Rell asks CSU to reduce raises for chancellor and top officials

Gov. M. Jodi Rell asked Connecticut State University officials Friday to reduce pay raises granted this month to top managers, calling the raises “excessive” and “intolerable” in light of the state’s fiscal crisis. She also said she will order a study of the possible elimination of the central office of the 36,500-student system. The governor […]

Republican gubernatorial candidate Michael Fedele today began airing a commercial that criticizes the GOP front runner, Tom Foley, for making $20 million as his Georgia textile manufacturer, the Bibb Company, slid into bankruptcy. The ad is a frontal assault on the cornerstone of Foley’s campaign: his acumen as a businessman who became rich acquiring the […]

Linda McMahon did her best Thursday to ignore Rob Simmons’ re-emergence as an active candidate, but others tried to assess if there now is a real fight for the GOP U.S. Senate nomination. “I thought the primary was over, so I’m watching and waiting to see what happens,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, the chairman […]

The panel created by Gov. M. Jodi Rell to propose solutions to the huge funding gaps facing state retirement benefit programs fractured Thursday over the question of whether to recommend reductions to the current benefit system. Veteran state union leader Salvatore Luciano and Christine Shaw, director of government relations for state Treasurer Denise L. Nappier, both argued […]

Ned Lamont rolled out a new television ad today in which he is endorsed by Ted Kennedy Jr. The son of the late U.S. senator, Kennedy is a long-time Connecticut resident who has been mentioned as a potential candidate for public office. His father endorsed Lamont in his 2006 race for U.S. Senate. In the […]

Apart from the big-money races for governor and U.S. Senate, nearly a dozen major party candidates are vying for statewide office on the underticket, and in these contests, most Democrats are operating with far larger bank accounts than their Republican opponents. Their advantage is attributable to two factors; More Democrats are running their campaigns under […]

Gerry Garcia has qualified for $375,000 in public financing to run his campaign for secretary of the state. The State Election Enforcement Commission approved his application today, but only after investigating some last minute cash contributions that amounted to 40 percent of his $83,000 raised. “We investigate whenever there is a significant group of cash […]

As pay freezes expired this month for unionized faculty and staff at the Connecticut State University System, the university also ended a freeze for non-union administrators, against the wishes of Gov. M. Jodi Rell. By the time Rell issued a plea last week to hold the line on non-union salaries, CSU had already granted raises […]

When state legislators adopted a host of new tax and fee hikes last September, analysts estimated they would raise enough to cover about $700 million in projected revenue erosion tied to a slumping economy and provide another $250 million in extra funds to boot. But with the final calculation on the 2009-10 fiscal year almost […]

WASHINGTON–Under the new health care reform law, 76 percent of small businesses in Connecticut are now eligible for tax credits to help pay for health insurance, a benefit that will greatly expand access to health care, according to a new report this week from Families USA, a Washington-based consumer health care advocacy group. Not so, […]

For the second time since the Citizens’ Election Program was launched in 2008, participation in General Assembly primaries is higher than in previous years, and advocates say that’s proof that public campaign financing invigorates the system. But while the number of primary candidates has increased slightly from two years ago, the number seeking public financing […]

By one key measure, Rob Simmons has returned as an active, if unconventional, candidate for U.S. Senate, announcing he will resume advertising on television in coming days. But, of course, there is a twist to the new ad: Simmons reminds voters he is on the ballot for the Aug. 10 Republican primary, yet he never […]

The State Elections Enforcement Commission today unanimously approved a supplemental grant of $312,500 for Republican gubernatorial candidate Michael C. Fedele. A federal appeals court has ruled that the supplemental grants, which are triggered by an opponent’s spending, are unconstitutional, but the court has not directed the SEEC to stop the grants. The delay allows parties […]

WFSB and Connecticut Public Broadcasting are going ahead with plans for a Democratic gubernatorial debate on Aug. 3 – with or without Ned Lamont. All three Republican candidates have accepted an invitation to debate Aug. 4 at WFSB’s studios in Rocky Hill, but Dan Malloy is the only Democrat willing to appear on the 3rd. […]

The State Elections Enforcement Commission is expected today to grant Republican gubernatorial candidate Michael C. Fedele $312,500 in supplemental public financing to offset spending by GOP front runner Tom Foley. With the refusal Tuesday by the state Supreme Court to intervene, the commission appears obligated to approve the funds contested by Foley. UPDATE: Funds approved […]