Pizza and Basketball: New Highway Signs Promote Connecticut’s Strengths

From basketball titles to acclaimed pizza, a new series of “Welcome to Connecticut” signs unveiled by Gov. Ned Lamont Wednesday seek to highlight winning aspects of Connecticut’s identity for motorists traversing state highways.

State transportation officials have placed the news signs in seven locations alongside highways where drivers cross into Connecticut from Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island.

Each sign highlights a unique aspect of Connecticut. For instance, the signs tout Connecticut as “the Pizza Capital of the United States” and the “Foodie Capital of New England.” Other signs proclaim Connecticut as home to both the “Basketball Capital of the World” and the “Submarine Capital of the World.”

In a press release, Lamont said the new signs were meant to reflect the qualities that make Connecticut special.

“We want everyone entering our state to immediately feel proud of what we do well here, whether it’s making the nation’s best pizza, world class meals, national championships, or the most complex machines in the world,” Lamont said. “Each sign is an invitation to experience all that we have to offer as one of the best states to live, work, and play.”

Signs touting the state’s acclaimed pizza reflect a February proclamation by the governor, naming Connecticut the Pizza Capital of the U.S. and have been placed at locations on I-95 and I-84 entering Connecticut from New York.

Signs declaring Connecticut the “Home of the Basketball Capital of the World” highlight a long history of national titles by the University of Connecticut’s Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams, including the men’s recent back-to-back national titles in 2023 and 2024. The signs have been installed at three locations on I-91, I-84, and I-395 along the border with Massachusetts.

A third sign, highlighting Connecticut’s submarine industry, has been placed along I-95 entering Connecticut from Rhode Island. The sign reflects both the Groton headquarters of submarine manufacturer Electric Boat and the Naval Submarine Base in New London.

Finally, a sign declaring Connecticut the “Foodie Capital of New England,” has been posted along U.S. Route 6 entering Connecticut from Rhode Island. This year, the governor issued an official proclamation, naming Connecticut the foodie capital of the region in response to growing recognition of Connecticut chefs and restaurants including Chef David Standridge, who was awarded the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Northeast in 2024.

Posted by Michelle Rappaport

State Comptroller Projects Another Year Of Budget Surpluses

Continuing a trend that has now lasted more than half a decade, Connecticut’s first budget projections of fiscal year 2025 indicated the state would likely see another surplus.

Comptroller Sean Scanlon said Tuesday that his office had projected a General Fund surplus of $113.2 million and a Special Transportation Fund surplus of $126.4 million, which would put the state in position to continue making significant contributions toward its debts and further improve its finances.

Speaking of those debts, the state expected to contribute $940.5 million toward state employee and teacher retirement pension debts once the 2024 fiscal year was closed out, Scanlon added in the report. This would represent a total of $8.5 billion in such payments since 2020, progress that has reduced projected interest on that debt by hundreds of millions of dollars.

Scanlon noted those pension debt payments were possible because of the state’s Rainy Day Fund, a reserve fund that represents up to 15% of the state budget that can be accessed in times of financial crisis. The comptroller’s report projected the Rainy Day Fund would be at its statutory limit of more than $4 billion.

“Connecticut’s fiscal health continues to be in prime condition as we prepare to make another historic pension payment and embark on the next budgeting season,” Scanlon said in a press release. “While the stock market remains strong, our office is closely watching the Federal Reserve to see what impact an anticipated – and overdue – rate cut will have on our overall economic picture, and we remain optimistic, especially in light of our full Rainy Day Fund, which will ensure we can weather any downturn.”

An initial review of the state’s budget found the surplus lower than expected due to increased medical costs and similar pressures, Scanlon said. However, revenue projections were $148.6 million higher than budgeted, which works to offset the higher-than-expected spending expectations and preserve the state’s current standing.

In late 2023, Scanlon issued a report of the state’s actuarial valuation, which found progress made toward that debt. In 2023, the state contributed $1.05 billion to the State Employee Retirement System. Those payments helped reduce the state’s payment obligations by $87.5 million for the 2025 fiscal year.

