Time running short for public financing

To understand the political challenges involved in trying to save the Citizens’ Election Program, imagine the state’s embattled system of publicly financing campaigns as a house on fire. Gov. M. Jodi Rell is desperately trying to dial 911. The Senate’s Democratic majority isn’t sure the fire is that bad. And some leading Republicans hope it […]

Following controversy over a large rate increase sought by a health insurer last summer, a group of state officials is pushing for a new law requiring greater scrutiny of such changes–with opposition from both the industry and the commissioner in charge of regulating it. The bill before the legislature’s Insurance and Real Estate Committee would […]

There’s a $515 million hole in this year’s budget, and four months left in which to fill it. The question now percolating around the Capitol is, will Gov. M. Jodi Rell try to raid next year’s budget to plug the gap? It’s not a new idea: Since Rell and the legislature’s Democratic majority deadlocked on […]

In the University of Connecticut student newspaper last week, columnist Jason Ortiz struck an increasingly familiar note of skepticism about higher education as he decried the growing burden of tuition hikes. UConn should not “balance bloated budgets on the backs of working young people . . . ,” Ortiz wrote as university trustees were about […]

With the economy down, business interests have decided that the political environment is ripe for restricting the regulatory reach of the Department of Environmental Protection. “There is a sense this is a time, an opportunity to reset the ground rules,” said Eric J. Brown, who lobbies on environmental issues for the Connecticut Business and Industry […]

At $5.65 an hour plus tips, the restaurant job Klajd Kovaci works nights and weekends doesn’t do much to ease the pain of the $530 tuition and fee increase the University of Connecticut approved Thursday. “When I’m looking at paying $5,000 each semester . . . and hearing that it’s only going to go up […]

They are a hardy bunch, these political explorers. Dan Malloy has been out there the longest, opening an exploratory campaign for governor on Feb. 3, 2009.  After 54 weeks crisscrossing the state, is he really uncertain about his plans? If you ask, he might give a knowing smile, but he is legally obligated to say […]

Along with concerns about technology, traffic jams, enforcement and lost federal grants, a new question is popping up in the debate over whether to restore tolls to Connecticut’s highways. Gubernatorial candidates, legislators and transportation advocates point to a series of controversial fuel tax hikes ordered five years ago, and the hundreds of millions of dollars […]

Can a coalition of bikers, Chris Dodd haters, gun owners, Ron Paul lovers, tax protesters, Libertarians and a preacher or two find happiness under the umbrella of constitutional fundamentalism? Connecticut is about to find out. Elements of the Tea Party, the ultimate outsiders group, are moving toward the mainstream, trying to channel an edgy energy […]

University of Connecticut undergraduates will face a 5.4 percent increase in tuition and fees next fall, university trustees decided Thursday after hearing a mixed message from students and faculty. The $530 increase, which brings total tuition and fees to $10,416, is slightly less than the 5.8 percent hike UConn officials had proposed a week ago. […]

Democratic chair Nancy DiNardo, Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz and attorney Wesley Horton at Thurday’s news conference By going to court to resolve whether she meets the minimum statutory qualifications for attorney general, Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz conceded Thursday that the question has endangered her candidacy. “It is a significant question in […]

Connecticut will not receive a single dime from the $1.5 billion federal stimulus money available for transportation projects, which has a Transportation Committee member angry. “I’m dumbfounded. I can’t believe we didn’t receive even one of the awards.” said Rep. David McCluskey, D-West Hartford. The Connecticut Department of Transportation applied for $329 million for 13 separate projects […]

Can a coalition of bikers, Chris Dodd haters, gun owners, Ron Paul lovers, tax protesters, Libertarians and a preacher or two find happiness under the umbrella of constitutional fundamentalism? Connecticut is about to find out. Elements of the Tea Party, the ultimate outsiders group, are moving toward the mainstream, trying to channel an edgy energy […]

Despite the fiscal crisis confronting the state, a legislative committee has decided to hold a public hearing on a bill that would share the state’s sales tax with municipalities that participate in regional cooperation. “The state right now does not give towns many options for revenue and this is something they have been asking for […]

Just 16, and off to college? That could become an option for high school sophomores in Connecticut, one of eight states named Wednesday to pilot test a rigorous new system, including board examinations, that would mark a dramatic shift in the traditional notion of high school education. By fall of 2011, those states will begin […]