WASHINGTON — Connecticut’s senators blasted the GOP plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, but will sit on the sidelines as their divided Republican colleagues try to hash out final details of a “discussion draft” released Thursday. The bill would continue some Obamacare subsidies to help people buy insurance, but could eventually force Connecticut to cut Medicaid coverage for many.
Dannel P. Malloy
Posted inEducation
School funding reform: Three tough questions facing lawmakers
Leaders at the state Capitol agree that changing how the state distributes public school aid is necessary – but that consensus quickly crumbles when specific changes are floated.
Posted inHousing
Homelessness fell 24% in three years. How did Connecticut do it?
Advocates fighting to bring an end to homelessness altogether say their once-seemingly unrealistic goal may at last be reachable in Connecticut, a state that not long ago was a laggard nationally but has emerged as a model.
Posted inJustice
A first lady who wants Connecticut to ‘reimagine justice’
First Lady Cathy Malloy interrupted an impromptu interview Wednesday at the two-day conference she and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy are co-hosting, Reimagining Justice, to say goodbye to a friend, Tracie Bernardi. The two women hugged, and Bernardi said, “I love you.” They met years ago on Malloy’s visit to prison. Bernardi was doing time for murder.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Budget talks testy as deadline inches closer
Talks between Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and legislative leaders are growing testy as Connecticut inches closer to a June 30 deadline to craft a budget for the next two fiscal years. “My gut reaction is we’re going to get past July 1” without a budget, Senate Republican President Pro Tem Len Fasano said.
Posted inPolitics
Immigrant advocates say CT didn’t act to help undocumented at ‘crucial’ time
WASHINGTON — With a federal crackdown on the undocumented underway, Connecticut’s immigrant advocates who were hoping for help from Democratic state lawmakers are bitterly disappointed legislators failed to provide any new protections.
Posted inPolitics
Farmers rally against merger of Agriculture Department
Farmers, agricultural leaders and lawmakers gathered outside the State Capitol despite some light rain Tuesday afternoon to rally against one budget proposal that largely has flown under the radar – the elimination of a stand-alone Department of Agriculture in the state.
Posted inJustice
House passes bail reform compromise with bipartisan support
The House of Representatives voted 88-62 Saturday to approve and send to the Senate a compromise bail reform package backed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the Connecticut Sentencing Commission.
Posted inMoney
Lovefest at UTC provides respite from Aetna news
Two days after Aetna said it was looking elsewhere for a headquarters, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy hailed the ongoing expansion of United Technologies Corp.’s East Hartford campus Friday. Dozens of UTC employees and others greeted Malloy with a standing ovation as he took the stage to celebrate completion of the company’s new “Innovation Hub.”
Posted inEnergy & Environment
CT environmentalists vow to go it alone after Trump’s Paris exit
WASHINGTON — Connecticut environmental groups and the state’s Democrats decried President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the Paris agreement on climate change and vow to keep up their efforts in the state to cut greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy to legislators: Don’t force me to run CT without a new budget
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy gave legislators a clear message Thursday: Don’t force him to run Connecticut after July 1 under the very tight restrictions the law mandates when a new budget is not in place.
Posted inEducation
Looser high school graduation requirements head to Malloy
A bill to loosen high school graduation requirements is heading to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s desk after the House voted 148-0 Tuesday night to approve it.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy, Fasano team up to push for plan to cover current deficit
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Senate Republican leader Len Fasano teamed up to block some last-minute spending changes until the full legislature and administration can adopt a plan to cover the current budget deficit.
Posted inEducation
East Hartford responds to DeVos’s criticism: ‘She’s wrong’
Updated at 4:16 p.m.
With one voice Tuesday morning, about 200 East Hartford teachers, students and parents repudiated U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ grim appraisal of their public school system. As school buses dropped off students behind them, the protesters chanted in unison: “DeVos is wrong! East Hartford strong!”
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Money, Politics
Bipartisan group of lawmakers pushes for new fee to fund parks
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing for a new fee to ensure state parks stay open, staffed and maintained despite the state budget crisis. The fee, which proponents want to set at $10, would be collected along with auto registration fees.
