Truckers are criticizing a new Connecticut law charging them a tax for driving on the state’s roadways, with a trade group weighing a legal challenge.
The new law, which went into effect on Jan. 1, requires commercial truckers to pay rates ranging from 2.5 cents per mile for trucks with a gross weight of 26,000 pounds to 10 cents per mile for trucks weighing 80,000 pounds. Trucks weighing more than 80,000 pounds are slated to pay 17.5 cents per mile under the new regulations.
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Members of the Connecticut General Assembly and top-level statewide officials receive significant pay raises Wednesday that include a jump in base salary for the part-time lawmakers from $28,000 to $40,000.
State lawmakers voted last May to approve the legislation that grants the pay hikes for themselves and other specified leadership positions.
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General Motors (GM) gave a grant to an organization that supplies elementary schools with books promoting the transgender ideology.
The automotive manufacturing company donated money to the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network’s (GLSEN) “Rainbow Library Program,” according to a 2021 Social Impact Report published by GM.
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American Catholic leaders are acclaiming the life and work of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, whose scholarly writings emphasized the unity of faith and reason and, most fundamentally, the primary truth of the Catholic faith, which teaches God is Love.
Benedict, who was born Joseph Ratzinger, died Saturday at the age of 95. He became pope in April 2005, following the death of Pope John Paul II, and served until his resignation in February 2013.
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Yale University academic departments have implemented efforts in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
Academic departments including anesthesiology, history, and mathematics have diversity statements or dedicated pages for diversity on their websites. The Yale Math Statement on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) says that “the department has convened a standing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) committee that meets regularly.”
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With backing from Gov. Ned Lamont, a Connecticut-based company is appealing the U.S. Army’s rejection of its multimillion dollar bid for a defense contract to build long-range helicopters.
Sikorsky Aircraft, maker of the iconic Blackhawk helicopters, had submitted a proposal to the U.S. Army to produce its Defiant-X helicopter as part of the next generation of long-range helicopters. But the Army announced earlier this month that it was awarding the $1.3 billion contract to Bell Textron, a Texas-based company.
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Connecticut lawmakers will see fatter paychecks in the new year with a law that bumps their base pay by upwards of $12,000, once it goes into effect.
Legislation approved earlier this year, signed by Gov. Ned Lamont, increases rank-and-file lawmakers’ pay from $28,000 to $40,000, with future raises pegged to the cost of living in every two-year legislative cycle. Compensation for the House speaker and Senate president will increase from $38,689 to $50,000 next year under the law.
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Connecticut is pumping more federal funds into its fuel assistance program to provide the state’s low income energy consumers with more relief this winter.
The Connecticut Energy Assistance Program says it will be increasing fuel assistance payments to qualifying residents by another $430 this season, to help with home heating costs and unpaid utility bills through the state’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
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Congressional lawmakers in Connecticut and Rhode Island have teamed up to seek more federal relief funding to help New England livestock feed producers, and other farmers impacted by severe drought conditions.
In a letter to House and Senate budget leaders, members of congressional delegations from both states urged them to pump more money into relief programs, and expand eligibility to drought-wary forge farmers in the region, who they said are being left out of federal assistance programs.
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Connecticut state troopers will be the highest paid law enforcement officials in the state under a newly approved contract, which includes pay raises and other perks.
The Connecticut State Police Union, which represents about 840 rank and file troopers and sergeants, said it has ratified a four-year contract negotiated with Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration that includes a 2.5% pay raise, a double-digit increase in starting pay, and annual lump sum payments of 2% for senior troopers.
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The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in favor of two biological male athletes who competed in girls’ sports when it dismissed claims brought against the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference by four female track runners Friday.
Soule v. Connecticut Association of Schools was first filed in 2019 after two biological male athletes, Andraya Yearwood and Thania Edwards, won various track and field titles after a Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference policy permitted them to compete in the women’s division, according to the lawsuit. The plaintiffs, represented by the conservative legal nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), alleged that female competitors lost opportunities to compete at elite levels.
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The liberal voting activist group that dumped $350 million of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s money on local election offices during the 2020 presidential election is back again with another $80 million to give over the next five years.
