Four of Connecticut’s Republican gubernatorial contenders indicated Wednesday they would ask unionized state employees to grant concessions in 2015 – for the third time in seven years – to help balance the budget.
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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Tax receipts plunge, next CT budget $300M in deficit
Plummeting tax receipts have ripped a nearly $300 million hole in the next state budget, leaving legislators and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy just one week to fix it, according to a new report Wednesday from fiscal analysts.
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Economists: Deceptive market, sequestration, scuttled Malloy surplus
A deceptive stock market, weak job growth and federal sequestration combined to turn Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budgetary oasis into a mirage, according to several leading Connecticut economists.
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Malloy gives up on tax rebate, citing declining revenues
Citing declining state revenue projections, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy gave up Monday on two of his biggest re-election year budget initiatives: a $55-per-person rebate and a supplemental payment into the state employees’ pension fund.
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Senate gives final approval to UTC expansion bill
The Senate overwhelmingly granted final approval Thursday to a landmark deal that authorizes $400 million in tax breaks to United Technologies Corp. to trigger a major expansion designed to preserve Connecticut’s aerospace and engineering base.
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Top Democratic lawmaker: Malloy rebate plan may have to be reduced
One of the top Democrats in the Senate conceded Thursday that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s rebate program might need to be scaled back if disappointing tax revenue projections don’t improve soon.
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Should state offer a retirement savings plan for the private sector?
The partisan debate heated up Thursday at the Capitol over whether state government should administer a retirement savings program for private-sector employees.
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Top House Republican on tax panel won’t seek re-election
The top House Republican on the legislature’s tax-writing committee, Rep. Sean Williams of Watertown, announced Thursday he won’t seek re-election this fall.
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McKinney presses Malloy to scrap rebate as revenue estimates slip
Updated, 9:19 p.m. With early analyses of state income tax returns showing receipts could fall short of budgeted levels, the top Republican in the state Senate renewed his call Wednesday for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to scrap his controversial tax rebate plan.
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Early tax returns diminish hopes for big CT budget surpluses
As the April 15 tax deadline approached, speculation at the Capitol was that tax receipts would rise. The question was, Would they grow modestly, or explode? But early tax returns have weakened hopes for any explosion, and raised the specter of something worse.
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GOP budget scraps Malloy’s gimmicks, rebate — and credit for poor
Minority Republican state legislators pitched an alternative budget Thursday that weeded hundreds of millions of dollars out of gimmicks from Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s plan and canceled the governor’s controversial rebate.
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For Malloy, much rides on April 15
While procrastinators hope for big refunds and scramble to beat Tuesday’s tax-filing deadline, the person with the most riding on those returns is Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.
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Malloy’s tax rebate clears big hurdle
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy cleared a big hurdle Tuesday in his bid to provide a $55-per-person rebate to taxpayers when the legislature’s tax-writing panel endorsed the plan.
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UTC expansion plan backed
The Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee unanimously backed the governor’s proposed aid plan to UTC – designed to trigger a major corporate expansion in Connecticut.
Posted inPolitics
Sawyer to end 22-year career in CT House
After 22 years representing Connecticut’s 55th District in the state House of Representatives, Bolton Republican Pamela Z. Sawyer announced Tuesday she will not seek election to a 12th term.