Within minutes of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s announcement Thursday that he wouldn’t seek a third term, speculation began over whether it would weaken his position with legislators, employee unions and other interest groups.
Keith M. Phaneuf
Keith has spent most of his four decades 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.
Posted inPolitics
Early Malloy announcement gives Dems a fundraising head start
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s relatively early announcement Thursday not to seek re-election gave his fellow Democrats seeking the gubernatorial nomination a crucial head start in fundraising. But it won’t deter the GOP from making the 2018 race a referendum on Malloy’s record.
Posted inPolitics
Malloy says he won’t seek third term, setting up 2018 battle
The Stamford Democrat, choked with emotion several times in a 35-minute press conference, pledged he would devote his remaining 20 months in office “to continue implementing my administration’s vision for a more sustainable and vibrant Connecticut economy.”
Posted inPolitics
Gender pay equity bill advances — minus key wage-history provision
A measure to promote pay equity among men and women advanced Wednesday in the House of Representatives — but minus a key provision regarding inquiries into a prospective employee’s salary history.
Posted inHealth, Money
House passes measure to allow automated beer and wine sales
The House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday that would enable bars and restaurants to sell beer and wine on their premises using an automated machine.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Labor study: Businesses can pay more to preserve CT’s quality of life
Connecticut businesses can afford — and should pay — higher taxes to support investments in education, health care and other priorities to grow the economy and preserve quality of life, a report sponsored by the state’s biggest labor group urged Wednesday.
Posted inMoney, Politics, Transportation
State DOT drops study of mileage tax
A political football in state transportation debates for the past two years — the concept of a mileage-based tax on motorists — apparently is no longer even a subject of research at the Connecticut Department of Transportation.
Posted inCities & Towns, Health, Money
Independent living centers at risk from state, federal budget cuts
The five centers provide a wide array of training, counseling and referral services to thousands of residents with physical and mental disabilities, the elderly and the poor. Leaders of the centers have watched state funding shrink by 62 percent over the past year and are at risk of losing the rest this spring.
Posted inEducation, Money, Politics
Malloy plan hands poorest municipalities a life preserver and an anchor
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy wants to help Hartford and Connecticut’s poorest communities stabilize their local budgets. But he also wants all municipalities — including the poorest — to begin paying one-third of teacher pension costs set to explode over the next 15 years. Those goals may not be politically compatible.
Posted inCities & Towns, Money, Politics
Looney wants half-penny sales tax option for cities and towns
Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney of New Haven called Friday for an optional local sales tax increase to help cities and towns control property tax rates. This would add a local surcharge of one-half of 1 percentage point to the existing 6.35 percent state sales tax.
Posted inMoney
Connecticut not alone in facing budget deficits
Connecticut is not alone in its budget woes, but it does have less margin for error in dealing with them than other states, according to new reports from two nationally recognized policy think-tanks.
Posted inMoney
Wall Street agency warns CT budgets will be bleak for years
A major Wall Street credit rating agency warned investors Wednesday that Connecticut’s weak economy and surging retirement benefit costs are likely to plague state budgets and test the state’s fiscal management for several years to come.
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
CT hospitals rally to block tax hikes
Connecticut’s hospitals intensified their push Wednesday to block hundreds of millions of dollars in tax increases recommended for their industry by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.
Posted inJustice, Money
CT court marshals push to carry firearms on the job
State court marshals are urging support for a measure that would empower them to carry firearms in state courthouses, but the bill faces an uncertain future as the legislature’s Judiciary Committee nears its deadline.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Lembo, OFA project CT budget deficit; Malloy does not
Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo projected Monday that the current state budget is a modest $44.6 million in deficit, effectively matching the conclusion reached March 27 by the legislature’s nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration still says finances are in balance.