CTNewsjunkie Latest Headlines“I just want to report that this morning I personally checked John McCain’s bearings. He has not lost any of them. They are all in really great shape.”
Joe Lieberman, responding to Barack Obama’s assertion that McCain had “lost his bearings.”
…Also, any giggling about this quote is entirely your own doing, I’m not encouraging that sort of thinking one bit.
→ No CommentsTags: Presidential Election · Joe Lieberman
The Cook Political Report has changed its rating for Connecticut’s 2nd Congressional District from “Likely Democratic” to “Solid Democratic.” This is stunning, considering that this district saw the closest congressional race in the entire country in 2006.
“Solid Democratic” is the most favorable rating Cook gives for a seat leaning Democratic–meaning we’re not going to see much drama around here this fall. What changed has to be Sean Sullivan’s filing mishap, which in addition to his high burn rate and low fundraising totals overall make this a very, very tough race for him. The few attacks he’s launched at Courtney have fallen short of the mark.
Courtney, on the other hand, has been working on issues near and dear to the district’s heart: like increasing sub production. According to a release sent out by his office yesterday, Courtney is advancing an amendment to the defense budget authorization seeking funds to move the increased sub production up to 2010, instead of waiting until 2011. The amendment was successful in the Seapower Subcommittee yesterday. So he’s in good shape to win in New London County, which is where Rep. Rob Simmons had much of his strength.
→ No CommentsTags: Elections
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. […] They believe that in years past when we’ve done this what has happened is we end up having to hire people back. Yes, at a lower salary, but in many cases you end up hiring some of the state employees (back) because of the loss in intelligence and work habits that you get.
[…]
Also … their proposal was to shrink the workforce and take the savings from that to spend more money to meet what some of the requests were in the budget this year. […] I would much rather have that than layoffs any day. But I would rather look at it to save money, not to take the money and spend it somewhere else. (Choiniere)
This makes me wonder if there was any communication at all between the GOP leadership and the governor’s office before the Republican budget proposals were released. The problems that Rell has with her own party are not going to get any better because of this.
Source
Choiniere, Paul. “Gov. Rell explains her rejection of Republican budget plan.” The Day 9 May, 2008.
→ 3 CommentsTags: Jodi Rell · CT General Assembly
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, and a deal with the governor to continue last year’s budget unaltered. Others, like paid sick days and ethics reform, died because of a lack of votes, a lack of time, and a lack of political will. Ethics reform may come up at an upcoming special session (the purpose of which is to renew the real estate conveyance tax, a major source of revenue), although I’m not holding my breath. Capitol Watch has detected a pattern concerning ethics reform, and there’s no reason to think anything is going to change now.
We may see a special session or two this summer, and that will be it for the 2007-2008 General Assembly. Now it’s up to voters to figure out, through primaries or the general election, if they want to keep the same crew for 2009-2010.
→ 1 CommentTags: CT General Assembly
Looks like there won’t be a primary in the 5th District after all. Tony Nania is out of the race due to issues surrounding his health, according to a statement made by CTGOP chair Chris Healy:
Today, Anthony Nania formally informed the Connecticut Republican Party that he is withdrawing for the Fifth Congressional race. Mr. Nania has also told us he intends to support our nominee, State Sen. David Cappiello, during the campaign, and after his recuperation from major orthopedic surgery.
Said Cappiello:
Tony Nania is a good man who waged a respectful campaign. I want to thank him for his long service to our Party, and for his willingness to be part of our great democratic process as a candidate for Congress. I wish him all the best, and most importantly a speedy recovery.
Before this came up Nania’s campaign had badly lagged behind Cappiello’s in fundraising. The nominating convention for the 5th District is scheduled for this Saturday.
→ 5 CommentsTags: Uncategorized
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 to the freedom to tailgate is concerned). What do you think?
Check out the list of bills passed to see what’s headed for the governor’s desk.
Update: 6:55am - Both ethics reform and paid sick days died without a vote last night.
→ 9 CommentsTags: CT General Assembly
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 this term, offered his goodbyes, an election-year ritual on the last day of the legislative session.
Also leaving their posts:
Speaker James Amann (D)
Rep. Leonard Greene (R)
Rep. Michael Caron (R)
Rep. Ruth Fahrbach (R)
Rep. Art Feltman (D)
Rep. Claudia “Dolly” Powers (R)
Rep. Felipe Reinoso (D)
Rep. Kevin Witkos (R) (actually running for state senate)
Rep. Toni Boucher (R) (also running for state senate)
Rep. Christel Trugila (D)
Rep. John Ryan (R)
Sen. Judith Freedman (R)
Sen. Thomas Herlihy (R)
Sen. David Cappiello (R)
Sen. William Nickerson (R)
I’m sure I missed a few…
Updated - Added Reps. Christel Truglia (D) and John Ryan (R) to the list.
→ 4 CommentsTags: CT General Assembly
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 of a given session?
→ 1 CommentTags: CT General Assembly
Forget the smoking ban in casinos: that’s not coming to the floor.
Republicans may get at least one tax off the table thanks to their strategy of amending their budget proposals to every bill having to do with the budget: the real estate conveyance tax.
If you’re 15, the House says you can get a job.
Is the open container ban in trouble? Hey, I thought that was a no-brainer. What gives?
Tomorrow is the last day of the session. We’ll see what nutty stuff passes near midnight: keep an eye on the list of bills passed.
→ 27 CommentsTags: Uncategorized
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 Highway Trust Fund, leading to deep cuts to transit investments and to critical safety and congestion-relief funding. While our constituents would like to pay less at the pump, they don’t want to see the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs, worsened rush hour traffic, and increasingly dangerous road conditions.
