Free Republic

<p>The state budget deficit will hit $900 million next year, according to new numbers released Thursday, generating alarm among lawmakers of both parties and intensifying language on the part of Republican leaders.</p> <p>"Those are just incredible numbers. What's happening is really shocking,'' said Senate Republican leader Len Fasano of North Haven. "People should be scared."</p>

A Connecticut town located just 45 minutes by car from Newtown, the site of the third-deadliest school shooting in US history, is considering arming its school teachers. Elected officials in Kent, Connecticut voted 2-1 Wednesday to present information about a program called 'FASTER Saves Lives' to the town's Board of Education. 'FASTER' is an acronym that stands for Faculty/Administrator Safety Training and Emergency Response. The Kent Center School is the town of Kent's only school. Elected officials in the town are proposing to arm teachers ... Only one of three officials who voted on Wednesday is against the program. 'I...

A new study shows Connecticut is in the top ten for paycheck-to-paycheck living. People everywhere have to pay rents or mortgages, groceries and utilities. But those bills vary from state to state. When everything's paid, a study by the website GoBankingRate shows, not a lot is left in Connecticut. Moving from Maine, Sandra Champlin said she learned quickly that her money doesn't get her as far in Connecticut as it did there. “Rent is higher in Connecticut,” said Champlin, who now lives in Rockville. She added that rent a few hundred more in Connecticut than Maine. Champlin said she wasn't...

On Thursday, Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy announced plans to issue an executive order barring anyone listed on federal terrorist watch lists from purchasing a gun in the state. But while the idea of “no fly, no gun” has found growing support following the mass shooting in San Bernardino last week, including that of President Obama, experts say such a policy may be unconstitutional. The problem lies with the terrorist watch lists themselves, which are both secret and routinely updated without the typical due process given to those who are accused of breaking the law, such as court proceedings. Without a...

Gov. Malloy wants Connecticut to become the first state in the nation to ban sales of guns and ammunition to anyone on the federal government’s terror watch lists. He says he will do it by Executive Order and does not need the approval of the State Legislature. The announcement was seen live on News 8 and wtnh.com this afternoon. The Governor said he does not know if anyone in Connecticut is on the ‘watch list’ but is working directly with the White House to gain access, saying that if Congress won’t act, then the states will. According to some reports,...

The state of Connecticut will continue to accept more than 1,600 refugees from Syria, Gov. Dannel Malloy told NBC Connecticut on Monday morning. This comes as governors in several other states announced they would stop accepting them.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration will need to recalculate how it divides additional money in the budget for nursing homes to ensure the allocations comply with federal law. . . . (Rep) Wood questioned why the state would give an additional $9 million to 60 unionized homes across the state, while the 170 facilities that aren’t unionized would need to share the remaining $4 million.

HARTFORD – As Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Thursday he was open to tweaking the tax side of a budget that has alarmed several large Connecticut employers, General Electric told employees it has assembled an exploratory team to look for "another state with a more pro-business environment."

Nonpartisan legislative analysts and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget office agreed Thursday that revenue dropped $67 million below expectations between January and April, adding to this year’s budget deficit. The increase in tax revenue anticipated following the April 15 deadline wasn’t realized, according to budget analysts. In fact, personal income tax collections fell $65.5 million short of projections. Office of Policy and Management Secretary Ben Barnes had forecasted 25 percent growth in personal income tax receipts.

In case you needed more proof that the recent backlash against religious freedom laws is grounded in pure ignorance, look no further than Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy. Malloy, a Democrat, just announced on Twitter that he plans to sign an executive order banning state travel to Indiana due to the midwestern state’s recently enacted Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Because of Indiana's new law, later today I will sign an Executive Order regarding state-funded travel. -DM— Governor Dan Malloy (@GovMalloyOffice) March 30, 2015 When new laws turn back the clock on progress, we can’t sit idly by. We are sending...

