A nominee to Connecticut’s highest court withdrew her name from consideration Friday after state lawmakers raised questions about a letter she signed in 2017 supporting Amy Coney Barrett for a federal appeals court position.
Connecticut high court nominee regrets signing 2017 letter supporting Amy Coney Barrett
May 15, 2023 GMTHARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A nominee to Connecticut's highest court told state lawmakers Monday that she would not have signed a 2017 letter supporting Amy Coney Barrett for a federal appeals court position if she knew Barrett would later vote to overturn Roe v.
Probe: Jailed man died of cardiac arrest due to withdrawal
April 21, 2023 GMTMANCHESTER, Conn. (AP) — The cause of death for a man who was found unresponsive in his Connecticut jail cell and died days later at a hospital was cardiac arrest caused by drug withdrawal, not an officer's use of force, according to a state investigation's findings released Friday.
Proposal to lower Connecticut income tax rates advances
April 20, 2023 GMTHARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut state lawmakers on Wednesday night advanced a Democratic proposal to reduce state income tax rates, but for some legislators the plan is not nearly enough.
Republican legislators, the minority party in the General Assembly, and some Democrats voiced disappointment in the tax-cutting plan presented by leaders of the Finance Revenue and Bonding Committee, saying it falls too short.
Businessman gets 8 years in prison for theft of COVID funds
April 3, 2023 GMTHARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut businessman who conspired with a now-former state lawmaker to steal federal coronavirus relief funds from the city of West Haven was sentenced Monday to eight years in prison for his role in the scheme.
Former lawmaker’s wife sentenced in theft of COVID-19 funds
March 23, 2023 GMTNEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — The wife of a now-former Connecticut state lawmaker was sentenced Thursday to six months in federal prison in connection with her role in the alleged theft of federal coronavirus relief funds from the city of West Haven.
States shield addresses of judges, workers after threats
March 14, 2023 GMTJEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Following threats and attacks on public officials, state lawmakers across the U.S. have stepped up efforts to shield personal information from being publicly disclosed about judges, police, elected officeholders and various public employees.
Connecticut sues for $2.7M in wages to rest stop workers
March 10, 2023 GMTHARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut is suing the operator of the state's 23 highway rest stops, alleging the company is refusing to pay more than $2.7 million in back wages owed to food service workers for Subway, Dunkin' and other restaurant chains, state Attorney General William Tong announced Friday.
Casinos and consulting? Pandemic spurs tribes to diversify
February 26, 2023 GMTMASHANTUCKET, Conn. (AP) — When the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut for three months in 2020, its owners, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, had to reckon with decades of relying heavily on gambling as the tribe's main source of revenue.
Some Democratic-led states seek to bolster voter protections
February 25, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers in several Democratic-controlled states are advocating sweeping voter protections this year, reacting to what they view as a broad undermining of voting rights by the Supreme Court and Republican-led states as well as a failed effort in Congress to bolster access to the polls.
Connecticut poised to pay $12 million to settle neglect case
February 23, 2023 GMTHARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut is poised to pay $12 million to settle a case involving a neglected 14-month-old boy who was placed by the state's child welfare agency in 2015 with a relative who had allegations of abuse.
Connecticut looks to cut taxes after years of fiscal strife
February 8, 2023 GMTHARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Nearly a decade after Connecticut was infamously described as being in a “permanent state of fiscal crisis," struggling year after year to balance deficit-ridden budgets, Democratic Gov.
Lamont’s budget to include permanent income tax rate cuts
February 6, 2023 GMTHARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont announced Monday his new two-year budget plan will include the state's first personal income tax rate reduction since 1996, one of several tax relief proposals he will officially unveil to the General Assembly on Wednesday.
Panel: Connecticut needs safeguards for agency algorithms
February 2, 2023 GMTHARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut needs safeguards on state government's use of artificial intelligence including algorithms at child welfare and other agencies to prevent discrimination and increase transparency, an advisory panel to the U.S.
Democratic-backed Connecticut bill would ban ‘Latinx’ term
February 2, 2023 GMTHARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A group of Hispanic lawmakers in Connecticut has proposed that the state follow Arkansas' lead and ban the term “Latinx” from official government documents, calling it offensive to Spanish speakers.
Connecticut may exonerate accused witches centuries later
February 1, 2023 GMTHARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Decades before the infamous Salem witch trials in Massachusetts, Alse Young was killed at the gallows in Connecticut, becoming the first person on record to be executed in the American colonies for witchcraft.
Lawmakers seek to bar insurrectionists from holding office
January 22, 2023 GMTALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Democratic lawmakers in a handful of states are trying to send a message two years after the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol: Those who engage in an attempted overthrow of the government shouldn’t be allowed to run it.
Tax the rich? Liberals renew push for state wealth taxes
January 20, 2023 GMTSupporters of taxes on the very rich contend that people are emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic with a bigger appetite for what they’re calling “tax justice.”
Bills announced Thursday in California, New York, Illinois, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, Washington and Connecticut vary in their approaches to hiking taxes, but all revolve around the idea that the richest Americans need to pay more.
Legal recreational marijuana sales start in Connecticut
January 10, 2023 GMTMONTVILLE, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut's first round of recreational cannabis sales for adults 21 and older kicked off Tuesday at seven existing medical marijuana establishments across the state, less than two years after Gov.
Gas tax collections resume in Georgia after 10-month break
January 10, 2023 GMTATLANTA (AP) — State gasoline and diesel taxes make their return in Georgia on Wednesday.
The state will resume collecting a tax on gasoline of 29.1 cents per gallon and tax on diesel of 32.6 cents per gallon from wholesalers.
‘Gut-wrenching’: Rising star state lawmaker killed in crash
January 5, 2023 GMTHARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut state representative, considered a rising political star, was killed when a wrong-way driver crashed head-on into his vehicle early Thursday morning as he returned home from the governor's inauguration ball, state police said.
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont sworn into office, seeks tax cut
January 4, 2023 GMTSworn into office for a second four-year term, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont on Wednesday called on state legislators to pass a "meaningful middle class tax cut," saying it's time for the state to refocus on economic growth and opportunity now that the emergency of the pandemic is fading and years of state fiscal crises have ended.
CVS, Walgreens finalize $10B in settlements over opioids
December 12, 2022 GMTCVS 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 opioids and now want to know by Dec. 31 whether states are accepting the deals.
Free ride: DC unveils bold plan to boost public transit
December 12, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare for the District of Columbia and other major cities that public transit was a lifeline for essential workers and that even modest fares could be a burden to them.
Connecticut program to expunge records faces some delays
December 7, 2022 GMTHARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Most eligible Connecticut residents with certain cannabis possession convictions — roughly 44,000 cases — should have their records automatically erased within 60 days, or about a month longer than expected under a state law taking effect Jan.
Connecticut eyes diversity as retirement ‘tsunami’ expected
January 2, 2022 GMTWith a large wave of retirements expected throughout Connecticut state government next year, discussions are underway about how to ensure many of those soon-to-be vacant positions will be filled with more diverse workers, in addition to making sure the state can continue to adequately provide services.