Signed Historic Civil Union Law in 2005

Connecticut governor Jodi Rell, who in 2006 was the most popular governor in the United States with an 87% approval rating, believes "the historic civil union law that I proudly signed in 2005 is equitable and just. We were the first state to enact such a law through legislative action and not a court mandate."

However, she does not endorse her state's recent Supreme Court decision giving gay couples the right to marry. "I disagree with today's State Supreme Court ruling but as governor, I will uphold it. I continue to believe that marriage is the union of a man and a woman.

"The Supreme Court has spoken. I do not believe their voice reflects the majority of the people of Connecticut. However, I am also firmly convinced that attempts to reverse this decision - either legislatively or by amending the state Constitution - will not meet with success. I will therefore abide by the ruling."

Launched historic Charter Oak Health Plan

In 2007, Pell enacted a state health plan called Charter Oak intended for uninsured working adults 19 to 64 years old who were unable to qualify for private or public insurance plans. Monthly premiums were set at $75 to $259 with the difference covered by state subsidies.

However her new plan has struggled to find doctors and care providers for this network. On November 13, 2008, Senators Chris Dodd, Rosa L. DeLauro and others sent a letter to Mr. Weems, Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services stating, "...we strongly urge you to protect access to care for our constituents and impose an immediate moratorium on any further “voluntary” enrollments in HUSKY MCOs with insufficient networks, and to maintain such a moratorium until the standards under federal law for provider network adequacy are met.

“While provider networks have grown from 5,680 to over 9,500 over the past five months, two of the new health plans - Aetna Better Health and AmeriChoice by United Healthcare - do not have adequate capacity for major additions of HUSKY beneficiaries,” Rell said. “This has affected the pace of transition of beneficiaries into the new health plans overall.”

Changing the world One Thing at a time

Changing one behavior each day in order to help the environment or to create energy efficiency would add up to more than a billion OneThings each year in Connecticut, according to Governor Rell. Committed to this idea, Rell created a marketing campaign to promote this idea to Connecticut residents.

Rell appeared on 21 billboards to advertise her "One Thing" campaign aimed at encouraging constituents to "do one thing every day that helps conserve energy."

Loretta Berry, the business women who matched One Thing with its billboard space, has been helping the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism develop a new grant program "where the state pays 60 percent of the cost of a billboard ad for nonprofit museums and other attractions, and 50 percent for profit-making organizations."

So why, with the State of Connecticut committed to billboard advertising, did Rell sign an executive order in February, 2008 aimed at curtailing billboards in Connecticut?

Confused

Okay, am I the only one confused here? First I find a video where she is being taken to task for lying about Railroad spending and then all of these issues above surface. Why exactly was she the most popular governor in 2006? Was it because she had great ideas that had yet to be proven? Am I missing something? Please, you in the know, help me out here, because I am seeing a pattern here.

Mary Carolyn Reavis Rell was born in Norfolk Virginia. She never graduated from college, though she attended Old Dominion University, and Western Connecticut State University. She was awarded honorary law doctorates from the University of Hartford and the University of New Haven after serving as Connecticut's Lieutenant Governor for three terms, beginning in 1994.

This just in from Wikipedia...

"Rell supported the state's constitutional spending cap against pressure from groups favoring expanded state government to bypass the cap. As a result in late June 2006 the state reported a $910 million surplus for the prior year and the state's Rainy Day Fund exceeded $1 billion in deposits for the first time. In 2007 she shocked many of her supporters by proposing a state budget that would greatly exceed the spending cap to pay for added education spending. This program would require raising the state income tax.

"An opinion poll showed opposition to raising the income tax, and widespread skepticism regarding Rell's claim her plan would reduce property taxes. As public opinion remained steadfast in opposition to an income tax hike, she changed her mind and withdrew her support for increased educational spending.

"On June 1, 2007 Rell vetoed a Democratic plan that increased the income tax. A compromise plan passed both houses of the legislature in late June that did not increase the income tax, but raised the cigarette tax and did not limit property taxes. It exceeded the state spending cap."

Is there evidence of a backbone dispute? I wonder.