Gov. Dannel P. Malloy declared victory Monday night in his long, contentious push for education reforms, announcing a compromise agreement at a televised press conference with legislative leaders who promised quick passage, beginning with an overnight debate in the Senate. The governor stepped before the cameras at 10 p.m., ending a day of negotiation and […]
Governor, legislative leaders agree on education reforms
Posted inHealth
18 Hospital Executives Earn Over $1 Million
The website C-HIT.org reports today that top execs at 18 of the state’s hospitals are doing very, very, very well in the compensation area. Check here.
Posted inPolitics
A few words from the departing Edith Prague
Her formal farewell speech will be delivered Wednesday on the floor of the Senate, but Sen. Edith Prague, D-Columbia, told her colleagues today in the privacy of the Democratic caucus room she will not seek another term. She confirmed her plans in an interview with The Mirror. Her plans were first reported earlier tonight by […]
Posted inNews
Governor’s prepared remarks on education deal
“I am pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement on meaningful education reform. I can say, with confidence, that this bill will allow us to begin fixing what is broken in our public schools. “I want to thank my team – Mark Ojakian, Commissioner Stefan Pryor, and Liz Donohue, our policy director – […]
Posted inNews
Cuts, borrowing proposed to close budget gap
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Democratic legislative leaders used a mix of programmatic cuts, borrowing and a raid on transportation and other special funds to preserve nearly three-fourths of the governor’s proposed education spending. The tentative deal, which calls for a $20.54 billion budget for the next fiscal year, also maintains the first funding increase in […]
Posted inNews
Senate trying for vote on education compromise
The General Assembly today kicked off a three-day scramble to its adjournment of midnight Wednesday with hopes of beginning debate on compromise education-reform and budget bills as soon as tonight. In early action today, the House gave final legislative approval to bills on racial profiling and project-labor agreements, then broke this afternoon to caucus on […]
Posted inMoney
In a partisan time, a nonpartisan tradition observed
Today, a visitor to the state House of Representatives might have been surprised to see Rep. T.R. Rowe, R-Trumbull, presiding over a chamber where Democrats dominate, 99-51. But there was no coup. Rowe was in the chair thanks to one of the enduring and endearing traditions of the House: No matter how partisan or heated […]
Posted inHealth, Money
Prescription Monitoring Program gets funding reprieve
The state program that allows doctors and pharmacists to track controlled substance prescriptions has gotten something of a reprieve, at least for now. Money for the Prescription Monitoring Program had been slated to run out later this year, but a settlement between states and the drug maker Abbott Laboratories will provide Connecticut with $150,000 to […]
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Money
GMO labeling: technically alive, but realistically dead
The prospect of Connecticut passing groundbreaking first-of-its-kind legislation to label genetically modified food is basically nonexistent. Late last week lawyers from the Legislative Commissioners’ Office forced sponsors to gut the bill so that even if it passes — still a long shot — it would be little more than a statement of concern about GMOs, […]
Posted inNews
Senate gives final approval to Election Day registration
Residents will be able to register to vote and cast a ballot on Election Day starting next year under a measure given final approval Saturday by the state Senate. The Democratic-controlled chamber voted 19-16, largely along party lines, to approve the measure, which Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has said he will sign. The legislation also […]
Posted inNews
Senate adopts penalties, standards for blackouts
The Senate voted unanimously Saturday to adopt and send to the House a bill imposing penalties on Connecticut’s utilities for poor performance, a reaction to extended blackouts after storms last August and October. The bill backed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy also would toughen performance standards for electric, gas and telephone utilities, require them to report […]
Posted inNews
Rank-and-file Democrats balk at campaign finance bill
House and Senate Democratic leaders have agreed on the terms of what would be one of the nation’s strongest campaign-finance disclosure bills, but rank-and-file members in the House objected to a provision that would raise the public-financing grant for a gubernatorial general election to $9 million. Plans to have the House vote on the measure […]
Posted inNews
Medicinal marijuana bill headed for governor’s signature
The state Senate voted 21-13 early Saturday to give final legislative approval to a bill that will make Connecticut the 17th state to legalize marijuana as a palliative for the chronically ill. The bill, which passed 96-51 in the House last week, now heads to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, a Democrat whose election in 2010 […]
Posted inEducation
Education reform and Gov. Malloy’s ego
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy may soon be getting a wave of phone calls from teachers with the same message: check your ego. With time running short for legislators and the Malloy administration to reach a deal on an education reform bill, one of the teachers’ unions stepped up the pressure and asked it’s members to […]
Posted inNews
Brian K. Hill begins petition drive to qualify for Senate primary
Brian K. Hill kicked off a petition drive Saturday to qualify for the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, even though he says he expects to win at least 15 percent of the GOP convention vote, the other qualification route. “We are confident that we can get on the Republican ballot at the convention in a […]