A legislator who helped create CT-N, the public affairs network that provides gavel-to-gavel coverage of the General Assembly, accused legislative leaders from the House floor Wednesday of turning the network into a staff-operated “political propaganda” instrument.
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Stories about Connecticut’s budget, the federal budget, jobs and employment, state investments and casinos.
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House gives final approval to CT budget fix
The House of Representatives overwhelmingly gave final approval Wednesday to a measure fixing technical flaws with the hospital tax, a renters’ rebate program and other aspects of the new state budget.
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Senate passes hospital tax fix
The Senate voted unanimously Tuesday to fix a series of technical issues in the new state budget, including a flaw with the new hospital provider tax increase.
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CT tax commissioner says GOP plan would force many in state to pay more
WASHINGTON — Connecticut Commissioner of Revenue Services Kevin Sullivan says the House GOP tax bill “could provide some economic stimulus…for states like Connecticut,” but he also said the plan is “fundamentally flawed” and that many in the state would end up owing more in federal income taxes.
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Newly adopted CT budget already showing red ink
Less than three weeks after legislators approved the new state budget, eroding revenues have opened deficits topping $175 million this fiscal year and nearing $150 million in 2018-19.
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Now run by legislature, CT-N resumes live coverage
After losing its non-profit operator in a fight over budget and independence, CT-N resumed live broadcasting Monday with coverage of a hearing by the legislature’s Public Health Committee about patient abuse and excessive overtime at the state’s high-security Whiting Forensic Division of Connecticut Valley Hospital. Bigger tests are to come.
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Senate tax bill would have big impact on CT homeowners, small businesses
WASHINGTON – The Senate decided to go its own way in overhauling the nation’s tax code, and it’s plan would have a different impact on Connecticut taxpayers than a similar House bill. One big change is that Connecticut homeowners would no longer be able to deduct their property taxes on their federal returns.
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Care4Kids resumes enrollment, but won’t reach previous highs
With the number of families receiving help to cover the costs of child care reaching record lows, state lawmakers this week celebrated an announcement that the state will start enrolling children on the wait list. However, opening the wait list does not mean that every applicant whose income qualifies them for help will receive a Care4Kids subsidy.
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Legislators to return for limited revisions to bipartisan budget
Legislative leaders agreed Thursday to call lawmakers back to Hartford next week to revise, but not “re-litigate” the bipartisan budget passed last month, primarily by changing terms of what Gov. Dannel P. Malloy complained was a flawed hospital tax that could cost Connecticut hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Medicaid reimbursements. The session will provide a modest coda to one of Connecticut’s longest struggles to finalize a budget.
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CT-N is off line! Not exactly, just a little harder to find
Some visitors to the web site of CT-N, the state-owned public-affairs network whose non-profit vendor ceased operations Friday, were greeted Wednesday with an error message or default pages with links to pages promoting real estate and florists. The site still was there, just not at one of the usual addresses.
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Economist Gioia: ‘Historic’ state budget will boost business confidence
A vice president and economist with the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, Peter Gioia has spent the past 18 years with the state’s chief business lobby, managing its research department and tracking Connecticut’s economy through a quarterly survey. In this week’s Sunday Conversation he talks about the recently approved, bipartisan state budget; the long struggle to adopt it, and its impact on Connecticut’s business community.
Posted inHealth, Money
Senators introduce bill to reduce ‘completely preventable waste’
Two U.S. senators have introduced legislation requiring federal agencies to come up with solutions to the waste caused by oversized eyedrops and single-use drug vials, which is estimated to cost billions of dollars a year.
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CT-N goes into reruns, debate over its future untelevised
It started so well, with mutual respect and shared ambition. But the 18-year marriage of the Connecticut General Assembly and the Connecticut Public Affairs Network ended Friday, each finally acknowledging that the growing tensions of recent months over the operation of CT-N had hardened into irreconcilable differences over money and mission. CT-N apparently will survive, but in what form and under whose management is uncertain.
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CT-N’s non-profit staff to cease operations Friday
The Connecticut Public Affairs Network, the non-profit operator of CT-N since its inception in 1999 as the provider of gavel-to-gavel cable-television coverage of the General Assembly, said Thursday it will end operations Friday, unable to abide by a slashed budget and the loss of editorial control imposed by the legislature.
Posted inMoney, Politics
GOP tax plan would touch most CT taxpayers, creating winners and losers
WASHINGTON – House GOP leaders unveiled a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. tax code Thursday, eliminating some popular tax breaks while lowering the tax rate for many Americans. Billed as a boon to the middle class by its supporters, the tax overhaul was panned by Democrats — including lawmakers from Connecticut –and some Republicans concerned about its elimination of of the popular deductions for state and local income taxes.