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Finance panel to securitize electric bills, declines Keno option

The legislature’s Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee is expected to approve selling future revenues tied to monthly electric bills for pennies on the dollar to provide $1.3 billion to help balance next fiscal year’s budget, sources said this afternoon. The committee, which began meeting 10 minutes ago, also will not back an alternative securitization plan, […]

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Finance panel, facing deadline, may come up short on solutions

Faced with conflicting signals on legislative priorities, the tax-writing Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee may let its deadline pass next Tuesday without acting on some key issues facing the deficit-wracked state government. Chief among them: Which future revenues should be sold – at a discount – to secure a $1.3 billion payment needed to balance […]

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Newington mayor bows out of governor’s race, will run for treasurer

Newington Mayor Jeffrey Wright ended his bid for the Republican gubernatorial nomination this afternoon, adding he will endorse the early GOP frontrunner, Greenwich businessman Thomas Foley, in the next few days. Wright, 38, who has been mayor since 2007, also announced he still wants to be on the GOP’s ticket this fall, and will launch […]

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Panel supports more spending in the face of deficits

The General Assembly inched toward fiscal gridlock Thursday as its budget panel narrowly passed a plan that would boost spending next fiscal year by $350 million, shift social and environmental programs into unrelated funds backed by industry fees and electric bills, and dramatically redistribute payments to hospitals. The $19.28 billion Appropriations Committee proposal not only […]

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Towns receive long-awaited road maintenance grants

Cities and towns received a much-needed fiscal shot in the arm this week when Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s administration released $30 million in long-overdue road reconstruction grants. Municipal leaders have been clamoring since July for their Town Aid Road grants, one of the chief funding sources of local road improvements. The grant traditionally is dispersed […]

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Democrats strike deal on deficit; Senate to vote tonight, House tomorrow

The Democratic majorities in the state House and Senate reached a compromise this afternoon on a plan to eliminate most of this fiscal year’s $518.4 million deficit, relying chiefly on restoring a gross revenues tax on hospitals and reversing a January reduction in the levy on wealthy estates, sources said. The Senate is scheduled to […]

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Democratic plan would cut 21 of Rell’s deputy commissioners

Democratic state lawmakers’ new deficit-mitigation plan would eliminate 21 deputy commissioners in Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s administration, saving $3.1 million annually, according to documents and other sources. The plan also would cancel seniority bonuses and require another furlough day for non-union workers, cut back health care, social service and education programs and make other reductions […]