A family illness is prompting Sen. Beth Bye, D-West Hartford, to give up her position as co-chair of the Appropriations Committee, one of the most demanding committee assignments in the General Assembly.
Appropriations Committee
Posted inPolitics
Blumenthal, Murphy up for big promotions if Dems take over Senate
WASHINGTON — If Democrats reach their goal of retaking control of the U.S. Senate in November’s elections, Connecticut’s senators have much to gain. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, if re-elected, and fellow Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy will zoom up in seniority much faster than their predecessors.
Posted inHealth
CT Zika-fighting efforts could feel pinch if Congress doesn’t act
WASHINGTON — Connecticut has received nearly $1 million this week from the federal government to combat the Zika virus – enough for now, state officials say, but not if the crisis worsens. Meanwhile, the blame game continues in Washington over who is responsible for holding up more than $1 billion that could bolster states’ efforts to fight the disease.
Posted inEducation, Health, Money, Politics, Transportation
Struggle to balance current budget could help with future deficits
While legislators and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy scramble to close yet another hole in the current state budget, the exercise could help them solve a much larger problem. Depending on how they solve this fiscal year’s $220 million deficit — a task lawmakers have pledged to complete Tuesday — the $900 million hole built into 2016-17 finances could be whittled down by nearly one-quarter.
Posted inEducation
Malloy: UConn pay raises don’t reflect new economic reality
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Thursday a union contract for non-teaching professional staff at the University of Connecticut, now before the legislature, is out of step with current economic conditions.
Posted inEducation, Money, Politics
UConn contract seems iffy as Appropriations vote nears
On the eve of a critical legislative committee vote, some members of the Democratic majority were still undecided on whether to approve a five-year salary contract for 1,900 University of Connecticut employees.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
No time to waste in re-imagining Connecticut’s education funding
Each legislative session, we engage in the same political fights that yield only incremental progress towards the goal of providing quality education for all children. These unproductive debates, which pit traditional schools against public charter schools, underscore the need to solve our fundamentally broken funding model that currently plagues our education system.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
A tough, but correct, budget decision on Connecticut charter schools
In a harrowing budget season, the legislature’s Appropriations Committee decided to remove a $4 million budget allotment for two new charter schools in our state. What must have been a difficult decision is also a prudent one on our legislators’ part, as our precious resources this budget cycle should go to those schools and programs that serve all students and which serve those children in the greatest need of our support.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
CT Legislators must deliver on charter school promises in Bridgeport, Stamford
Last week, the state’s Appropriations Committee proposed a budget that includes cuts of more than $20 million dollars to public charter schools — including funding for Capital Prep Harbor and Stamford Charter School for Excellence — two approved schools that families have been demanding and are counting on. This budget would stifle the progress we’ve made in the past few years and would hurt the future of children across our state.
Posted inEducation, Politics
In suburban schools, student poverty growing faster than education aid
The number of low-income, high-need students attending school in the suburbs is rising, putting new strains on local budgets. That’s why their municipal leaders are pressing the legislature to adjust the state’s system of aid to local schools.
Posted inEducation, Health, Money
Budget panel would blow by spending cap to restore social service, education funds
The legislature’s budget-writing panel recommended adding $514 million in spending to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s plan — and embraced a radical new interpretation of the constitutional spending cap — primarily to bolster human services and education.
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
Is it a gag order or the Malloy administration speaking with one voice?
Key legislators say a directive from budget director Benjamin Barnes restricting what agency heads can tell legislators about Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget proposal is hindering lawmakers in doing their jobs and will push more of the budget-writing process behind closed doors. Barnes says the administration simply works together “as one administration, with all our commissioners and agency heads.”
Posted inMoney, Politics
On the state spending cap, Malloy and GOP have checkered past
While Gov. Dannel P. Malloy portrayed the spending cap Thursday as an unavoidable constraint on the next state budget, governors and legislators from both parties have skirted that constraint repeatedly for a decade.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Schools’ alarmed cries for help should echo across Connecticut
With 40,000 students attending chronically low-performing schools, many thousands of families on wait lists for schools of choice, and the largest-in-the-nation achievement gap, Connecticut leaders must expand and sustain schools that are delivering results for students, especially children in poverty and children of color.
Posted inEducation
Op-Ed: Schools’ alarmed cries for help should echo across Connecticut
With 40,000 students attending chronically low-performing schools, many thousands of families on wait lists for schools of choice, and the largest-in-the-nation achievement gap, Connecticut leaders must expand and sustain schools that are delivering results for students, especially children in poverty and children of color.