Expanded workers’ compensation benefits for firefighters with cancer, an issue derailed in the Connecticut General Assembly last year by a loud and bitter lobbying battle between municipalities and labor, seems likely to be resolved by a bipartisan-led compromise.
Labor
Posted inCT Viewpoints
A Connecticut story for the U.S. Supreme Court justices
I was nervous. This was my first case before the United States Supreme Court. But here I was, ready to argue against Friedrichs vs. California Teachers Association. In this case, a few public school teachers claim they shouldn’t have to pay union dues because it violates their First Amendment rights. A conservative ruling would be bad, extending to Connecticut teachers, many of whom went to jail in the 1970s to win improvements in collective bargaining….
Posted inPolitics
DeLauro defies Obama on State of the Union issue
WASHINGTON — Once again, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro is defying President Obama as he prepares to give his State of the Union address to the nation. Once again, the split is over trade.
Posted inPolitics
Dennis Murphy named acting labor commissioner
Dennis Murphy will begin the New Year as the acting commissioner of the state Department of Labor, succeeding the retiring commissioner, Sharon Palmer, the Malloy administration announced Thursday.
Posted inEducation, Energy & Environment, Health, Justice, Money
Malloy releases agency-by-agency breakdown of budget cuts
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration released details late Wednesday on how state agencies will share the new spending reductions ordered by the legislature in a December special session.
Posted inMoney
S&P warns Malloy’s pension plan could cause bond rating cut
A major Wall Street rating agency warned it might lower Connecticut’s bond rating — pushing up interest costs on capital projects — if the state adopts Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s plan to restructure contributions to the employee pension fund.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Pension whistleblower’s suit dismissed, but may return
A federal judge dismissed claims this week that Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo’s office retaliated against a former attorney for the Retirement Services Division, but the matter may not be settled.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
CSCU president could have addressed protest instead of breezing by
Last Thursday, this year’s President of the Connecticut’s Board of Regents for Higher Education, Mark Ojakian, hurried past a large group of AAUP protesters outside of his scheduled Board of Regents meeting at the old Phoenix Insurance building on Woodland Street in Hartford. It probably never occurred to this right-hand man of the governor that he was presented with a rare opportunity. In Ojakian’s defense, his boss probably would not have seized the opportunity either.
Posted inPolitics
GOP tries to force a labor reform that eluded Malloy
The legislature’s Republican minority tried and failed in special session Tuesday to make the rules change sought four years ago by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy as a way to make legislators take greater responsibility for labor contracts.
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
Bill closing deficit, cutting business taxes heads to Malloy
The House of Representatives gave final legislative approval to a bill Tuesday night that closes the current budget deficit, mitigates bigger problems in the future, offers modest tax relief to businesses and restores a portion of funds cut this fall from hospitals and social services.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Lean Governor, anti-Lean Board of Regents
Gov. Dannel Malloy recently wrote the foreword to a book titled The Lean CEO: Leading the Way to World-Class Excellence. The governor wrote how Connecticut business leaders adopted Lean Management with great success beginning in the 1990s. He extolls the virtues of Lean Management in private industry and its new application in government. As an expert in Lean efforts in both industry and higher education, I would like to compare Gov. Malloy’s words on Lean Management to the Board of Regents’ actions. You will see areas of remarkable misalignment between the governor’s LeanCT effort and the Board of Regents, which is under the new management of Mark Ojakian and currently in contract negotiations with CSU-AAUP.
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
Malloy: Time is running short to strike a budget deal
While legislative leaders were uncharacteristically coy following Monday’s budget negotiations, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy made it clear lawmakers are running out of time if they want to play a role in balancing state finances.
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
Senate Dems break with House, go own way on deficit
Senate Democrats issued their own deficit-mitigation plan Thursday, pressing for a retirement incentive plan opposed by House Democrats and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy as damaging to the state’s overburdened pension system.
Posted inMoney
Unemployment drops to 5.1%, but state loses jobs
Connecticut posted a contradictory jobs report Thursday for the second consecutive month, showing that the unemployment rate dropped a tenth of a point to a post-recession low of 5.1 percent in October, despite the loss of 2,200 jobs.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Lembo says he’s developing an alternative state pension fix
State Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo said Tuesday he is developing an alternative plan to restructure Connecticut’s payments into the cash-starved pension fund for state employees.