Two top state lawmakers are asking why the University of Connecticut is not included in the governor’s plan to merge the state’s other public colleges and universities under a single governing board. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s proposal would merge the Connecticut State University Systems’ four regional universities, the dozen community colleges, the online Charter Oak […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s new budget leaves the state’s six legislative commissions designed to serve specific ethnic and other demographic groups pondering their futures. While Malloy didn’t recommend any consolidation or elimination of these panels, he said during a recent interview that merging all six into one makes sense. And while the governor’s budget was […]

Tom Scott hung back Monday as Len Suzio, the upset Republican winner of a special election in Democratic Meriden, took the oath Monday as a state senator. Scott, the manager of Suzio’s campaign, remains the self-styled outsider. Scott, who clashed with plenty of Republicans as a GOP state senator and leader of an anti-income tax […]

The co-chair of the state’s budget-writing committee is proposing requiring the state’s poorest school districts provide full-day kindergarten and pre-kindergarten for all low-income students by July 2013 — with the state and communities sharing the bill. Sen. Toni Harp, D-New Haven, said early education is key to helping close the education achievement gap that has […]

WASHINGTON–How does the percolating showdown over federal spending compare to the one in 1995, which resulted in a government shutdown? The fiscal problems are worse, the proposed solutions less sweeping–and the outcome is similarly unpredictable and volatile. That’s the assessment, at least, from two former Connecticut lawmakers–one Republican and one Democrat–who served during that 1995 […]

A joint investigation by the attorney general’s office and the state auditors found no cause to take action against former Gov. M. Jodi Rell or her staff in connection with controversial polling advice she obtained from a University of Connecticut professor, Ken Dautrich In a letter today to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, the attorney general […]

Treasurer Denise L. Nappier remains hospitalized today after seeking help Friday for what her staff described only as “a hyper-tension-related illness.” The treasurer’s office issued a brief statement today saying that Nappier sought treatment Friday afternoon at Hartford Hospital. “She is resting comfortably and handling work-related matters as necessary,” the statement said. “Treasurer Nappier asks […]

In addition to closing a budget gap of close to $2 billion, Massachusetts is tackling another tough fiscal issue: reining in the costs of its first-in-the-nation universal health insurance law. Five years after the law, similar in many ways to the federal reform measure, was enacted in 2006, 98 percent of adults and nearly 100 […]

With deep markdowns and a coupon, I bought two brand-name sport coats at Macy’s over the weekend for $89. If Gov. Dannel P. Malloy had his way, those purchases would have been taxed at their original prices of more than $400. That would mean a sales tax of about $24 — or 26 percent of […]

When it comes to balancing state budgets there is a right way and a wrong way. There is agreement across the political spectrum that all states face serious financial problems. We must find a way to lower the operating costs of government, just as companies have had to do for the past decade and longer. […]

WASHINGTON–Gov. Dannel P. Malloy made an in-person pitch to top White House officials Friday for federal help with two major state projects: a $1 billion high-speed rail line and the planned expansion of the UConn Health Center’s John Dempsey Hospital. On the high-speed rail line, which would run from New Haven through Hartford to Springfield, […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget is being picked apart, in hearing rooms at the state Capitol, on talk radio and the web, and in town hall meetings across Connecticut. But the real debate is about the essence of the man, not the details of his budget. Malloy: ‘I’m the new quantity here.’ Is the first […]

The Malloy administration says it’s fully committed to health reform, with work underway to meet the requirements of last year’s federal reform law and capture as much federal money as possible. But Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is taking a more cautious approach when it comes to SustiNet, the proposed state-run health plan that has in […]

Secretary of the State Denise Merrill today swore in five of the six winners of House races this week, then hurried upstairs to administer the oath to two of the three new senators. The Rev. Charlie Stallworth, who won a House seat in Bridgeport on Tuesday, is coming with a busload of parishoners and other […]