Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration charges that the reported bump in municipal aid in the Republican-crafted state budget is fiction — “gimmickry” that understates last year’s local aid to make the new grants look larger. Senate Republican leader Len Fasano insists the aid is real and that the governor should sign the budget, which attracted bipartisan support.
Money
Stories about Connecticut’s budget, the federal budget, jobs and employment, state investments and casinos.
Posted inHealth, Money
CT says it would lose $7 billion under teetering ACA overhaul plan
Federal healthcare funding to Connecticut would be reduced by about $7 billion, and “dramatic numbers” of individuals would lose coverage or have it reduced between 2020 and 2026 under the latest Republican proposal to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, state officials said Friday. But the legislation suffered a potentially fatal blow Friday when Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona announced his opposition.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy: My GOP budget criticism is vetting, not kvetching
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy took a softer tack Thursday in his continuing critique of the Republican budget now on its way to his desk, saying he was offering “constructive feedback” and vetting of a plan whose passage late last week caught lawmakers, legislative analysts, the press and public by surprise.
Posted inEducation, Health, Justice, Money, Politics
Labor, urban advocates rally to urge Malloy veto of GOP budget
Labor groups and advocates for Connecticut’s cities rallied Thursday outside the Capitol, urging Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to veto a Republican-crafted budget they argued would hurt workers and students.
Posted inMoney
GOP, Dems both lack solution to CT’s cycle of budget deficits
Neither Republican nor Democratic legislators’ latest budget plans would spare Connecticut from grappling with another massive budget deficit two years from now, according to nonpartisan analysts.
Posted inEducation, Money, Politics
Bipartisan budget talks take back seat to partisan sniping
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy Wednesday called the Republican budget a “hot mess” that deals a body blow to education in Connecticut. One Republican responded by questioning the governor’s grasp of reality. Another says UConn’s president needs to stop “bellyaching.” It does not bode well for budget talks Friday.
Posted inEducation, Money
State education funding to be a battleground in budget dispute
Huge questions over how state aid for schools and state colleges ultimately will fare will be a critical focus of Democratic and Republican leaders as they grapple with reconciling their vastly different state budgets. Here are the critical differences in funding for schools and colleges that Democrats and Republicans must resolve.
Posted inMoney, Politics
MGM pitches Bridgeport casino as feds delay tribes’ expansion
MGM Resorts International launched a glitzy new campaign Monday to expand into Connecticut, an effort that curiously coincides with the Trump administration, at least temporarily, halting the state’s two federally recognized tribes’ from building a casino in East Windsor to compete with a new MGM resort in Springfield, Mass. MGM is backed by mayors of New Haven and Bridgeport.
Posted inMoney
Malloy: It’s time for ‘the courage to compromise’ on Connecticut’s budget
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy reaffirmed his opposition to the new state budget Monday and urged all sides to compromise on a new one. The Democratic governor said he probably would have to accept some proposals he opposes — and the Republicans would, too.
Posted inMoney, Politics
A surprising day ends with GOP budget heading to Malloy — for a veto
Republican legislators sent their first state budget proposal to the governor’s desk in decades early Saturday morning, capping a strange day that didn’t move Connecticut any closer to a new fiscal plan, but raised new questions about the balance of power at the Capitol.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Trio of senators defect, vote with GOP to block Dems’ budget
Connecticut’s state budget crisis grew exponentially more complicated Friday as three moderate Senate Democrats bolted their caucus and teamed with 18 Republicans to pass a GOP budget plan that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy vowed to veto as unbalanced and gimmick-ridden.
Posted inEconomic Development, Education, Health, Money, Politics
Last night, the budget politics — today, the details
Legislators arrived at the State Capitol on Friday with the opportunity for the first time to see the details of a $41.4 billion, two-year budget proposal that the administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Democratic legislative leaders hoped would end Connecticut’s summer-long budget impasse.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Fate of budget uncertain as Senate agrees to attempt passage
On the second try to pass a compromise budget, the House Democratic leadership was counting Friday on the evenly divided Senate, where three conservative Democrats have been in open revolt, to pass the bill first and increase pressure on recalcitrant House members to fall in line. But the trio remained uncommitted to the budget at 1 p.m., and the House lacked a firm majority.
Posted inCities & Towns, Money
Census says CT still rich, but wage gap persists and population stagnant
WASHINGTON – Connecticut continues to be one of the highest-income states in the nation, but its population is stagnant and may even be on the downturn, and there’s a huge gap between the incomes of white state residents and minorities.
Posted inMoney
Budget to be balanced by broad package of fees, taxes
The proposed solution to the Connecticut budget impasse would break new ground, raising revenue with taxes and fees on seasonal homes, cell phones and fantasy sports gambling as part of a broad package of increases expected to raise $1.53 billion across this fiscal year and next combined. The package was endorsed Thursday by a key committee, a prelude to action by the full General Assembly.