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, […]
GMO labeling: technically alive, but realistically dead
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 […]
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Same Day Registration Makes Sense for Nutmeg Voters
Connecticut has another opportunity to show the way forward on progressive reform. While many other states are suppressing the vote through strict new voter ID requirements, restrictions on community voter registration drives and shortened early voting periods, Gov. Dannel Malloy and Secretary of the State Denise Merrill are championing legislation to expand voter participation. A […]
Posted inMoney
Same Day Registration Makes Sense for Nutmeg Voters
Connecticut has another opportunity to show the way forward on progressive reform. While many other states are suppressing the vote through strict new voter ID requirements, restrictions on community voter registration drives and shortened early voting periods, Gov. Dannel Malloy and Secretary of the State Denise Merrill are championing legislation to expand voter participation. A […]
Posted inPolitics
Same Day Registration Makes Sense for Nutmeg Voters
Connecticut has another opportunity to show the way forward on progressive reform. While many other states are suppressing the vote through strict new voter ID requirements, restrictions on community voter registration drives and shortened early voting periods, Governor Dannel Malloy and Secretary of the State Denise Merrill are championing legislation to expand voter participation. A […]
Posted inNews
State activists hound Romney with PACK, errr, PAC
Washington — In one of the most creative attacks on a presidential candidate, at least in recent history, a couple of Connecticut political activists are trying to raise political cash from dog lovers who are howling mad at how Mitt Romney years ago treated his dog. To hound the presumptive GOP nominee, Martin Dunleavy, a former New […]
Posted inNews
Federal opinion undermines state’s health-pool concept
The U.S. Department of Labor has advised the Malloy administration that opening Connecticut’s state employee and retiree health plan to nonprofits and small businesses could jeopardize the legal protections it now enjoys as a government plan. The advisory opinion sought by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy could undermine a health care pooling bill passed last year […]
Posted inNews
Does race matter in the juvenile justice system?
When a child is referred to a Connecticut court, the state’s juvenile justice system is largely colorblind. New state data from 2011 show that whether a youth is black, white or Latino, he has about a 50 percent chance of having his case dismissed. Similarly, about 30 percent of all youths — regardless of skin […]
Posted inNews
On an evening stroll, Malloy corrects a critic
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy took two long walks through the State Capitol tonight, senior staff and security detail in tow, for a little backslapping — and one sharp elbow. His presence in the building indicated he probably harbored hopes of a breakthrough on the interconnected issues of budget and education reform, but he downplayed chances […]
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Health, Money
Outdoor wood furnace regulation clears Senate
For the first time in three years of trying, legislation to tighten regulations on outdoor wood furnaces has passed a chamber of the legislature. The Senate passed and sent to the House an amended version of legislation that advocates of it say is even stronger than the original. The original bill sought to ban outdoor […]