Gov. M. Jodi Rell is again calling on the legislature to expand her budget-cutting authority as the state’s financial mess continues. “I am reiterating my call to give not just this governor but all who will follow me expanded authority to make budget rescissions,” Rell said. In recent months, Rell cut $67.2 million from the […]

Senate Democrats Monday proposed a package of measures to help small businesses, funded by a tax on employee bonuses over $1 million paid by companies that received federal bailout money last year. Among the proposals for small businesses: Eliminate the $250 business entity tax for small businesses, create a small business loan fund and hold […]

Text messaging while driving may soon be illegal if Gov. M. Jodi Rell has her way. Rell said Saturday she plans to submit legislation that will expand current law that forbids drivers from talking on their cell phones without a hands-free device to include prohibiting sending text messages as well. “Over and over again we […]

Young workers are leaving Connecticut at alarming rates, in part because of the lack of affordable housing. But House Majority Leader Denise W. Merrill and the chairman of the state’s Planning and Development Committee Brendan J. Sharkey said Wednesday the state can and should do only so much to address the problem. “There’s no money. […]

Funding for a high-speed train project in Connecticut received a $40 million boost today from the federal government. “This is great news for one of the most important and ambitious public transportation projects we have undertaken in years,” Gov. M. Jodi Rell said. The money will be used to help build a second track through […]

State employee union officials said Thursday they have agreed to a plan by Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s administration to delay $100 million in contributions to their pension fund–a move that shrinks the budget deficit projected for this year, but adds to the state’s $15.8 billion in long-term, unfunded pension obligations. “It’s better than cutting spending,” […]

Rep. Matthew Lesser Three thoughts are animating Themis Klarides these days: A soldier can never have too many socks, the New York Yankees are the best baseball team ever, and the Republican Party is the way of the future. But if you followed the deputy House minority leader on the popular social networking sites Facebook […]

Connecticut needs a half-billion-dollar answer to its fiscal woes – and state Comptroller Nancy S. Wyman (left) told a crowded room on Tuesday there are only so many options. “People really don’t want to hear it, but the fact is we’re going to have to cut spending. We’re maybe going to do some more borrowing […]

The most tangible of Connecticut’s dismal economic indicators may be the new computer server and automated phone lines recently ordered for a beleaguered corner of the state bureaucracy – the unemployment office. “It is simply overextended and overwhelmed by the load,” Gov. M. Jodi Rell said in January, answering complaints that the system has been […]

While the national health care reform debate rages in Washington, Connecticut is proceeding with its own plan to provide coverage for thousands of uninsured state residents. The work is the result of action by the state legislature last year creating a panel to devise a public health insurance plan, called SustiNet, that will be available […]

Services critical to thousands of state residents may soon face the budget axe in the coming weeks as the economy staggers and the state’s deficit mounts to an estimated half-a-billion dollars. Three out of every $10 the state spends goes directly to the Department of Social Services – $5.4 billion of the state’s $18.6 billion […]