While House Republicans made it clear they would highlight Democratic legislators’ cooperation with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy — whose unpopularity is marked in recent polls — the Senate GOP took aim at Connecticut’s fiscal woes.
Keith M. Phaneuf
Keith has spent most of his 31 years as a reporter specializing in state government finances, analyzing such topics as income tax equity, waste in government and the complex funding systems behind Connecticut’s transportation and social services networks. He has been the state finances reporter at CT Mirror since it launched in 2010. Prior to joining CT Mirror Keith was State Capitol bureau chief for The Journal Inquirer of Manchester, a reporter for the Day of New London, and a former contributing writer to The New York Times. Keith is a graduate of and a former journalism instructor at the University of Connecticut.
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Hartford’s Bronin seeks ally in push for municipal finance reform
With surging debt costs driving huge deficits in coming years, Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin urged a state advisory panel Thursday to help him convince legislators to reform the municipal finance system. He also said he may ask state officials to advance the city millions of dollars in education grants to help stem worsening cash-flow issues.
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
Union ad challenges Malloy’s ‘new economic reality’
The state’s largest health-care workers’ union launched a new television ad Wednesday attacking Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s austerity policies and urging state officials to consider raising taxes on Connecticut’s wealthy.
Posted inHealth
ConnectiCare will stay on CT health exchange in 2017
ConnectiCare, the single-largest insurer on the state’s health exchange, announced Tuesday it would participate in the exchange in 2017 working with the rate schedule the Insurance Department approved earlier this month. That decision means two of the four companies that have sold policies through Access Health CT will participate again next year.
Posted inEducation, Money
Auditors: UConn improperly used maintenance funds for expansion projects
The University of Connecticut improperly redirected nearly $50 million in state funds earmarked for deferred maintenance to instead expand and upgrade various facilities, the state auditors reported Tuesday.
Posted inHealth
ConnectiCare’s role in 2017 health exchange stuck in legal limbo
The question of whether the largest insurer on Connecticut’s health insurance exchange would participate in 2017 fell into legal limbo late Monday afternoon. Whether ConnectiCare participates next year could hinge on how the state Department of Insurance resolves a new administrative appeal of its recent insurance rate awards.
Posted inEducation, Money, Politics
Municipalities say CT’s property tax system is unsustainable
Just days after a landmark state court ruling found Connecticut’s education funding system to be “irrational and unconstitutional,” the chief lobbying group for cities and towns issued a new research paper calling the municipal property tax system “unsustainable.”
Posted inMoney
CT businesses making profits but still wary about adding jobs
About two-thirds of Connecticut businesses made a profit last year, yet fewer than half expect to add jobs at this time, according to the Connecticut Business and Industry Association’s annual survey of businesses.
Posted inEducation, Money
Ruling may end ‘hold harmless’ principle in CT budget politics
Hartford Superior Court Judge Thomas G. Moukawsher’s ruling Wednesday may lead to a major redistribution of state education aid.
Posted inEducation, Justice, Politics
Judge strikes down state education aid choices as ‘irrational’
In a broad indictment of how Connecticut supports its poorest schools, Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher ruled Wednesday that the state’s method for distributing education aid is irrational and unconstitutional, while declining to second-guess the General Assembly on the ultimate level of state spending.
Posted inMoney
Report: CT is too reliant on low-wage jobs
Slow wage growth, an increasing reliance on low-wage jobs, and “persistently high unemployment” among minorities and workers without a college degree are threatening Connecticut’s long-term well-being, according to the annual Labor Day report from Connecticut Voices for Children.
Posted inHealth, Money
CT health insurance rates to rise sharply in 2017
Most Connecticut health insurance plans will undergo steep rate hikes next year, although in some cases, the prices will not go up by as much as carriers had sought.
Posted inMoney
CT Spending cap problem: slow economy and rising debt costs
The state panel trying to fix state government’s spending cap is struggling to balance modest growth in household income against the rapidly rising cost of state retirement benefits.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Lembo raises warning flags on new state budget
In his first monthly report on the new state budget, Connecticut’s chief fiscal watchdog warned both about uncertain income tax projections and hefty savings targets — both of which must be met to keep in balance the $19.7 billion budget approved in May.
Posted inMoney
Towns will craft their own plan to regionalize, ease local tax burden
As state officials increase their warnings that municipal aid may be curtailed in the coming years, Connecticut’s cities and towns will craft their own plan to regionalize services and make local government more efficient.