Over the last five years, payments to pay down the state budget have freed up more than $500 million in annual spending, which increased to $738 million when combined with the Teachers’ Retirement System, the report found.

Of additional note, Scanlon said that from 2016 to 2023, Connecticut’s payments helped fund the state employee pension fund from 35% to 52%, the highest it’s been since 2008, which helped the state invest in tax cuts and education spending in the process.

By Joe O’Leary

Connecticut Program to Reduce Racial Profiling Now a National Model

Connecticut’s quarter-century old law prohibiting racial profiling by police departments – which has been updated a few times over the years – has become a national model for other states to combat racial profiling in their own cities and towns.

As Hearst CT News reporter Bill Cummings wrote on Aug. 31, Northeastern University in Boston recently concluded that the Connecticut Racial Profiling Prohibition Project has become “a national leader” in its efforts to monitor and reduce potential racial profiling by officers conducting traffic stops, and the project is spreading its expertise nationwide.

Connecticut’s law is named for former state Sen. Alvin Penn, a Black legislator from Bridgeport, who, according to the blog Only in Bridgeport, was stopped and interrogated by a white police officer in 1996 as he drove through the neighboring town of Trumbull. Penn pushed back when the officer questioned his location.

“I asked why I was being stopped and why I needed to be aware of which town I was in. I wanted to know what difference that made,” Penn told a reporter in describing the situation. “He told me he didn’t have to give a reason for stopping me and said if I made an issue of it, he would give me a ticket for speeding.”

Three years later, in 1999, on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis, the General Assembly passed the Alvin W. Penn Racial Profiling Prohibition Act, which prohibited the stopping, detention, interdiction, or search of an individual by a police officer on the basis of their race, color, ethnicity, age, gender, or sexual orientation.

The problem was, police departments throughout Connecticut were not using a standardized traffic stop form, which made data collection and analysis nearly impossible.

So, in 2012, the Connecticut General Assembly – again on a nearly unanimous and bipartisan basis – established the Racial Profiling Prohibition Project Advisory Board for the purpose of advising the state’s non-partisan Office of Policy and Management on adopting standardized methods and guidelines to collect and report this information. The advisory board has been meeting since May 2012 on a monthly basis; all meetings are open to the public.

Since the law and its various amendments have taken effect, the frequency of Black and Hispanic drivers being stopped by police in Connecticut for no reason has decreased: “reductions in traffic stops involving minority drivers primarily result from fewer pretextual stops [85 %] for lighting violations and non-moving violations. We find relative declines of approximately 30% for stops resulting in a warning or an arrest,” Northeastern found.

That has elevated Connecticut’s program to a national model for police reform, Northeastern concluded. “The influence of the Connecticut Racial Profiling Prohibition Project has reached far beyond the state’s borders and has had a national impact on the conversation about police reform,” their study said.

Ken Barone, manager of the Connecticut Racial Profiling Prohibition Project and policy director for the Institute for Metropolitan and Regional Policy (a UConn research institute which staffs the Racial Profiling Prohibition Project), told Hearst CT Media that the group’s reach has grown, and that they are now working with California, Oregon, Colorado, Nevada, Rhode Island and Maine to develop and implement programs to reduce profiling by police in those states.

“We analyzed Rhode Island data between 2016 and 2019 and are in the process of analyzing 2020 to 2022,” Barone told Hearst CT Media. “We were also hired to evaluate the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C. More recently, we have been speaking with New Jersey, Maryland and Illinois about the evaluation of traffic stop records.”

Posted by Lawrence Cook

Blumenthal Warns of AI Abuse in Elections, Calls for New Regulation

Voters should be wary of an influx of misleading campaign messages generated by artificial intelligence, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Tuesday as he called for new rules and legislation to regulate the emerging technology.

Blumenthal, D-Conn, delivered the warning during a mid-day press conference outside the state Capitol building in Hartford.

