Get ready for yet another “most expensive election in history,” Kim Barker and Marian Wang say at ProPublica–this one fueled with massive amounts of money coming from “more players with more opportunities to hide the source.” Encouraged by recent court decisions, Republicans and Democrats both have been raising vast sums from wealthy donors freed from […]
Super-PACs and dark money: A guide to the new world of campaign finance
Posted inNews
DCF reports placing more children with family members
The state Department of Children and Families, which has been criticized for failing to place children removed from their homes with relatives, has started to reverse the trend, according to figures released Monday. Four months ago, just 14 percent of the state’s 4,700 foster children lived with relatives. That figure has increased to 17 percent, […]
Posted inNews
Blumenthal pushes for investigation into foreclosure practices
He’s Sen. Richard Blumenthal now, but Connecticut’s former attorney general sounded like his old self Monday when he came to the state Capitol to talk about the need to investigate questionable home foreclosure practices. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (l), Janet Driscoll and Jeff Gentes (r) Blumenthal said he and other lawmakers have urged the Office […]
Posted inNews
Health care for the poor vulnerable in budget talks
WASHINGTON — Big debt-reduction deal or little deal, Medicaid is the one entitlement program that’s almost certain to be on the chopping block as the White House and congressional leaders look for ways to trim federal spending. The Republican’s decision on Saturday to step away from a $4 trillion budget-and-debt proposal, opting for a smaller […]
Posted inNews
Concession deal is dead, but SustiNet rumors live on
The tentative concession deal negotiated between Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration and state employee unions is dead. But suspicions it was linked the SustiNet plan to create state-run insurance live on, complicating chances of striking a new deal to avert up to 6,500 layoffs. One element of the rumors about SustiNet is easy to debunk: […]
Posted inEducation
Implementation of education reforms passed last year will have to wait
A gamut of education reforms passed last year in the state’s attempt to land federal Race to the Top money will have to wait two more years to be implemented, as Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has signed a bill delaying most of the initiatives because of the costs. “No one disagrees that we need to […]
Posted inPolitics
The Hotline on Tong
The National Journal’s Hotline looks at U.S. Senate hopeful William Tong’s “compelling personal narrative” and the genesis of his one-time nickname, “balloon boy,” among other things. Check out the story here.
Posted inPolitics
With veto, Malloy chastises Hartford delegation
By vetoing a bill that would have shifted control over the planning of state land around the state Capitol from the state to the city Hartford, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy made clear that he doesn’t appreciate surprise efforts to limit executive authority. “I object to this reduction of executive input and authority into the development […]
Posted inHealth, Money
Health insurance exchanges, explained
The health insurance exchange is one of the most important concepts in federal health reform, and Julie Appleby of Kaiser Health News offers a helpful primer on the exchanges, with details on how they are expected to work, who will be allowed to buy coverage through them, and what flexibility states have in designing their […]
Posted inCT Viewpoints
State takeover of Bridgeport schools essential for students’ futures
Our greatest asset in the City of Bridgeport is our young students. These students need – and deserve – the best that the city has to offer. Our students must come first. With this in mind, Bridgeport’s Board of Education has called for a state takeover of the school system. The decision to request the […]
Posted inEducation
State takeover of Bridgeport schools essential for students’ futures
Our greatest asset in the City of Bridgeport is our young students. These students need – and deserve – the best that the city has to offer. Our students must come first. With this in mind, Bridgeport’s Board of Education has called for a state takeover of the school system. The decision to request the […]
Posted inNews
Everything you ever wanted to know about redistricting
Connecticut’s decennial redistricting of General Assembly and Congressional districts seems likely to be fairly tame compared with some states–Texas already has 13 lawsuits pending. But the process has profound effects on politics and government. It also can be mystifying to the average person. Professor Justin Levitt, an expert on election law at Loyola Law School […]
Posted inNews
Rell’s affordable health plan may soon be unaffordable
A piece of Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s legacy is in jeopardy: Beginning in September, the state will substantially increase the premiums for new and recent enrollees in the Charter Oak Health Plan, which Rell started three years ago as an attempt to offer affordable insurance to the uninsured. Mark Schaefer, director of medical care administration […]
Posted inNews
GOP chastises Malloy for ‘non-essential’ projects
Republicans decried more than $28 million in financing released Friday by the State Bond Commission for “non-essential” projects, including new beach sand for Milford and sports field restrooms in West Hartford, at the request of the administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. Rep. Sean J. Williams of Watertown and Sen. Andrew W. Roraback of Goshen, […]
Posted inEducation
To mixed reviews, DCF curtailing out-of-state placements
Frank Gregory, the director of treatment at CCP: 'We are getting it ready now for more children.' For years, the Department of Children and Families has left beds unfilled at its two psychiatric facilities while sending hundreds of children out-of-state, an expensive and criticized practice. This summer, DCF is bringing some of those children home […]