Monday morning the U.S. Supreme Court will hear argument in McComish v. Bennett, the Arizona case challenging the constitutionality of taxpayer-funded political campaigns. Connecticut politicos and organizations have submitted briefs in the case, which could impact the Citizens Election Program here. The Yankee Institute submitted a brief, as did Ned Lamont, whose spending in the Democratic gubernatorial primary last year triggered the maximum payment of matching funds for his opponent, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. Attorney General George Jepsen also submitted a brief. Read the briefs in the case.

Health-protective pesticide legislation topped the wish lists of Connecticut environmentalists this year until Rep. Richard Roy, D-Milford -- co-chair of the Environment Committee -- struck a surprising deal with the industry. Read more.

The Finance Committee will hear testimony this morning on a bill titled ACC Tax Fairness. Progressives are calling on lawmakers to close tax loopholes, which allow multi-state corporations to avoid paying taxes in the Nutmeg State. It's a theme that has come up time and again at Malloy's town hall meetings. Malloy has proposed a "throwback tax," which will levy any business income not taxed by other states. Businesses say the bill being heard today by the Finance Committee makes the state unfriendly to businesses. Malloy continues to see his "throwback tax" as a compromise between the two.

With 59 labor contracts set to expire this month at nursing homes across the state, today's Public Health Committee agenda offers items of interest to unions, nursing home management, and patients. The Public Health Committee is one of the few to have avoided heated discussion with the administration over legislation.

JF Deadline: Education and Planning and Development (but both committees met their deadlines Friday and will not be meeting today).

The Office of Fiscal Analysis is currently projecting a $158.3 million surplus in the General Fund. This is an improvement over a February 2011 report that projected an $89.9 million surplus. Estimated expenditure requirements have decreased by $9.2 million and estimated revenue has increased $59.2 million for an improvement of $68.4 million. Read more.

The Education Committee gave the green light to some of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's elementary and secondary education bill that allows municipalities to reduce the education budget if enrollment drops. The proposal to hand over the vocational-technical high schools to local government was turned into a study.

Also, Malloy revealed Friday that he prefers Pepe's pepperoni pizza. But he admitted he isn't that familiar with the competition. He said it's been a long time since he visited Sally's Apizza in New Haven and said he's never been to Modern Apizza. The governor said he intends to fix that soon. Read more.

Malloy will give the keynote speech this morning at the Connecticut Future Business Leaders of America's State Leadership Conference in Cromwell. Malloy will be in Greenwich tonight for his 11th town hall meeting. Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman will hold a Capitol press conference at 11 a.m. with State Police to announce a crackdown on distracted driving.

U.S. Rep. John B. Larson will be at the Capitol at 10:30 a.m. today to announce plans to reintroduce the New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act (NAT GAS Act). Expanding natural gas use in the transportation sector, the largest consumer of oil in the country, will save American families money, help reduce harmful green house gas emissions, and utilize an American energy source instead of sending billions of dollars overseas.

U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro will visit the Wallingford Senior Center at 11 a.m. today to discuss the potential impact of the proposed Republican budget cuts on the Social Security Administration, and what they could mean for Americans.

Secretary of the State Denise Merrill was appointed co-chair of the Voter Participation Committee of the National Association of Secretaries of State. The committee is devoted to identifying state strategies for increasing voter participation levels and serves as a clearinghouse for voter participation data and civic education groups.