Category: Connecticut

Connecticut Fiscal Conservatives Warn Against SEBAC Contracts

Bradley Vasoli

The Yankee Institute (YI), Connecticut’s premier economically conservative think tank, is exhorting state lawmakers to reject contracts that the Lamont administration negotiated with the State Employee Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC).

YI began warning against the eventual fiscal consequences of the agreements after the public-employee labor coalition started publicizing their major features in mid-March. Later that month, the SEBAC’s 15 unions approved the agreements and, on April 1, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) requested that the Democrat-controlled General Assembly ratify the deals, characterizing them as “responsible and fair.”

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Connecticut Unemployment Claims Slightly Rising

The Center Square

Unemployment is slowly recovering in Connecticut, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Labor.

In its latest Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims report, there was an increase in 18,000 initial claims filed throughout the country for the week ending April 9, with a total of 185,000 claims. The four-week moving average for the number of claims filed was set at 172,250, which was adjusted by 2,000 from the previous week’s number.

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Progressives Ask Connecticut Lawmakers to Expand Medicaid to Illegal Immigrant Minors

Bradley Vasoli

Progressives this week are pushing for Connecticut lawmakers to extend HUSKY Health, the state’s Medicaid program, to illegal-immigrant minors at an estimated cost of $1.9 million.

Last year, reacting to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Constitution State enacted a measure to make illegal-alien children under the age of eight eligible for HUSKY, a policy that will take effect at the beginning of next year. But some say those between the ages of nine and 18 should not be left out of the program.

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Republican Candidate for Connecticut Governor Won’t Commit to Banning Trans Athletes

Peter D'Abrosca

Connecticut’s Republican nominee for governor Tuesday would not commit to banning biologically male transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports, instead choosing to tiptoe around the issue. 

“Connecticut law prohibits discrimination,” Bob Stefanowski reportedly said. “It’s incumbent upon the high school athletic conferences to seek out the voices of young female athletes, coaches and parents to come up with policies that ensure a level playing field and protect girls’ sports.”

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Connecticut Legislative Intervention Sought to Repay Pandemic Unemployment Loans

The Center Square

Connecticut businesses are on the hook for $463 million in unemployment assistance the state owes to the federal government.

As the state’s businesses are facing higher taxes and additional assessments this fall, the state is eyeing a repayment of nearly half of the $900 million it borrowed, according to a report by the Connecticut Business & Industry Association, to cover record unemployment claims throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Assisted Suicide Bill Defeated in Connecticut Judiciary Committee

Bradley Vasoli

Senators on the Connecticut General Assembly’s Judiciary Committee defeated legislation this week that would have permitted terminally ill adults to obtain substances to hasten their deaths. 

Typically, members of both chambers vote in Connecticut’s legislative committees. Regarding the assisted-suicide bill, Rep. Craig Fishbein (R-Wallingford) moved to split the committee to take a vote from delegations from each chamber. When the committee’s nine senators voted, one Democrat, Mae Flexer (D-Windham) sided with the panel’s four Republicans, killing the bill, which had previously passed the Public Health Committee. 

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Robert Hyde, ‘America First’ Candidate, Seeks Republican Nomination to Defeat Connecticut U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal

Susan Berry, PhD

U.S. Marine Corps Operation Iraqi Freedom War Veteran Robert F. Hyde says he wants to unseat Democrat Sen. Richard Blumenthal in order to return America’s “core values” to its citizens and “secure the nation’s liberties and freedoms.”

In an interview with The Connecticut Star, Hyde said he is seeing Americans’ constitutional rights being “undermined” in both Washington, DC, and his own state of Connecticut.

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Volvo Says Connecticut Following California Emissions Standards Would ‘Pose Problems’

Bradley Vasoli

In a podcast discussion with Motor Transport Association of Connecticut President Joe Sculley on Friday, Volvo Group North America spokesperson Dawn Fenton objected to the Constitution State following California’s carbon-emission regulations for trucks.

California is the only state possessing a waiver allowing it to establish its own emission controls which are stronger than those required by the federal Clean Air Act. Environmental progressives have backed the waiver, which former President Donald Trump rescinded and which President Joe Biden reactivated last month.

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Connecticut Bill Proposes Investing State Funds into ‘Underserved Communities’

The Center Square

The Connecticut General Assembly is in the early stages of reviewing a bill that has been touted as a mechanism of infusing state resources into underserved and low-income communities.

