Connecticut Local Politics

Fresh off raising a woefully inadequate amount of money, replacing their campaign team to move “into a new phase with a new team”, and then missing an FEC filing deadline, the Sullivan campaign is now fumbling press releases.
Here is what I received from the Courtney campaign at 1:00pm:
Representative Joe Courtney (D-CT) and House Armed Services […]

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Members of both parties are trying to address sky-high gas prices with a bill that would suspend filling of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an effort to help out consumers. The measure passed the Senate 97-1 earlier today, and members of Connecticut’s congressional delegation support the idea. Here’s part of what Rep. Joe Courtney (D) […]

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Several sources, including this one, are suggesting that ethics reform may not yet be dead. It may return, zombie-like, to a special session.
I’ll believe it when I see it, mainly because the problems that led to the bill’s original failure have yet to be dealt with:
There is now talk of acting on ethics in […]

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Gov. Rell was asked by The Day why she didn’t support the Republican budget proposals. Here’s what she said:
The difference between what I believe and what they have offered and what we have been talking about (is that) many people do not believe the early retirement plan really saves money in the long run. […] […]

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Increased funding for nursing homes. Ethics reform. Mandatory paid sick days. An open container law. All left on the floor without a vote.
This session, in the end, was more about what didn’t make it to a vote than what actually passed.
Some of the bills left on the table died because of a sudden budget deficit, […]

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Looks like the Senate has passed the mortgage relief bill.
A bill getting rid of the ban on paid firefighters volunteering as firefighters in their towns also passed.
Gov. Rell knocked off early, forgoing the usual end-of-session speech.
More coverage of the last day of the session here.
Speaker Amann thinks the legislature did well (at least in regards […]

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Capitol Watch reports on the ever-growing list of legislators retiring this year.
A week after falling short in the race for House majority leader, Rep. Michael A. Christ, D-East Hartford, told his colleagues this morning he would not be returning next year.
[…]
Rep. Chris Stone, D-East Hartford, who also is leaving the House at the conclusion of […]

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Paid sick days legislation could face a filibuster, according to a listserv posting by Jon Green of the CT Working Families party.
The legislative session ends tonight, so a filibuster would effectively kill this bill without a vote. Is there a good reason why legislative priorities are always voted on during the last few days […]

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Unlike Sean Sullivan, Hillary Clinton and John McCain, Reps John Larson and Rosa DeLauro have resisted the temptation to pander to the electorate in the short term and are focusing on the long term energy policy. This from their press release on why they oppose the gas tax holiday:
“First, [it] will bankrupt the federal […]

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The House passed a mortgage relief bill that creates an emergency mortgage assistance program and a refinancing program with more flexible credit than CHFA.
The House also passed mental health parity, which aims to treat mental illness the same as physical illness under Gov. Rell’s Charter Oak Health Plan. This one may be headed for […]

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At this point it’s become clear that the budget adjustment session of 2008 will not be making any adjustments to last year’s budget. Gov. Rell is ignoring her own party’s alternative, hilariously-named “Do Something” (you can just hear the unwritten “You Idiots” at the end of that title) budget and siding with Democrats in keeping […]

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The surplus is gone, according to the governor. That was fast! So now what?
Democrats are proposing a tax amnesty proposal.
The Senate Republicans have proposed an amendment that would require a photo ID in order to vote. This has proved to be a little controversial.
Have a historic barn? You could get a tax credit if a […]

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The current short session has one week to go. What would you like to see the legislature accomplish in that time?

What issues would you like to see the legislature work on between now and next Wednesday?

Health care

Ethics reform

Transportation issues

Criminal justice (includes three strikes)

Gas prices

Economic stimulus

Labor issues (includes paid sick days)

Something else

They should stay as still […]

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The Republicans today released their alternative budget proposal. It is, unsurprisingly, full of tax cuts. And why are they proposing it?
In light of alarming revenue numbers just released from OFA, legislative Democrats indicated that they might do nothing with the current year’s budget, making no changes to what was enacted last year. House and Senate […]

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This is up in several places, but it looks like the legislature may make no changes to the budget this year, and leave last year’s budget in place as is.
This would, as Capitol Watch notes, mean no increase in funding for nursing homes or nonprofits.

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