“Secondly, the fiscal damage to the Highway Trust Fund would not actually lead to a savings for families. Oil companies have no history of passing their own savings on to the consumer and we don’t believe they would do so now. The gas tax has remained stable for fifteen years, yet gas prices have steadily increased: clearly, the $0.18/gallon gas tax has little to do with the unusually high price at the pump. Waiving the federal gas tax will merely add to the already enormous profits of the oil industry while undermining our ability to invest in safer roads, cleaner fuels, and increased public transportation options.
“Third, Congress has begun to chart a new direction in energy policy — reducing demand for oil, improving the efficiency of cars and trucks, increasing our use of alternative fuels and renewable energy sources, and investing in a cleaner transportation infrastructure. These are the steps that we must take to reduce demand for oil, bring down the real cost of gasoline, and benefit consumers and the long-term health of our economy.”
Nice to see that some of our elected officials can still maintain a long term focus, even in an election year.
→ 31 CommentsTags: Uncategorized · U.S. Congress · Energy · John Larson · Rosa DeLauro
From a release today from the Sean Sullivan campaign:
“Gas price on January 4, 2007: $2.33
Today’s Gas Price, A Record: $3.64
The Joe Courtney Tax Increase: $1.31 per gallon”
Wow. Sean Sullivan is crediting Joe Courtney with a heck of a lot of power down there in Washington. For a freshman Congressman to singlehandedly raise the price of gas by $1.31 per gallon really takes some doing.
“Joe Courtney blames the administration for everything; he’s pointed out how much gas prices have increased since the President took office, yet he fails to admit that most of the increase has occurred since he took office.”
So let’s get this straight. Joe Courtney is to blame for the increased demand for oil from India and China, terrorist strikes on oil refining facilities in Nigeria and stoppages by oil workers in the United Kingdom, all of which have put upward pressure on the price of oil. Oh, and let’s not forget the weak dollar, since oil is priced in dollars so the oil-producing countries need higher prices to get the same value in their home currency. Shall we blame Joe Courtney for that too?
I’m beginning to think Joe Courtney is some sort of global Superman.
I’m not a resident of CT-2 and have no axes to grind, but this is politics written for the lowest common denominator. Mr. Sullivan, do you think we’re complete morons when you write stuff like this? Do you really expect us to believe that 2 + 2 = 58698? Come on! Credit the electorate with more intelligence, PLEASE!
So what is Mr. Sullivan’s solution to our Gas Price woes? Well, despite calls from many economists including Greg Mankiw, a former chairman of President George W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers, that it’s a really bad idea, Sullivan is jumping on the McCain/Clinton gas tax holiday bandwagon:
“If elected to Congress I will champion an energy policy that doesn’t simply rely on releasing oil reserves. We should start by giving a gas tax holiday to the consumer. Consumers are paying way too much at the pump right now. The government shouldn’t make the pain any worse than it already is.”
Actually, the government should be thinking strategically about energy policy, not just pandering for election votes.
→ 7 CommentsTags: Uncategorized
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 a veto.
Republicans made an attempt to attach their budget bill as an amendment.
→ 2 CommentsTags: CT General Assembly
It’ll be $7.65/hour (and later $8) if the governor signs the bill passed by the Senate tonight. Apparently, Sen. Sam Caligiuri (R-Waterbury) and Sen. Anthony Guglielmo (R-Stafford Springs) voted for it. Interesting.
In other news, the casino smoking ban is headed for a caucus in the House, but not necessarily a vote.
→ No CommentsTags: Uncategorized
As you’ve probably seen (here and here are a few of the stories on the subject), municipal leaders, city leaders especially, are up in arms over the state budget staying the same as it was last year.
Basically, because state aid to towns will not increase at the same rate as last year, services are threatened and towns may have to raise taxes. Which means that the legislature, in its wisdom, has passed the buck to the cities and towns. A sigh of relief for folks in the Capitol, I’m sure, but not for people in town and city halls all across the state.
There are a couple of things to take away from this mess. First, and most importantly, it demonstrates just how dependent our 169 municipalities are on aid coming from Hartford. Simply put, cities and towns (but especially cities) are hard-pressed to deliver the many services that residents need without aid from the state. Property taxes, the main source of income for cities and towns, just don’t cover costs. There is no such thing as a town that can survive without help from Hartford–not without a significant raise in property taxes. This is why cities were interested in a local sales tax earlier in the year.
And secondly, this is why it’s such a shame that the property tax reform that was to have come about during the 2007 session never did. The state is sort of halfway to paying for things like education now, but the uncertainty about just how much money the state will actually dole out to towns often causes budget panic. Last year’s budget impasse was another good example of how much trouble gridlock in Hartford can cause for cities and towns trying to create a budget.
We may have to wait for the 2009 session or beyond to get any movement on this issue, however, which is a terrible shame. This should have been dealt with last year. Here’s a start: let’s completely decouple education funding, at least, from property taxes. This makes a lot more sense than the hybrid system we have now, where towns foot a lot, but not all, of the bill while the state mandates more and more requirements.
But this year the buck has well and truly been passed by Democrats and the governor off to towns and cities, who now must do the work the legislature wasn’t willing to, and find ways to make ends meet.
→ 24 CommentsTags: Uncategorized
CT News Junkie reports on the state of pension reform, which passed the Senate without an amendment added by the House:
Last week the House amended the SB 333 with an amendment that would allow a judge to reduce a corrupt state employee’s pension, instead of revoke it. Under the House amendment corrupt elected officials could still have their pensions revoked. (Stuart)
The Senate disagreed with that, which means that now the co-chairs of the GAE will have to meet to hammer out a compromise.
The Senate also passed a global warming bill by a vote of 35-0.
Source
Stuart, Christine. “Ethics and Pension Reform Passes Senate with Disagreeing Action.” CT News Junkie 5 May, 2008.
