Commission: Legislators should give themselves a 10 percent raise

by Suzanne Bates | Jan 22, 2015 | Features, General, Politics, State Budget, Taxes & Spending

The state’s Compensation Commission must have been inspired by the generosity Gov. Dannel Malloy exhibited last month when he gave dozens of senior officials 12 percent raises, and pushed several of his top commissioners’ salaries over $200,000. The commission...

Will DEEP allow the Housing Dept. to subsidize $300,000 affordable-housing units in the Norwalk floodplain?

by Zachary Janowski | Dec 15, 2014 | Features, General, Municipal, Politics, State Budget, Taxes & Spending

Two years ago, Superstorm Sandy flooded first-floor apartments at Washington Village in Norwalk. Now state and local officials are seeking to expand the project in the same flood-prone location using millions in state and federal taxpayer money, including $9.8 million...

Son of dead state employee continued to cash pension check for 16 years

by Zachary Janowski | Dec 9, 2014 | Features, General, Legal/Courts, State Budget, Taxes & Spending

The son of a Connecticut state employee cashed his dead father’s state pension and federal Social Security checks for 16 years until federal investigators learned of the father’s death in 2012 and discovered he stole nearly $350,000. Raymond LaChance, of Spring Hill,...

Republicans: Gruber paid at least $120,000 for Connecticut work

by Zachary Janowski | Nov 18, 2014 | Features, General, Health Care, Politics, State Budget, Transparency, Unions

House Republicans say a controversial healthcare economist behind Obamacare received at least $120,000 for his work in Connecticut. Jonathan Gruber of MIT has been in the spotlight for recently publicized video footage of him criticizing American voters for being...

Healthcare economist who believes in the ‘stupidity of the American voter’ advised Conn. in 2010

by Zachary Janowski | Nov 14, 2014 | Features, General, Health Care, Politics, Transparency, Unions

Remember Sustinet, Connecticut’s $1 billion-plus plan to combine Medicaid, state employee health plans and a government-run health insurer? In 2010, MIT health economist Jonathan Gruber performed modeling for the Sustinet plan. Gruber, considered an architect of...

Complaint targets state rep’s PAC for inadequate disclosure

by Zachary Janowski | Oct 22, 2014 | Ethics, Features, General, Politics, Unions

A complaint alleges that a political action committee run by a Democratic state representative failed to disclose its activity properly, including last-minute contributions to town party committees right before the 2013 municipal election. After Donna Hemmann, a...