And Wisconsin once again will be front and center in the Center for Tech and Civic Life’s “generosity.”
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Connecticut is receiving $5 million in federal grants to expand high-speed internet service, and fill gaps in coverage in low-income communities.
The money, provided through the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Internet for All initiative, includes a $4.2 million Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment grant and a $736,568 Digital Equity grant.
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Connecticut is slated to receive another payout from a multi-state opioid settlement involving two of the nation’s largest retail pharmacies.
Under the tentative deal, CVS and Walgreens have agreed to pay state and local governments a combined total of more than $10 billion to settle lawsuits over the toll of highly-addictive prescription opioids.
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Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont has reached a tentative contract with the state police union he says will improve trooper recruitment and retention.
Details of the tentative agreement, which must be approved by the unions rank and file membership, weren’t disclosed, but Lamont said the contract covered wages, benefits and working conditions.
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A Connecticut-based helicopter maker that was promised tax breaks from the state, has lost out on a major defense contract.
Sikorsky Aircraft, maker of the iconic Blackhawk helicopters, had submitted a proposal to the U.S. Army to produce its Defiant-X helicopter as part of the next generation of long-range helicopters.
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Maritime groups are criticizing New England governors for urging the Biden administration to lift federal restrictions banning foreign vessels in domestic waters in response to a regional energy crunch.
In a letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in July, the chief executives called for a blanket waiver from the Jones Act, which requires cargo shipped between U.S. ports to be transported on American owned and operated ships.
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Connecticut motorists will continue to see relief at the pumps after the state Legislature approved an extension of the gas tax holiday until next year.
Meeting in a special session on Monday, the Democrat controlled House and Senate approved a proposal to waive the 25 cents per gallon retail tax on gasoline until Dec. 31. The gas tax holiday, which was initially approved in April, was set to expire Nov. 30.
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Yale University allegedly discriminated against students hospitalized for a mental illness by threatening to unenroll them from courses, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday by Yale students and alumni.
The lawsuit, filed by Yale’s mental health advocacy group Elis for Rachel and two current students, claims that university officials visited students who were hospitalized for attempted suicide and pressured them to withdraw from classes. The plaintiffs also allege the administrators threatened to forcibly unenroll them if they refused to withdraw voluntarily.
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Connecticut lawmakers are calling for regional public hearings over a proposal by one of the state’s largest utilities to dramatically hike electricity rates.
In a letter to the state Public Utility Regulatory Authority, a group of 20 state senators wrote that they are “profoundly disturbed” by Eversource’s proposed rate increase, and called for hearings on the “exorbitant and punishing” rate increase.
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Democrat officials in Connecticut, the state’s electric power giants, and their allies in the media are blaming a 50 percent increase in electric prices this winter in the state on Russia’s war with Ukraine, a reliance on fossil fuels, particularly natural gas, and the fact that Connecticut has a deregulated electricity market.
In a press release, dated November 17, state Attorney General William Tong (D) announced that, effective January 1, Eversource will double its rates from 12.05 cents to 24.2 cents per kWh, and United Illuminating will also double its rates from 10.6 cents to 22.5 cents per kWh.
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Yale Law School, rated No. 1 by an influential ratings guide put out by the magazine U.S. News & World Report, announced it would quit the rankings Wednesday, according to a news release by Yale Law School dean Heather Gerken.
“The U.S. News rankings are profoundly flawed — they disincentivize programs that support public interest careers, champion need-based aid, and welcome working-class students into the profession,” Dean Gerken wrote.
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A Wall Street credit rating firm has bumped up Connecticut’s score for its general obligation bonds, citing the state’s ever improving financial outlook.
Standard & Poor’s announced Monday, it is upgrading Connecticut’s general obligation bond credit rating from A+ (positive) to AA- (stable), as the state prepares to issue more than $900 million in bonds next week for school construction and other public projects.
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Connecticut energy consumers will be digging deeper into their pockets this winter with the state’s two largest utilities seeking hefty rate increases.
In a filing to the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, Eversource is proposing to increase electric rates charged to consumers by nearly 50%, or $85 per month for the average customer.
