The tragedy in Newtown became part of the deficit-mitigation debate late Monday as some legislators questioned suggested reductions to state agencies serving people with mental illnesses and those with developmental disabilities. And though no final decisions on legislation to address the deficit are expected before Wednesday’s special session, those who brought questions to the House […]

A study panel is expected to consider a final report next Tuesday that would recommend  state judges receive their first raise in six years in 2013. But according to sources, the recommended hike is expected to be less than the 11 percent wage adjustment the Judicial Branch proposed for the coming fiscal year.  The group […]

Connecticut was able to slow its loss of jobs — if not reverse the trend — in the third quarter of 2012, and might have to wait until the second half of 2013 to see significant growth, the University of Connecticut’s quarterly economic journal reported Wednesday. But the winter issue of The Connecticut Economy also […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy defended his plan Monday to seek an extra $22 million in revenue from businesses and power plants to help close the current budget deficit, arguing this doesn’t break his pledge not to raise taxes. “We never said that we wouldn’t look at revenue,” Malloy told Capitol reporters following the State Bond […]

Hours after inviting Republicans to help devise a bipartisan deficit-mitigation plan, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy offered a “road map” Friday to shave another $243 million off this year’s state budget deficit, again relying most heavily on cuts to social services. The Democratic governor, who insisted that he wouldn’t raise taxes to close the current shortfall, […]

With Gov. Dannel P. Malloy trying to discourage talk of a tax increase while red ink projections for the next state budget continue to grow, some at the Capitol are testing the definition of a tax hike. More specifically, if a temporary tax increase is supposed to expire next year, is extending that rate a […]

State government may to need secure $550 million in emergency financing to ensure it can pay its bills promptly this winter, according to a plan prepared by state Treasurer Denise L. Nappier and approved Monday by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. That proposal wraps a calendar year during which the treasurer frequently had to temporarily transfer […]

After taking its first steps last week out of a growing fiscal pit, state government slid backward Monday as state Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo identified another $50 million in red ink in the current budget that he largely attributed to the rate of Medicaid spending. “Medicaid — the largest single gross appropriation line-item in the […]

Trying to keep track of the state budget deficit? As of Friday it stood at about $239 million or just over 1 percent. Don’t like that figure? Check back next week, or in mid-December, or early next year. It is likely to change several more times — for good or for bad — in the […]

Connecticut’s social services safety net and its public colleges and universities took the brunt Wednesday of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s first effort to whittle down a $363 million state budget deficit. The administration released $123 million worth of emergency cuts ordered by the governor, including nearly $70 million aimed at health care and social service […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget chief spent the better part of three-and-a-half hours Tuesday playing verbal dodge ball with state legislators about his boss’ feelings about tax increases as a possible solution to the growing gap in state finances. But Office of Policy and Management Secretary Benjamin Barnes would only go so far as to […]

The state’s chief fiscal watchdog is asking legislators and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration to take a second look at how government buys prescription medications — and a proposal he thinks could save more than $65 million over the next fiscal year. Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo said purchasing medications in bulk for social service recipients […]

The state Capitol found a little bit of holiday bipartisanship this week as legislative leaders from both sides called for quick action to reduce the $365 million deficit in the current budget. Leaders of the Senate’s Democratic majority also endorsed Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s pledge to close the gap without raising taxes — a position […]

Connecticut’s judges are continuing to push for their first raise in six years, despite a growing state budget deficit, noting that most state employees will see their compensation rise next fiscal year. The judges found supporters this week both from the state’s business lobby and its bar association, which argued that a increasingly non-competitive pay […]