Legislation Connecticut

Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. vetoed a bill that would have made it easier for Connecticut courts to impose the death penalty. Current law prohibits the death penalty if the jury finds a single mitigating factor in a murderer's defense, such as a traumatic childhood. The vetoed bill would have let juries weigh aggravating factors as well. Weicker, who favors capital punishment only for someone convicted of killing a law enforcement officer, said current law works.

Connecticut Gov. John Rowland vetoed the bitterly contested "Sooty Six" bill aimed at forcing the state's oldest and most-polluting power plants to reduce emissions. The bill had been debated for four years as environmentalists and the electric power industry squared off. "This is one of the more difficult decisions I've had to make as governor over the last seven years," Rowland said. "There's no one in Connecticut that does not want clean air."

A new round of talks began Friday to break a 40-day-old budget impasse after Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. signed Connecticut's fourth temporary budget of the fiscal year. Connecticut's House and Senate passed the stopgap budget late Thursday after legislative leaders concluded that they could not muster enough votes to override Weicker's third veto of a budget that did not authorize the income tax he wants.

Fresh from recent victories in New Jersey and Virginia, the gun control lobby appears to be headed toward another breakthrough in a most unlikely place: Connecticut, a state that since the Revolutionary War has supplied the nation with guns. On Thursday, the state Senate voted 19 to 18, with the lieutenant governor casting the tie-breaking vote, in favor of a bill that would ban the sale of all assault weapons except the Colt Sporter, which is manufactured here.

Connecticut Gov. John Rowland vetoed the bitterly contested "Sooty Six" bill aimed at forcing the state's oldest and most-polluting power plants to reduce emissions. The bill had been debated for four years as environmentalists and the electric power industry squared off. "This is one of the more difficult decisions I've had to make as governor over the last seven years," Rowland said. "There's no one in Connecticut that does not want clean air."

In an address to the state Legislature several weeks after he took office in January, Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. quoted one Phyllis Zlotnik, who had expressed amazement that Weicker had voluntarily sought the job. "Why anyone would want to be governor right now is unfathomable to me," Zlotnik told him in a letter. She expressed the sentiments of many who were watching the state's former Republican senator take over as governor at a time when Connecticut's economic sky really was falling.

The state Senate approved a bill guaranteeing a woman's right to abortion and repealing Connecticut's unenforced anti-abortion statutes. The measure requires counseling for girls 15 and under before getting an abortion and encourages them to tell their parents. It now goes to Gov. William A. O'Neill, who has said he will sign it. The bill effectively codifies into state law much of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Roe vs. Wade decision.

Connecticut on Monday became the first state to give women the legal right to abortion in a law intended to stand even if the Supreme Court reverses its 1973 decision legalizing abortion. The 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision said states cannot ban abortions, but if the ruling were struck down, states would then be able to make abortion illegal. Without ceremony, Democratic Gov. William A. O'Neill, a Roman Catholic who personally opposes abortion, signed the bill into law Monday afternoon.

Fresh from recent victories in New Jersey and Virginia, the gun control lobby appears to be headed toward another breakthrough in a most unlikely place: Connecticut, a state that since the Revolutionary War has supplied the nation with guns. On Thursday, the state Senate voted 19 to 18, with the lieutenant governor casting the tie-breaking vote, in favor of a bill that would ban the sale of all assault weapons except the Colt Sporter, which is manufactured here.

A "Ghostbusters bill" barring home buyers from suing property owners or real estate agents who fail to disclose any jinx associated with a house was on the governor's desk Saturday. The legislation would prohibit lawsuits against property owners or real estate agents who fail to disclose to buyers that a property was "psychologically impacted," unless the buyers request such information in writing. It was approved 118 to 29 Friday by the House and sent to Gov. William A. O'Neill.

Exactly 17 minutes after it was delivered to his desk, Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. vetoed the Legislature's attempt to repeal Connecticut's new income tax. The governor was verbally accosted by a man shouting: "You jerk! You jerk!" as he left his office after the veto., The House voted 83 to 65 to replace the state's 4.5% income tax with a higher sales tax, spending cuts and borrowing. The Senate approved the alternative budget by a vote of 21 to 15 on Wednesday.

A new round of talks began Friday to break a 40-day-old budget impasse after Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. signed Connecticut's fourth temporary budget of the fiscal year. Connecticut's House and Senate passed the stopgap budget late Thursday after legislative leaders concluded that they could not muster enough votes to override Weicker's third veto of a budget that did not authorize the income tax he wants.

In an address to the state Legislature several weeks after he took office in January, Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. quoted one Phyllis Zlotnik, who had expressed amazement that Weicker had voluntarily sought the job. "Why anyone would want to be governor right now is unfathomable to me," Zlotnik told him in a letter. She expressed the sentiments of many who were watching the state's former Republican senator take over as governor at a time when Connecticut's economic sky really was falling.

A "Ghostbusters bill" barring home buyers from suing property owners or real estate agents who fail to disclose any jinx associated with a house was on the governor's desk Saturday. The legislation would prohibit lawsuits against property owners or real estate agents who fail to disclose to buyers that a property was "psychologically impacted," unless the buyers request such information in writing. It was approved 118 to 29 Friday by the House and sent to Gov. William A. O'Neill.

Connecticut on Monday became the first state to give women the legal right to abortion in a law intended to stand even if the Supreme Court reverses its 1973 decision legalizing abortion. The 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision said states cannot ban abortions, but if the ruling were struck down, states would then be able to make abortion illegal. Without ceremony, Democratic Gov. William A. O'Neill, a Roman Catholic who personally opposes abortion, signed the bill into law Monday afternoon.

The state Senate approved a bill guaranteeing a woman's right to abortion and repealing Connecticut's unenforced anti-abortion statutes. The measure requires counseling for girls 15 and under before getting an abortion and encourages them to tell their parents. It now goes to Gov. William A. O'Neill, who has said he will sign it. The bill effectively codifies into state law much of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Roe vs. Wade decision.

Connecticut on Tuesday became the first state to ban hand-held radar guns, which some police officers believe cause cancer. "You've got a difficult enough life to lead without having what you hold in your own hands be a threat to your life," Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. told police officials as he signed the legislation. Connecticut moved to the forefront of the debate over hand-held radar guns in October, when state police stopped using them and more than a dozen local departments followed suit.