January 17,
2015
Just when you thought you could save a little money….
Murphy presses again for gasoline tax hike to shore up
highway fund
By: Ana Radelat | January
15, 2015 CTMirror.org
WASHINGTON – Sen. Chris Murphy, in partnership
with Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, has renewed a push for their
proposal to raise the gasoline tax to shore up a transportation fund that will
soon run out of money, threatening road and bridge projects in Connecticut and
elsewhere across the nation. Continue Reading →
Momentum builds in Congress for raising
the federal gas tax
Leading Republicans now say a hike must not be ruled
out.
By Laura
Barron-Lopez and Keith Laing – thehill.com
01/09/15 06:01 AM
EST
Continue reading at ….. http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/228986-momentum-seen-in-push-for-gas-tax-hike
From: The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer
Organizations
Contact: Susan Kniep,
President
Website:
http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032
Malloy trying to spare towns from cuts, but makes no promises
By: Keith M. Phaneuf |
January 14, 2015 CTMirror.org
After four years of assuring cities and towns
they would be spared from the state budget axe, Gov. Dannel
P. Malloy brought a different message Tuesday to municipal leaders. I’m doing
my best, but no promises.
Continue Reading →
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Judge postpones Rowland sentencing due to evidence ...
concerns
By Associated Press Published: January 5,
2015, 2:33 pm
Ernie Newton convicted again - Connecticut Post
Michael P. Mayko Updated 12:30 am, Saturday,
January 17, 2015
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MORE NEWS ON THE STATE BUDGET
FROM CTMIRROR.ORG
For
Updates from CTMirror.org click on
Budget/Economy,
Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo,
emergency budget reserve, Pew
Charitable Trusts, Rainy
Day Fund
Malloy gets two extra weeks to solve next budget deficit
By: Keith M. Phaneuf |
January 7, 2015
Despite insisting throughout the campaign that state
government really wasn’t facing a deficit next year, Gov. Dannel
P. Malloy asked for and received legislative approval Wednesday to postpone his
next budget presentation by two weeks until Feb. 18.
Continue Reading →
Fiscal issues in forefront as Malloy, legislators start new
terms
By: CT Mirror Staff
| January 7, 2015
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is to focus
on how to modernize the state's aging web of highways, bridges and railroads in
a State of the State Address as he begins his second term today, but he and the
General Assembly will be facing significant fiscal challenges in 2015. An overview of the key issues confronting the 2015 legislative
session. Continue Reading →
Lembo wants state to save more for those rainy days
By: Keith M. Phaneuf |
January 5, 2015
Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo intends
to change state government's saving habits with a new reserve system that takes
into account Connecticut's
lucrative-yet-volatile relationship with Wall Street. Continue Reading →
Administrator Susan Weisselberg
named governor’s deputy budget director
By: Keith M. Phaneuf |
January 5, 2015
An administrator for the New Haven public school system will become
the new deputy budget director for Gov. Dannel P.
Malloy later this month. Susan Weisselberg, who also
has served as chief legal counsel to the state House Democratic Caucus, will
succeed Karen Buffkin as deputy secretary of the
Office of Policy and Management on Jan. 26.
Continue Reading →
With ‘lockboxes’ for toll receipts, there are lots of ways to
pick the lock
By: Keith M. Phaneuf |
January 5, 2015
Though Gov. Dannel P. Malloy would
consider restoring tolls if Connecticut creates a legal “lockbox” to ensure
receipts are spent on transportation, other states’ have struggled to keep
their “boxes” locked. And because Connecticut’s
transportation program relies on many sources for funding, guarantees to
protect toll receipts might mean little if other sources are diverted. Continue Reading →
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Another BRAC round may be in the offing
By Kristina
Wong - 01/09/15 06:00 AM EST
The Pentagon
is expected to propose another round of base closures in its 2016 budget that
will be unveiled in February. This would likely set off another fight with
members of Congress who fiercely oppose any such closures due to the economic
impact on local communities.
“I believe
that doing another BRAC round is simply good government,” John Conger, acting
assistant secretary of Defense for energy, installations and environment, told
The Hill.
BRAC stands for Base Closure and Realignment Commission, the
process by which the Pentagon closes bases in rounds. There have been five
previous rounds, which officials say now saves $12 billion per year.
Conger did
not announce any possible closures, but pointed to the need to do so.
*************************
By Cameron
Joseph January 08, 2015, 06:46 pm
Strategists are
predicting the race will be the most expensive in history, with some mentioning
$1 billion in total spending as within the realm of possibility depending on
who runs.
Sen. Barbara
Boxer’s (D-Calif.) retirement is setting off a
chaotic scramble to replace her — and could lead to a crowded, outrageously
expensive race.
