He first attended the dinner as a child, tagging along with his father to see the likes of Jack Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey. On Monday night, U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd stood before a Jefferson-Jackson-Bailey Dinner for the last time as an elected official. “This evening obviously is bittersweet,” Dodd told a crowd of more […]

A statewide council of educators, business leaders and civic officials pledged Monday to build stronger ties among education systems from preschool to graduate school, but their task will be daunting, a survey of other states suggests. In a ceremony in Hartford, members of the state’s P-20 Council signed a pledge of cooperation to turn around […]

Backers of a bill to require insurers to pay for items related to medical conditions, such as prosthetics, wigs and colostomy supplies, hope to win a veto-proof majority for the measure now that they have a price tag for it. “It’s 72 cents,” said Sen. Edith Prague, D-Columbia, referring to the monthly cost per policyholder. […]

Lawmakers decided not to approve a bill that would have required seat belts on every school bus by 2024 and instead voted to study the costs. Rep. John Geragosian, D-New Britain, co-chairman of the Appropriations Committee, said a study needs to be completed first because there are too many discrepancies for what the requirement would […]

A national advocacy group notified Connecticut on Monday that it once again is in contempt of federal court orders dictating the state’s treatment of vulnerable children. Children’s Rights, which represents children in a class-action suit filed against the state in 1989, suggested that the only remedy might be new management at the Department of Children […]

Among the top three Republican candidates, former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons matches up strongest against Democratic Attorney General Richard Blumenthal in the race for U.S. Senate, a new poll found. A Rasmussen Reports poll conducted April 7 and released today shows Blumenthal leading Simmons, 52 percent to 38 percent. A month ago, the same poll […]

A deal has been struck between House and Senate Democratic leaders and Republican Governor M. Jodi Rell to help close the $371 million deficit projected for this fiscal year, House Speaker Christopher G. Donovan and Rell said today. “We agreed that pretty much, I mean 99.9 percent, we had a basis for an agreement. It’s […]

Republican Mark Zydanowicz, a businessman and National Guard veteran of Iraq, announced his candidacy today for the 1st Congressional District seat held by Democrat John B. Larson. With his first run for elective office, Zydanowicz is taking on a six-term incumbent in an overwhelmingly Democratic district that covers Hartford and 26 other communities. “I know […]

The statewide energy assistance program will run out of money at the end of the month if legislators fail to restore the nearly $2 million in funding that was cut, the head of the program says. “If we don’t get something soon then we won’t have money. It’s sad,” said Patricia Wrice, executive director of […]

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley issued a statement today that he raised $338,810 in the first quarter and has $1.5 million on hand, but his report wasn’t yet available on the state web site. Oz Griebel, another Republican, said last week he had raised $300,000 and had $250,000 on hand. All candidates must file their […]

When this legislative session comes to an end, Connecticut’s Clean Water Fund could be among the few winners – on track right now to gain a net $15 million in state bond funding. But with a federal deadline to clean up the amount of nitrogen discharged into Long Island Sound only a few years away […]

With a close Republican ally and a liberal Democrat who campaigned for his defeat in 2006, independent Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman expects to introduce revised climate-change legislation next week. “My guess is we don’t take it up in the Senate until sometime in June, but I think we have a real shot at it,” Lieberman […]

It’s too late for the state to avoid having to deal with the largest budget deficit in Connecticut history when the next legislature and governor take office in January. But while that problem is inevitable, some state officials are trying to build some new fiscal guardrails into Connecticut’s budget system to at least reduce the […]

When lawmakers revised a bill on high school reform recently, they inserted a provision that jeopardizes the state’s bid to win millions of dollars in federal stimulus money, some state officials believe. The revised bill calls for expanded high school graduation requirements–but only if the state wins the federal grant. That contingency could prove costly […]

Democrat Juan Figueroa said Sunday he will end his exploratory campaign and become a declared candidate for governor by the end of the month. “I feel good about what we have been able to put together,” said Figueroa, who intends to bypass the Democratic convention and qualify for a primary by petitioning. Figueroa said he […]