In a quest for extra money, state legislators are exploring the idea of bringing slot machines to New Haven’s sleepy off-track betting arena.

Continue reading "Slot Machines Eyed for Sports Haven & Two Other OTB’s" »

Tags: betting, gambling, sports haven, race track, OTB, Roland Lemar, James Amann, tribes, horses

Creation of a statewide motor vehicle tax that would eventually be phased out was a key piece of House Speaker Brendan Sharkey’s approach to regionalism, but it won’t be implemented as part of the state budget.

Continue reading "CT Municipalities Win; Car Tax Proposal Is Dead" »

Tags: Brendan Sharkey, Jim Finley, municipalities, Donald Williams, car tax, dh

The state’s largest municipal lobby is trying to convince the Senate to amend House Speaker Brendan Sharkey’s pet legislation that changes how the car tax is levied in the state.

Continue reading "Municipal Lobby Unhappy With Statewide Motor Vehicle Levy" »

The State Senate was prepared to vote on an important bill, but it decided to wait — until Toni Harp could take care of mayoral campaign business back in New Haven.

Continue reading "Senate Pauses So Harp Can Campaign" »

Tags: Toni Harp, Gary Holder-Winfield, campaign, New Haven, Senate, GMO, dh

Lauded as a conservative hero for taking on the public employee unions in Wisconsin in 2010-11, Gov. Scott Walker reminded Connecticut Republicans on Monday that it’s possible to turn a blue state red.

—More photos.

Continue reading "Republicans Embrace Some Of Walker’s Message" »

Tags: Scott Walker, John McKinney, Tom Foley, Stamford, Larry Dorman, unions, Koch Brothers, dh

Town governments are hoping a renewed focus on municipal mandate relief will see the passage of long-sought changes to expensive legal notice publishing requirements.

Continue reading "Newspapers Vs. Municipalities" »

Tags: Municipalities, Jim Finley, Chris VandeHoef, Connecticut Daily Newspaper Association, Michael McLachlan, Internet, Brendan Sharkey, Hugh McQuaid, dh

A Hartford consulting firm on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority alleging the authority’s bidding process for its municipal liaison was a “sham.” Read our story from 2011 about the bidding process for the $84,000 contract, which went to former House Speaker Thomas Ritter. The Courant’s more recent story about the lawsuit filed by Matthew Hennessy, former Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez’s chief of staff, is here and the lawsuit is here.

Tags: CRRA, Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority, Thomas Ritter, Matthew Hennessy

Legislation introduced by Rep. Gary Holder-Winfield would close what he calls a loophole in the the state’s immigration policy which led to deportation proceedings against an immigrant living in New Haven.

Continue reading "New Haven Lawmaker Seeks To Close Secure Communities Loophole" »

Tags: Josemarie Islas, New Haven, Gary Holder-Winfield, Tony Hwang, immigration, deportation, secure communities

(Updated 4:48 p.m.) Lawmakers on the General Law Committee seemed more inclined to blame taxes for Connecticut’s high alcohol prices Tuesday than the state’s unusual minimum bottle pricing requirements.

Continue reading "Malloy Tries Again To Change Liquor Laws" »

Tags: Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, William Rubenstein, Kevin Witkos, package stores, Daniel Rovero, liquor, alcohol, dh

The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities sent a terse three paragraph letter to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget director Monday asking for an explanation of what it believes are spending cuts to cities and towns.

Continue reading "Municipal Lobby Cries Foul" »

Tags: Municipalities, spending cuts, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Ben Barnes, CCM, James Finley, dh