While autonomous municipal government — home rule — is the norm and likely to remain so, regional cooperation has been inching ahead. Now with the state and several large cities facing severe fiscal challenges, mayors such as Hartford’s Luke Bronin and others, including the state’s major municipal advocacy group, are pushing for more regional sharing.
J. Brendan Sharkey
Posted inMoney, Politics
Fate of legislature’s investigative arm hangs on budget battle
The fate of the legislature’s chief investigative arm probably will be determined in the next few weeks as top leaders decide whether to impose a cut that would chop the nonpartisan agency in half.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy’s line-item budget vetoes stand as House, Senate split
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s line-item vetoes of $22 million in spending, primarily from undisclosed municipal aid accounts, will stand as the House and Senate disagreed Monday on whether to attempt overrides. The House was willing, the Senate was not.
Posted inHealth
Sharkey calls for Wade’s recusal, but Malloy sees no conflict
House Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey became the first Democratic leader Friday to call on Insurance Commissioner Katharine Wade to recuse herself from ruling on Anthem’s merger with Bloomfield-based Cigna, the commissioner’s last private-sector employer before joining the administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. The governor said he sees no conflict.
Posted inPolitics
CT House gives retiring speaker Sharkey a video sendoff
The state House of Representatives offered a fond farewell Thursday to retiring Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey through a video that was part roast, mixed with moments of gratitude and a little advice.
Posted inPolitics
Aresimowicz’ challenging path as House leader and union man
Sal Luciano of AFSCME Council 4 does not hide his displeasure with House Majority Leader Joe Aresimowicz over his role in passing a budget that cuts services and eliminates state jobs rather than following labor’s prescription of raising taxes on the rich. And Luciano is more than just another union bigwig. He is Aresimowicz’s boss.
Posted inPolitics
It’s Ritter, Walker in contest for House majority leader
As House Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden, publicly acknowledged his political retirement plans Sunday, the telephone scramble began by three House Democrats competing for two leadership jobs.
House Majority Leader Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, immediately confirmed he was running to succeed Sharkey as speaker, igniting a competition for his job between Matthew D. Ritter of Hartford and Toni E. Walker of New Haven.
Posted inPolitics
House Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey won’t seek re-election
House Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden, who oversaw the difficult passage of a state budget Friday on a 74 to 70 vote, said Sunday he will not seek re-election this fall to a ninth term in the General Assembly. House Majority Leader Joe Aresimowicz will be a candidate to succeed him if Democrats retain their majority this fall.
Posted inEducation, Health, Justice, Money, Politics, Transportation
Nonpartisan analysts: Tentative CT budget wipes away lots of red ink
The tentative plan to close a $1 billion hole in Connecticut’s finances starting July 1 also would wipe away more than 40 percent of the red ink threatening state government after the November elections, nonpartisan fiscal analysts reported Tuesday evening.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy, Democrats bring very different perspectives to budget crisis
While Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is challenging his fellow Democrats in the legislature to focus less on their re-election chances and more on Connecticut’s budget crisis, legislators respond that the Democratic governor did not lead by example when dealing with the budget during his last re-election bid.
Posted inEducation
Magnet schools caught in squeeze over tuition, funding
The state House of Representatives voted unanimously Monday to halt New Haven’s plan to begin charging nearby communities tuition for the 2,875 suburban students attending the magnet schools it operates. That and other factors are coalescing to put magnet schools in a funding squeeze.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Lawmakers will vote on budget without negotiating with Malloy
In a further rupture with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, the General Assembly will bypass usual negotiations with the chief executive and head straight to a budget vote, House Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey said Thursday.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy cools rhetoric, but stalemate continues on budget
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy struck a conciliatory tone Tuesday a day after House Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey likened his latest budget proposal to “a personal hit list,” conceding legislative leaders have a difficult task building a consensus around deep spending cuts. But the governor remained at odds with the Democratic legislative majority leadership over how to close a $930 million budget gap before the session ends May 4.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Speaker Sharkey calls Malloy’s budget a ‘personal hit list’
House Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden, responded in scathing terms Monday to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s revised budget proposal, calling it “a public enemies list” and “a personal hit list,” not a basis for negotiating how to balance the budget. He and Senate Democrats canceled a meeting scheduled for Tuesday with Malloy, whose chief of staff called Sharkey’s comments an “unprompted” and “vitriolic.”
Posted inMoney
Sharkey, Malloy clash over UConn deal, hospital cuts
House Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden, and the administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy engaged in an extraordinary exchange of criticism Friday over two fiscal controversies, ratcheting up intra-party tensions over how to resolve a worsening budget shortfall.