State Comptroller Nancy Wyman certified a $166.9 million surplus this afternoon for the fiscal year that ends on June 30. The latest monthly figure, up $61.9 million from the comptroller’s May forecast, also stands $27.6 million above the surplus target the legislature and Gov. M. Jodi Rell are counting on to help balance spending in […]

State legislators enthusiastically touted more than $220 million in projected tax revenue growth as a sign that Connecticut’s economy is on its way back from the worst downturn since the Great Depression. But while that $220 million helped the Democrat-controlled General Assembly and outgoing Gov. M. Jodi Rell balance their last budget without tax increases, […]

When Senate President Pro Tem Donald E. Williams Jr. tried to put the best face on the majority Democrats’ work in the 2010 General Assembly session, he took aim at a criticism leveled by Republican gubernatorial contender Tom Foley. Foley’s oft-stated charge that state government is “broke and broken” has been “blown out of the water,” Williams […]

If Republican attorney general candidates Arthur J. O’Neill and Ross Garber qualify for a primary at today’s GOP State Convention, it might depend on how much coffee they can pump into their supporters. Delegates, already weary from the opening day battle over the U.S. Senate nomination that wasn’t resolved until after 11 p.m., streamed into […]

Former state Rep. Lenny T. Winkler of Groton jumped into the race for lieutenant governor this morning at the Republican State Convention, saying she was asked to do so by gubernatorial contender Tom Foley. The front-runner among GOP gubernatorial candidates in the last Quinnipiac poll, Foley had surprised some political observers by coming into this […]

Greenwich businessman Tom Foley captured the Republican State Convention endorsement for governor on the first ballot, riding on a wave of just over 100 last-minute vote switches. Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele of Stamford and Oz Griebel of Simsbury, the former president of the Greater Hartford Metro Alliance, also captured enough delegates to force a primary. […]

Connecticut is one of 21 states counting on Congress to approve billions in emergency health care aid for next year – and lacking any back-up plan if the funding doesn’t come through, according to a new report from the National Conference of State Legislatures. And a senior policy specialist for the Washington, D.C.-based lobbying group […]

Veteran state Rep. Arthur J. O’Neill of Southbury announced this afternoon he would seek the Republican nomination for state attorney general, jumping into the race one day before the opening of this weekend’s Republican State Convention. O’Neill, 58, who co-chaired the bipartisan House Committee appointed in 2004 to consider impeachment charges against then-Gov. John G. […]

The projected state budget surplus has crept slightly higher to nearly $167 million with less than six weeks left in the fiscal year, Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s office announced this afternoon. The Office of Policy and Management reported in its monthly letter to Comptroller Nancy Wyman that the $18.64 billion budget for 2009-10 now stands […]

Unlike their Democratic counterparts, Republicans will open their annual state convention this afternoon with a number of pressing questions unresolved. Will the selection of Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton as a running mate be enough to secure a GOP convention win for lieutenant governor/gubernatorial contender Michael Fedele? Will Tom Foley, the frontrunner for the gubernatorial nomination […]

Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz’s bid to become Connecticut’s next attorney general was dashed Tuesday when the state Supreme Court ruled she doesn’t meet the legal requirements to serve in that office. The ruling ended the Bysiewicz campaign for attorney general just three days before the Democratic State Convention, apparently throwing the nomination to […]

For Sale: Armory building, 87 years old, brick exterior, just off of Main Street in Manchester. Estimated value: $2.8 million. If interested, call the state of Connecticut. Not looking for an armory? The state has more than 260 other properties on the market according to an administration report prepared in February, including: juvenile detention facilities […]

The Connecticut Supreme Court unanimously ruled today that Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz does not meet the minimum statutory qualifications to serve as attorney general. The ruling ends the Bysiewicz campaign for attorney general just four days before the Democratic State Convention, apparently throwing the nomination to the remaining Democrat in the race, George Jepsen. The […]

Despite a warning that the state employee “whistleblower” process is inefficient and unable to promptly review a growing backlog of cases, the General Assembly failed to adopt several proposals from its chief investigative and policy review panel. But the co-chairmen of the Program Review and Investigations Committee said recently they would re-introduce their plan in […]