Gov. Dannel P. Malloy offered a modest dig Friday at the General Law Committee over its intention to revise his liquor reform bill and keep minimum-pricing laws on the books. “I am pro-consumer,” Malloy said. “Sometimes I get disappointed there aren’t more pro-consumer advocates on this issue and others in state government.” But Malloy was […]
Malloy delivers dig over rewrite of his liquor reforms
Posted inMoney, Politics
Sophomore jinx for hard-charging CT, NY governors?
We explained earlier this week how Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is having a more challenging time with the Connecticut legislature in his second year. Today, the New York Times tells us that Gov. Andrew Cuomo is having a more challenging time with the New York legislature in his second year. The Times piece is notable […]
Posted inEducation
Pryor, CEA huddle in LOB cafe
State Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor was huddled at lunch in the Legislative Office Building cafeteria today with the leadership of the Connecticut Education Association and a senior aide to House Speaker Christopher G. Donovan. They did not appear to be reviewing their NCAA brackets. The mood was light, despite the increasingly rancorous tone of Gov. […]
Posted inUncategorized
A Different Kind of March Madness
A Different Kind of March Madness Brian Hallenbeck, The Day’s longtime casinos’ reporter, writes today, “Those who advocate for problem gamblers knew what they were doing when they scheduled the annual week devoted to educating the public about the warning signs of problem gambling. They placed it right before this week’s start of the NCAA […]
Posted inNews
Donovan’s minimum-wage compromise: $8.75, not $9
House Speaker Christopher G. Donovan, D-Meriden, backed away Thursday from his proposal to raise the minimum wage by 75 cents on July 1, a month before his expected primary for the congressional nomination in the 5th District. With Donovan’s consent, the Labor and Public Employees Committee voted 8-3 for a revised bill that would raise […]
Posted inNews
Bill to allow public boards more discretion to meet privately hits a snag
A proposal to give public agencies greater discretion to meet in closed sessions with their attorneys has fallen into political limbo at the Capitol. The legislature’s Government Administration and Elections Committee, which originally raised the bill and scheduled a public hearing on the measure, suspended the latter and may not reschedule it in the face […]
Posted inNews
With $2.3 billion in debt, is Foxwoods too big to fail?
The New York Times Magazine goes deep Sunday with a look at Foxwoods, the troubled gambling behemoth in the woods of eastern Connecticut. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and other top officials made the trip recently to celebrate the tribal casino’s 20th anniversary, but Mike Sokolove explores the casino’s shaky foundation: “These days the tribe is […]
Posted inNews
Is faking a legislator’s letterhead parody or forgery?
If you live in Wisconsin, the answer to that question can mean jail time. A cartoonist is facing a felony charge over his faking a legislator’s letterhead for what he called a parody of a press release. Shoulda waited until April 1.
Posted inHealth
Middlesex, UnitedHealthcare contract up April 1
Middlesex Hospital and UnitedHealthcare have until April 1 to reach a new contract agreement before becoming the latest hospital and insurer to sever ties in the state. Representatives for both say they’re working toward a settlement, but if the two sides fail to reach an agreement, the Middletown hospital could be out of UnitedHealthcare’s network, […]
Posted inHealth, Money
State employee health plan now open to municipalities
The state comptroller’s office has officially launched a health insurance plan for municipalities, boards of education and other public employers. The CT Partnership Plan grew out of a longtime effort to open the state employee and retiree health insurance plan to outside groups. A compromise last year between Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration and Democratic […]
Posted inNews
With a new script, McMahon is back on stage
Newington — All campaigns are theater, and none more so than the back-to-back Senate runs of Linda McMahon, a co-founder and former chief executive officer of the marketing and media juggernaut that is World Wrestling Entertainment. On Wednesday, McMahon stepped to a microphone in Bruno Zavarella’s woodworking factory, a precisely angled banner above her head […]
Posted inNews
Rhee: Connecticut is the state to watch
Michelle Rhee, one of the biggest names in the national education reform movement, traveled to Connecticut’s Capitol Wednesday with a message: Democrats nationwide are watching. “This is the state that has a Democratic governor and a Democratic legislature that is taking the most aggressive stance on education reform,” Rhee told a crowd of about 75 […]
Posted inNews
A senator struggles for an answer on capital punishment
Last year, a visit with Dr. William Petit persuaded Sen. Edith Prague, D-Columbia, to block the repeal of the death penalty.This year, Prague had another visitor: James Tillman. Tillman, of East Hartford, spent more than 16 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit before he was exonerated by DNA evidence in 2006. He […]
Posted inNews
A center of collaboration on education reform rejects Malloy
New Haven — New Haven teachers were apprehensive when they backed a new evaluation system three years ago, but they were not angry. As New Haven Superintendent Reginald Mayo said Tuesday night, “It has been done through collaboration … We are doing it through consensus.” The model — which led to 2 percent of the […]
Posted inNews
Transportation bill helps Connecticut – a little
Washington — With the help of Connecticut lawmakers, the Senate approved a two-year $109 billion transportation bill Wednesday that state officials say may help them move forward with priority projects. Distributed to the states by formula, the money authorized for Connecticut would increase slightly — by about $10 million — over what the state has […]