Democratic legislative leaders today said they will not act on the deal between Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell and the Judicial Branch over nine judicial nominations until an overall budget agreement is reached.
"A few weeks ago I made it clear to the governor, that with the issue of judges and the judicial [branch] budget, I would view that as part of the entire budget. We need to resolve the entire 2011 budget and resolve the deficit issue there before I would want to move anything separate forward," said Sen. Pro Tem Donald E. Williams, Jr., D-Brooklyn. "What I want to see is an agreement as to the entire budget not just the Judicial Branch piecemeal."
Democratic and Republican leaders met with Rell today regarding a deal she made with the Judicial Branch yesterday to move forward her nine judge nominations in exchange for giving the judiciary greater fiscal autonomy and canceling $7.8 million in cuts that were to take place by the end of the fiscal year in June.
Democratic leadership said the deal only guaranteed that the nominations would make it out of the Judiciary Committee and not be confirmed by the House and Senate.
Republican leaders were quick to accuse Democrats of playing political games with the judges, saying the judges were being "held hostage."
"I think they should move forward," said Senate Minority Leader John P. McKinney of Fairfield. "If the goal is to say we are going to solve all our problems at once then we shouldn't be passing any bills in the House and Senate. ... We should shut down the House and Senate."
House Minority Leader Lawrence W. Cafero of Norwalk agreed, "Every single bill we do has an impact on the budget."
The nine nominees are facing confirmation hearings today before the Judiciary Committee, where another issue arose: the lack of racial diversity in the group.
Rell chose 10 white lawyers, one of whom withdrew for unrelated reasons earlier this week. By tradition, she allowed Williams and Donovan to each put forward two of the 10 selections.
Just what is the constitutional relationship between the Hose and Senate? It sometimes seems as if the Senate acts in loco parentis after the House sponsors an initiative it doesn't approve on. Last time I looked, House members seemed to share the IQ highs and lows of the Senate members. The paternalistic attitude of the CT Senate is a disservice to the citizenry and, I suspect, contributes to the turgid movement of the budget and other proposals. It certainly is regularly taken advantage of by the Executive branch. This would be an interesting (after session) topic for CT
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Lindsay Carlson, project manager of the Gatekeeper Program run by the Mental Health Association of Connecticut. The program takes confidential calls from people worried about senior citizens who may need help.
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THE MINIMUM WAGE
Connecticut's hourly minimum wage of $8.25 is one of the highest in the nation, trailing Washington at $9.04, Oregon at $8.80 and Vermont at $8.46.
Five of the six New England states exceed the federal minimum of $7.25. The exception is New Hampshire, whose minimum is the same as the feds.
Connecticut is one of 18 states with a minimum higher than the federal standard. Twenty-thrree are at the federal level, four are below it and five have no minimum wage.
Ten states have a minimum wage indexed to the cost of living.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor
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