Brian Durand, an original member of the administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, was named Monday as the governor’s new chief of staff, succeeding Mark Ojakian, who is leaving after nearly five years in the post.
Dannel P. Malloy
Posted inPolitics
Malloy to campaign in New Hampshire next week for Hillary
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, a Democrat who swam against a Republican tide to win re-election last year, is headed to New Hampshire next week to campaign for Hillary Clinton.
Posted inPolitics
Officially neutral, Malloy is drawn into Hartford primary
Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra pointedly warned the ostensibly neutral Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Wednesday that any effort to snub him in favor of the governor’s former aide, Luke A. Bronin, in the Democratic mayoral primary carries political risk.
Posted inPolitics
Skirting race, ethnicity in Hartford’s mayoral primary
Race and ethnicity are, not surprisingly, a subtle undercurrent in the Democratic contest for mayor in Hartford, which pits a white challenger with roots in Greenwich against a Puerto Rican incumbent in a city with the largest percentage of Latinos in the northeastern United States: 43.4 percent of its 125,000 residents.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Forget mileage taxes; claw back diverted transportation funds
Television and published reports have recently covered the talks going on in Hartford about ways to fund Gov. Dannel Malloy’s $100 billion, 30-year transportation infrastructure plan. These include discussion of a plan to tax motorists according to the number of miles they drive. Before this plan is even considered, I have a radical idea: tally up every nickel that has been diverted from the Transportation Fund over the past 20 years — by BOTH PARTIES — along with what social programs or agencies were the recipient of those diverted funds. Then, every nickel of those diverted funds should be clawed back from their budgets and re-deposited into the Transportation Fund and used for the intended purpose of transportation infrastructure maintenance.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Connecticut’s ‘defined benefits’ pension system best for retirees
In a recent article “CT still lags most states in saving for public-sector pensions,” the Connecticut Mirror wrote about a report from Pew Charitable Trusts on the strength of pension funds around the country. The Pew report ignores a number of important pieces of context regarding the growing strength of the Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds which provides a safe and secure retirement for many Connecticut families.
Posted inNews
Senate vote to be first round in drive to defund Planned Parenthood
WASHINGTON — Connecticut’s Democratic senators may help fend off an attempt in the Senate to defund Planned Parenthood on Monday, but that’s not the end of a GOP campaign that could include the threat of a government shutdown.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Governor, close Southbury, other similar state-run institutions
Connecticut likes to think of itself as a progressive state. Yet when it comes to the civil rights of those with intellectual disabilities, we are not. As Connecticut clings to a discredited institutional approach, many states — including Oklahoma and Tennessee — will observe the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with none of their citizens isolated in segregated institutions. Sadly, “progressive” Connecticut will not be able to do the same. I call on the governor to close the state’s five such institutions by the year 2020.
Posted inPolitics
A struggle for access, political and otherwise, at the Capitol
The man whose new job was to provide the disabled with access to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy arrived at the State Capitol, a landmark constructed a century before passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, to find the only elevator serving the governor’s office to be inoperable. That was 18 months ago. Bigger challenges lay ahead.
Posted inEducation
Lawmakers split on DCF commissioner’s performance
Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano called Thursday for the resignation of Commissioner Joette Katz, but Malloy and Rep. Diana Urban, co-chair of the legislative committee which oversees the Department of Children and Families, defended her.
Posted inEducation, Politics
Malloy’s vetoes stand, but House GOP forces an override debate
The GOP lacked the numbers to successfully reverse Malloy’s veto of a bill that would have set new qualifications for the state’s education commissioner, but they had enough to force a debate.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Gov. Malloy’s wise veto of the education commissioner bill
If you aim to limit the amount of innovation that can happen in the public education arena, one surefire method would be to keep it an insider’s game. On Monday the legislature is required to convene a veto session to consider whether to override any of Gov. Dannel Malloy’s vetoes. At this time, it is […]
Posted inEducation, Politics
Democrats will not attempt to override Malloy vetoes
Majority Democrats in the General Assembly will not try to override any of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s vetoes when they meet in special session Monday, House and Senate Democratic leadership announced Friday morning.
Posted inEducation
U.S. Senate votes to leave many education reforms to the states
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate Thursday approved a sweeping overhaul of federal education law that would leave up to Connecticut and other states whether to continue with education reforms including the controversial Common Core standards and linking teacher evaluations to student test scores.
Posted inEducation, Politics
Looney, Sharkey hedge on overriding Malloy veto
The Connecticut General Assembly expects to convene Monday for a one-day veto session, but legislative leaders expressed uncertainty Wednesday about whether lawmakers would attempt their first override of a veto by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.