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A Connecticut boarding school is encouraging their faculty to acknowledge their whiteness and pledge political change, according to the school website.
Taft Boarding School in Watertown, Connecticut, has a “Taft Anti-Bias, Anti-Racism Caucus” (TABARC) as a part of their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, for faculty to increase their “anti-bias, anti-racist literacy,” accordingto the school website. The group aims to acknowledge that they are “white,” affirm they are “anti-racist” and “pledge to caucus for personal and political change.”
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The former Democrat Party chair of Stamford, Connecticut, was sentenced Monday to two years of probation and $35,000 in fines after being found guilty in an absentee ballot fraud case from the 2015 elections.
Superior Court Judge Kevin Randolph, who found John Mallozzi guilty during his trial last month on 14 counts each of charges of forgery and making false statements in absentee ballots – both felonies, sentenced him to two years of probation and $35,000 in fines.
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Yale Law School has pulled out of a national school ranking, calling the program “flawed” because it hurts schools that admit students with lower test scores, according to a press release.
Yale Law School is removing itself from the U.S. News & World Report after consistently ranking first because it fails to reward schools which help students who come from “low-income backgrounds,” according to a press release. Yale Law School Dean Heather Gerken said the rankings discriminate against schools that accept students with lower grades because they could not afford tutoring and academic services.
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Unofficial results on the Connecticut Secretary of State’s website suggest Democrats beat back Republicans in state races and in the entire congressional delegation, but the state Democrat Party apparently registered concerns that Governor Ned Lamont (D) underperformed in Connecticut’s large cities, areas in which its candidates typically win easily.
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A program at Yale University will “charge” its own buildings for carbon outputs and then use that money to reduce emissions throughout campus.
The “Carbon Charge” program previously gave funds back to buildings with the lowest energy output by essentially taxing other places on campus for carbon output.
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Connecticut has launched a new educational public campaign to promote responsible adult-use cannabis.
As the state has legalized the possession of small amounts of cannabis for adults age 21 and over, Gov. Ned Lamont and the state’s Department of Consumer Protection are working in unison to encourage health and safety.
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Reelected Connecticut Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont on Wednesday pledged fiscal responsibility for the coming four years in Hartford.
“With a lot of edging and hedging about what we do in terms of fiscal guardrails that help get this state back on track when it comes to getting our fiscal house in order, I call them the Fonfara Rules coming out in 2017,” Lamont said. “Basically, it says you are not going to spend more than what you can count on in terms of revenues.
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Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont (D) announced a ballot measure for a constitutional amendment to allow in-person early voting in the state had been passed by voters, Hearst media reported Wednesday.
Lamont “said the question had been passed by voters as he began his speech Tuesday night in which he declared victory in his own race,” the report said.
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Multiple polling stations in Connecticut reported broken voting machines whereby voters were asked to place their ballots in an “auxiliary bin” to be counted at the end of the day.
NBC Connecticut reported “a rocky start to Election Day” in the state as ballot machines were found to be broken at the opening of the polls in some precincts.
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The economy in Connecticut has some catching up to do.
Initial figures from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis show the state’s economy fell behind the rest of the nation in the second quarter of 2022.
Connecticut’s gross domestic product fell by 4.7 percent between April and June, putting the state second-to-last in the nation. Meanwhile, personal income grew by only 2.2 percent.
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Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sidestepped giving the economy a letter grade during his only debate with Connecticut Republican Senate candidate Leora Levy Tuesday night, but when pressed to do so by the panelist, he responded the grade is “ongoing,” and “I don’t think that we can give it a grade midstream.”
Levy, however, plainly answered, “I would grade the economy ‘F.’”
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A labor shortage across Connecticut has caused issues as employers are having difficulty finding qualified job applicants, hampering efforts to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, one industry expert said.
Chris DePentima, president and CEO of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, said in a statement the state has 41% more job openings than before the pandemic, but over that same period of time more than 45,000 people have left the workforce.
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The economy in Connecticut has some catching up to do.
Initial figures from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis show the state’s economy fell behind the rest of the nation in the second quarter of 2022.
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Hillary Clinton spoke at a recent Yale University “leadership” event in front of law students and faculty. University officials banned the press from attending.
