Government Watch - Courant.com

Malloy, The Supposed 'Transparency' Governor, Blasted As 'Foe Of FOI'

Jon Lender — Fri, 24 May 2013 22:48:00 GMT

Dannel P. Malloy came into office as governor two years ago saying he's committed to "open and transparent" government, but recent events have put that assertion in question.

Questions Persist For Power Couple; Rep. Esty Returns More Campaign Funds

Jon Lender — Fri, 17 May 2013 21:51:00 GMT

An unusual cocktail of politics, electricity and matrimony gives a provocative flavor to the story of an environmental group's lawsuit over wind-turbine developers' illegal clear-cutting of 2.5 acres of state forest on Canaan Mountain in 2010.

Legislative Proposals Dim The Lights On Freedom Of Information

Jon Lender — Fri, 10 May 2013 21:24:38 GMT

Every year the lights go out a little more on the public's right to know about its government, and they're growing dimmer again in 2013.

Rep. Esty Gets Campaign Funds From Energy Industry Her Husband Regulates

Jon Lender — Sat, 04 May 2013 20:36:15 GMT

U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-5 t h District, has accepted tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from people in the energy and environmental industries, which are regulated by her husband, Dan Esty, commissioner of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

State Fires Worker Who Showed Lanza's Body To Her Husband At Morgue

Jon Lender — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 21:16:00 GMT

Connecticut's chief medical examiner has fired a state employee who let her husband view the body of mass killer Adam Lanza in the morgue two days after the Dec. 14 Newtown school massacre, The Courant has learned.

Political Insider's Lobbying Arrangement Questioned

Jon Lender — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 19:34:50 GMT

Gray areas and blurry distinctions are so common for the political insiders who lobby state officials and legislators that they often don't even come up for discussion.

Katz, Who Kept BMW In State Garage In Winter, Apologizes – And Lashes Out

Jon Lender — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 18:14:00 GMT

DCF Admits Commissioner Failed To Follow Rules For Mileage Logs, Parking Of Her State-Assigned SUV

Commissioner Joette Katz of the state Department of Children and Families said last week that she's sorry she parked her personal BMW sports car in her reserved space in a state parking garage during the winter months – and she criticized the state official who blew the whistle on her.

Why Won't New Weapons-Offender Registry Be Open To Public?

Jon Lender — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 19:30:15 GMT

Connecticut legislators say a key provision that sets their tough new gun-control law apart from other states' measures is its first-in-the-nation "dangerous weapon offender registry" — which will list the names and addresses of those convicted of weapons-related offenses for five years after their release from prison.

Developer Suggests State's Controversial Land Swap May Be Revived

Jon Lender — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 20:25:00 GMT

Last year, conservationists celebrated the death of the so-called Haddam land swap — a controversial deal approved by the state legislature in 2011 to let private developers acquire 17 acres of state-owned land overlooking the Connecticut River in exchange for 87 acres of woods they owned elsewhere in town.

Former Donovan Aide, Mentioned In Feds' Probe, Lands $106,478 Job With Nappier

Jon Lender — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 00:01:00 GMT

Last year, Laura Jordan, the $150,000-a-year legal counsel to then-Speaker Christopher Donovan in the House Democrats' office at the Capitol, found herself in the middle of a federal grand jury investigation.

Ritter's Lobbying Raises Questions

Jon Lender — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 00:24:43 GMT

When is a lobbyist not a lobbyist?

Impatience Showing On Gun Legislation

Jon Lender — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 19:54:00 GMT

The louder the public pledges of bipartisan cooperation and resolve, the deeper the undercurrents of private distrust and resentment — or at least, that often seems to be the rule in legislative politics.

Red Light Camera Proponents Try Again At Capitol

Jon Lender — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 23:27:08 GMT

Red light cameras are back at the state Capitol in Hartford as proponents make their annual — and, up to now, perennially unsuccessful — attempt to win legislative approval to enable Connecticut cities and towns to install electronic enforcement systems at intersections.

Raises For Judges, Other Officials Would Cost $8 Million By 2017

Jon Lender — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 22:59:28 GMT

A controversial proposal to raise the salaries of more than 160 state Superior Court judges by about $24,000 in the next four years has become a forgotten topic in the news since the Dec. 14 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown — but it's been quietly moving forward on schedule.

Auditors To Legislature: Tighten Overused Bidding Loophole

Jon Lender — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 23:04:15 GMT

The General Assembly should consider limiting what qualifies under law for a waiver for competitive bidding on state contracts, state auditors John C. Geragosian and Robert M. Ward said in their annual report to lawmakers, released Friday.

The Dos And Don'ts Of Defeating Gun Control Bills

Jon Lender — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 21:40:00 GMT

There's a right way and a wrong way to go about killing a gun-control bill.

Lawyer Who Filed Notice Of Claim In Newtown Shooting Was Suspended In 2003

Jon Lender — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 21:47:00 GMT

Irving J. Pinsky, the lawyer who made national news by filing a notice of a claim against the state Dec. 27 for $100 million on behalf of a girl who survived the Newtown school massacre — and then withdrawing the claim, days later, amid public outrage — was suspended from the practice of law in Connecticut in 2003 after a finding that he acted unethically in representing a client who had been in a car accident.

'Revolving Door' Law Snags Laid-Off Official, But He Gets Rehired

Jon Lender — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 21:48:12 GMT

Revolving door" laws prevent a public official from jumping into a job offered by a state contractor which whom he's been dealing in his taxpayer-funded capacity.

Unions Join Forces To Advocate Change In Law So Newtown Responders, School Staff Get Workers Compensation

Jon Lender — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 22:43:00 GMT

Legislation Could Cover Not Only Police But Also School Staff, Medical Examiners Personnel

Deliberations about possible legislation to expand state workers compensation to police who responded to the Newtown school massacre have changed direction: There is now a move to also include school staff members and medical examiners' personnel who were exposed to the horror.

Massacre Puts Spotlight On Law To Seize Guns From Mentally Unstable

Jon Lender — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 22:16:48 GMT

Here are a few items from Connecticut's annals of guns and mental illness:

PAC Headed By Malloy Pal Gets Boost From Donors With Ties To Ferry Business

Jon Lender — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 20:38:31 GMT

Executives and others with ties to a major New York-based tugboat and ferry business made about $11,000 in contributions this year to a political action committee run by a friend of Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy — a PAC that Malloy has helped to raise more than $200,000 in its 18 months of existence.

Jon Lender: Lawmakers Say It's A Tough Time For Judges To Seek Raises

Jon Lender — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 19:21:39 GMT

Salary increases for state judges might well be among the casualties of the state's deepening budget crisis if comments by top state legislative leaders are any indication.

Infighting Plagues Governmental Accountability Office

Jon Lender — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 22:36:18 GMT

There are probably novels of international intrigue with plots less convoluted than the past year's events inside the newly created state Office of Governmental Accountability, or OGA.

State's 'Essential' Workforce Exceeded 14,500 During Sandy

Jon Lender — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 20:04:23 GMT

Three short items this week: How many essential vs. non-essential state employees were working, or not, during Hurricane Sandy; an ethics fine is announced Friday against a state legislator, three days after he's re-elected; and a Fifth Amendment claim by executives at Hartford's regional anti-poverty agency is rejected by a judge.

After Outrage Over Higher-Ed Pay Hikes, Is This The Time To Give Judges A Raise?

Jon Lender — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 20:31:45 GMT

What a time for state judges to be asking for a pay hike.