Unbelievably, certain shipments of liquefied natural gas will be allowed into Boston Harbor by the Coast Guard starting later this month. These LNG shipments will be from…wait for it…YEMEN! That’s right, Yemen. This is the same country that has been identified as a haven for terrorists. And the same country from which “The Underwear Bomber” came to blow up a U.S. airliner as it approached Detroit on Christmas Day. One is left with a feeling of disbelief and the further eroding of the confidence people have in security of the Homeland.

In their defense, the shipments will be subject to tight security measures that were proposed to the Coast Guard by the company that is importing the gas from Yemen, Distrigas of Massachusetts. The Coast Guard will consider each shipment on a case-by-case basis, a spokesman said.

“The security measures are going to be put in place by the company and validated by us when each vessel arrives,” a Coast Guard official told the Boston Globe. “The captain of the port will then decide whether to allow or deny (the ship) entry or take more extensive inspection measures than we normally would. Officials from Boston, including Mayor Tom Menino and officials from surrounding communities have urged rejection of the plan.

Here in Connecticut, state officials, environmentalists and other advocates fought successfully to keep a LNG terminal out of Long Island Sound, thereby avoiding both the environmental and security risks.
*
Today is the opening day of the 2010 session of the Connecticut General Assembly. After the opening day pomp, ceremonies and introduction of families during “points of personal privilege,” there will be the State of the State address by outgoing Governor Jodi Rell who reportedly has several budget cutting proposals.

According to several media outlets, the governor will propose a $500 million “Connecticut Credit Consortium” that would make loans available to small- and medium-sized businesses which would then, in theory, create jobs. Leaders in the Democratically-controlled House and Senate have also said job retention and creation is a key goal of theirs’ in this session.

The governor is also seeking more budget-cutting authority. Lawmakers may be hesitant to go along, given the fact that the cuts she’s made under her current authority have been unpopular. Those include the elimination of the nursing programs at the state’s technical schools. The program is a proven jobs-creator and Democrats are looking to restore the funding for the program.

Also back on the table is legalization of Keno, an electronic gambling game very popular in Massachusetts. According to projections, Keno would bring in to the state $20 million in the first year of the budget and $60 million the second.

There are potential problems with Keno, such as how it would be viewed by the state’s casinos which have a gaming compact with the state. The state relies heavily on its share of casino intake.
*
Despite the expected spin, Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz is now in an impossible position after yesterday’s official opinion from Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, an opinion asked for by Bysiewicz herself. Blumenthal opined that the state law requiring 10 years’ “active practice” as a lawyer before serving as attorney general is constitutional, and that it takes more than merely being licensed as a lawyer to be considered as actively practicing law.

Blumenthal went on to say that the courts would have to decide, in a declaratory ruling, what constitutes “active practice” of law. Absent that, the legislature could clarify the law and include criteria for “active practice.”

That leaves Bysiewicz, who leads in the race for AG in the latest polling, in a no-win situation. If she asks for a declaratory ruling, she takes a serious gamble as to what the answer is. If she doesn’t ask, she looks like she is avoiding the issue because she is afraid of the answer.

The best Bysiewicz could do was declare herself vindicated by Blumenthal’s decision and go on with the campaign. The issue, however, may not go away easily.

As state legislators desperately try to find ways to plug the $500 million hole in the current state budget, representatives from the quasi-public Connecticut Development Authority and Connecticut Innovations, as well the state Department of Economic and Community Development, will make a presentation to the Commerce Committee on Thursday. The agencies are expected to testify to the committee on their efforts to help businesses in the current economic climate.

There is talk at the Capitol of combining the three groups into one. The Commerce Committee is co-chaired by state Senator Gary LeBeau (D-East Hartford).

Every agency and commission is waiting to see what will happen to them under any budget deficit mitigation plan. Some have already been whacked with nearly 50% budget reductions. Hopefully, legislators will look to areas of actual waste before gutting the commissions that make a real difference to the people they serve.

Speaking of Sen. LeBeau, he ended his quixotic bid for governor this morning. He gave no particular reason for getting out of the race other than saying he was successful in bringing “jobs” into the debate, “You know, last year I started this campaign with the idea that jobs and Connecticut’s economic future are the most important challenges facing our state,” Lebeau said. “At that time, I, — drawing on my many years of experience chairing the legislative Commerce Committee — was virtually the only one saying this. Now, every candidate has recognized the importance of this issue. I will continue to fight for a more competitive and prosperous Connecticut, most likely by seeking reelection as state senator.”
*
This whole issue of funding for the judicial branch v. hiring new judges (patronage appointments) won’t go away anytime soon and is putting some lawmakers, the Rell administration and members of the judicial branch in some very awkward positions.

