As deadline nears for cleaning Sound, added funding unlikely to be enough

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 […]

Leaders of the state legislature’s Democratic majority reached a tentative deal late Friday afternoon to close the $371 million deficit projected for this fiscal year, Senate President Pro Tem Donald E. Williams Jr., D-Brooklyn, said, adding the agreement reflects a new plan submitted by Gov. M. Jodi Rell. House Democratic Caucus spokesman Douglas Whiting also […]

Leaders of the state legislature’s Democratic majority reached a tentative deal late this afternoon to close the $371 million deficit projected for this fiscal year, Senate President Pro Tem Donald E. Williams Jr., D-Brooklyn, said, adding the agreement also reflects a new plan submitted by Gov. M. Jodi Rell. House Democratic Caucus spokesman Douglas Whiting […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]