“Voters can expect to be bombarded, beginning right now, with a blizzard of pre-recorded robocalls, ads, texts — more and more of it generated by AI technology,” he said. “Artificial intelligence technology has become the new norm.”

The prevalence of AI-generated campaign messaging was especially concerning given the ease with which users can now produce deepfakes and misrepresentations that are virtually indistinguishable from legitimate video and voice recordings, Blumenthal said. He urged voters to independently verify any election-related messages that seemed out of place.

“The AI technology is so sophisticated that there are almost no telltale signs, looking at the ad or listening to the robocall or seeing the text,” he said. “But anything that seems unexpected, like the change of a voting place or the cancellation of an election, should be checked with town hall before you take action.”

In an effort to combat misleading AI robocalls, Blumethal called on the Federal Communications Commission to adopt new rules to restrict the calls by requiring callers to disclose their intent to use AI-generated content.

Meanwhile, Blumenthal vowed to continue his efforts to pass the AI Transparency in Elections Act, legislation he co-sponsored to require disclaimers on political ads that significantly rely on AI-generated content. The bill would also require the FCC to quickly address violations of the act.

Although Blumenthal said bipartisan support could help put his bill over the congressional finish line, he noted that states like Connecticut have found success adopting their own rules to govern use of AI.

In 2023, state Sen. James Maroney, D-Milford, led passage of a law to examine and inventory use of artificial intelligence in government in order to ensure automated systems were not making discriminatory decisions.

This year, the Senate’s Democratic majority passed a separate bill that would have, among other provisions, taken steps to criminalize the distribution of deceptive AI-generated media within 90 days of an election. The House did not act on the bill prior to the conclusion of the 2024 session.

On Tuesday, Blumenthal praised states like Connecticut for taking action to regulate artificial intelligence in the absence of federal policies.

“Right now, in this election session, artificial technology is in the Wild West,” Blumenthal said. “Anything goes because we have no effective protection requiring disclosure of the use of artificial intelligence technology and penalties for distortive deepfakes or impersonations. So, I strongly support those state efforts.”

 Posted by Hugh McQuaid

See How Connecticut Ranked in the Best and Worst Community College Systems

Connecticut has once again earned a leading spot in a state-by-state list of the best and worst community college systems, according to an August report by the website WalletHub, which ranked the state third in the nation.

The website placed Connecticut behind only Maryland and New Mexico, marking the third consecutive year the state has placed in the top three community college systems nationally.

WalletHub financial writer Adam McCann noted that five of Connecticut’s schools were among the top 55 community colleges in the country and highlighted the state’s efforts to provide free community college to many residents.

The website ranked Enfield’s CT State Community College Asnuntuck as the top community college in the state.

“It offers services to help graduates find jobs, receives a lot of funding from state taxes, and offers sizable grants and scholarships,” McCann wrote of Asnuntuck.

In a press release, CT State President John Maduko said the ranking reflected CT State’s commitment to delivering high quality and affordable education that prioritizes positioning students for successful careers.

“As families across the state grapple with rising costs, our community college offers a valuable alternative, enabling students to achieve their academic goals without sacrificing quality or future opportunities,” Maduko said. “We remain dedicated to supporting our students and their aspirations, helping them maximize their educational investment.”

The WalletHub report looked at 653 institutions and considered 18 metrics including career outcomes, education outcomes, and costs.

Posted by Hugh McQuaid

New Law Protects Connecticut Students By Holding Drivers Responsible

A new Connecticut law was helping to protect children on school buses as they returned to classrooms this back-to-school season by allowing cities and towns to fine drivers up to $250 for illegally passing stopped school buses.

This law was introduced by Sen. Herron Keyon Gaston, D-Bridgeport, during the 2024 legislative session and was signed into law by Gov. Ned Lamont. It followed a report from the city of Bridgeport that found 10,000 drivers passed a school bus illegally over a six-month period.

