Governor M. Jodi Rell finally will allow the state to pass a biennium budget this week.  Rell did not agree to sign the bill, but instead will wait five days to go by after the General Assembly passed it, therefore making it law.   However, Rell will make her presence felt in the form of line-item vetoes.   Democratic leaders had added approximately $8 million dollars in spending earmarks, which the governor called “a slap in the face of our taxpayers.”  Not surprisingly, what Rell also called “pork-barrel spending” includes programs and services for vulnerable CT populations.  Read the full story

Shawn Lang (CT AIDS Resource Coalition) and Matt O’Connor (SEBAC) of BetterChoicesforCT.org discuss advocacy efforts at the state capitol to create a more progressive and egalitarian state budget.

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Christine Stuart, of CTNewsJunkie.com, gives details about the CT Legislative session, including updates on the budget and other highlights from 2008-09.

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A discussion about how Governor Rell’s proposed budget could affect mental health and addiction services in the state, featuring Dr. John Mehm of the CT Psychological Association.

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What the Hartford Courant calls “significant changes” in the Connecticut Department of Corrections budget pales in comparison to the money the state could save by reforming its drug laws.   Read the full story

In winter, homelessness becomes physically easier to imagine. The wind cuts into my coat as I hurry inside, and I get that feeling that I couldn’t bear to be out in the cold one more second.

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