With just two weeks left in the 2015 General Assembly session, the principals in final state budget negotiations acknowledged Wednesday that little progress has been made as the June 3 deadline looms large.
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.
Posted inEducation
Senate sets affirmative-consent standard for campus sex assaults
The Senate voted overwhelmingly late Tuesday to establish an affirmative-consent threshold in cases of sexual assault on all college and university campuses in Connecticut.
Posted inPolitics
House adopts ‘drive-only’ license bill
The House of Representatives adopted a measure late Monday that would make it easier for undocumented residents to obtain a restricted, “drive-only” license.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Would state sales tax hike really translate into local tax relief?
The fate of a major proposed expansion of Connecticut’s sales tax may not hinge solely on the objections of businesses and consumers. The key question could be whether cities and towns — the prime beneficiaries of these potential sales tax receipts — would use those funds to lower property taxes or to expand local spending.
Posted inHealth
Access Health CT sees fiscal stability while other exchanges struggle
Though the state’s health exchange soon will consider boosting insurance assessments, Access Health CT officials said Tuesday Connecticut’s program is on sound financial footing – unlike many other state exchanges.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Competing sides ramp up tax debate
The opposing sides in the state tax debate each tried to grab center stage Monday as Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Democratic legislative leaders kicked off what many expect to be their most contentious round of budget negotiations yet.
Posted inMoney, Politics
5 Things you need to know about the Connecticut sales tax
Once a month The Mirror addresses five points about a key element of the state budget process. Today’s story looks at the Connecticut sales tax, its role in state finances, and its role in a dramatic tax reform plan proposed by the legislature’s Democratic majority.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Partisan budget debate heats up at the state Capitol
The partisan game of budget show-and-tell, or don’t-show-and-don’t tell, heated up at the state Capitol once again on Wednesday. Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, said the GOP would be happy to re-balance its alternative budget – provided majority Democrats take it seriously and invite Republicans into bipartisan budget negotiations.
Posted inMoney, Politics
State tax debate: Whose plan really helps the middle class?
As the development of the next state budget enters its final stage this week, the main players in this drama might be further apart than at any previous time during Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration.
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
GOP to stage public hearing in hopes of rallying tax-hike opposition
Hoping to rally public opposition to $2.4 billion in new proposed tax revenues for the next two fiscal years, Republican state legislators will conduct a public hearing next week that GOP leaders hope will exert enough public pressure to do what their votes alone cannot – block most, if not all, of these proposed increases.
Posted inEducation
Feds, investigating conflict of interest, freeze $4.6 million in UConn grants
A federal research agency has suspended $4.6 million in grants it awarded to the University of Connecticut while federal officials investigate the university’s use of grant money to buy equipment from a tech company owned by two UConn professors. State auditors charged that the public university failed to notify their office of the investigation, as state law requires.
Posted inMoney, Politics
State revenues slip, but tax panel was ready
A legislative panel not only recommended hefty tax increases to balance the next state budget, but also endorsed enough to run up more than $300 million in surpluses by 2017. The reason for doing that became apparent late Thursday when a new report downgraded how much revenue growth the state can count on in its new budget.
Posted inMoney, Politics
A shorthand breakdown of the new state tax proposal
It’s easy to get lost in the numbers of the new revenue plan a legislative panel recommended Wednesday for the next two-year state budget. For those keeping score at home, here’s a rundown of the major points of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee’s plan.
Posted inMoney
Defying Malloy, legislators pitch a $1.8 billion revenue increase
A key legislative panel broke Wednesday with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy by recommending a plan that bolsters state tax and fee receipts by more than $1.8 billion over the next two fiscal years, including more than $540 million in new income taxes on the wealthy and an overhaul of the sales tax.
Posted inMoney
Tax plan would boost revenues by $1.8 billion over two years
Members of a key legislative panel will be asked Wednesday to approve a plan that bolsters tax receipts by almost $1.8 billion in the next two year budget, including $540 million in new income taxes on the wealthy and an overhaul of the sales tax.