This year’s state budget may have been pushed back into the black this week, thanks to thousands of unclaimed bank accounts and other financial assets that have fallen into the state’s coffers. State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier reported this week that revenues from unclaimed properties should reach $92 million this fiscal year, $42 million above […]

Ongoing efforts to combat recidivism and treat nonviolent offenders in community settings should push Connecticut’s prison population under 18,000 and down to a five-year low, according to a new report from state policy analysts. The inmate population during the first week of December averaged 18,187, according to the Criminal Justice Policy and Planning Division within […]

MERIDEN — For those state employees who are worried how Dan Malloy’s plans to solve the state budget crisis will affect them, the Democratic governor-elect cautiously reminded them Wednesday night that it could be worse: Republican Tom Foley could have won the election. Malloy, who was greeted loudly and enthusiastically at the Connecticut Working Families […]

Connecticut will have to wait for Gov.-elect Dan Malloy’s administration to take office next month before it can buy the final 38 new rail commuter cars that will complete a major restoration project launched five years ago. Gov. M. Jodi Rell confirmed Tuesday that last week’s State Bond Commission failed to approve $81.5 million in […]

Connecticut will have to wait for Gov.-elect Dan Malloy’s administration to take office next month before it can buy the final 38 new rail commuter cars that will complete a major restoration project launched five years ago. Gov. M. Jodi Rell confirmed Tuesday that last week’s State Bond Commission failed to approve $81.5 million in […]

The state auditors have challenged the trustees of the state pension system to rein in a compensation system that pays two fund analysts and the system chairman hundreds of thousands of dollars for less than two months of work. The State Employees Retirement Commission also paid tens of thousands of dollars annually in flights from […]

The panel charged with finding new ways to streamline state government spending issued a final report today endorsing new cost-cutting measures worth about $229 million this fiscal year. The Commission on Enhancing Agency Outcomes’ proposals, which would be worth more than $241 million by 2011-12, called for a dramatic reduction in non-union managers and other […]

The state’s pension fund now holds less than 45 percent of the funds its needs to meet obligations to workers, plunging below the halfway mark for the first time in more than two decades, according to the latest, biennial report from fund analysts. The actuarial valuation prepared by Cavanaugh Macdonald Consulting of Kennesaw, Ga., also […]

If there’s one Democrat in Connecticut who has reason to be thrilled with the tax compromise President Obama struck this week with congressional Republicans, it should be Gov.-elect Dan Malloy. Malloy, who will be asking state legislators to February to adopt a tax increase that could be the largest in two decades, might otherwise be […]

Ready to pay state sales tax on all clothing purchases? How about on gasoline and heating fuel? While the potential furor over such moves might give legislators nightmares, they could be part of a tax reform effort that both helps Connecticut’s poorest households and reduces the huge state budget deficit, according to the new quarterly […]

After months of complaints by Gov. M. Jodi Rell that they were not doing their jobs, the state lawmakers studying ways to streamline the budget are tossing a challenge back at the outgoing administration: Did it fail to secure nearly $77 million in federal welfare aid? The Commission on Enhancing Agency Outcomes is asking officials of […]

Those close to Gov.-elect Dan Malloy say they never doubted who’d be asked to tackle a massive budget deficit, end billions of dollars worth of fiscal gimmicks and help revitalize a stagnant job market. Connecticut’s fiscal Rubik’s Cube was destined for Ben Barnes’ hands from the moment the election was over. Ben Barnes: ‘The day […]

The state’s chief business lobby warned Friday that increasing the state sales tax–either through a rate hike or by canceling exemptions–would harm businesses and job growth even more than it would affect consumers. Officials at the Connecticut Business and Industry Association also told Capitol reporters that before considering any new tax hikes on businesses, legislators […]

While accusing state legislators of shirking their fiscal responsibilities, outgoing Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s administration reported just three months into the fiscal year that it wouldn’t meet its commitment to sell more than $40 million in state assets to help balance the budget. Despite being charged with raising $45 million from assets sales this fiscal […]

Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s administration now stands alone in projecting Connecticut’s finances to be in balance after Comptroller Nancy Wyman reported an $18 million deficit for the current year early Monday afternoon. The comptroller, who will be sworn in as lieutenant governor on Jan. 5,  certified a less severe shortfall than the $83 million deficit […]