Hartford — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy warned municipal leaders Tuesday that — unlike two years ago — “I can’t make any promises” about the town aid level he will recommend in his next budget this February. Addressing hundreds of municipal officials gathered at the Connecticut Convention Center, Malloy — a former mayor — pledged that […]

Diane Olsen wants to tell federal officials face-to-face why she visits state Department of Social Services’ offices six times a year with the same paperwork. The 69-year-old Willington woman said that making the half-hour drive to Windham to show paperwork she previously hand-delivered — but that the agency never entered into its computer system — […]

After climbing dramatically in late summer, Connecticut’s unemployment rate appears to have stabilized in September, dropping from 9 to 8.9 percent as the state gained 2,000 jobs, the state Department of Labor reported today. “An increase in jobs and a drop in the number of unemployed were positives for this month,” said Andy Condon, director […]

The state’s budget deficit might be wider than reported based on new, shrinking revenue projections from nonpartisan analysts. While the new estimates from the Office of Fiscal Analysis were not scheduled to be released until shortly after the November elections, the top Republican in the House of Representatives requested an update now, arguing that any […]

While the Board of Regents for Higher Education has pledged to immediately suspend all 21 pay raises granted illegally by its former president over the past 10 months, it won’t be that simple for three of those salary increases. That’s because three system office staff who received wage hikes are unionized employees, represented by an […]

The Board of Regents for Higher Education used a procedural move to add a second order of business to its meeting this afternoon: appointing an interim successor to President Robert A. Kennedy, who resigned this morning. The board, which already had scheduled a 2:30 meeting for this afternoon to accept Kennedy’s resignation, technically posted a notice […]

A new analysis of the food stamps fraud scandal following last year’s Tropical Storm Irene found state social services workers weren’t instructed to ask applicants to verify income information. State Auditors John Geragosian and Robert Ward also concluded Thursday that the administration failed to review more than 110 government workers who received benefits, and that […]

In their first of four debates, Connecticut’s U.S. Senate candidates spent more time Sunday attacking each other than defining their respective positions. U.S. Rep. Christopher Murphy and businesswoman Linda McMahon hammered away at each other during the hour-long forum broadcast live on WFSB-TV3, challenging each other’s stands on taxes, the economy, health care, Social Security […]

A coalition advocating legalization of marijuana nationwide predicted Tuesday that Connecticut’s new statute allowing palliative use of the drug will become a national model that will help achieve its goal. “Medical marijuana is something we really need to look hard at from a national perspective,” said Thomas Leto, president of the Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Medical Marijuana Chamber […]

Faced with worsening economic news, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy tried Tuesday to frame his approach to the next state budget as a frugal one. The Democratic governor, who used his monthly commissioners’ meeting to highlight numerous efforts to streamline government and control spending, wouldn’t rule out a return to tax increases. But Republican legislators disputed […]

Very small increases in municipal aid over the past two years — while appreciated — haven’t been enough to reverse Connecticut’s over-reliance on property taxes, the state’s chief municipal lobby is reminding candidates this fall. The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities issued its first bulletin Monday to candidates for the state House and Senate, also urging […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy wants to inject more economic reality into the state employee pension fund, embracing slightly more conservative expectations for fund investment earnings. But the change endorsed by the governor and adopted this morning by the State Retirement Committee falls shy of a tougher standard proposed by a Wall Street credit rating agency. […]