The motto of the Connecticut Council of Small Towns is, “We’re working to keep small towns strong.” To this end, COST analyzes policies being considered at the Capital with several questions in mind: Will they make Connecticut’s 139 smaller communities, those suburban and rural towns under 30,000 in population, better places in which to live […]
February 16, 2011 @ 12:00 am
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Malloy’s budget: A good start, with some missed opportunities
Governor Malloy deserves great credit for presenting the first fiscally honest budget in many years, avoiding the quick-fix gimmickry that has contributed to our current revenue shortfalls, such as a reliance on one-time revenues and borrowing. His reforms are a first step toward a budget that improves fairness, is more adequate to the state’s needs, […]
Posted inNews
Governor kept his promise to towns; now let’s cut mandates
The motto of the Connecticut Council of Small Towns is, “We’re working to keep small towns strong.” To this end, COST analyzes policies being considered at the Capital with several questions in mind: Will they make Connecticut’s 139 smaller communities, those suburban and rural towns under 30,000 in population, better places in which to live […]
Posted inHealth
Malloy’s budget: A good start, with some missed opportunities
Governor Malloy deserves great credit for presenting the first fiscally honest budget in many years, avoiding the quick-fix gimmickry that has contributed to our current revenue shortfalls, such as a reliance on one-time revenues and borrowing. His reforms are a first step toward a budget that improves fairness, is more adequate to the state’s needs, […]
Posted inNews
Education: Budget spares K-12 funding but slashes colleges
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy spared early, primary and secondary education from budget cuts, and beefed up spending on school choice, but he is proposing a $143.5 million reduction to public colleges and universities over the next two years. “Yes, this budget asks our colleges and universities to step up just as the rest of state […]
Posted inNews
Reaction to Malloy’s budget: Praise for honesty, but…
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy won nearly universal praise for honesty and courage Wednesday in proposing to restore the state’s fiscal health with a bracing prescription of steep tax increases, labor concessions, agency consolidations and cuts to higher education and social services. “Lot of guts. Lot of guts,” said House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., […]
Posted inNews
Health and social service cuts bring relief and ‘grave concern’
Poor adults in Medicaid would get fewer dental cleanings and have to chip in for the cost of medical care under Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s proposed budget. Seniors receiving home care would have to pay more for the services, and a portion of the program aimed at keeping seniors out of nursing homes would be […]
Posted inNews
House votes to kill funding for JSF alternate engine
WASHINGTON–Amid intense political pressure to slash federal spending, the House voted Wednesday to nix $450 million in funding for an alternate engine for the Joint Strike Fighter, handing a major victory to Connecticut-based Pratt & Whitney. By a vote of 233-to-198, the House adopted an amendment–backed by veteran Democrat Rep. John Larson and sophomore Republican […]
Posted inNews
Malloy pledges to create private-sector jobs, while demanding state labor concessions
Dannel P. Malloy Gov. Dannel P. Malloy framed his budget proposal Wednesday as a blueprint for shared sacrifice that can return the state to economic vitality, even as he asks state employees for deep concessions and the public for higher taxes. Malloy outlined about $780 million in concessions he is seeking, far short of the […]
Posted inNews
Malloy budget relies on higher taxes, undefined labor savings
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s first budget relies on an undefined, $1 billion labor savings and $1.5 billion in new taxes to help balance more than $19.7 billion in spending next fiscal year while sparing municipal aid from any major reductions. The plan also relies on $750 million in cuts to social services, higher education and […]
Posted inNews
Malloy challenges lawmakers to reform state’s finances
The long-promised move to more open and transparent budget principles turned out to be part of a much larger fiscal reform agenda unveiled Wednesday by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. The new governor also challenged state legislators in his new budget Wednesday to end the long-standing system of approving state employee contracts by default, to trim […]
Posted inNews
Malloy budget gives safety net a trim
Whether Gov. Dannel P. Malloy “shredded” the state’s safety net in his first biennial budget — as he has repeatedly pledged not to do — may depend on the perspectives of state legislators, advocates and Connecticut’s neediest residents themselves. But the state’s wide array of health care and other social services provided the one of […]
Posted inNews
Cities and towns gain under Malloy budget proposal
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy not only spared Connecticut’s cities and towns from the budget axe, but set them up to gain $129 million in new annual revenue by 2013 through increased taxing powers and new shares of the state’s revenue streams. The governor, who served as Stamford’s mayor for 14 years through 2009, effectively called […]
Posted inNews
Malloy takes big gamble on unprecedented labor savings
Nearly one-third of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s solution to state government’s budget crisis hinges on a labor savings target more than five times the employee wage and health benefits concessions secured just two years ago. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget addressLinks to budget documents The $1 billion savings target Malloy proposed to help close a […]
Posted inNews
GOP sees special election bonanza in Malloy tax proposal
Republicans are rushing to capitalize on Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s proposed $1.5 billion tax increase in campaign mailings in some of the special-election races to fill six House and three Senate vacancies in the General Assembly. Malloy delivered his budget address Wednesday, which happens to also be the last day that campaigns can reliably send […]