by Suzanne Bates | Jun 19, 2014 | Features, General, Politics, Unions
Connecticut’s public employee unions are big players in the state’s elections, spending millions on their political operations, which may affect 2014 races. The unions are a highly-focused, highly-motivated interest group when it comes to state-level elections,...
by Zachary Janowski | Jun 18, 2014 | Features, General, State Budget, Taxes & Spending, Unions
The Department of Correction agreed last year to restore nearly three years of expired time off for 40 parole officers, an average of 3.5 weeks each. In 2011, auditors discovered an accounting glitch that allowed a small group of state employees to build up thousands...
by Zachary Janowski | Jun 12, 2014 | Features, General, State Budget, Taxes & Spending
Connecticut’s longevity pay for state employees – $13.8 million in April – is no secret, but a small group of state employees also get “lump sum payments” equal to 2.5 percent of pay. While longevity payments go to union state employees based on the...
by Carol Platt Liebau | Jun 9, 2014 | Blog, Commentary, General
COMMENTARY Hartford is a city plagued with a variety of public policy problems — not least the misuse of city funds and other financial mismanagement. And it’s afflicted by a host of urban ills – including a poverty rate second only to Detroit (as of 2012) and...
by Zachary Janowski | Jun 6, 2014 | Features, General
Federal healthcare facilities for veterans in Connecticut are facing their own problems, separate from an ongoing national wait-time scandal, with longstanding concerns over “intrusion of insects” in operating rooms and other cleanliness issues. Meanwhile, some...
by Zachary Janowski | Jun 6, 2014 | Features, General, State Budget, Taxes & Spending
Fewer people with developmental disabilities in Connecticut need the highest level of care, but rising costs are growing the gap between high-cost treatment in state-run facilities and lower-cost private alternatives. According to 2013 data provided by the Department...
