Senate pulls plug on energy bill for tonight

The Senate now appears likely to postpone until tomorrow a debate of a major energy bill. With a veto threat from the Rell administration, the proponents of the bill have been trying to shore up support by negotiating changes. Senate staff now says the bill will not go forward tonight. The Senate Democratic majority will […]

The House has rejected the Senate’s attempt to water down a bill requiring that student athletes suspected of suffering a concussion sit out for 24 hours and get a licensed medical professional to clear them before returning. The Senate last week approved an amendment essentially undoing the original intent of the bill by giving coaches […]

For the first time in 20 months, state government’s finances are officially in the black. State Comptroller Nancy Wyman reported this afternoon that Connecticut is on pace to finish the fiscal year on June 30 with a $105 million surplus. The change from negative to positive was due largely to a $323 million deficit-mitigation plan […]

A bill aimed at improving the state’s vocational-technical schools is headed for Gov. M. Jodi Rell‘s desk. Rep. Andrew W. Fleischmann, D-West Hartford, co-chairman of the Education Committee said, the bill “addresses all of the shortcomings” at the state’s vo-tech schools. The bill passed unanimously in the House today and in the Senate last week. […]

The House voted unanimously today to put a searchable database of the state’s checkbook online for public review. The site will mirror a new website launched by a conservative think tank earlier this year. Proponents say it is necessary for the legislature’s non-partisan budget office to launch its own site because of inaccuracies on the […]

NEW BRITAIN — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ned Lamont introduced Mary Glassman today as his running mate and partner in their campaign to elect a Democratic governor for the first time in 24 years. “Mary’s not going to be just a great lieutenant governor, she’s going to be my full partner as we go forward to […]

Today the General Assembly begins a three-day countdown to its midnight Wednesday adjournment with a calendar crowded with bills deemed largely irrelevant to broad constituencies. Exceptions include an ambitious energy bill, education reforms, efforts to streamline environmental permitting and a budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, a chore that brought key legislators and budget […]

Minority Republicans are pushing for legislation to establish a procedure for investigating misconduct complaints against state senators – a move critics say could stall important bills as the legislature nears its deadline. In an attempt to assure their proposal will be heard and debated, Senate Republicans have added it as an amendment to more than […]

On paper, Gov. M. Jodi Rell and the legislature’s Democratic majority are very close to a tentative plan to balance the next state budget. In reality, though, one sticking point remains, and according to sources close to both sides, it is arguably the most controversial item in the preliminary, $18.93 billion budget adopted last September […]

Jabbing at his independently wealthy opponent and thanking his base of 4,000 donors, Democrat Dan Malloy stood on the State Capitol steps Sunday and announced he is the first candidate for governor to qualify for public financing. On Monday, that opponent, Ned Lamont, will name a running mate, Mary Glassman, who strongly supported public financing […]

The chief rivals for the Democratic nomination for governor are about to hit different milestones as Dannel P. Malloy qualifies for public financing and Ned Lamont names a running mate. Malloy will announce Sunday that he has become the first gubernatorial candidate to qualify for public financing under the voluntary Citizens’ Election Program. Lamont intends […]

Republican legislators’ hopes for a pre-campaign season debate on the mammoth-sized deficit facing state government in 14 months were dashed this weekend, prompting GOP leaders to accuse Gov. M. Jodi Rell of ducking the problem. And while majority Democrats in the General Assembly dismissed the minority’s objections as mere posturing, the Republican governor took a […]

Two jobs bills are headed for Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s desk, one she has promised to sign and the other she will veto. Rell says she will sign a green jobs-creation bill overwhelmingly passed Saturday by the House and Senate. But she will veto a bill passed early Sunday that creates a tax on bonuses defined as “excessive” […]

The gulf between Gov. M. Jodi Rell and fellow Republicans in the legislature tore open this afternoon as House and Senate GOP leaders accused the lame duck governor of abandoning any effort to alleviate the multi-billion-dollar deficit she is on pace to hand off to her successor next year. Rell’s office declined any immediate comment, but […]

A bill to cancel more than $420 million in planned state government borrowing, including funds for dozens of small projects in state legislators’ home districts, is now on its way to Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s desk. The House of Representatives voted 145-0 Saturday to adopt the measure, which passed unanimously in the Senate on Friday and […]