Gov. Dannel P. Malloy downplayed long-range deficit forecasts when the legislative session opened in February, noting there was time for the state’s finances to improve. But after a spring marked by declining revenue projections and a handful of questionable cost-cutting moves, legislators from both parties conceded Thursday that the state’s fiscal outlook emerged from the […]

Washington — Sam Gejdenson, who for 20 years represented eastern Connecticut in Congress, is now looking for “bad actors” around the world. The former Democratic congressman was named by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to be the newest member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a bipartisan, independent government body that monitors — […]

Jonathan A. Harris was named today as the new executive director of the Connecticut Democratic Party. Harris, a former state senator from West Hartford who recently announced his resignation as deputy state treasurer, succeeds Eric Hyers, who left in March to run the re-election campaign of his old boss, U.S. Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode […]

How raw are feelings between House and Senate Democrats over each chamber’s killing the other’s favored bills Wednesday, the annual session’s last night? The Senate pointedly quashed plans for the joint post-session press conference its leaders typically hold with House counterparts. “Last night, they told us they weren’t interested,” Doug Whiting, communication director for the […]

Connecticut received its report card Thursday on how well its students are learning science, and it’s not a pretty picture. Scores from the U.S. Department of Education show that on national science tests, the achievement gap between low-income Connecticut students and their more affluent peers continues to be the largest in the nation. The gap between black […]

Connecticut residents could be shopping for beer and liquor on Sundays as soon as May 20, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Thursday morning at a post-legislative session press conference. The governor told reporters that the bill legalizing Sunday sales hadn’t arrived on his desk yet. But he quickly added that by early next week he […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy closed the annual session of the General Assembly early Thursday with a speech that attempted to reset the mood and message of an administration that struggled keep the breakneck pace of its first year. With a 10-minute, 30-second speech delivered minutes after midnight, Malloy showed uncharacteristic touches of humility, even as […]

Lt. Governor Wyman, Mr. Speaker, Senator Williams, Representative Cafero, Senator McKinney. Thank you. It’s always an honor for me to address this chamber. I’ll be brief in my remarks tonight, but there are a few things that I’d like to say. Over the course of the last 16 months we have pushed more change through […]

The day after the annual legislative session ends is typically a time for all sides to declare victory, lament defeat, or spin one into the other. Below, our list of winners and losers from the 2012 session. Not everything that didn’t get done is dead; legislators are expected to return for a special session in […]

Key measures needed to implement the next state budget and an overdue fix to a debt-riddled anti-pollution program were earmarked for a special session Wednesday even as lawmakers scrambled to pass more bills before the midnight adjournment deadline. Republicans said they feared legislative overtime would open a Pandora’s box of pet bills, but majority Democrats remained […]

One thing is certain in the budget legislators passed this week: The state will soon be spending an additional $90 million in new funding in an effort to improve the state’s lowest-performing districts. But a larger question looms: Will municipalities be required to spend more on education, too? Top state budget officials say the answer […]

What is it with politicians and sports on TV? Every NFL blackout game provokes congressional intervention. Now, Rep. Kelvin Roldan, D-Hartford, is trying to make the political version of a half-court shot at the buzzer on behalf of a city institution, Connecticut Public Broadcasting. At issue: broadcast rights for UConn women’s basketball. The university recently […]

For the first time since his election in 2010, Comptroller Kevin Lembo is playing a political role as the first openly gay statewide official in Connecticut, urging the Democratic National Committee to take a stand against North Carolina’s ban on gay marriage. North Carolina’s adoption by referendum of a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage creates […]