“I want to do all that I can to make sure our kids are safe,” said Gaston, Senate chair of the legislature’s Public Safety Committee. “We cannot afford to lose our precious young ones. We need to increase safety personnel in areas where there is high traffic flow, and in areas where school buses most frequent. We must continue to explore best practices around increasing public safety and make the necessary investments to protect young people throughout the state of Connecticut.”
The revenue collected by the fines will go back to the towns and cities to increase education measures and public safety.
For many children, the school bus is their primary mode of transportation. From getting onto the bus at the bus stop to getting off the bus after school. Following safety guidelines can help ensure that every ride is safe.

Last week, AAA warned drivers to be focused and patient as school buses return to the roads during the morning and afternoon commute. Back-to-school transportation affects not only school districts, students and parents, but also other drivers on the roads.

According to Connecticut law, drivers are required to stop their vehicles at least 10 feet away from a school bus that has its flashing red lights activated, unless otherwise directed by an officer. Drivers must remain stopped until the lights stop flashing and the stop-arm is retracted.

Posted by Michelle Rappaport

National Television Show Highlights Connecticut Republican for Blocking Hospice Study

Connecticut received some brief national attention last month when Emmy award-winning television host John Oliver lampooned a Republican state senator’s efforts to obstruct a study of prohibiting private equity firms from owning hospice facilities.

The state legislature got a mention late in a half-hour segment on hospice fraud during an Aug. 18 episode of Oliver’s HBO show “Last Week Tonight.”

After detailing examples of scams designed to wrongfully enroll patients to hospice programs for profit, the host referenced a 2023 bill by state Sen. Saud Anwar, D-South Windsor, who proposed to study banning private equity ownership of hospice care.

“So what can we do?” Oliver said of hospice-related fraud. “Some states are trying to fix things, though those plans can often run into opposition. In Connecticut, a bill that would have merely required a study about banning private equity ownership of hospices stalled out last year after opposition from Republicans like this man.”

The show then cut to CT-N footage of state Sen. Rob Sampson, R-Wolcott, speaking on the floor of the Connecticut Senate.

“The suggestion that somehow the profit motive is somehow adversely impacts the quality of a business is a very dangerous thing to do in America,” Sampson said in the clip. “If people didn’t invent things, if people didn’t come up with new cures, then they would not exist. And if you don’t have a reason to create those things then you won’t.”

In the video, Sampson paused as his eyes darted around the Senate chamber. Oliver’s live audience could be heard laughing.

“This is America,” Sampson continued, waving his finger. “This is a free-market country. This is a capitalist country, this is not a socialist country and it will not be if I can help it.”

The clip ended there as the television host shifted to discussion of another one of Sampson’s positions — his 2023 opposition to a bipartisan resolution absolving the victims of the 17th-century witch trials in colonial Connecticut.

“Right,” Oliver said. “He voted ‘no’ because he believes in the ideals of America, which is also why — and this is true — last year, he was the lone ‘no’ vote in the state Senate, on a resolution exonerating the victims of the 17th-century Connecticut witch trials, partly because — and I quote — he did want to ‘paint America as a bad place with a bad history.’”

Again, the show’s studio audience could be heard laughing.

“I don’t know what’s weirder,” Oliver continued, “the fact that he did that or the fact that Connecticut didn’t bother to exonerate victims of witch trials until last year.”

Connecticut’s 2023 resolution on the colonial witch trials closely followed its neighbor, Massachusetts, which exonerated the last victim of the Salem Witch Trials in 2022.

Sampson responded to the segment through a social media post directed at “Last Week Tonight’s” 2.9 million-follower X account, where the state senator invited Oliver to host him on his national television show for a “debate on the merits of capitalism.”

A video of Oliver’s segment on hospice fraud featuring Sampson had more than 2.1 million views on Youtube as of Friday.

Posted by Hugh McQuaid

Financing Agreements Spur New Housing in Five Connecticut Communities

State housing agencies have recently signed financing agreements to create a total of 758 housing units across Connecticut, with more than half of them – 396 – being affordable for low- and moderate-income renters, the Department of Housing announced in August.

Another 18 units will represent permanent supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness and people with disabilities in Westport, according to a press release from the Housing Department and Connecticut Housing Finance Authority.