Boxer is one
of a number of California Democrats who have reigned over the state for
decades, leading to a lot of pent-up political ambition for younger members of
her party. With her gone, that energy is about to explode. Read entire article at http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/228984-1b-california-senate-race
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House to act first on Keystone
Friday's vote will mark at least the tenth
time the House has voted to authorize the pipeline in four years.
By Cristina Marcos Jan 9, 2015
The House
will vote Friday on legislation to approve construction of the Keystone XL pipeline,
setting the stage for a showdown with President Obama.
Friday's vote will mark at least the tenth time the House has voted to
authorize the pipeline in four years, and the third
time in six months. But unlike previous years, the bill will be sent to a
Senate that is under Republican control — and that has made approving the
project priority No. 1.
- Laura Barron-Lopez contributed.
Continue reading at …..
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/228981-house-to-act-first-on-keystone
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House votes down ObamaCare’s
30-hour workweek, 252-172
By Sarah Ferris and Cristina Marcos
The White House has threatened to veto the
bill.
The House on
Thursday in a 252-172 vote approved legislation that would waive fees on
businesses that do not offer health insurance to employees working fewer than
40 hours per week.
The
legislation – which has been at the center of a heavy corporate lobbying
campaign – only received 12 Democratic votes. Eighteen Democrats backed the
bill during a House vote on the same issue last spring.
No
Republicans opposed the measure.
The White House has threatened to veto the bill, which
strikes at the healthcare law’s mandate that businesses provide insurance.
Continue
reading at …..
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/228953-house-votes-down-obamacares-30-hour-workweek
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By Justin
Sink - 01/08/15 06:52 PM EST
President
Obama will unveil a new proposal to make the first two years of community
college free for students during an event Friday in Tennessee previewing his State of the Union
address.
But White
House officials aren’t saying how much the program — which one aide described
as “significant” in scope — will cost. Nor has the administration shared
details of the initiative with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, who would be
necessary to approve the estimated billions of dollars necessary to provide
free tuition.
Still, aides cast the proposal as a bold effort to refocus
attention on the nation’s higher education system, and said even if the program
wasn’t fully realized, it could spur additional,
badly-needed investment in the community college system.
White House
Domestic Policy Council director Cecilia Munoz noted that after the president’s
unrealized call in a previous State of the Union address for Congress to
provide universal pre-K to low and moderate income families, some 30 states
moved to expand access.
“This is a
proposal with bipartisan appeal,” Munoz said. “Making sure students have access
to higher education and the skills that they need is not a partisan proposal.”
Continue
reading at …..
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/228985-obama-to-propose-free-community-college
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The Washington Post: Virginia didn't
have to wait for relationship with Cuba
By
Laura Vozzella January 8 at 8:28 PM thehill.com
RICHMOND — Cuba’s top diplomat in the United States
traveled to Virginia’s capital this week amid new hope that sweeping changes in U.S.-Cuba policy
will bring major business opportunities to the commonwealth if trade opens up
with the island nation……..
Virginia has
been trading with Cuba for more
than a decade, after restrictions were loosened to allow exports of
agricultural and medical products. Now the state is Cuba’s
third-largest U.S. trading
partner, behind Louisiana and Georgia, with
annual agricultural sales of $40 million in 2013, the last year for which data
was available.
Continue reading at …..
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/virginia-didnt-wait-to-have-a-relationship-with-cuba/2015/01/08/4ae9d7a0-96a4-11e4-927a-4fa2638cd1b0_story.html?hpid=z4
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For better brain health, reason to
celebrate
By Sandra Bond
Chapman, contributor
The spending bill also contains a $25 million increase
for Alzheimer's research.
For
better brain health, reason to... celebrate
By Sandra Bond
Chapman, contributor Jan 9, 2015
As we kick
off the new year, those of us working toward better
brain health have something to celebrate. Tucked into the spending measure
passed by Congress and signed by the president on Dec. 16 was the gift of
increased funding for neuroscience priorities, extending good will toward
millions of Americans affected by Alzheimer's disease, autism spectrum
disorder, traumatic brain injury and many other conditions signified by
cognitive impairment.
The bill
contains a $21 million increase for brain-related projects at the National
Science Foundation, including the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative.
The spending
bill also contains a $25 million increase for Alzheimer's research at the
National Institutes of Health, and $47 million in funding for the Autism and
Other Developmental Disorders program at the Department of Health and Human
Services. And the bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs and the
Department of Defense to focus on several specific needs of veterans and
active-duty military members who have experienced brain injury and other mental
health disorders.
Chapman,
Ph.D., is the founder and chief director of the Center for BrainHealth
at the University of Texas at Dallas. Continue reading at …..
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/healthcare/228994-for-better-brain-health-reason-to-celebrate