Kevin Rennie

Abraham Lincoln's birthday last Tuesday marked the start of months of local Republican organization dinners and fundraising events. The annual ritual of honoring Lincoln provides an informal start to the party's 2014 race for governor. Four candidates...

When is a lobbyist not a lobbyist? The answer, according to the complicated state laws that determine who's allowed to influence government officials in decision-making (which is what lobbying is, pretty much), is: When a person lobbies a public official...

Commissioner Joette Katz of the state Department of Children and Families said last week that she's sorry she parked her personal BMW sports car in her reserved space in a state parking garage during the winter months – and she criticized the...

Republican Tom Foley, the 2010 Republican nominee for governor who hopes to reprise that role next year, ventured into a legislative public hearing last week. What a lesson the former ambassador to Ireland learned. You mention ethics at your peril in...

The state's political leaders may not set out to confuse the public, but they don't mind if that's one result of their conflicting declarations and policies. It may be easier to win the hefty new Breakthrough Prize for Life Sciences that were handed out...

Clues to how serious the federal investigation of corruption at the General Assembly is come from the reaction of state officials to routine requests for documents under the Freedom of Information Act. Facts surrounding a list — that an official's...

The General Assembly should consider limiting what qualifies under law for a waiver for competitive bidding on state contracts, state auditors John C. Geragosian and Robert M. Ward said in their annual report to lawmakers, released Friday. The law...

Prepare for weeks of talk about the state's deteriorating finances as Gov. Dannel begins another unhappy chapter of the tale of declining fortunes. The problem is that state government spends more than is produced by the array of taxes it imposes. The...

Academy Award voters will probably have more time this year to consider the nominees for best costume design than the General Assembly will spend reviewing Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's nomination of Andrew McDonald to the state's highest court. This is one...

Tim O'Brien, a Democrat serving his first term as mayor of New Britain, makes the case that state assistance to municipalities may be more generous than it needs to be as an age of austerity dawns. O'Brien did not intend to become a leading urban voice...

The New Year marks the start of the 2013 regular session of the General Assembly on Jan. 9 as well as the beginning of the second half of Gov. Dannel Malloy's term. Events have imposed an urgent expectation of serious action on the lawmakers. What to...

Federal law enforcement agents visited the Legislative Office Building in October to examine the illegal intersection of legislating and campaign fundraising. What a dispiriting tale continues to unfold at the heart of state government. In mid October,...