Besides living with a sense of panic and staying up at night worrying, Marina Derman has been in advocacy mode lately, trying to convince lawmakers to salvage the program she says saved her family from crisis. She’s one of many people waiting for a resolution to the next state budget. Many legislators have criticized the deep cuts to health care and social services in the governor’s proposed spending plan, but it’s not yet clear how they plan to address the looming $1.3 billion deficit while avoiding cuts some have called untenable.
Arielle Levin Becker and Keith M. Phaneuf
Posted inHealth
Tobacco funds: Connecticut’s budget-balancing escape hatch
Connecticut has received nearly $2 billion in settlement funds from big tobacco companies in the past 15 years. Only a small fraction has gone to anti-smoking efforts. Instead, the fund has become largely an escape hatch when lawmakers need help balancing the budget.