage under Obamacare, researchers say
Having a seamless, one-stop shopping process for state residents to enroll in health care coverage could ensure that an additional 26,000 people get insurance, and 36,000 avoid losing their coverage, according to research released this week.