The CT Mirror (https://ctmirror.org/tag/joe-aresimowicz/)
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. Continue Reading →
One activist’s arrest has offset months of lobbying for a bill that would have allowed undocumented students to receive financial aid at Connecticut’s public colleges. Continue Reading →
The House speaker is an AFSCME employee. A freshman senator used to lobby for a water company. Neither is barred by Connecticut’s narrowly drawn ethics rules from using their elected positions to advocate for their employers. In a state with a part-time, citizen legislature, almost anything goes so long as elected officials or their families don’t end up with money in their pockets as the direct result of legislative action. Continue Reading →
Top Democrats in the House and Senate praised the deal and said trying to close a $5.1 billion deficit in the next budget without the $1.5 billion in potential savings from concessions would be the worst-case scenario. But their GOP counterparts had a very different perspective. Continue Reading →
With a little more than two weeks remaining until the session’s June 7 adjournment deadline, dozens of bills unrelated to the state’s budget are certain to be voted upon. Legislative leaders say campaign finance reform and a minimum wage increase are among the contentious issues that could come up in the session’s final days. Continue Reading →
House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz offered a compromise Wednesday on one of the stickiest points in Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget: asking communities to gradually assume a portion of skyrocketing teacher pension costs. Continue Reading →
Malloy, a Democrat, has been reminding everyone that Connecticut covers the entire cost of municipal teachers’ pensions in both affluent and impoverished school districts, and those costs are escalating quickly. This has left many local leaders worried their overall state aid may be cut to help close the 8 percent deficit in the next state budget. Continue Reading →
In the first partisan fight of 2017, Democrats in the House of Representatives blocked a Republican proposal Wednesday that would have ended a longstanding practice of approving state employee contracts without a vote. Continue Reading →
Rep. Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, can expect to be elected speaker of the House on the first day of the 2017 legislative session Wednesday without either opposition or support from the growing Republican minority – a calculated, if subtle, protest of Aresimowicz’s continued employment by a major public-sector union, AFSCME Council 4. Continue Reading →
The Office of State Ethics has advised Rep. Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, that nothing in the state ethics code bars him from continuing his job with AFSCME, an influential public-employee union, as he becomes speaker of the House of Representatives next week. Labor costs are certain to be a major issue in 2017. Continue Reading →
The leadership of the state House Democratic caucus is set for 2017 – so long as the Democrats do not lose more than 11 seats on Nov. 8, when all 151 seats in the House are up for election. On Tuesday, Toni E. Walker conceded the race for majority leader to Matt Ritter. Continue Reading →
EAST HARTFORD — Facing an electorate that gave the General Assembly a 24-percent approval rating, the House Democratic Majority unveiled a campaign framework Tuesday that focuses on job creation and fiscal responsibility and downplays labor issues, such as raising the minimum wage and making the tax structure more progressive. Continue Reading →
The Connecticut AFL-CIO vented Thursday at Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Democratic legislators, but the labor federation will convene again Friday, probably to endorse some of the same Democrats accused of betraying labor on the state budget. The reason is a labor report card: The best-ranked Republicans have lifetime scores of 60 percent, lower than the worst-ranked Democrat. Continue Reading →
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. Continue Reading →
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. Continue Reading →