The mission of the Connecticut Judicial Branch is to serve the interests of justice and the public by resolving matters brought before it in a fair, timely, efficient and open manner.

New Product from the Office of Legislative Research: the Issue Brief

by Zigadto, Janet

 

According to the OLR's Twitter feed:

"OLR is launching a new product - the Issue Brief! We'll be tweeting briefs all week to get you up-to-speed before session. Issue briefs are two-page reports that provide a brief overview of a topic to help users get up-to-speed on timely issues."

Some of the recently released Issue Briefs include:

State Budget Snapshot - 2016-R-0301 - This brief explains, among other things, what is driving spending growth, revenue trends and what is driving them, the outlook for the next biennium, and the spending cap.

Funding the State Employees Retirement System - 2016-R-0303 - This brief explains, among other things, how the pension fund is doing, how SERS is funded, why SERS is underfunded, and the legislature's role. (For more detailed information, see OLR Backgrounder: The State Employees Retirement System - 2016-R-0287.)

Recreational Marijuana - 2016-R-0305 - This brief explains current marijuana law in Connecticut, recent marijuana-related legislation, and elements of other states' marijuana legalization laws.

Daily Fantasy Sports - 2016-R-0312 - This brief explains what daily fantasy sports contests are, gives the Connecticut Attorney General's opinion on DFS legislation, and explains DFS laws in other states.

Taxing the Digital Economy - 2016-R-0290 - This brief explains, among other things, digital downloads and streaming services, cloud computing, the sharing economy, and e-commerce as well as how they are taxed.

CCJEF v. Rell Court Decision - 2016-R-0306 - This brief explains CCJEF v. Rell, the case in which the Superior Court found that the state has fallen short of meeting its constitutional obligation to provide an adequate education to public school students.