WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s big win in Connecticut means he’ll take dozens of Connecticut delegates and alternates to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland to support his presidential bid, but some state GOP insiders won’t be in the mix, and others will be screened for their loyalty to a candidate they had not openly endorsed.
Themis Klarides
Posted inPolitics
In ’16 fight for Assembly, winner gets to pick up a big tab
It’s a question that draws knowing smiles, solemn nods and the occasional nervous laugh from Republicans: Given the depth of Connecticut’s fiscal crisis, would the GOP actually be better off remaining as the General Assembly’s minority party for at least another two years?
Posted inEducation, Health, Money
GOP offers cuts, furloughs to close deficit, restore hospital funds
Updated at 5 p.m.
House and Senate Republicans would furlough all state workers for two days, reduce legislators’ pay, eliminate posts in Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration and reduce spending for education, social services and other programs to balance state finances by June 30.
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.
Posted inMoney, Politics
GOP plan includes end to bargaining for state retirement benefits
Republican legislators offered a blueprint Monday to curb future state spending by, among other things, no longer guaranteeing worker retirement benefits by contract. The plan also would require several new concessions by state employees, restrict borrowing and overtime, and accelerate closure of the Connecticut Juvenile Training School.
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
Bipartisan budget talks place pressure on GOP to find solutions
The most vocal critics of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s handling of the state finances, Republican legislative leaders, will find things harder this month as they shift from commenting on the deficit-plagued budget to balancing it. Sen. Len Fasano and Rep. Themis Klarides will find it particularly difficult to both oppose tax hikes and shield hospitals and social services from cuts if the leaders try to stabilize finances long-term.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Klarides: Cut future transportation, local aid initiatives
House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, called Tuesday on the General Assembly’s Democratic majority to reduce their new initiatives on future transportation and municipal aid in order to restore cuts recently imposed on hospitals and services to persons with disabilities.
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
GOP calls for bipartisan talks, labor concessions, to reverse hospital cuts
Minority Republicans in the state legislature called Tuesday for bipartisan negotiations to reverse last week’s $190 million cut to hospitals. And House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, also called for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to approach state employee unions for concessions.
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A second chance for Malloy’s justice reforms
Salvaged by a late bipartisan deal, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s proposal to end racially disparate sentencing and reduce incarceration for non-violent crimes was passed at midnight Tuesday by the Senate and sent to the House.
Posted inPolitics
A ‘kumbaya moment’ eludes Connecticut pols
Lost in the imbroglio over whether Gov. Dannel P. Malloy really blames racism for GOP opposition to his sentencing reforms was that the legislation already had stalled in the General Assembly for a more conventional reason: Democrats see the issue as politically dangerous.
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Malloy downplays spat: Rebuke, what rebuke?
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy downplayed his rebuke by House Democrat leaders, saying Friday it would not complicate his administration’s efforts to negotiate a budget with the General Assembly by the adjournment deadline of midnight June 3.
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House GOP walks out, says Malloy called them racist
Republicans halted business in the state House of Representatives for more than five hours Wednesday to protest Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s criticism of GOP members for opposing his plan to stop racially disparate drug sentencing. Republicans say Malloy called them racist.
Posted inEducation, Politics
House votes to strip Gray of power to close campus
In a clear show of displeasure with the leader of the state’s system of community colleges and regional state universities, the state House of Representatives voted 86 to 56 Tuesday to block the system from closing a campus without legislative approval.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Budget debate: Malloy’s ‘childish,’ but GOP’s a ‘comedy show’
Leaders of the legislature’s Republican minority condemned Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s proposed budget Thursday as savaging the social safety net, but they declined to commit to offering their own alternative to the one by the Democratic administration. Zingers ensued.
Posted inPolitics
Sharkey and GOP vs. Senate Democrats on campaign reform
The Senate Democratic majority is blocking House Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden, and minority Republicans from closing what critics say is major loophole in Connecticut’s system of publicly financing campaigns — the parties ability to direct special-interest money to taxpayer-funded candidates.