HARTFORD — Former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords of Arizona came to the Capitol Tuesday to press for a new gun control law designed to help victims of domestic abuse. "We can change our laws, we can win elections," said Giffords, who left Congress after she was shot in the head by a mentally disturbed gunman four years ago. "

The holidays will be a little merrier for about 200 appointees of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and other constitutional officers: They are getting raises ranging from three percent to 12 percent at an annual cost of $1.4 million. The raises were announced by Ben Barnes, who oversees the budget as the secretary of policy and management. His salary jumps by 12 percent, from $186,999 to $209,439. All the raises take effect on Dec. 26. For Barnes and most of the other top officials, including the governor's chief of staff, Mark Ojakian, the raises are the first since joining the Malloy...

The battleground was different in 2010, when Dannel P. Malloy and Tom Foley first fought to become governor. Linda McMahon and Richard Blumenthal were slugging it out in a high-finance senate race that drew a lot of attention. The economy was sputtering badly. Tom Foley's running mate was popular Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton. Sandy Hook -- and the gun control legislation that came out of it -- was more than two years away.

Two days before the polls open, unaffiliated candidate for governor Joe Visconti has suspended his campaign and endorsed Republican candidate Tom Foley in a ceremonious display of party unity. NBC Connecticut cameras were the only ones rolling when Visconti appeared alongside Foley in Brookfield on Sunday, surprising a crowded room of Foley campaign volunteers. "I called Tom yesterday. I took a look at the polls," Visconti explained. "I was very concerned that Tom is in the fight for his life. Connecticut is in the fight of its life." Visconti, a conservative who failed to secure the Republican nomination, previously said...

... group from Ohio contributed $1.17 million to Grow Connecticut, the super PAC behind a $6.7 million advertising campaign to defeat Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. The money came from A Public Voice, Inc., which is based at the West Chester, Ohio office of David R. Langdon, a lawyer who has represented a network of conservative non-profit groups in a legal fight with the IRS over their tax-exempt status and is active opposing gay marriage, among other causes. Grow Connecticut, which is allied with the Republican Governors Association, immediately used the contribution to purchase nearly $1 million of television advertising attacking...

Republican challenger Tom Foley still leads Democratic incumbent Dan Malloy in their Connecticut gubernatorial rematch as voters continue to grumble about the job Malloy has done over the past four years. Foley now picks up 50% of the vote to Malloy’s 43% in a new statewide telephone survey of Likely Connecticut Voters. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate in the race, and four percent (4%) are undecided.

Obama Wrapping Up California Fundraising Trip October 11 2014 DARLENE SUPERVILLE President Barack Obama on Saturday wrapped up a week that saw him raise campaign money for Democrats on both coasts. Obama attended a "round table" discussion at the home of Democratic donor and Zynga founder Mark Pincus and his wife, Ali, with about 25 supporters who paid up to $32,400 for the privilege, according to Democratic officials. It was Obama's fourth California fundraiser in three days and was closed to media coverage. This coming week brings more of the same for the president, including his long-anticipated, first appearance at...

A New Haven convenience store owner shot and killed a man suspected of trying to rob his store and another store owned by his brother at gunpoint on the same night, police said. According to police, the owner of Congress Mini Market at 750 Congress Avenue called 911 to report that a man armed with a rifle had tried to rob him Tuesday night. While detectives were interviewing him, the store owner's brother called to say he had just shot a man who tried to rob his store, Nino's Mini Market at 659 Washington Avenue, according to police. Police arrived...

Police say a resident of a New London home, armed with a handgun, stopped an early-morning attack on his roommate. A 15-year-old, whose name has not been released, was charged with breaking into the home on Crystal Avenue just before 3 a.m. on Wednesday. Police say the teen, who was armed with a knife and gun, assaulted a resident in a first-floor bedroom. They say that attack awakened the upstairs roommate, who came downstairs armed with a handgun and confronted the teen. Police say the attacker complied with an order to remain still until officers arrived. He faces charges including...

The administration of Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy (D-WFP) has denied a request from federal officials to temporarily house up to 2,000 illegal immigrant children from Central America at a residence in his state for individuals with intellectual disabilities. ... According to Keith Phaneuf at CT Mirror, federal officials initially contacted the administration of Malloy, who is seeking a second term as governor this year, on July 3 regarding the possibility of a short-term lease to house, feed, and provide medical care to 1,000 to 2,000 of the unaccompanied illegal children who entered the U.S. through Mexico. The GSA reportedly asked...