The real effect of HB 6101 will be to reallocate who gets to make a living selling wine in Connecticut, given that net alcoholic beverage sales are relatively flat. Sections 55 and 56 of this bill tilts the table of an already weak small business economy even further toward big box business, as the inevitable inertia of one-stop shopping peels away enough dedicated customers and impulse purchasers to do great harm to current stakeholders (in which I include the buying public).
Deregulation Jenga: What selling wine at grocery stores could mean for a thriving sector of the Connecticut economy
Posted inHealth
Lamont urges vigilance when many COVID-19 capacity limits are lifted Friday
With capacity limits lifting Friday on many gatherings, Gov. Ned Lamont urged residents Thursday to remain vigilant against the coronavirus.
Posted inMoney
Can the state defend a newspaper against a hedge fund?
A lawmaker says newspapers are institutions of public trust and benefit, even if privately owned.
Posted inMoney
Mashantucket Pequots join Mohegans, agree to revised sports betting deal
The last piece of a deal aimed at legalizing sports betting and online gambling in Connecticut fell into place Thursday.
Posted inHousing
Many ideas, but little agreement, on how to address Connecticut’s affordable housing issues
Fault lines emerged during a contentious hearing this week on how to remedy high housing costs and segregation.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Community sponsorship key to increasing refugee resettlement in the United States
While focused on addressing the coronavirus pandemic and reviving the U.S. economy, President Joe Biden has also sought to restore U.S. leadership on a range of global issues. For example, Biden reversed the so-called “Muslim Ban” on his first day in office, along with several other executive orders related to immigration. The president also promised […]
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Connecticut must go big to rescue small business and safeguard rainy day fund
“Going Big” is the economic revival strategy that Connecticut needs to rescue our state’s small businesses, especially family-owned restaurants, mom-and-pop food services, family-operated motels, bars and other segments of the locally-owned hospitality sector. Fortunately, there is a legislative device available for bold action. In a “normal” year, this budget device may have prevented legislators from […]
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Make green jobs good jobs
There is finally a light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel. But still looming behind it is a crisis that will dwarf the coronavirus pandemic in its threat level, duration, cost, and the necessity for dramatic change: the climate crisis.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Connecticut should continue protecting itself from bad infrastructure deals
Supporters say that borrowing money directly from private investors rather than the traditional method of using municipal bonds is “efficient” and “innovative.” It offers “improved service” and “superior design.” It gives “customers”—note: not citizens— “superior service” and “more choice.” Such language is floating around the State Capitol building these days, as Gov. Ned Lamont is once again proposing to loosen existing state rules governing the signing of infrastructure public-private partnerships.
Posted inSteady Habits
PODCAST: Journals tell story of a pandemic year filled with sadness, loss and joy
As we mark the one year anniversary of the pandemic impacting Connecticut, we’ve been asking what we’ve learned and what we’ve lost.
Posted inEconomic Development
There’s a new plan for realigning Hartford’s highways. Is the third time the charm?
The plan would remove the I-84/I-91 interchange downtown and cap I-91 with a new road, expanding river access.
Posted inPolitics
Steve Obsitnik fined $90,000 over Super PAC coordination in 2018
The case involves a publicly financed candidate for governor, Steve Obsitnik, and his relationship to a PAC.
Posted inMoney
Restaurants were the hardest hit industry by COVID closures. But they had a plan.
Connecticut’s restaurant owners opted to engage the Lamont administration over COVID, not fight it. They think they were right.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Deep concern about the harmful nature of the Board of Regents’ contract proposal
We, undersigned professors from Central, Eastern, Southern, and Western Connecticut State universities, believe that it is our responsibility and moral obligation to speak up on behalf and in support of our faculty colleagues and our students, and to express our deepest concerns about the harmful consequences that the contract proposals by the Board of Regents […]
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Support HB-5067 to stop non-consensual pelvic/prostate exams under anesthesia
Imagine you are a patient who is undergoing abdominal surgery, perhaps you have a gynecological or prostate issue. Naturally you gravitate to the best hospital in your network or you follow your physician. Many physicians wear two hats —they’re both caretakers and teachers. For you, this means that medical students may be there, observing. But many will do far more. As the Yale University School of Medicine explains, this “involves hands-on teaching of invasive clinical skills, such as the pelvic exam.”