Amazon.com and other online retailers have severed their Connecticut business ties, rather than accede to a new state law that will require any online company with a physical presence in the state to collect the sales tax. But now, it seems, the taxman cannot be so easily dodged. “They can run, but they cannot hide,” […]

Personal income rose nearly 5 percent in the first quarter of 2011, but state officials need to beware that revenue from a just-increased income tax relies more than ever on volatile earnings tied to an uncertain stock market, according to the latest quarterly report from the University of Connecticut. The warning about tax volatility was […]

One of the few things Gov. Dannel P. Malloy didn’t get from his fellow Democrats in the legislature’s majority is the power to cut municipal aid mid-year in the face of a fiscal emergency. But if the state employee unions rejects a tentative concession deal later this month–punching a $700 million hole into next fiscal year’s state […]

With the dust barely settled on the 2011 legislative session and $1.5 billion in tax hikes just over three weeks away, majority Democratic lawmakers predicted Thursday that voters would appreciate the fiscal stability–both in state and local government–and forgive a modest imposition on their wallets. But Republicans, who spent their first session dealing with a […]

While a new revenue-sharing plan ensures municipalities get some of the revenues from sales and real estate tax increases, Republicans charged Wednesday that majority Democrats rigged the system to leave nearly half of all communities — particularly those with GOP representation — on the losing end of the split. But Democrats and the state’s chief […]

The Senate closed the book Tuesday on the next state budget, approving a final package of adjustments that plugged a $400 million hole, canceled a controversial utility bill surcharge, and effectively granted advance approval to a $1.6 billion union concession deal. The budget policy bill, which now heads to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, also would […]

State legislators were expected to vote today on a bill that would cancel a controversial surcharge on residential and business utility bills without returning about $40 million already collected from Connecticut Light & Power Co. customers since January. The provision in an omnibus policy bill designed to help implement the $40.11 billion biennial budget adopted […]

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 […]