Just yesterday, the Hartford Courant’s Jon Lender, who writes a column on Sundays, brought us all closer to the situation. He wrote about the Jan. 19 Judiciary Committee hearing (on the effects of the lack of funding for the judicial branch). At that hearing, Rell’s budget chief, Robert Genuario painted a very gloomy picture as far as hiring and other spending by the judicial branch.

Lender, quoting sources, wrote that the very next day, Genuario was deemed qualified by the Judicial Selection Commission. That means he can be hired as a judge. Genuario, a former legislator, is admired and respected on both sides of the aisle. But this puts him squarely in the middle of the controversy. The lack of funding could mean the closing of courthouses, law libraries and possible layoffs.

While this goes on, there are 12 vacancies for judges. They are generally used by the governor and legislative leaders to reward long-time supporters (they have to be deemed qualified by the Judicial Selection Commission). It has been reported in several outlets that judicial officials have said they don’t need 12 new judges, particularly when the branch is being hit hard by the governor’s deficit mitigation plans. Stay tuned.

Try to think of an issue that would put Richard Blumenthal and Rob Simmons on one side with Chris Dodd, Joe Lieberman and (tepidly) Linda McMahon on the other. Well, the headline above gave it away. It’s the reconfirmation of Ben Bernanke as the Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Both Blumenthal and Simmons said Bernanke should go and someone fresh and new should take control of the Fed. Dodd, Lieberman and McMahon said Bernanke should stay. McMahon hedged on the question, saying she has high respect for the president to make his own choice for Fed Chairman.

Opponents blamed Bernanke for not preventing the financial crisis of 2008. Supporters said he managed the crisis well and deserved another term. He was approved Thursday, ending speculation that anger about Wall Street bailouts could cost him his job. Bernanke’s confirmation on a 70-30 vote came three days before his current term is scheduled to expire.
*
Get those scorecards out—add another page—and get ready for an update of who is running for what; or at least thinking about it.

R. Nelson “Oz” Griebel officially entered the race for governor—as a Republican. Well-known for his work on economic development issues, he has very little name recognition statewide. He pledged to end Connecticut’s reputation as an anti-business state. Also getting closer to a run for governor is Waterbury’s Democratic Mayor Michael Jarjura. In 2005, Jarjura lost the primary for mayor but won the office in a write-in campaign in which his supporters passed out pencils. Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, a Republican, is also considering running for governor. Finally, former Republican state party chairman Bill Hamzy, currently an influential state Representative from Bristol, is making noise about running for attorney general while criticizing Democratic frontrunner Susan Bysiewicz.

Stay tuned; I’m sure there’s more to come.

The Shad will leave the hard analysis of President Barak Obama’s State of the Union address to those who do that sort of thing for a living. For the record, Obama seemed to genuinely try to reconnect with the average American given the lessons learned over the past year. The Shad was also happy Obama didn’t buckle to the right wing (who have blasted him in every instance) and made it clear the mess he walked into. The speech was great but the judgment comes, like many things in life, in the follow through.

One major distraction for at least this viewer was Vice President Biden. He was visible is the vast majority of TV shots of the president and he was constantly nodding his head and making comments of affirmation, apparently to himself. If this was baseball season, no doubt some minor league team would be hard at work this morning planning “Joe Biden Bobblehead Doll Day.” Maybe the Wilmington Blue Rocks would be interested.

