A year ago Meredith Inkel faced a difficult decision: Go on working at a low-wage job so she would qualify for welfare or go back to school and be cut off from the state’s cash-assistance program. The single mother of six children decided to go back to school so she could eventually get a better […]
Bills aim to expand education opportunities for welfare recipients
Posted inEducation
Senate approves bill waiving charter school teacher certification
The state Senate has approved a bill that waives the certification requirements for many of the teachers and administrators in the state’s charter schools. “This is a new age,” said Sen. Andrea Stillman, co-chairwoman of the Education Committee, adding that just because a teacher isn’t certified, “It doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t know how to […]
Posted inHealth
A growing Asian-American population faces health challenges
President Obama, in 2009, officially declared the month of May as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. May is a time to appreciate the culture, traditions, history, and status of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. According to the 2010 Census, the estimated number of U.S. residents of Asian descent is […]
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Senate passes first state mandate for paid sick days
With strong support from Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, the Senate voted 18 to 17 Wednesday to pass the nation’s first state mandate on private employers to offer paid sick days. It now goes to the House, where passage is expected. The bill, which passed with only one Republican vote, has a limited reach, applying to […]
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Third round of Race to the Top: Early childhood education
With Wednesday’s announcement of a new round of federal Race to the Top grants, this one aimed at early childhood education, Connecticut education officials say they plan to pitch a new package of reforms and hope they have better luck this time around in landing the money. “We better start filling out that application now,” […]
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Blumenthal’s first bill aims at improving services for veterans
WASHINGTON–Sen. Richard Blumenthal introduced a sweeping veterans’ assistance bill today, making his first solo legislative foray on an issue that has earned him both deep constituent support and intense political heat in the past. Blumenthal’s first official piece of legislation is wide-ranging, designed to tackle four intractable issues: unemployment, health care, homelessness and the bureaucratic […]
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Clean Energy Fund gets a new leader, and perhaps a new mission
It will be something of a homecoming on Tuesday at the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund when Bryan Garcia becomes its new president. But it’s looking more and more like the fund he worked at in several capacities from 2000 to 2006 is about to undergo a substantial transformation. The Fund was founded in 2000 to […]
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Senate bill would merge rehab services, launch new hospital tax
A second measure designed to streamline state government advanced late Tuesday as the Senate voted to merge several agencies for the disabled and a rehab program for injured workers into a new social services bureau. The legislation also freezes general Medicaid rates for nursing homes and care facilities for the developmentally disabled, suspends cost-of-living adjustments […]
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Some in Congress growing restive over U.S. involvement in Libya
WASHINGTON–Sen. Joseph Lieberman was among the most vocal proponents of U.S. military action in Libya. Rep. John Larson was one of the first to raise sharp questions about that mission. As the Libyan conflict now stretches past the two-month mark, the two men agree on at least one thing: Congress needs to make its voice […]
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Bill to avoid another Election Day fiasco heads for governor’s desk
A bill aimed at preventing a repeat of last year’s Election Day fiasco, when polling places in Bridgeport and a half dozen other communities ran out of ballots, is headed for the governor’s desk. The bill approved by the state House of Representatives in a 117-26 vote requires local registrars to inform the Secretary of the State […]
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Public employees everywhere facing changes in health benefits
It’s not just Connecticut: Public employees across the country are facing changes in their health benefits as strapped states and municipalities try to balance their budgets, Melissa Maynard reports at Stateline.org. The changes range from small scale–Oregon workers will not longer be covered for wart and bunion removal–to more significant changes such as Connecticut’s proposed […]
Posted inEducation
Adamowski isn’t seeking state education post
Outgoing Hartford School Superintendent Steven Adamowski says he’s not a candidate to become the state’s next education commissioner. “I am not an applicant,” he said Wednesday at the State Capitol. The state’s top education job has been vacant since former Commissioner Mark McQuillan unexpectedly resigned in January. Adamowski has been one of the people talked […]
Posted inHealth
Poll: Many oppose cuts, major changes to Medicaid
Efforts to change Medicare have sparked a backlash, and a new poll indicates that many Americans also oppose changes to Medicaid, the entitlement program for the poor and disabled. The opposition to cutting Medicaid spending or significantly changing the program could stem in part from the program’s widespread reach, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, […]
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Democrats’ new campaign theme? ‘Medicare, Medicare, Medicare’
Even before the results were in for New York’s special congressional election, Rep. John Larson was crowing about the outcome for Democrats. “This will be an incredible event for us,” Larson said Tuesday morning, as voters in that state’s 26th District were headed to the polls. “We should not be in a position to win […]
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Politico: Lieberman grooming GOP Senate freshmen on foreign policy
Is Sen. Joseph Lieberman trying to spread his conservative foreign policy gospel before he retires? Politico reports this morning that the Connecticut independent is mentoring a group of freshman Republican senators on defense and foreign policy issues, giving them hawkish advice and counsel. Not surprisingly, Lieberman’s press office sent it out as a “must read” […]