The developments are expected to provide new housing opportunities for residents in Norwalk, Stamford and Westport in Fairfield County as well as Norwich and Waterford in New London County.

“We’re excited that these finance agreements are done, and construction can begin,” Housing Commissioner Seila Mosquera-Bruno said in a press release. “These units will become permanent homes for our residents who deserve high-quality affordable living. DOH will continue to work as fast as possible to ensure our families and individuals have affordable housing options in their own communities.”

The projects will be funded by a combination of $25 million in loans and grants as well as low-income housing tax credits, expected to generate nearly $100 million in private investment.

The nearly 400 affordable units will be earmarked for residents making at maximum 80% of area median income in a given community. About 360 of those units will be funded by the Build for CT program, which supports the creation of apartments designed to be affordable for middle-income residents.

In Westport, a project funded by the Department of Housing involves acquiring an unoccupied building and converting all but one unit to supportive housing, the first time a project like that has gone underway in the town.

Through the partnerships, South Norwalk will see 161 new units reserved for households earning a maximum of 60% of local median income and 155 units for those making a maximum of 80% of that income.

Stamford will see a redevelopment project begin with 61 total units, 19 of which will utilize vouchers to support very low-income households, while a Westport will start with the acquisition of a property at 122 Wilton Road. This rehabilitated and unoccupied building will include 19 total units serving individuals and families earning a maximum of 60% of the area’s median income.

In New London County, Norwich will see a former mill building converted into a 146-residential unit project, with 50 of those units limited to residents earning up to 80% of area median income. Meanwhile, the third phase of the Waterford Woods project will add 216 units with 44 of them reserved for households earning up to 80% of the area’s median income.

These investments come at a critical time as Connecticut has struggled with an extended housing crisis, in which high demand and limited supply have contributed to rising housing costs for many families.

Posted by Joe O’Leary

Gasoline and Home Heating Oil Prices are Way Down in Connecticut

As recently reported by Hearst CT Media, gasoline prices in Connecticut are now at least 40 cents per gallon cheaper than they were last year at this time.

And prices for home heating oil – one of the fuels of preference for Connecticut homeowners –are at their lowest in four years.

Both price drops are good news for consumers bothered by a summer of record heat and the high electricity bills that come with battling the costly effects of global climate change.

According to the Automobile Association of America (AAA), the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas in Connecticut was about $3.39 on the Thursday before the Labor Day weekend – down 41 cents, or almost 11%, from last year at this time. That’s about the same price for gas that people are paying in Wyoming and Maine. Connecticut prices are even down 16 cents a gallon from even just a month ago.

Connecticut gasoline prices spiked to $5 a gallon for regular unleaded in the summer of 2022, a few months after Russia invaded Ukraine and fears of supply disruptions spiked crude oil prices from $70 a barrel to $115 a barrel.

So why the drop now?

“Right now, inventories are good. We have more inventory than we did last year, so supply is less tight. We’re not seeing a fuel shortage,” AAA Northeast spokeswoman Lauren Fabrizi told Hearst CT Media. “Another reason is, despite the popularity of summer road trips, overall gas demand is down right now. That’s partly because daily driving habits have changed following the pandemic. For example, with more people working remotely, they’re not commuting as much.”

But gasoline isn’t the only fuel that Connecticut consumers are saving on this fall.

Right now, prices for home heating oil – used by about 42% of Connecticut homeowners to heat their homes in the winter (along with natural gas and electricity) – are at their lowest levels in about four years.

Home heating oil is selling for as low as $2.59 a gallon in some places in Connecticut, though the statewide average is about $3.36 a gallon. Still, that’s significantly cheaper than the $4.28 a gallon a year ago in October 2023, or the $5.92 two years ago in October 2022.

Some home heating oil dealers are even offering “pre-buy” or “lock-in” contracts where customers can pre-buy a set amount of oil at a set price, and avoid the inevitable price hikes that come in the late fall and early winter due to supply and demand.

Posted by Lawrence Cook