Ned Lamont takes office as Connecticut’s 89th governor this afternoon having settled on nominees for all but 10 of the 28 positions that are classified under state law as agency heads subject to confirmation hearings and votes by the General Assembly. The focus today will be on pomp and an inaugural message, but the first of the many measures to be taken over the next four years is Lamont’s first hires.
Ned Lamont
Democrat Ned Lamont has served as the 89th governor of Connecticut since Jan. 9, 2019. He has been recognized for his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read more: Who is Ned Lamont?
Posted inPolitics
Lamont hiring three senators, two House members
At least five legislative seats will fall vacant Wednesday as Sens. Tim Larson of East Hartford, Terry Gerratana of New Britain and Beth Bye of West Hartford and Reps. James Albis of East Haven and Chris Soto of New London join the administration of Gov.-elect Ned Lamont.
Posted inEducation
National search for DCF commissioner ends close to home
Vanessa Dorantes joined the Department of Children and Families nearly 27 years ago, one of the scores of social workers hired to bolster an understaffed DCF at the insistence of a federal court monitor. On Monday, she was nominated to lead that agency, which remains under the consent order that led to her hiring in 1992.
Posted inEducation
Malloy confronts school inequities: ‘The civil rights issue of our time’
His first day on the job in January 2011, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy went before the General Assembly to declare that the state was facing an economic and employment crisis, created in part by “a lack of educational resources.” He then spent the next eight years of his tenure in what he recently described as “pitched battles” with “weak-kneed” Democrats over various education reforms he believed were long overdue.
Posted inPolitics
Lamont names former HPD chief Rovella to oversee public safety
Gov-elect Ned Lamont named a public-safety team Friday that will be led by former Hartford police chief James Rovella, who will oversee the state police, homeland security and state crime lab as commissioner of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection.
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Politics
PURA chair Katie Dykes named DEEP commissioner
In naming Katie Dykes as commissioner of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Gov.-elect Ned Lamont has chosen a person who is well known at DEEP. But she comes with much more of an energy than strict environmental background.
Posted inJustice
Lamont picks prison reformer Rollin Cook to run DOC
With the pick Wednesday of Rollin Cook of Utah as Connecticut’s next correction commissioner, Gov.-elect Ned Lamont won what criminal-justice officials say was a national recruiting battle for an up-from-the-ranks prisons official with a reputation as a reformer and innovative leader.
Posted inTransportation
Lamont selects former Metro-North president to lead DOT
Updated Friday.
Gov.-elect Ned Lamont has recruited Joseph J. Giulietti, the former president of Metro-North, the commuter railroad that is Connecticut’s vital economic link to New York City, to be his commissioner of transportation, multiple sources said Thursday.
Posted inTransportation
Lamont urged to consider tolls for all drivers, not just truckers
A policy group appointed by Gov-elect Ned Lamont’s transition team recommended Wednesday that he set aside a campaign pledge and seek electronic tolling on all vehicles and higher gasoline taxes to fund critical transportation improvements.
Posted inJustice
Lamont promises to be a criminal-justice reformer
Gov.-elect Ned Lamont opened his campaign for governor in January without a deep appreciation of the criminal-justice reforms undertaken by the administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. On Tuesday, he promised to take office next month with the ambition of improving on Malloy’s substantial record.
Posted inPolitics
Lamont vows that effort to rebuild CT will be a diverse one
While the push to revitalize Connecticut will be a struggle, Gov.-elect Ned Lamont pledged to African-American leaders Saturday his administration’s effort would be defined by diversity and cooperation.
Posted inPolitics
Lamont makes his first organizational change to government
Gov-elect Ned Lamont shared his first plans for restructuring state government Friday, announcing a new post of chief operating officer — a position recommended and never implemented decades ago in Connecticut, while becoming increasingly common in governors’ offices across the U.S.
Posted inEnergy & Environment
CT’s clean energy battles transition from Malloy to Lamont
Efforts by the Malloy administration to move towards more renewable energy to help fight climate change are poised to shift to the Gov.-elect Ned Lamont, who has even more aggressive goals. But the battles the Malloy administration fought with the utilities for eight years, which are still unresolved, also are also poised to shift to the new governor.
Posted inPolitics
Lamont skips governors-elect meeting with Trump
WASHINGTON – Connecticut Gov.-elect Ned Lamont, a Democrat, declined an invitation tendered to all the nation’s new governors to meet with President Donald Trump Thursday to discuss a number of ways the federal government could help their states. Lamont was too busy with the transition to travel to Washington D.C., his spokeswoman said.
Posted inPolitics
A kiss, some kind words — and a dismissal of a Democratic chair
Gov.-elect Ned Lamont and Democratic State Chairman Nick Balletto introduced Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman on Thursday as Balletto’s successor, bringing an upbeat conclusion to a drama that threatened to distract from Democrats’ campaign victories and paint Lamont as politically inept as he prepares he takes office next month.