Sen. Chris Dodd looked like that was the last place he wanted to be last night. Joe Lieberman looked particularly disinterested
*
The next session of the state legislature opens next Wednesday. There will be plenty of pomp and circumstance and usually a speech by the governor. That will be followed by the usual spin from each party (The Shad’s author was a part of the group that composed the Democratic response to such speeches for many years, working with a “war room” of brilliant senate democratic staffers. We then proposed our work the senate president who would put his own stamp on it). It always starts with great promise but the 2010 session, will be dominated by the budget. The current year’s budget deficit is, according to some estimates, more than a half a billion dollars.
*
There will attempts at debating and passing some other bills that deserve attention but will likely not get the spotlight they deserve. As the days go by, we will no doubt hear complaints that “we can pass [insert passed bill] but we can’t fix the budget.” That rhetoric always amused this writer because it implies that if all the legislators all went home, we’d get a budget deal. It didn’t work this summer and it won’t work this spring.
*
One issue on some lawmakers’ radar screens is a proposal to require seat belts on school buses. It’s not a new issue but has gotten new-found attention following a deadly crash earlier this month. The crash claimed the life of Rocky Hill teenager Vikas Parikh and injured a number of students on I-84 near the Hartford-West Hartford line. The bus tumbled down an embankment.

A recent Quinnipiac poll showed that requiring seat belt on school buses has the support of 3 out of 4 Connecticut residents surveyed. State Rep. Tony Guerrera (D-Rocky Hill), who is also the co-chair of the transportation committee, is sponsoring a seat belt bill this year. Many such bills have been proposed over the years but there may be new support for it because of the Jan. 9 crash.
*
State Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney (D-New Haven) is putting his considerable political weight behind a proposal dealing with high school athletes who suffer concussions. “When in Doubt, Sit it Out” is the slogan advocates are using to back the bill that would put the student-athlete under greater scrutiny when he or she comes close to returning to play.

The author of The Shad suffered a number of concussions when playing high school and college hockey back in the mid-‘80s (yes, that explains a lot, I know). Back then, the treatment was to keep you in the hospital overnight, waking you up occasionally to make sure you didn’t slip into a coma. Rarely did the injury keep the player out of the next game. Now, much more attention is paid to such injuries—and rightly so.

There have been many stories in recent years about professional athletes returning to play too soon from a concussion only to be hurt again and jeopardizing their careers. But this bill, also strongly backed by education co-chair state Senator Tom Gaffey (D-Meriden), would make Connecticut—along with Washington and Oregon—the only states to adopt a “comprehensive law protecting student-athletes from the effects of concussions.”

The Shad will leave the hard analysis of President Barak Obama’s State of the Union address to those who do that sort of thing for a living. For the record, Obama seemed to genuinely try to reconnect with the average American given the lessons learned over the past year. The Shad was also happy Obama didn’t buckle to the right wing (who have blasted him in every instance) and made it clear the mess he walked into. The speech was great but the judgment comes, like many things in life, in the follow through.

One major distraction for at least this viewer was Vice President Biden. He was visible is the vast majority of TV shots of the president and he was constantly nodding his head and making comments of affirmation, apparently to himself. If this was baseball season, no doubt some minor league team would be hard at work this morning planning “Joe Biden Bobblehead Doll Day.” Maybe the Wilmington Blue Rocks would be interested.

Sen. Chris Dodd looked like that was the last place he wanted to be last night. Joe Lieberman looked particularly disinterested
*
The next session of the state legislature opens next Wednesday. There will be plenty of pomp and circumstance and usually a speech by the governor. That will be followed by the usual spin from each party (The Shad’s author was a part of the group that composed the Democratic response to such speeches for many years, working with a “war room” of brilliant senate democratic staffers. We then proposed our work the senate president who would put his own stamp on it). It always starts with great promise but the 2010 session, will be dominated by the budget. The current year’s budget deficit is, according to some estimates, more than a half a billion dollars.
*
There will attempts at debating and passing some other bills that deserve attention but will likely not get the spotlight they deserve. As the days go by, we will no doubt hear complaints that “we can pass [insert passed bill] but we can’t fix the budget.” That rhetoric always amused this writer because it implies that if all the legislators all went home, we’d get a budget deal. It didn’t work this summer and it won’t work this spring.
*
One issue on some lawmakers’ radar screens is a proposal to require seat belts on school buses. It’s not a new issue but has gotten new-found attention following a deadly crash earlier this month. The crash claimed the life of Rocky Hill teenager Vikas Parikh and injured a number of students on I-84 near the Hartford-West Hartford line. The bus tumbled down an embankment.

A recent Quinnipiac poll showed that requiring seat belt on school buses has the support of 3 out of 4 Connecticut residents surveyed. State Rep. Tony Guerrera (D-Rocky Hill), who is also the co-chair of the transportation committee, is sponsoring a seat belt bill this year. Many such bills have been proposed over the years but there may be new support for it because of the Jan. 9 crash.
*
State Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney (D-New Haven) is putting his considerable political weight behind a proposal dealing with high school athletes who suffer concussions. “When in Doubt, Sit it Out” is the slogan advocates are using to back the bill that would put the student-athlete under greater scrutiny when he or she comes close to returning to play.

