Not only has Gov. Dannel P. Malloy been shut out of bipartisan budget talks for three weeks, it’s become clear that the governor and his staff will have little opportunity to review or push for changes in a final budget bill before it is debated Wednesday by the Senate.
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Stories about Connecticut’s budget, the federal budget, jobs and employment, state investments and casinos.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Leaders finish changes to tentative CT budget deal
State legislative leaders announced early Tuesday morning they finally had finished adjustments on the tentative, bipartisan state budget deal, and that it would be ready for a vote later this week.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Car tax repeal hits a snag, tentative CT budget still unbalanced
Updated at 6:40 p.m.
Senate Democratic leaders hinted Monday that plans to eliminate property taxes on motor vehicles next year as part of a new state budget would be scaled back or scrapped altogether — just two business days after legislative leaders announced the initiative.
Posted inEconomic Development, Energy & Environment, Money
Green Bank says the budget plan would effectively shut it down
The Connecticut Green Bank – an international model for funding clean energy projects – says it would have to shut down under the latest budget proposal. The bank says it would lose essentially 100 percent of the funding it uses to leverage much larger amounts of private financing.
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Money
Oh, another wrinkle on budget deal: Millstone’s profitability
One of the non-fiscal elements of the tentative budget deal calls for the House Democratic leadership to allow a vote on a bill designed to improve the profitability of Connecticut’s last nuclear power plant, Millstone, the subject of an epic lobbying campaign by its owner, Dominion Energy.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy criticizes budget outline; Fasano calls him ‘irrelevant’
The syncopated rollout of the General Assembly’s bipartisan budget deal got a harshly skeptical review Friday from Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who either will be the final arbiter of what legislative leaders say will be a satisfactory ending to Connecticut’s long-running budget drama — or just a loud voice from the balcony.
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Money
Tentative budget raids CT electric bills, diverts clean energy funds
The tentative state budget deal would strip as much as $175 million from clean energy funds, tapping surcharges on monthly utility bills and raiding a program lauded for leveraging hundreds of millions of dollars in private investments.
Posted inEducation, Money
Teachers would pay more for pensions, but big funding shortfalls would persist
After months of wrangling, legislative leaders settled on having public school teachers and other educators pay an additional 1 percent of their salary toward their pensions – a $775 yearly increase for the average teacher and school administrator. The increased contributions will barely make a dent in controlling the state’s pension costs, however.
Posted inMoney, Politics
House leaders have different takes on fate of tentative CT budget
Democratic and Republican House leaders briefed rank-and-file lawmakers Thursday on the details of the tentative, bipartisan state budget deal announced the day before — and emerged with very different perspectives.
Posted inMoney
New budget might end property tax on vehicles
State legislative leaders are strongly considering eliminating local property taxes on motor vehicles in the state budget they hope to adopt next week.
Posted inMoney
Hartford must restructure debt to get state help to avert bankruptcy
Hartford would have to restructure its debt to get the state aid it needs to avert bankruptcy, but Connecticut would help make those debt payments — at least for the next two years.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Bipartisan budget would ask more from teachers, working poor and smokers
Sources say Republican leaders agreed to raise taxes as part of the bipartisan budget framework announced Wednesday, with several of the new levies hitting what traditionally have been seen as Democratic constituencies, including the working poor and smokers.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Legislators announce tentative, bipartisan budget deal
State legislative leaders declared Wednesday they had crafted the framework of a bipartisan deal to end Connecticut’s 110-day budget impasse. But while they insisted the plan balances net finances for this fiscal year and next, some key details, including distribution of town aid, remain to be resolved.
Posted inMoney
GOP pension reforms dropped as CT leaders aim for budget deal Wednesday
State legislative leaders say they need a tentative, bipartisan deal by mid-afternoon Wednesday to keep alive their hopes of adopting a new state budget next week.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy steps up attack on GOP’s pension reforms
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has repeatedly attacked a linchpin of the Republican budget plan on legal grounds, arguing that unilaterally trimming pension benefits in 2027 to save millions now is doomed to failure in court. On Tuesday, in an effort to influence bipartisan budget talks, he said the GOP’s math doesn’t work, either.