In This Together CT

http://www.journalinquirer.com/articles/2009/12/31/leo_canty/doc4b3cb880e99c3404697932.txt

CT@Work
By Leo Canty
Published: Thursday, December 31, 2009 12:09 PM EST

I can’t let a new year pass without the usual “eat right, exercise, lose weight, and stop cussing” commitments that last about a week. But here’s a few New Year’s resolutions I can keep. They’re easier and focused on a lighter, brighter optimistic new decade.

It’s a good time for optimism — pessimistic bitterness and anger have been around for too long. (more…)

http://www.journalinquirer.com/articles/2009/12/31/politics_and_government/doc4b3caedf4f815085977880.txt

By Keith M. Phaneuf
Journal Inquirer
Published: Thursday, December 31, 2009 9:10 AM EST

HARTFORD — State employee unions and Gov. M. Jodi Rell hit a rough patch this week — even before the two sides actually began talks about any further labor concessions.

The State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition issued a statement contending Rell’s veto of the legislature’s $120 million deficit-reduction plan is “lacking vision” and chooses to protect the wealthy at the expense of the poor. (more…)

http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/editorials/hc-regionalagenda4.artdec30,0,3209391.story

December 30, 2009

The task force that studied smart, or responsible, growth under a 2007 law made a number of recommendations to Gov. M. Jodi Rell in early 2008, including: “Be fair. Promote equitable sharing of the benefits and burdens of development and diminish the competition for revenue that biases land-use decisions.”

Did that mean some kind of revenue-sharing among towns? (more…)

http://blogs.courant.com/capitol_watch/2009/12/rells-power-grab.html

By Daniela Altimari on December 29, 2009 2:34 PM

A coalition of unions representing 50,000 state employees is slamming Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s veto yesterday of the legislature’s budget deficit bills.

The State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition, or SEBAC, dismissed Rell’s request for authority to make additional cuts to programs and services as an empty gesture. (more…)

Governor M. Jodi Rell vetoed both of the legislature’s deficit bills yesterday, calling them “feeble” attempts to solve the state’s budget shortfall. She called instead for lawmakers to grant her the authority to make additional cuts to vital services, between 10% and 15% of any appropriation if the deficit is between 3% and 5%, while at the same time refusing to agree to any new revenue generation.

Giving the governor more power to make harmful cuts to public services when people are struggling in a down economy would be unconscionable. (more…)

http://www.norwichbulletin.com/opinions/letters/x1437795414/Rell-lawmakers-ask-wrong-people-for-cuts

Posted Dec 28, 2009

There she goes again. Gov. M. Jodi Rell is calling for additional state employee concessions to help balance the budget. Has she forgotten that the coalition of unions representing workers was among the first to step forward to offer assistance in closing the deficit? (more…)

http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-rell-veto-1229.artdec29,0,465863.story

BUDGET BATTLE

By JOSH KOVNER
The Hartford Courant
December 29, 2009

HARTFORD — After months of finger-pointing, legislative Democrats and Gov. M. Jodi Rell remain miles apart on how to solve a budget deficit projected at between $337 million and $550 million.

One certainty — after Rell on Monday vetoed a bill to postpone a cut in the estate tax and a countercharge from the Democrats that she was protecting multimillionaires — is that this year’s protracted budget battle will spill into 2010. (more…)

http://ctnewsjunkie.com/ctnj.php/archives/entry/larson_refuses_to_settle_dispute_between_lawmakers_and_rell/

by Christine Stuart
Dec 28, 2009 9:01am

U.S. Rep. John B. Larson refused to settle the debate between the legislature’s Democratic majority and Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell over how aggressively the state pursues federal stimulus funds.

Last week during his visit to the Legislative Office Building to tout $10 million in federal funds for 17 Hartford programs Larson was careful not to take sides in the ongoing debate. (more…)

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/statenewengland/501519-227/stimulus-money-to-improve-delivery-of-food.html

Sunday, December 27, 2009

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Gov. M. Jodi Rell says Connecticut will receive nearly $400,000 from Washington to develop a data system to improve delivery of food and nutritional services to the poor.

The state will receive $391,270 in federal stimulus money to develop the system for Connecticut’s special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children, a key public assistance program. (more…)

http://www.theday.com/article/20091227/NWS12/312279916/1044

Published 12/27/2009

The most closely held secret in Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s office over the past year wasn’t a policy proposal or a tax hike. It was the fact that a University of Connecticut pollster, Ken Dautrich, was helping the administration shape its political messaging. (more…)