In his victory speech, President-elect Joe Biden urged an end to political acrimony and divisiveness.
Transition
Posted inMoney
Lamont will have extra time to craft first budget
While Gov.-elect Ned Lamont’s administration begins this afternoon, it will have a little extra time to tackle it’s single-largest challenge: crafting a new state budget.
Posted inPolitics
A day of pomp for Lamont, then the talent hunt resumes
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.
Posted inHealth
Unpredictable events and outside trends shaped Malloy’s health care policy
Looking back, the eight years of health policy under Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration resembles an obstacle course. Many of the Malloy administration’s health care policies and budget decisions were reactions to events outside of the governor’s control, circumstances that took hold before he took office, or conditions handed down from the federal government.
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 inJustice
Malloy leaves office as national leader on criminal justice reform
Under Gov. Dannel Malloy’s leadership, Connecticut has repealed the death penalty, closed prisons, decriminalized small amounts of marijuana, raised the age from 16 to 18 at which defendants are tried as adults for most crimes, streamlined the process for parole and pardons, and reduced penalties for non-violent drug crimes.
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 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 inMoney
CT’s legacy of debt was Malloy’s ultimate challenge
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy would be hounded by the debt-riddled state finances he inherited, pension obligations that would force deficits and tax hikes while leaching dollars from transportation and other programs. But Malloy also would be the first governor in modern history not to saddle future generations with pension costs owed during his administration.
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 inPolitics
No surprise. This is not a governor to go gentle
As time runs out on his elective career, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is not exactly raging against the dying of the light. But he’s not one to go gentle, either. Some parting words about public policy, politics, popularity and polls.
Posted inPolitics
Lamont makes first hire from General Assembly
Gov.-elect Ned Lamont plucked his first appointee from the General Assembly on Wednesday, naming Rep. Chris Soto, D-New London, as his director of legislative affairs, as well as Maribel La Luz as communications director and his campaign manager, Marc Bradley, to oversee constituent affairs.
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.