With state officials staring at the worst deficit in Connecticut history, and public colleges and universities still reeling from a series of public fiscal embarrassments, the broad budgetary flexibility higher education has enjoyed for more than two decades could begin to shrink–but not without a fight. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said this week that his […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy spent much of the past fall discussing his visions for improvements in education, health care, economic development, transportation and other key public policy issues. And while both Malloy and his budget chief said Tuesday that the new administration’s first budget proposal due in three weeks will take crucial first steps toward […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has insisted for weeks that closing the state’s huge budget deficit will require both spending cuts and tax hikes. Tuesday he made it clear that the former should play the larger role. During an afternoon meeting with departmental commissioners, Malloy announced his budget proposal for the next two fiscal years would […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy tapped a member of the legal team that helped bring Connecticut a multi-billion settlement against the tobacco industry one decade ago to become the new head of the Department of Consumer Protection. Malloy, who announced his selection of Hartford attorney William M. Rubenstein, 59, Monday morning in the Legislative Office Building, […]

With Connecticut’s prison population now at a 10-year low, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s criminal justice policy advisor said Connecticut could make significant further reductions with new strategies for handling persons accused but not yet convicted of crimes. Former state Rep. Michael P. Lawlor, who gave up his post as long-time co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee […]

State legislators have an opportunity to slash about 40 percent off of a controversial surcharge on consumer electricity bills or to eliminate a planned raid on a popular energy conservation program–but not both. And given the controversy the two fiscal maneuvers have sparked since their adoption last May, it’s not surprising officials are feeling pressure from […]

CROMWELL — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has made it no secret he believes state government is top heavy. But the new governor, who will deliver his first biennial budget proposal in four weeks, said Wednesday that state government needs to shrink at all levels. Addressing the annual meeting of the Connecticut Council of Small Towns, […]

If state officials were hoping for a last-minute silver bullet to solve their budget crisis, they didn’t get it Friday when revised revenue estimates made almost no dent in the $3.7 billion deficit for 2011-12. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy spent much of his first week-and-a-half in office urging legislators not to “sugar-coat” the scope of […]

Connecticut judges say they don’t expect a raise this year given the budget crisis. But after fiscal conditions improve, it’s time for a new system with annual raises that match those given to managers across state government. The Compensation Commission for Elected State Officers and Judges, a legislative advisory panel, unanimously endorsed the proposal it […]

A proposal to cut state legislators’ pay by 10 percent stalled as soon as it was raised Thursday. The Compensation Commission for Elected State Officers and Judges, an obscure legislative advisory panel that typically meets only once or twice at the start of each, two-year legislative term, quickly dispatched the proposal, which came from one […]

State legislators, who spent much of the past campaign pledging to make job growth a top priority, now have to decide how often they want to be reminded of that. The legislature’s nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis, which analyzes every bill to determine its potential cost to state government, recently filed a plan outlining how […]

With Connecticut businesses facing a General Assembly session fraught with proposed mandates and tax hikes, advocates say the legislature’s relative lack attention to an expensive new unemployment assessment is not a good sign. As the legislature’s Labor and Public Employees Committee voted Tuesday to again raise a controversial measure to mandate paid sick leave for […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s transition team presented more than 1,800 pages worth of policy recommendations Monday, including sweeping proposals to overhaul education funding, institute universal pre-kindergarten, find new transportation revenues and end the regional tourism district system. And while Malloy thanked his team’s Policy Committee for developing a report that offers guidance his administration will use […]

HARTFORD — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy warned businesses Friday they will face sacrifices to help close the state budget deficit, but added that a new emphasis on smart investments and cooperative government offers light at the end of Connecticut’s dark economic tunnel. “There is no cavalry — except us,” Malloy told nearly 600 business leaders […]

If state government hopes to finance a robust capital program that creates jobs, it has to stop using its credit card to cover day-to-day operating costs, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Thursday. Chatting with Capitol reporters one day after taking the oath of office, Malloy again insisted that Connecticut must maintain a “substantial competitive advantage” […]