The co-chairmen of the legislature’s Government Administration and Elections Committee called Friday afternoon for the state’s elections watchdog panel to reconsider its plans to name former Middletown Mayor Sebastian Giuliano as its new executive director. Rep. Russell Morin, D-Wethersfield, and Sen. Gayle Slossberg, D-Milford, told the State Elections Enforcement Commission by letter that Giuliano does […]
Legislators urge SEEC to reject Giuliano as new director
Posted inNews
Special master recommends keeping New Britain in 5th CD
The state Supreme Court’s special master on redistricting recommended to the court today that it adopt congressional districts that are close to the existing borders, rejecting Republican calls for broader changes. The maps filed by Nathaniel Persily, a Columbia law professor named as special master after a legislative redistricting commission deadlocked over congressional borders, would […]
Posted inNews
Malloy to push to ease restrictions on alcohol sales and pricing
With an announcement timed to make the Sunday newspapers, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy intends to propose a series of changes Saturday in the state’s restrictive alcohol laws, including a repeal of minimum pricing and the ban on Sunday sales. Administration officials say Malloy will explain his proposal in Enfield, one of the border towns where […]
Posted inNews
State’s failure to appeal health insurance denials cost millions
Connecticut’s child welfare agency spends $16.4 million a year on mental and behavioral health services, a sum that translates to about $30,000 for each child. The problem, says the Department of Children and Families, is that one of every five children has private health insurance that is not covering what their doctors say is needed, leaving […]
Posted inEducation, Health
How influential was UConn prof’s red wine research?
The charges revealed this week of scientific misconduct by a UConn Health Center professor known for his work on the beneficial properties of a substance in red wine have prompted more than a few people to ask whether having a glass or two should still make them feel virtuous. Dipak K. Das, a tenured professor, […]
Posted inEducation
Ed chief blows through charter school deadline
Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor’s long history with the state’s largest network of charter schools have drawn some concerns about whether that would translate to his supporting an influx in new charter school seats. Well, it looks like education circles will just have to wait to see, as Pryor has blown through the deadline to accept […]
Posted inPolitics
Connecticut lawmakers urging Congress to be nice
They may be swimming against a very strong tide in this belligerent Congress, but some Connecticut lawmakers are urging their colleagues to be civil. And to help promote civility, independent Sen. Joe Lieberman and Rep. Chris Murphy, D-5th District, are urging their colleagues to sit with someone from the rival party when President Obama addresses […]
Posted inEducation
Education Week grades the Nutmeg state
First the good news. The chances of a Connecticut student succeeding when they leave high school are among the best in the nation, and the state spends more for each student than almost every other state after factoring in the region’s higher cost of living, according to a national report card released Thursday by Education […]
Posted inEducation
Foley’s back (sort of)
Tom Foley’s back, and the public policy group he formed after losing a close gubernatorial race is focusing on jobs and education. Foley’s Connecticut Policy Institute — which is described as a nonpartisan think tank — in the last two days has asserted it wants to be a part of the discussion as Gov. Dannel […]
Posted inNews
Pension fund gets a boost from concessions — and rebounding stock market
A new report shows that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy got the budget savings he was hoping for from state employee pension concessions — albeit with an assist from a rebounding Wall Street. A preliminary analysis from pension fund actuaries released Thursday shows that Connecticut should contribute $926 million to the fund this fiscal year — […]
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Murphy reaches $3.5 million in fundraising for U.S. Senate
In a bid to establish himself as the Democratic frontrunner, Chris Murphy today reported raising $720,000 for his U.S. Senate campaign in the last quarter of 2011, giving him a total of $3.5 million since entering the race early last year. Murphy, a three-term congressman trying to be seen in Connecticut and Washington as as […]
Posted inNews
Former Middletown mayor to oversee elections enforcement
For the first time, the state’s elections watchdog agency has chosen a politician and an outsider to lead its operations, tapping Sebastian N. Giuliano, a Republican fresh off a losing re-election campaign for mayor of Middletown. His appointment will not be formally approved by the State Elections Enforcement Commission until Jan. 18, but all five […]
Posted inMoney
At 4:03 p.m. on a Thursday, DECD ‘launches broad new marketing initiative’
Yes, the state does need marketing help. A two-year, $22 million marketing campaign to establish a “brand” for Connecticut is something important to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, but the Department of Economic and Community Development chose to “launch” the effort with a late-in-the-day email blast to reporters today. The campaign will led by Chowder Inc., a New […]
Posted inPolitics
Going to the dogs
Sen. Richard Blumenthal has come to the aid of heroic pooches. At a Thursday news conference in Hartford, Blumenthal, a Democrat, rolled out a bill that would cut the red tape involved in adopting a military dog. These dogs are regarded by the Pentagon as “equipment,” requiring potential adopters to bear the cost of transporting […]
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Health
Of caps and emissions and a program named Reggie
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative — the first-and-only-in-the-nation carbon dioxide trading and reduction program — has reached its first three-year compliance and evaluation cycle with mixed results. Total emissions from more than 200 plants in the 10 participating Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states were 34 percent below the cap at the end of 2011, according to preliminary calculations by […]