The former secretary of state and two-time failed presidential candidate spoke at the “Conversation on Leadership” series with Dean Heather Gerken. Clinton graduated from Yale Law School.
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Connecticut Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate Leora Levy has received the endorsement of Mike Pompeo, who served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency and then U.S. Secretary of State under former President Donald Trump.
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A five-year plan to invest in small businesses in Connecticut is now a reality.
Connecticut will invest $46.6 million in the coming years that will help small business expansion through assistance programs across the state. Nonprofit economic development groups will receive the state grants, authorized at a recent Bond Commission meeting, that will assist small businesses with formation, growth and innovation.
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A decrease in workers’ compensation rates is continuing in Connecticut for a ninth straight year.
Beginning Jan. 1, workers’ compensation rates will fall by 3%, Gov. Ned Lamont said, as the Connecticut Insurance Department approved the filing for pure premium loss costs. However, those companies who have an assigned risk will not see a reduction.
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Connecticut GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski said Thursday in a press statement that if he is elected Connecticut governor that the state would never mandate the COVID vaccine for “schoolchildren, public or private employees, or anyone else.”
“It’s time that we start allowing actual science — not political science — to inform how we approach public health decisions,” Stefanowski added. “I challenge Governor Lamont to make this same pledge to the people of our state.”
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Four years ago, Democrat Ned Lamont and Republican Bob Stefanowski faced off in Connecticut’s gubernatorial race.
The same scenario is playing out this fall with incumbent Lamont, seeking a second term in office, facing off against Stefanowski, the opponent he defeated four years ago. Also throwing his hat into the ring this fall is independent gubernatorial candidate Robert Hotaling.
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As benefits such as the enhanced child tax credit end and inflation increases, more Connecticut residents are facing food insecurity.
As DataHaven reports that 17% of Connecticut adults have been unable to afford food at some point in the past year, Julieth Callejas, who serves as executive director of End Hunger Connecticut, told The Center Square in an exclusive interview that many factors contribute to the trend. The percentage is the highest in the last five years.
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A new poll commissioned by CT Examiner found the races for Connecticut governor and for the U.S. Senate are tightening as the election approaches.
The poll, published Saturday, found Governor Ned Lamont (D) leading Bob Stefanowski (R) 46-40 percent, with 5 percent favoring Independent Party candidate Rob Hotaling, and 10 percent undecided.
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Two police officers are dead and another is seriously injured after a shooting in Bristol, Connecticut, police said Thursday.
The suspected gunman waited outside as officers responded to a domestic incident call in a residential area of Bristol on Wednesday evening, Connecticut State Police said. When the officers arrived, the suspect opened fire, killing one officer on site, officials said. The other officer died in the hospital.
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More Connecticut residents are returning to work.
The latest Department of Labor report shows a decrease in the number of people claiming unemployment benefits. By adding another 2,900 jobs in August, the state stands roughly 36,000 jobs less than it recorded in January 2020 with a high of 1.7 million.
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently awarded Connecticut more than $53 million from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for water infrastructure improvements.
The state plans to use the funding for lead line replacement projects in New London and Waterbury, as well as PFAS treatment projects in New Fairfield and Danbury. Additional projects are slated for later funding.
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Child-care workers in Connecticut will soon be getting bonus payments.
The Lamont administration announced Thursday afternoon that $70 million in Appreciate Bonus Payments will be distributed to child-care providers in the state. Bonuses of $1,000 will go to full-time employees of child-care providers and $400 to part-time workers through the Wage Supports for Early Childhood Educators program.
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Epidemiologist Martin Kulldorff, Ph.D. told attendees at Hillsdale College’s Blake Center for Faith and Freedom in Connecticut Thursday evening that government health agencies that forced lockdowns and mass vaccinations to manage the COVID-19 pandemic have thrown the basic principles of public health “out the window.”
Swedish native Kulldorff, who is on leave from Harvard University and is a founding fellow of Hillsdale’s Academy for Science and Freedom, is also a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, a document published in October 2020 that has since been translated into 44 languages and signed by nearly one million scientists, physicians, and citizens.
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