Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz spent 10 hours over three days answering questions about her qualifications to be attorney general in a videotaped deposition, admitting she never has tried a case or appeared in court as a lawyer. A video of the deposition was released Thursday. One of the key portions is an 8-minute […]
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Lamont starts TV campaign with a nod to 2006
The first commercial of Ned Lamont’s gubernatorial campaign reminds voters of his antiwar challenge of Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman in 2006 and casts him as business savvy and “fiercely independent.” With a 60-second spot that goes on the air Friday, Lamont joins the Republican front-runner, Tom Foley, in reaching for the attention of Connecticut’s television […]
A month later, candidate Blumenthal finds his voice
Richard Blumenthal showed signs of finding his voice Thursday as a candidate for U.S. Senate by answering the question that flummoxed him a month ago: As a crusading attorney general for nearly 20 years, has he been bad for business, discouraging investment and fueling unemployment? Standing at a forum sponsored by some of the companies […]
New administration plan revives talks with legislators to reduce 2010 deficit
With just 12 weeks left in the fiscal year, Gov. M. Jodi Rell and the Democrat-controlled legislature moved closer Thursday to agreement on eliminating the current $371 million deficit–without tax hikes–based on a compromise plan offered Monday by Rell, sources close to the administration and the Democratic caucuses said. But those sources also said Democrats […]
Blumenthal raises $1.87 million
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal’s U.S. Senate campaign will report next week it has raised $1.87 million from 2,300 donors since Blumenthal became a candidate January 6. Mike Cacace, Blumenthal’s campaign chairman, said in an email Thursday that the campaign has nearly $1.6 million cash on hand. The first quarter filing deadline for Senate candidates is April […]
Rell pledges veto of proposal to tap electric bills for next year’s budget
Gov. M. Jodi Rell pledged Thursday to veto a bill that would require Connecticut consumers to pay $1.8 billion on their electric bills over the next decade to balance the last budget of her tenure – even though her budget office released a similar plan in February. Rep. Cameron C. Staples, D-New Haven and co-chairman […]
Bysiewicz deposition: ‘Have you actually ever been in court?’
Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz spent 10 hours over three days answering questions about her qualifications to be attorney general in a videotaped deposition, admitting she never has tried a case or appeared in court as a lawyer. A video of the deposition was released Thursday. One of the key portions is an 8-minute […]
As senator, Blumenthal promises to fight for insurance industry he sued as AG
Richard Blumenthal promised today to fight in the U.S. Senate for an insurance industry he has sued repeatedly as Connecticut’s attorney general. “They’re reasonable and responsible employers,” Blumenthal said. “I would fight for them to recognize their needs in Washington.” Blumenthal made his remarks at a business-sponsored forum in Hartford attended by a half-dozen candidates […]
Securitization leaves Rell in a quandary
According to her Democratic critics, Gov. M. Jodi Rell has spent much of the past 15 months dodging difficult budget decisions while piling up deficits for the next governor to close. But when a legislative committee recommended Tuesday that Connecticut consumers pay $1.8 billion on their monthly electric bills over the next decade to balance […]
State ed board avoids Hartford’s seniority ‘morass’
The State Board of Education backed away Wednesday from a labor dispute over seniority for Hartford schoolteachers, avoiding for the moment an issue that is part of a volatile debate over school quality. Is seniority a hard-won union right that protects experienced teachers against indiscriminate layoffs or arbitrary dismissals? Or is it a roadblock to […]
Rell joins legislators as gubernatorial race target
With an anemic 28-percent approval rating, the General Assembly has been a handy target in the race for governor. Republican candidates have blamed the Democratic majority for Connecticut’s stagnant economy and its staggering deficit projections, and some Democrats have mildly chimed in. Now, with Gov. M. Jodi Rell and legislators struggling over how to even […]
House votes to extend health insurance for unemployed
The state House of Representatives voted unanimously Wednesday for a bill that would extend group health insurance benefits for the unemployed from 18 to 30 months under the state’s “COBRA” law. It now goes to the Senate. The federal COBRA law, named for the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, allows workers at businesses with 20 […]
New poll shows Foley leading Democratic rivals
A new poll shows Republican businessman Tom Foley taking single-digit leads over the top two Democratic candidates for governor, Ned Lamont and Dannel P. Malloy. The Rasmussen Reports’ telephone survey of 500 likely voters has Foley leading Lamont, 44 percent to 37 percent, and besting Malloy, 44 percent to 35 percent. In February, Foley trailed Lamont, […]
State Board of Education won’t step into teacher seniority flap
The State Board of Education backed away Wednesday from a volatile dispute over seniority for Hartford schoolteachers facing potential layoffs. The board decided not to step into the dispute, urging the Hartford Board of Education and the district’s teachers’ union to attempt to resolve the issue themselves. The Hartford school board last month asked the […]
Despite opposition, Rocky Hill public health lab gets funding
The State Bond Comission today approved funding for a new public health laboratory in Rocky Hill–an action opposed by neighbors and area legislators. “It should be in a more isolated location,” said Sen. Paul R. Doyle, D-Wethersfield. “If it’s not OK for New Britain”–one of a dozen other sites considered– “then why is it OK […]
