lawmakers

Patient advocates and some state governments say hospitals must do more to help patients deal with medical bills before the debt winds up in collections.

Gov. Ned Lamont and Democratic lawmakers went back and forth over a package that creates new taxes and raises new revenue to help create tax credits for low and middle income families. The tax bill also invests in reducing income inequality.

A life and death debate over rights and ethics took over the virtual Capitol on Friday. Lawmakers heard public testimony on the aid-in-dying bill being considered for at least the eighth legislative session. “Today is the day, it’s been exactly 28 months since she’s passed and I still count every minute that we’ve been apart,” Gregory Shimer of West Hartford...

Since 2012, 15 states and Washington D.C. have legalized marijuana for adults over the age of 21. Will Connecticut be next? “Because prohibition has failed because legally, nationally, cannabis is being legalized, we can’t stick our head in the sand at this point anymore,” Jonathan Harris, Gov. Ned Lamont’s senior adviser, said. Harris told the legislature’s Judiciary Committee Friday...

Part of Connecticut’s controversial police accountability law is getting a second look. Those in charge of putting the new rules into practice say the way it’s written right now may put officers who lay their lives on the line in more harm. Several in law enforcement took the opportunity to have their voice heard during Monday’s public hearing on...

Legislators heard from several members of law enforcement on Monday about the new police accountability law that goes into effect just weeks from now.

Legislation to also allow bets online, which was put on the back burner the last three years, is now back on the table.

Several years of stalemates have stymied a plan to allow sports wagers in Connecticut casinos. Legislation to also allow bets online, which was put on the back burner the last three years, is now back on the table. Those involved in the negotiations are betting this could be the bill’s year to pass. “It feels like everyone wants to...

House lawmakers may have been exposed to someone testing positive for COVID-19 while they sheltered at an undisclosed location during the Capitol siege on Wednesday.

New England’s mostly Democratic legislative delegation reacted with joy on social media on Saturday as Joe Biden was projected as the winner of the presidential election by NBC News and other national news outlets. “Thank God,” said outgoing U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III of Massachusetts. “A big congratulations to President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris,” said U.S....

Lawmakers have several bills to deal with and some judicial nominations to vote on during a special session at the State Capitol this week.

The House met Wednesday to take up 10 pieces of legislation and four judicial nominations that Democratic lawmakers felt were necessary to approve before the start of the next regular session in January. Connecticut has a part-time legislature and due to COVID-19 only one chamber can be in the building at a time.  “School construction is specific to projects that…

Connecticut lawmakers will be back at the state Capitol next week to tackle a number of issues weeks before an election. “Look it’s a special session just one or two days, we’re going to have a real session where we can deal with these big issues with public hearings coming up in four months,” Gov. Ned Lamont said. Lamont...

Connecticut’s General Assembly will hold a special session next week to look at absentee ballots and electric rates, but Republican lawmakers don’t think it’s necessary.

Five utility companies were on the agenda to speak before the Energy and Technology Committee Thursday, but most of the attention was on Eversource, which provides power for most of Connecticut and accounted for a majority of the outages after Tropical Storm Isaias earlier this month. “I have heard so comments critical of Eversource and that the company is in…

Eversource’s response to Tropical Storm Isaias, as well as rate hikes back in July, will be part of the focus of a legislative forum on Thursday.

The state legislature is going back to work this week, but the special session will look different from any before.

Connecticut activists have implored lawmakers to pass legislation to protect pedestrians and bikers. This year 15 pedestrians were killed by motorists, The Hartford Courant reported Friday. Anthony Cherolis, who leads an effort by the Center for Latino Progress to improve transportation infrastructure in Hartford says the House bill includes provisions that have been successful in reducing pedestrian deaths outside Connecticut. Provisions...

Lawmakers have had a sleepless night as they continue to hear testimony from hundreds of people about a proposal to remove the religious exemption for vaccines for public school children.

Lawmakers had a sleepless night as they heard testimony through the night from hundreds of people about a proposal to remove the religious exemption for vaccines for public school children. The hearing, which started at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, ended nearly 22 hours later, around 8 a.m. The proposal brought thousands of people to…