A report attributed much of CT’s lackluster economic performance to high costs of living — particularly housing and child care expenses.
pensions
Posted inMoney
Education advocates: Pension savings system reinforces inequities in CT’s schools
Education Reform Now wants the state to bill wealthy districts and use some of the money to help poor communities.
Posted inMoney
Unions tell Lamont they won’t forgo raises to spare the rich from a tax hike
The budget proposal saves $140 million by assuming no raises for bargaining units with contracts currently in negotiations.
Posted inMoney
Auditors: CT continues to pay millions of $ in pension benefits above legal limits
Connecticut continues to pay millions of dollars annually in pension benefits beyond federal and contractual limits, state auditors reported Monday.
Posted inMoney
Governor: One key labor concession won’t be achieved this year
Gov. Ned Lamont conceded Tuesday that he won’t win new limits on cost-of-living adjustments to state employee pensions in time to build savings into the next state budget.
Posted inPolitics
Larson holds hearing on Social Security reform
Rep. John Larson’s bill would boost Social Security benefits, and provide more generous cost-of-living increases.
Posted inMoney
Municipalities say pension costs could skyrocket
Connecticut cities and towns will face millions of dollars in added costs next fiscal year because of state-mandated changes in how municipalities must save for their workers’ pensions.
Posted inMoney
CT’s legacy of debt was Malloy’s ultimate challenge
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy would be hounded by the debt-riddled state finances he inherited, pension obligations that would force deficits and tax hikes while leaching dollars from transportation and other programs. But Malloy also would be the first governor in modern history not to saddle future generations with pension costs owed during his administration.
Posted inPolitics
Griebel: Tapping pension funds risky — doing nothing is worse
Independent gubernatorial candidate Oz Griebel says his proposal to defer pension contributions to avert a post-election state budget deficit is a risk, but not as extreme as maintaining state government’s fiscal status quo.
Posted inMoney
Report says pension boards share blame for states’ widening debt
While past governors legislatures and governors get much of the blame for Connecticut’s massive pension debt, a new analysis says politically appointed oversight boards should share the heat both here and in other states.
Posted inPolitics
Off the main stage, Griebel pitches his deficit solution
Independent gubernatorial candidate Oz Griebel, who has struggled to attract financial and political support, told reporters Thursday that he would empty the Rainy Day Fund and suspend contributions to the state’s underfunded pension system to help close a huge, post-election state budget deficit.
Posted inPolitics
Attacking state pensions, Stemerman tries to break from GOP pack
Former hedge fund manager David Stemerman is trying to distinguish himself in the crowded field of Republican candidates for governor with a radical political and legal strategy for attacking Connecticut’s massive unfunded pension liability.
Posted inPolitics
Nappier to end 20-year tenure as CT’s treasurer
Hartford Democrat Denise L. Nappier, one of Connecticut’s longest-serving state treasurers and the first African-American woman in the nation to hold that post, announced Wednesday she will not seek a sixth term.
Posted inEducation, Money, Politics
Malloy: Time to stretch out spiking teacher pension costs
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has called on state lawmakers to restructure Connecticut’s contributions into its cash-starved teacher pension fund, deferring some expenses for decades but mitigating huge, projected cost spikes in the coming 15 years.
Posted inMoney, Politics, Transportation
Malloy says CT must reverse a culture of postponing hard choices
The future of Connecticut’s finances, transportation network and general well-being hinges largely on government — and the legislature in particular — reversing a long-standing culture of postponing hard choices, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy told Hartford area business leaders Friday.