Author Archives: cxpowell

By Chris Powell Nearly everyone agrees that Connecticut badly needs more inexpensive apartments. Many basic two-bedroom units in the state carry monthly rents that are as high as a home mortgage payment, and rents are still rising. As was demonstrated the other day at a state legislative committee hearing, many renters are desperate, especially withContinue reading “Rent-control bill is a fraud striving for a bad precedent”

By Chris Powell Connecticut state legislators who have introduced legislation to prevent disclosure of discussions teachers have with students about “sensitive subjects” are upset that schools are facing many more freedom-of-information requests. Responding to these requests, the legislators say, can incur great expense in school staff time. One of those legislators, Rep. Jennifer Leeper, D-Fairfield,Continue reading “Schools resent FOI because they have so much to hide”

By Chris Powell How can you tell that something is part of public education? That’s easy: It strives to keep the most important things secret. That’s the lesson of the Journal Inquirer’s attempt to discover why, two years ago, the Board of Regents of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system set about to fireContinue reading “College system won’t account for costly personnel disaster”

By Chris Powell While it’s good that former President Donald Trump now has some official competition for the Republican nomination for president in 2024 — former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who was Trump’s ambassador to the United Nation — the problem is likely to be that Trump will have [ITALICS] too much [END ITALICS] competition forContinue reading “Ranked-choice voting is more urgent; and Kiner’s Rule curses state”

By Chris Powell Assuming the accuracy of a recent opinion poll commissioned by various social-justice groups, Connecticut should have no trouble solving its housing shortage. The poll claims that most state residents agree that state government should override municipal zoning that restricts housing construction, penalize towns that fail to allow a full range of housing,Continue reading “Policies that create poverty worsen housing shortage too”

By Chris Powell For what seems like the first time in living memory, a governor of Connecticut, Ned Lamont, has pushed back a little against the arrogance of the University of Connecticut. Maybe the pushback won’t last long, especially if one of the university’s basketball teams wins the national tournament in a few weeks andContinue reading “For one brief, shining moment, a governor confronts UConn”

By Chris Powell Public education in Connecticut — education that is accountable to the public — would be diminished by legislation introduced by four Democratic members of the state House of Representatives. Bill 6192 would exempt from disclosure under the state’s right-to-know law “any communication between a teacher and a student regarding sensitive subjects, suchContinue reading “Hiding teacher misconduct and betraying school integration”

By Chris Powell Lincoln wrote that government should do what the people can’t do for themselves at all or very well. By that standard Connecticut state government’s program to provide paid leave for private-sector workers should be eliminated, doubly so because, as Connecticut Public reported the other day, a third of program applicants are being deniedContinue reading “Paid leave plan is a ripoff; and why kids skip school”

By Chris Powell Legislation has been proposed in the General Assembly to diminish the use of police in Connecticut’s schools, and some of its supporters suggested the other day at the state Capitol that the presence of police in schools actually [ITALICS] causes [END ITALICS] crime — that if the police weren’t there, students wouldn’t be arrested.Continue reading “Don’t want cops in school? Then find kids some parents”

By Chris Powell Reducing state income tax rates a year from now, raising state spending by only 5.3% over two years, and preventing state government from spending all the money it can get its hands on, thereby forcing state government to save during good years, Governor Lamont’s state budget proposal is far more conservative thanContinue reading “Governor’s many new subsidies suggest worsening poverty”