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 […]

The state House of Representatives adopted the first in a series of measures Tuesday designed to implement the new $40.11 billion biennial budget, ordering new policies to drive down prison populations, ordering several agency mergers and passing several costs onto cities and towns. The Democrat-controlled House voted 93-52 to approve the measure following a more […]

A plan to borrow $956 million to help balance the current state budget–to be paid off largely through a controversial surcharge on electricity bills–no longer is necessary thanks to another surge in forecasted state revenues, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration reported. But it remained unclear Monday afternoon what that would mean for the $1.2 million […]

Though unionized state employees can avoid layoffs for four years by granting the wage concessions sought by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, the administration still has the flexibility to impose layoffs on hundreds, even thousands of new workers who might be hired in the next four years. Three high-ranking administration officials confirmed that option during a […]

Many Connecticut wage earners will notice their paychecks shrinking faster than anticipated starting this August, when the Department of Revenue Services begins implementing the new $875 million state income tax increase. That’s because the tax hike, which adds three new tax rates, reduces a property tax credit and adds an earned income credit for poor […]

It didn’t take very long. One business day after Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced a concession deal to save $1.6 billion over the next two fiscal years, the administration and legislature received a request to cancel one of the multitude of tax hikes they adopted about two weeks ago. But a spokesman for the state’s […]

State legislators have cooperated with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy for the most part in solving one of the largest budget deficits in Connecticut history. But lawmakers remain wary of giving Malloy the unilateral authority to reduce municipal aid if the state’s finances turn bad. Leaders of the Democrat-controlled legislature said their reluctance isn’t tied to […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s labor deal relies largely on hard, verifiable cuts to achieve its $1.6 billion two-year target, but also includes hundreds of millions of dollars in softer assumptions about savings to be derived from things like retirement, employee suggestions and a healthier work force. The deal now awaiting ratification votes by unionized state […]

A better-than-anticipated financial outlook for the current fiscal year has the state in the position of undoing some of the controversial measures it took in 2010 to balance the budget–but a debate is brewing over just what the priorities should be. When the Senate adopted a measure last week that would reduce planned borrowing–which once […]

Though Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has insisted he won’t rely on retirement incentive programs and other fiscal gimmicks to cut labor costs, his tentative union concession deal includes several retirement benefit changes that could encourage a wave of senior workers to step down this summer. A summary of the tentative deal announced Friday by Malloy […]

Now that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy stands on the brink of a union concession deal to overcome most of the state’s budget deficit in the short term, his next challenge is to protect a $1 billion pool of money he wants to use to address longer-term financial problems. Though the deal would nearly close the […]

Throughout the 2010 gubernatorial campaign, Dannel P. Malloy repeatedly charged that his Republican opponent, Tom Foley, would slash aid to towns and shred the social safety net to balance the state’s budget. Unless state unions agree to massive savings in labor costs soon, Malloy may have little choice but to follow the course he decried. […]

With the largest budget gap in Connecticut history looming just 12 weeks away, state government doesn’t have any money to save right now. But that hasn’t stopped state officials from debating how to reform government’s savings habits to steer clear of more fiscal potholes down the road. Should government be allowed to keep as much […]

The General Assembly’s tax-writing committee once again is trying to force online retail giants to collect state sales taxes by targeting their Connecticut-based affiliates. The Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee voted 38-14 on Thursday to adopt a measure commonly referred to as the “Amazon Law” and patterned after legislation enacted in New York three years […]