WASHINGTON – The federal government is preparing to dole out $400 million in extra Medicare money to low-spending hospitals around the country, thanks to an 11th hour provision added to the sweeping health reform law to win over a handful of wavering lawmakers. Connecticut hospitals won’t see a dime of that money, but other hospitals […]

The two Democrats vying to become the state’s next comptroller clashed today following Waterbury Mayor Michael Jarjura’s announcement that he will force a Democratic party primary against Kevin Lembo, the state health advocate. Jacqueline Kozin, Lembo’s campaign manager, criticized Jarjura for hiring former Gov. John Rowland, a Republican forced to resign by a corruption scandal, and […]

Former Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr., who drove the adoption of the state income tax as one of the chief solutions to state government’s fiscal crisis in 1991, will make a rare public appearance later this month to discuss how he would resolve Connecticut’s current economic woes. Weicker, a three-term U.S. senator who was elected […]

Connecticut, and especially the Stamford metropolitan area, might be a far more attractive site for a new Major League Baseball franchise than state politicians and business leaders might think, according to the latest quarterly economic report from the University of Connecticut. Despite being locked between two of the country’s oldest – and arguably most passionate […]

With Gov. M. Jodi Rell‘s signature over the weekend, a new law will put a searchable database of the state’s checkbook and employee payroll online for public review next year. But some lawmakers are asking, why stop there? Why not put everything online: applications, payments for services, regulations, anything the public needs? Some state agencies […]

The state’s top education official made a plea Monday for a renewal of federal stimulus funds to avert the loss of thousands of teaching jobs. Connecticut has received $785 million in federal stimulus money for schools, but that money is scheduled to dry up in 2011, potentially resulting in massive layoffs for the 2011-12 school […]

A controversial system for exposing state budget deficits that the Democrat-controlled legislature forced on Gov. M. Jodi Rell last year could come back to bite Democrats this fall – less than three weeks before Election Day. Commonly known as the “consensus revenue” law, the statute requires the legislature’s nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis and the […]

Candidates have come and candidates have gone in the run-up to one of the most active election seasons in years, but today is a final deadline: Those planning to petition their way onto the Aug. 10 Democratic or Republican primary ballot have until 4 p.m. to submit the required signatures. Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Peter […]

Connecticut’s new governor will have the opportunity to put in place an innovative, cost-saving system for delivering health care to 390,000 low-income children and parents in the HUSKY program. Under primary care case management (“PCCM” or “HUSKY Primary Care”), no insurance company is involved. The Department of Social Services (“DSS,” the state Medicaid agency), pays […]

Sen. Jonathan Harris has dropped out of the race for Secretary of the State, though a Democratic primary for the spot is likely as House Majority Leader Denise Merrill and former New Haven alderman Gerry Garcia are still in the running. “This was a difficult decision for me, but ultimately the right one,” said Harris, […]

Gov. M. Jodi Rell vetoed a bill today that would have created a new commission within the Office of Policy and Management to review state sentencing policies. The governor argued the legislature’s Judiciary Committee already performs this function, and that the bill would have required an extra $130,000 in spending to provide salaries and benefits […]

Despite her initial skepticism, the administration of Gov. M. Jodi Rell is eagerly pursuing the money available under the new federal health care reform law. So far the state has targeted more than $200 million to cover health care for low-income individuals, for those in high-risk pools, and for retirees under age 65. But none […]

State officials recently got their first glimpse of the cost of escaping a pay-as-you-go health insurance program for retired workers, and it wasn’t pretty. But on a long-term basis, the state’s health care consultants said, it’s far less expensive the the current practice of paying the bills out-of-pocket. A preliminary analysis issued last week to […]