State employee union leadership voted today to ease the rules for ratifying contract concessions, clearing the way for the unions and the administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to reach a new deal to avoid mass layoffs and deep budget cuts. Simple majorities now will be required for ratification: eight of 15 unions must vote […]

While “open for business” is the message Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is sending to Connecticut companies, “closed for budgetary reasons” might be the new catch phrase to describe many state facilities. The governor’s new budget-balancing plan aims to save more than $21 milion this fiscal year by closing everything from armories, prisons and Department of […]

The governing boards of Connecticut’s higher education institutions–one of which doesn’t even exist yet–will face difficult choices and some severe limitations in trying to cope with nearly $59 million in cuts this year under Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s new budget-balancing plan. The administration recommended 779 layoffs to offset that loss–as well as $61.8 million cut […]

Though Gov. Dannel P. Malloy kept a pledge not to reduce the $1.9 billion Education Cost Sharing program that provides school aid to towns, his budget-cutting plan slashes funding for other education programs, including the state’s technical high school system. That system would trim nearly $13 million this year — shutting  down adult education programs, eliminating more than 100 jobs, and […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy unveiled one of the largest budget-cutting plans in recent history Friday, targeting more than 3,600 Executive Branch jobs for layoffs while eliminating funding for more than 6,500 jobs in total. The governor’s plan also carves deeply into social services and health care — an area Malloy pledged to protect during last […]

In addition to cutting funding for more than 6,500 state jobs, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s new plan to balance the state budget also slices more than $25 million from over two dozen job training, economic development and tourism programs over this fiscal year and next. “As everyone knows, this was not the path we chose, […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy now plans to eliminate about 1,100 fewer state jobs than the 7,675 he targeted in an earlier budget-balancing plan, according to a summary of the latest proposal he will submit Friday to the General Assembly. The proposal includes 6,060 jobs in the Executive Branch, including 4,328 currently filled permanent positions, 1,599 […]

State employee union leaders will meet Monday to consider changing labor bylaws regarding future votes on contract concessions, according to a letter posted Wednesday on one union website. State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition spokesman Matt O’Connor declined to discuss any meeting dates or proposals under consideration. But a source said the coalition’s governing board hadn’t […]

The state’s transportation system is the latest fiscal casualty as Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the legislature scramble to replace savings that were supposed to come from employee givebacks. Originally poised to receive more than $78 million in additional aid from the General Fund this fiscal year, the Special Transportation Fund lost that fiscal boost […]

The challenge of reducing state government operating costs without wage and benefit concessions was underscored in a new, nonpartisan report showing a reduction of nearly 30 percent in the number of government agencies will save less than 1/20th of 1 percent of this year’s overall budget. In its initial summary of the $40.54 billion biennial […]

Republicans decried more than $28 million in financing released Friday by the State Bond Commission for “non-essential” projects, including new beach sand for Milford and sports field restrooms in West Hartford, at the request of the administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. Rep. Sean J. Williams of Watertown and Sen. Andrew W. Roraback of Goshen, […]

The state’s watchdog agencies were promised fiscal autonomy when they were merged last month into the Office of Government Accountability, but one agency head is complaining that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy overstepped his authority by naming an acting director to cut OGA’s budget. Carol Carson, executive director of the division of state ethics within the […]

NEW BRITAIN — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy took a small step Wednesday toward renewed talks about concessions with unionized state employees when he said he likely would send an aide to inquire how labor leaders hope to revise their contract amendment ratification rules. But the governor also warned that without clear direction first from labor […]

State employee union leaders formally asked Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Tuesday to “reconvene discussions” on labor concessions, but they have no plan to amend the voting process that sunk the first concession package last month. The governor’s office did not reject the prospect of more talks with the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition, but […]