Nonpartisan legislative analysts say they can vouch for less than 40 percent of the $1.6 billion in labor savings figured into the next biennial budget, and are unable to assess the rest–more than $1 billion–because of unanswered questions or insufficient data, according to a memo submitted late Monday to the General Assembly. The Office of […]

After tightening its capital projects budget over the last two years, state government will borrow more than $4.6 billion during the next biennium to build schools, roads, clean water projects and a new technology park, based on the bonding package passed in the House and Senate on Saturday. The bill, which also preserves an expiring 80 […]

The state Senate unanimously approved a measure Saturday creating a new quasi-public authority to operate Bradley International and the state’s five smaller airports. The bill, which would create a new nine-member Connecticut Airport Authority composed of public- and private-sector representatives to replace the existing Bradley Board of Directors, now moves to the House of Representatives. […]

Questions about changes to their health coverage are the biggest concern state employees have about the $1.6 billion concession deal between the Malloy Administration and union leaders, workers who attended a  closed-door briefing at the State Armory Saturday told reporters afterward. “People are always concerned about change. None of us do change well,” Paul Kalajian […]

In a move rarely seen this legislative session, Democrats and Republicans united on major legislation Friday when the Senate overwhelmingly adopted Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s incentive plan to create 1,000 new full-time jobs in the next two years. The Senate voted 32-4 to adopt the “First Five” measure, which now heads to the House of […]

After tackling a $3 billion-plus state budget deficit and negotiating a tentative deal for unprecedented labor concessions, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy now faces a new fiscal challenge: the constitutional spending cap. The Democratic governor, whose original budget plan for next fiscal year fell a comfortable $406 million under the limit, now is expected to enter his first […]

After failing last year to address a backlogged system for processing state employee complaints of corruption and waste, the General Assembly adopted a bill this week granting state auditors broad discretion to reject complaints while expanding whistleblowers’ protections. The measure, which now heads to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s desk, also prohibits agencies and state contractors […]

Despite Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s campaign pledge to convert state government to a more accurate and transparent accounting system, a budget policy bill passed by the House of Representatives Tuesday delays most of the changes–including starting to pay off the $1.5 billion conversion cost–for another two years. The measure, which was approved 91-54 and now heads […]

The state House of Representatives put an end Tuesday afternoon to the running partisan debate over allowing inmates to earn credits for early release, sending a message that would create such a system to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s desk. The Democrat-controlled House voted 90-56, largely along party lines, to approve the measure following more than […]

It almost sounds too good to be true: State budget officials, who already saw revenues surge by nearly $400 million over the past month, now say anticipated savings in retired worker health care costs have grown by some $100 million in the same period. And though Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo said his office was somewhat […]

Majority Democratic lawmakers tried unsuccessfully Friday to avert a partisan battle in the Senate over a new policy designed to shrink the prison population by allowing inmates to earn credits for early release. The Senate adopted the policy–included in a budget implementation bill–following a 6½ hour debate during which GOP lawmakers criticized a Democratic amendment […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy recommended Friday that lawmakers significantly reduce the surplus already built into the next two fiscal years rather than impose deeper cuts in the $40.11 billion biennial budget adopted earlier this month. To close a $300 million in gap in next year’s budget left by the tentative union concession package, Malloy proposed […]

With less than two weeks remaining in the 2011 General Assembly session, key lawmakers and officials in Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration are optimistic about the prospects for creating a new quasi-public authority to operate Bradley International and the state’s five smaller airports. A bill pending on the Senate calendar would create a new nine-member Connecticut Airport […]

A second measure designed to streamline state government advanced late Tuesday as the Senate voted to merge several agencies for the disabled and a rehab program for injured workers into a new social services bureau. The legislation also freezes general Medicaid rates for nursing homes and care facilities for the developmentally disabled, suspends cost-of-living adjustments […]

The new state budget adopted earlier this month shifts dramatically away from the recent trend of diverting fuel tax revenue for non-transportation uses. But with a $300 million hole still to be patched in the first year of that new budget–and the potential for much larger gaps if a tentative union concession deal flops–Gov. Dannel […]