As written, Senate Bill 481 would require the investment of state funds into community banks, community credit unions and community development financial institutions.

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Connecticut No Longer First in Personal Income Per Capita

Bradley Vasoli

New data from the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reveals that Connecticut is no longer first place among states in terms of per-capita personal income.

The Constitution State’s per-capita individual income exceeded every other states’ since 1987. Last year, however, Massachusetts outranked Connecticut regarding individuals’ mean income. The latter state’s residents averaged a yearly income of $82,475 each, whereas the former’s average earner got $82,082 annually. (The national average was $63,444.)

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Communities Grant Program to Send $45 Million to 12 Connecticut Cities for Improvement Projects

The Center Square
Ned Lamont

A total of 12 cities will be receiving funding through Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s new grant program.

The governor announced $45 million will be awarded through the Connecticut Communities Challenge Grant Program, which works to leverage $74 million in nonstate, private funding to prop up projects aimed at improving livability and vibrance of cities.

“Investing in our communities is a key part of our plan to accelerate long-lasting and equitable economic development in Connecticut,” Lamont said in a release. “This new grant program we launched will have wide-ranging impacts as we emerge stronger than ever from the pandemic, creating new jobs, improving the vibrancy and quality of life in our neighborhoods, and making all corners of the state even more attractive for investment and opportunity.”

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Connecticut Secretary of State: Multilingual ‘Virtual Poll Worker’ System to ‘Eliminate Language and Cultural Barriers’ for Voters

Kaitlin Housler
Denise Merrill

Connecticut Secretary of State Denise Merrill announced the launch of a Multilingual Virtual Poll Worker system in a Tuesday press release. The system, according to Merrill, will “eliminate language and cultural barriers and make it easier for people to cast their ballots and make their voices heard.”

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Connecticut GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Stefanowski Picks Devlin as Running Mate

Bradley Vasoli
Bob Stefanowski and Laura Devlin

Connecticut Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski announced Tuesday at Fairfield Town Hall that he has picked Deputy House Minority Leader Laura Devlin (R-Fairfield) as his running mate.

Stefanowski is challenging Gov. Ned Lamont’s (D) bid for reelection. A former chief executive officer of the Dollar Financial Group who previously worked for General Electric, the Republican candidate touted Devlin’s background as an entrepreneur before she became a legislator in 2015.

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Connecticut Teachers’ Union Backs Down After Educator Exercises Right to Cut Off Dues Payments

Susan Berry, PhD
empty hallway

A teacher in the Plainville Community School District in Connecticut successfully exercised her First Amendment right to stop financial support for the activities of the Connecticut Education Association (CEA).

Christina Corvello invoked her rights under the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME to end payment of dues to CEA despite union officials’ efforts to restrict her right to an “escape period,” i.e., a limited number of days several months in the future.

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Connecticut Bills Could Bring Changes to Property, Income Tax Calculations

The Center Square
Holly Cheeseman

As inflation soars to 40-year highs, Connecticut lawmakers are considering a package of bills that could bring changes to the manner property and income taxes are calculated in the future.

This legislative session, the General Assembly is considering House Bill 5487, which could increase thresholds for the state’s property tax credit and eliminate some of the eligibility restrictions that are in place.

Also on the Legislature’s radar this session is House Bill 5489, which calls for inflation indexing the personal income tax, and House Bill 5490, which would establish a personal income tax deduction on rent paid, so long as the person’s primary residence is in Connecticut.

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Lawmakers Call for Challenge to ARPA Rules Limiting Connecticut Tax Reduction

Bradley Vasoli
Ned Lamont

Connecticut Republican legislators said on Saturday they want the state to challenge a part of the American Rescue Plan Act which limits states’ ability to cut taxes.

GOP senators and representatives are calling for tax reduction beyond the targeted relief backed by Gov. Ned Lamont (D). A major roadblock to greater decreases will be the COVID-relief bill President Joe Biden signed into law last year. The act included $195.3 billion in recovery funds for states and barred states accepting allocations from using them to “directly or indirectly offset a reduction in net tax revenue… or delay the imposition of any tax or tax increase.”

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Connecticut Supreme Court Justice Keller Retiring

Bradley Vasoli

Connecticut Supreme Court Associate Justice Christine E. Keller announced this week her intention to retire and accept “senior status” with the court.