The author of The Shad suffered a number of concussions when playing high school and college hockey back in the mid-‘80s (yes, that explains a lot, I know). Back then, the treatment was to keep you in the hospital overnight, waking you up occasionally to make sure you didn’t slip into a coma. Rarely did the injury keep the player out of the next game. Now, much more attention is paid to such injuries—and rightly so.

There have been many stories in recent years about professional athletes returning to play too soon from a concussion only to be hurt again and jeopardizing their careers. But this bill, also strongly backed by education co-chair state Senator Tom Gaffey (D-Meriden), would make Connecticut—along with Washington and Oregon—the only states to adopt a “comprehensive law protecting student-athletes from the effects of concussions.”

The Shad will leave the hard analysis of President Barak Obama’s State of the Union address to those who do that sort of thing for a living. For the record, Obama seemed to genuinely try to reconnect with the average American given the lessons learned over the past year. The Shad was also happy Obama didn’t buckle to the right wing (who have blasted him in every instance) and made it clear the mess he walked into. The speech was great but the judgment comes, like many things in life, in the follow through.

One major distraction for at least this viewer was Vice President Biden. He was visible is the vast majority of TV shots of the president and he was constantly nodding his head and making comments of affirmation, apparently to himself. If this was baseball season, no doubt some minor league team would be hard at work this morning planning “Joe Biden Bobblehead Doll Day.” Maybe the Wilmington Blue Rocks would be interested.

Sen. Chris Dodd looked like that was the last place he wanted to be last night. Joe Lieberman looked particularly disinterested
*
The next session of the state legislature opens next Wednesday. There will be plenty of pomp and circumstance and usually a speech by the governor. That will be followed by the usual spin from each party (The Shad’s author was a part of the group that composed the Democratic response to such speeches for many years, working with a “war room” of brilliant senate democratic staffers. We then proposed our work the senate president who would put his own stamp on it). It always starts with great promise but the 2010 session, will be dominated by the budget. The current year’s budget deficit is, according to some estimates, more than a half a billion dollars.
*
There will attempts at debating and passing some other bills that deserve attention but will likely not get the spotlight they deserve. As the days go by, we will no doubt hear complaints that “we can pass [insert passed bill] but we can’t fix the budget.” That rhetoric always amused this writer because it implies that if all the legislators all went home, we’d get a budget deal. It didn’t work this summer and it won’t work this spring.
*
One issue on some lawmakers’ radar screens is a proposal to require seat belts on school buses. It’s not a new issue but has gotten new-found attention following a deadly crash earlier this month. The crash claimed the life of Rocky Hill teenager Vikas Parikh and injured a number of students on I-84 near the Hartford-West Hartford line. The bus tumbled down an embankment.

A recent Quinnipiac poll showed that requiring seat belt on school buses has the support of 3 out of 4 Connecticut residents surveyed. State Rep. Tony Guerrera (D-Rocky Hill), who is also the co-chair of the transportation committee, is sponsoring a seat belt bill this year. Many such bills have been proposed over the years but there may be new support for it because of the Jan. 9 crash.
*
State Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney (D-New Haven) is putting his considerable political weight behind a proposal dealing with high school athletes who suffer concussions. “When in Doubt, Sit it Out” is the slogan advocates are using to back the bill that would put the student-athlete under greater scrutiny when he or she comes close to returning to play.

The author of The Shad suffered a number of concussions when playing high school and college hockey back in the mid-‘80s (yes, that explains a lot, I know). Back then, the treatment was to keep you in the hospital overnight, waking you up occasionally to make sure you didn’t slip into a coma. Rarely did the injury keep the player out of the next game. Now, much more attention is paid to such injuries—and rightly so.

There have been many stories in recent years about professional athletes returning to play too soon from a concussion only to be hurt again and jeopardizing their careers. But this bill, also strongly backed by education co-chair state Senator Tom Gaffey (D-Meriden), would make Connecticut—along with Washington and Oregon—the only states to adopt a “comprehensive law protecting student-athletes from the effects of concussions.”