He’s back! On Face the State, that is. Governor Malloy was our guest on the Sunday program, a place he’s appeared regularly since launching his first bid for governor in 2006. This time the governor came in to talk about the state of the state, the budget, pensions, and the looming question about whether Aetna will be the next General Electric.

The governor said it will be up to Hartford to improve its situation and make it a better environment for the insurance giant.

“Their dissatisfaction with Hartford is that the mill rate is 77 mills.” “We have to lift Hartford up.” Malloy told us Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini has asked the state to build more housing in Hartford and make Hartford more vibrant and “we’ve done that.”

Malloy also answered our question about running for a third term. He said he wasn’t leaning against running, and said a decision on a third term would come after a budget is finalized.

Watch the governor here:  http://www.wfsb.com/clip/13074491/dennis-and-susan-interview-gov-dannel-p-malloy  and here:  http://www.wfsb.com/clip/13074495/dennis-and-susan-interview-gov-dannel-p-malloy-part-2

Also on the program, we wished Fran Schneidau farewell. The legendary WCBS Newsradio 880 reporter is retiring after covering Connecticut for more than 40 years. Here she is on Face the State in 2010.