Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell and legislative leaders will be taking a break this weekend after spending four days this week in closed-door budget negotiations. It’s unclear if negotiations will resume on Monday.

The two sides have been at odds for months over how to balance the $8.8 billion budget deficit. It’s still unclear if they’re any closer than when they started bipartisan negotiations last Sunday because of the media blackout.

For more analysis of the budget watch The Real Story at 10:30 a.m. Sunday on Fox 61.

U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd joined health care advocates Thursday to celebrate the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. The act was signed into law by President Obama last week.

The legislation gives the Food and Drug Administration more authority to regulate tobacco products. The new law is chiefly aimed at preventing youth smoking and reducing illnesses and death caused by tobacco.

“We are here to celebrate a tremendous victory,” Rabbi Richard Plavin, a former smoker, said.

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Gov. M. Jodi Rell vetoed seven bills Thursday, including one that would have required chain restaurants to post calorie counts on their menus.

“Does it come as a surprise to anyone that a vegetable salad is healthier and more nutritious than a bacon cheeseburger?” Rell said regarding the menu labeling bill. “There has been a growing and troubling tendency by some to legislate nearly every aspect of our lives and society, including personal responsibility.”

“Rarely is the consumer’s choice as clear as a salad versus a bacon cheeseburger,” Sen. Jonathan Harris, the bill’s main proponent, said.

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When two key Democrats first released the 615-page US Senate bill to reform health care in this country they failed to describe what they meant by a ‘public option.’ The incomplete proposal carried a roughly $1 trillion price tag.

But U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd said Thursday in a conference call with reporters that the new language creates a “strong” public option that will cost about $611.4 billion over 10 years—not the roughly $1 trillion originally estimated.

In this letter to members of the Congressional Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Dodd and US Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts detail the government-run public option and the fees it would charge employers who do not provide coverage for their employees.

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Guess what. Restaurants hire illegal immigrants. Why prosecute one man out of thousands?

That was the reaction of New Haven attorney Diane Polan Tuesday when asked about the guilty plea entered earlier in the day in federal court by her client, Andrew Adames of Oxford.

Adames, 43, owns the restaurant chain Senor Pancho’s, with locations in Litchfield, Monroe, Prospect and Southbury.

Click here to continue reading Eugene’s report.

When Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed a $1.3 billion executive order Tuesday to keep government running while a budget deal is negotiated she failed to fund at least four programs which help individuals living with HIV and AIDS.

Shawn M. Lang, director of public policy with the CT AIDS Resource Coalition, said the news came as a surprise to advocates who rely on the state funding to operate programs, such as the needle-exchange program that helps prevent the spread of HIV among drug users.

“It was a very, very poor decision,” Lang said Wednesday afternoon in a phone interview.

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As promised Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell has vetoed the Democrats’ budget proposal saying, “It is neither balanced nor remotely realistic.”

The veto came Wednesday as she met privately at the governor’s residence with legislative leaders in an effort to craft a new two-year budget. According to sources, the two sides met for close to seven hours Tuesday, the same day Rell signed an executive order to continue state services without a budget in place.

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U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman has a bipartisan group of senators ready to help pass health care reform — minus a government-run insurance plan.

During a New Haven stop to support overall reform, Connecticut’s independent fourth-term senator gave his strongest statement to date opposing Democrats’ and President Obama’s call for a “public option” health care plan.

Click here to continue reading Paul’s report.

With the fiscal year ending Tuesday and no state budget agreement between Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell and legislative leaders, local elected officials gathered at the state Capitol to express their concerns about what the future may hold for cities and towns.

“Tomorrow we start putting our local tax dollars at risk,” New Haven Mayor John DeStefano said Tuesday.

He said the failure of the governor and legislature to reach a deal means the $7 to $10 million a month New Haven spends on school construction may be at risk because the state will be unable to make progress payments.

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After being asked to defend them in a federal lawsuit, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal advised officials at the Office of State Ethics Tuesday that they cannot force the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport to register as a lobbyist.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport filed a federal lawsuit against the Office of State Ethics in May after officials told the church it needs to register as a lobbyist to hold rallies at the state Capitol and use its Web site to oppose legislation.

Continue reading "Blumenthal Sides With Catholic Church" »