University of Connecticut officials gave final approval Wednesday to nearly $300 million in capital projects crucial to a 10-year plan to dramatically expand its science and technology programs. They also endorsed plans for a new multi-story research building, a large housing complex for science, engineering and math students and a 3,400-foot road extension to link the Storrs campus’s technology park with Route 44.
Money
Stories about Connecticut’s budget, the federal budget, jobs and employment, state investments and casinos.
Posted inEducation, Money, Politics
UConn officials say ‘Next Gen CT’ off to a fast start
Despite receiving their initial funding for a major science and technology initiative just one month ago, University of Connecticut officials told legislators Tuesday they have hit the ground running on their ambitious 10-year, $1.5 billion expansion program called Next Generation Connecticut.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy: CT budget and economy both poised to take off
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy doesn’t dispute there’s a sizeable hole in the next state budget – as nonpartisan analysts see things. He just thinks their perspective doesn’t reflect political reality. The Stamford Democrat says the situation is much rosier than the numbers show. And while there is more to do, his administration has positioned Connecticut’s finances and its economy for a prosperous future.
Posted inMoney
Sikorsky presses to sell Black Hawks abroad
WASHINGTON – The Pentagon has given its approval for Sikorsky to sell 12 Black Hawk helicopters, fully equipped with Hellfire missiles and high-caliber machine guns, to the Tunisian armed forces at a cost of $700 million.
Posted inMoney, Politics
McKinney pitches middle-class tax break, less aid for poor
Republican gubernatorial contender John P. McKinney unveiled a plan Thursday to exempt all households earning less than $75,000 per year from the state income tax. But the proposal hinges on several controversial elements, including repeal of a tax credit that saves working poor families almost $120 million per year.
Posted inMoney, Politics
McKinney-Walker promise income tax cut in new commercials
With just two weeks left before the Republican primary, gubernatorial contender John P. McKinney unveiled new ads Tuesday that promise a middle-class income tax cut as the centerpiece of a new state budget-balancing plan.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Pew study: States’ reserves left them only half prepared for Great Recession
Connecticut was far from the only state whose fiscal reserves weren’t enough to withstand The Great Recession, according to a new report from the Pew Charitable Trusts. The new study recommends several steps to help states better prepare for economic downturns – including proposals Connecticut’s legislature has resisted in the past.
Posted inEducation, Health, Money, Politics
Foley has lots of confidence, few details, on plans to fix CT budget
To say Tom Foley is keeping his cards close when it comes to his plans to fix state finances might be an understatement. The Greenwich businessman and Republican gubernatorial contender’s positions on key income and business taxes and public-sector wages are guarded at best.
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Money
Malloy releases $3 million Walk Bridge repair plan
Gov. Dannel Malloy on Thursday released a $3 million plan to make emergency repairs on the crippled Walk Railroad Bridge over the Norwalk River.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Little-known Ex-Im Bank hot issue in 2nd District race
WASHINGTON –A battle has erupted in the race between Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, and his Republican opponent, Lori Hopkins-Cavanagh. It centers on a financial institution little known outside the business world.
Posted inMoney
ACA requires CT insurers to issue $3 million in rebates
WASHINGTON – Thousands of Connecticut residents will get rebate checks or other types of credit from their health insurance companies. They are getting those refunds because the federal government says they paid too much for coverage.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Final CT surplus report renews partisan budget debate
State government wrapped up the fiscal year with a $121.3 million surplus, according to unofficial numbers released Tuesday by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration. But one of the governor’s chief rivals insists the surplus wouldn’t exist had Malloy not used borrowing to defer hundreds of millions of dollars in operating costs until after the election.
Posted inEducation, Health, Money, Politics
Visconti convinced he can find the waste in Connecticut’s budget
Gubernatorial hopeful Joe Visconti concedes he doesn’t have a complete blueprint to close the state budget deficit. But the West Hartford Republican, who brings his budget books with him on the campaign trail, insists he will have one before his rivals do.
Posted inMoney
Public-sector hiring lowers CT jobless rate to 6.7 percent
Buoyed by a surge of public-sector hiring, Connecticut gained 1,700 jobs in June, dropping its unemployment rate to 6.7 percent, the state Labor Department reported Thursday.
Posted inEducation, Money
CT declines to house migrant children at Southbury
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration denied a request this week from federal authorities to house temporarily up to 2,000 migrant children from Central America at the Southbury Training School.
