Fed up with unprecedented mass power outages, one on the heels of another? How about last winter’s record-setting snowfall? And don’t forget last summer’s $1.5 billion state tax hike? Then again, Connecticut generally has a temperate climate, high incomes and quality health care, and ready access to recreational and cultural amenities. But before the debate heats up, […]

The administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Monday it has identified nine more state employees suspected of fraudulently obtaining disaster relief after Tropical Storm Irene, bringing to 24 the number of employees now facing disciplinary hearings and possible criminal investigations. Four employees suspected of fraud are state troopers, include one trooper who was assigned […]

January 1 probably felt a long way off last spring when legislators were pulling together the hundreds of pages, 140 sections and countless new programs in the final version of the big energy bill. What is now known as Public Act 11-80 was also packed with close to three dozen deadlines for those programs as […]

At many high schools, Jensun Yonjan, who speaks limited English, would have been diverted away from taking college-level Advanced Placement courses. But luckily for Jensun he goes to Conard High School in West Hartford, where officials have adopted an “every student takes an AP course” mantra. Jensun Yonjan, a junior at Conard High School: ‘I […]

Studying Connecticut’s tax system can be as exciting as reading the phone book — and it takes just as long. There are dozens of credits, exemptions and other breaks, some dating back decades, spread across more than 10 different taxes with a combined annual value topping $5.4 billion. It would be nice, Comptroller Kevin P. […]

A study on the economic impact of Connecticut’s state-run parks and forests is causing more than a few eyebrows to arch not to mention visions of some serious dollar signs. The total — an impressive $1.25 billion a year. And that could be a very conservative number. “I always want to be very careful to […]

It’s Friday. With apologies to U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3rd District, the only woman in the Connecticut congressional delegation, the boys are back in town. U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, D-5th District, a candidate for U.S. Senate, held a press conference in New Britain touting his proposal to make a federal crime of transporting a stolen […]

Mary Papazian is set to be named Southern Connecticut State University’s next president before the end of the day, two years after a very awkward dismissal of the previous president. Mary Papazian (photo courtesy of Lehman College) The Connecticut State University System’s board received more than 70 applications and released a list of their three finalists […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy told his commissioners today that they must establish a culture of openness and transparency as the administration copes with state employees who fraudulently obtained disaster relief after Tropical Storm Irene. “We need to create an environment, an environment in which all of our fellow state employees feel comfortable in bringing their […]

Warning that a portion of the state’s Medicaid program has become “financially unsustainable,” state officials have outlined ways to limit enrollment and scale back benefits in a “concept paper” sent to federal officials. The move has drawn criticism from advocates for patients and low-income residents, who say it would put some of the lowest-income adults […]

There’s agreement that too few children in Connecticut have access to quality early education programs, but the Malloy administration and advocates are butting heads on how to get to a near-universal system. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy says the power to expand early education should remain with lawmakers, while advocates say they worry that lawmakers will continue […]

In a parting shot from the last recession, the state budget spending cap will clamp down tighter over the next few years than at any other time in its history, state fiscal analysts are warning. But the cap no longer is the fiscal bogeyman it was when it was enacted two decades ago. And Gov. […]