Her retirement takes effect on April 1, 2022. Gov. Ned Lamont (D), who appointed the justice two years ago, thanked the justice for her service on Thursday and announced he will nominate her successor during this session of the General Assembly.

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Blumenthal Falsely Claims Oil Companies to Blame for High Gas Prices

Peter D'Abrosca

A U.S. Senator from Connecticut is falsely scapegoating oil companies for skyrocketing gas prices nationwide. 

“Oil companies are exploiting Russia’s war in Ukraine to drive up gas prices to obscene levels. It’s time to end this corporate profiteering,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said Thursday. “We need a Big Oil Windfall Profits tax to take excess profits & deliver them to Americans getting stuck with the bill.”

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Connecticut School Nurse Suspended over Facebook Comments Claiming District Hides Children’s Gender Issues from Parents

Susan Berry, PhD

A Connecticut school nurse was suspended Monday over Facebook comments on a personal account, called “inappropriate” by the district superintendent, that warned parents school staff is hiding children’s supposed expressed gender identity issues from their parents.

Kathleen Cataford, 77, was suspended by Hartford Public Schools (HPS) after posting comments to her personal Facebook account, reportedly containing information about the number of pre-teen children who are claiming to have gender identity issues, including an 11-year-old “on puberty blockers,” and other children “identifying as non-binary.”

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Zoning Legislation Stirs Controversy in Connecticut

Bradley Vasoli

Democrats in Connecticut’s state House of Representatives are offering legislation they say will facilitate affordable housing and “racial justice,” though opponents of the measures say they will merely hamper local control of development.

One bill would mandate that municipalities permit housing containing a minimum of 15 dwelling units per acre within half-mile radiuses of rail stations. At least 10 percent of the units in such areas would be required to meet the state’s definition of affordable housing, i.e. that it costs an occupant no more than one third of his or her annual income. 

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Bill Would Give Legislators Access to Connecticut Residents’ Tax Returns

Bradley Vasoli
Kate Farrar, Michael Winkler rand Josh Elliot

Connecticut leftists are promoting legislation that would let lawmakers request and receive copies of any residents’ tax return.

Advocates for the bill are basing their case on “fairness and equality,” insisting that access to individuals’ financial information will help them improve tax policy from a progressive standpoint, i.e. claim more revenue from higher-income earners.

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New Haven Public Health Director Announces Bid for Connecticut Secretary of State

Peter D'Abrosca

New Haven’s Director of Public Health has decided to run for Secretary of State, according to Sunday reports. 

“Maritza currently serves as the Director of Health for the City of New Haven,” Bond’s campaign website says. “In this role, Maritza has been on the front lines of the fight against Covid, educating City residents on the importance of wearing masks, being socially distanced, and getting vaccinated.”

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Connecticut Bills Call for New Mental Health Treatment Techniques

The Center Square

Using psychedelics to treat mental health disorders is the focus of a bill that passed out of the Public Health Committee, Senate Democrats said.

House Bill 5396, which addresses access to mental and behavioral health services and medications, moved out of committee on Monday. The bills are sponsored by state Sen. Saud Anwar, D-South Windsor, who serves a vice chairman of the committee.

House Bill 5275 also moved out of the committee; it addresses step therapy and prescription drugs for mental and behavioral health issues.

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Connecticut Senate Votes to Expand Absentee Voting

Bradley Vasoli

Connecticut’s Democrat-controlled Senate this week sent sent legislation to expand absentee voting to Gov. Ned Lamont’s (D) desk.

The bill stops short of total no-excuse absentee voting—which the Connecticut Constitution prohibits—but significantly broadens the categories of those permitted to mail in their ballots. Not only will eligibility apply to those who are ill, disabled or serving actively in the Armed Forces, but it will also include those who are absent “from the town of such elector’s or person’s voting residence; [during all of the hours of voting].” (This component largely pertains to the many state residents who work in New York City.)

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Connecticut Pro-Life Leader Whose Mother Chose Life: ‘The Place That Could Have Been My Graveyard Is Now My Battleground’

Susan Berry, PhD

Pro-life leader Christina Bennett told the crowd rallying at Connecticut’s first-ever March for Life event Wednesday that, in 1981, she was minutes away from being aborted in Hartford, Connecticut, when a janitor urged her mother to reconsider her decision, and her mother ended up choosing life.

