Washington — Hoping to stir public outrage against a rival, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum are brawling over who is responsible for the most “earmarks,” special projects inserted into spending bills. While the presidential hopefuls portray earmarks as a corrupting influence on politics and a waste of taxpayer funds, Connecticut lawmakers, among others, are taking […]

The state is poised to open its employee health plan to municipalities and school districts, a controversial concept long advocated by labor unions, town officials and Democratic legislators. A law passed last year required that the state offer coverage to non-state public employers beginning in January, but it was delayed after Office of Policy and […]

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s controversial “secure communities” is going live in Connecticut on Wednesday, despite reservations by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy about the wisdom of turning local police officers into enforcement agents on immigration cases. Connecticut did not join New York, Massachusetts and Illinois in trying to opt out of the program, but […]

The solar industry in Connecticut and around the nation had been waiting years for what happened last Tuesday: The board of directors of the Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority approved a new residential solar incentive program. Then the solar folks saw the details. Instead of a long-term plan to help jumpstart an industry that […]

The legislature’s Republican minority outlined an agenda Friday that is a critique of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and a statement of principles for the 2012 election, not a plan designed to win favor with a Democratic governor and legislative majority. House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr. of Norwalk and Senate Minority Leader John P. […]

Connecticut’s economic recovery should continue this year, although a new study warns that a host of wild cards, from sovereign debt in Europe to the bioscience initiative in Farmington, could accelerate growth even more — or leave the Nutmeg State’s productivity lagging behind the nation’s. The Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis also found that a […]

Seven of every 10 students who enroll in the state’s community colleges are diverted into non-credit remedial courses to prepare them for college-level courses. Several members of the legislature’s Higher Education Committee equate these remedial courses to the colleges’ Bermuda Triangle: Only 13.6 percent of the full-time students who take them will earn an associate’s […]

Are speed traps about safety or revenue? It’s been a question since the first cop wrote the first speeding ticket, and it was the challenge Thursday for advocates of a high-tech version of the old speed trap: automated red-light cameras. Legislative advocates of the automated ticketing system said safety was their only concern as they […]

The Office of Policy and Management this afternoon backed off its proposal in the revised fiscal 2013 budget to have the state’s major arts and cultural organizations compete for the money they have traditionally received as an earmark. Instead, Secretary Benjamin Barnes indicated in a statement that the Department of Economic and Community Development will develop […]

The state’s clean elections watchdog agency warned Wednesday that while it has enough funding to provide public grants for this fall’s state elections, it lacks the resources to monitor how candidates qualify for and spend the money. Though a final report hasn’t been completed yet, the State Elections Enforcement Commission expects to notify lawmakers later […]

Mashantucket – The economic and political clout of the state’s two tribal casinos was amply demonstrated Wednesday by the sight of Connecticut’s top officials on a casino stage to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Foxwoods Resort Casino. The distant, soft singing of slot machines could be heard faintly inside the darkened Fox Theater as Gov. […]