State

Police Accountability Activists Honor Legislators, & Vice Versa

by | Aug 6, 2020 10:08 am | Comments (1)

Laura Glesby Photo

Barbara Fair accepts flowers.

In a celebration of activist-politician teamwork, two state legislators met a rally of gratitude on Wednesday from grassroots police accountability advocates — and in turn honored the organizers who kept them on task at the state Capitol.

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Moment Seized: Winfield Pushes Cop Accountability Bill Past The Finish Line

by | Jul 29, 2020 9:08 am | Comments (42)

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State Sen. Winfield at overnight special session.

The final Senate vote tally, coming in after 4 a.m.

The State Senate early Wednesday voted 21 – 15 in support of a hotly contested police accountability bill after over 10 hours of impassioned debate led by New Haven State Sen. Gary Winfield, culminating his decade-long quest to convince a suburban-dominated legislature that Black lives matter when it comes to law enforcement.

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Winfield, Looney Vow To Press Cop Accountability Bill; Challengers Say It’s Watered Down

by | Jul 27, 2020 8:07 pm | Comments (12)

Thomas Breen photos

New Haven State Sens. Gary Winfield and Martin Looney.

New Haven’s two state senators both plan on throwing their support behind an ambitious proposed police accountability bill up for debate in Hartford on Tuesday.

At stake, they said, is a rare opportunity to impose financial and professional consequences on police officers who abuse citizens’ civil rights.

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State House Passes Cop Accountability Bill

by | Jul 24, 2020 10:45 am | Comments (29)

Frankie Graziano/ Connecticut Public Radio

State Reps. Toni Walker (center), Robyn Porter (right) after vote.

The recent Black Lives Matter protests bore their first legislative fruits Friday as the state House of Representatives, with New Haven lawmakers playing a leading role, passed a bill to make officers more accountable for harming civilians.

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Telehealth Bill Sails Through State House

by | Jul 23, 2020 3:41 pm | Comments (0)

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Guilford-Branford State Rep. Sean Scanlon speaking on House floor.

Remote access to healthcare during the pandemic got a boost from the state House of Representatives, as a bill requiring insurers to cover telehealth at the same rate as in-person services for the next half-year sailed through the lower chamber with a unanimous vote.

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Fair Haven Health Pushes State On Telehealth, Insulin Caps

by | Jul 21, 2020 4:12 pm | Comments (1)

Wikipedia

Insulin: soon to cost less in CT?

Six cents per dose.

That’s how much some of the most commonly used injectible diabetes medications cost when the government is allowed to negotiate insulin prices, according to a top local community health center doc who threw her support behind the state legislature’s bid to cap insulin costs and broaden access to government-negotiated savings.

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Tax The Suburbs For Segregation

by | Jul 17, 2020 11:02 am | Comments (43)

(Opinion) On Juneteenth, 200 residents of Darien joined in a Black Lives Matter vigil to honor the lives lost to police brutality, protest systemic racism in our country, and demonstrate their commitment to ending racial injustice. The protests in Darien and across our nation are a profound statement about the urgent need for change, and it is critical to this moment that we recognize the implications of racist policies that persist in Connecticut.

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$10M Rental Assistance Program Launched; Tenant Advocates Wary

by | Jul 15, 2020 9:34 am | Comments (1)

Thomas Breen photo

Sign on Orange Street.

Starting Wednesday morning, eligible low-income tenants who have struggled to pay rent because of the pandemic can apply to receive up to $4,000 in federally-funded, state-administered housing support.

Local tenant advocates warned that the $10 million program contains just a fraction of the money needed to help keep Connecticut renters in their homes during the Covid-19 crisis — and that the bureaucratic burden of the application process will likely lead to many needy residents falling through the cracks.

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How To Solve Connecticut’s Pension Problem

by | Jun 19, 2020 10:12 am | Comments (1)

$125 billion was the number that shook the state.

The figure made a splash last year when retired lawyer Gordon Hamlin laid bare how deep Connecticut’s pension obligations go. On this week’s episode of the Municipal Voice, a co-production of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and WNHH FM, he spoke to that figure, what role municipalities can play, and who will be hit the hardest if state and local governments do nothing.

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