Bennett received resounding cheers when she said of Hartford, “The place that could have been my graveyard is now my battleground.”

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CT-5 Democrat Incumbent Jahana Hayes Intimates Black GOP Opponent Only Running Because of Race

Aaron Gulbransen

Democrat Incumbent U.S. Representative Jahana Hayes recently intimated to supporters in a Zoom call that her Black GOP opponent was only in the campaign because of his race.

Hayes also recently told supporters that if she loses her race in November, then Democrats all around the country are in trouble. Sources tell The Connecticut Star that Hayes is feeling the pressure in Connecticut’s highly competitive Fifth Congressional district contest.

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First-Ever Connecticut March for Life Draws Thousands

Susan Berry, PhD

Several thousand Connecticut residents flooded the steps of the state Capitol building in Hartford Wednesday for the first-ever Connecticut March for Life pro-life rally and peaceful demonstration that celebrated life from the moment of conception to natural death.

“It’s just incredibly significant to have Connecticut’s first March for Life,” Jeanne Mancini, president of the national March for Life Defense and Education Fund, told The Connecticut Star.

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New Connecticut Incubator Could Spur Job Growth, Business Development

The Center Square
Ned Lamont

A $1.3 million business incubator is in the works, Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont said.

Lamont announced the anticipated approval from the Connecticut State Bond Commission for the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut’s Thames River Innovation Center which will focus on job growth in the state.

The center, according to a release, will be located in New London and will give businesses and workers an innovation center and working space, in addition to the site being used for training, technical apprenticeships, and business development.

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Connecticut Attorney General Joins Brief Against ‘Remain in Mexico’ Policy

Bradley Vasoli
William Tong and Kwame Raoul

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong (D) joined 17other state attorneys general in signing onto an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to end the federal “remain in Mexico” immigration policy.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul (D) has spearheaded the effort among liberal state prosecutors to persuade the high court to reverse the Trump-era policy, also known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). The policy stipulates that asylum seekers generally must await their U.S. asylum hearings in Mexico. The Biden White House has criticized the protocols but the courts have prevented him from reversing it.

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Connecticut Organizer of ‘Moms for Bob’ Stefanowski: ‘We’re Not Just Republicans, We’re a Whole Demographic Who Feel Completely Ignored’ by Democrats in Hartford

Susan Berry, PhD
Sarah Matthews

A Connecticut mom who has helped organize mothers who support Republican Bob Stefanowski for governor emphasized to The Connecticut Star her group is composed of moms of all political views who have felt ignored by the Democrats in Hartford ruling their state.

While Sarah Matthews is chairman of the Republican Town Committee in Fairfield, she said her informal organization of mothers supporting Stefanowski in his bid to block Democrat Governor Ned Lamont from another term is “not just Republicans.”

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Connecticut Public-Sector Unions to Get Costly Raises and Bonuses If Contracts Approved

Bradley Vasoli
Worker in restaurant kitchen

According to a brochure distributed by Connecticut’s public-sector-labor coalition, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) and the state’s unionized employees have negotiated contracts that will cost taxpayers plenty if ratified. 

Wins for each unionized worker would include $3,500 in bonuses and and three yearly wage hikes of 2.5 percent, which would be made retroactive to summer of 2021. About two-thirds of union-affiliated employees would also get “step” raises; i.e., elevation to the next pay rate. These bonuses and salary gains would also factor into future pension payments.

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U.S. Senate Candidate Leora Levy Blasts Blumenthal over Stock Trading Controversy

Cooper Moran

U.S. Senate candidate Leora Levy blasted Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) over a controversy that centers around an ethics complaint against the lawmaker.

“Richard Blumenthal parsing & denying that he owns individual stocks is the 2022 version of ‘It depends on what the meaning of is, is…’ Just another double-speaking career politician who has lost his perspective on truth,” the candidate tweeted.

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Dozens of State GOP Lawmakers Endorse Former Connecticut House Minority Leader Klarides for Senate

Bradley Vasoli
Themis Klarides

Former Connecticut House Republican Leader Themis Klarides received the endorsement of 47 current state lawmakers this week for her U.S. Senate bid.

This compounds an already strong showing of support Klarides has boasted among party leaders and committee members across the state. Should she secure her party’s nomination in the August 9 primary, she will face 10-year incumbent Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D) in November. 

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