Though Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration has insisted to date it intends to live within the constitutional spending cap, its budget office recently gave warning — less than three months into the new fiscal year — that this goal would be difficult to reach. In its monthly budget report to Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo, the […]

More than 13 months from Election Day 2012, Democrat Chris Murphy and Republican Chris Shays are less well-known than their main rivals for their parties’ U.S. Senate nominations, but they’re better liked. And both do better than their competitors in prospective general election matchups. In a survey released Wednesday, Public Policy Polling says 70 percent […]

N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s relationship with labor has taken a familiar turn. Luckily for Cuomo, the story ran on page A16 of the Times.

Legislators voted Tuesday night to provide federal energy assistance to all households that qualify, effectively rejecting a plan by the Malloy administration that would have made up for a projected shortfall in federal funds by limiting the benefit to households not heated by utilities. To do so, legislators assumed that the federal commitment to the […]

Legislative researchers said Tuesday that Connecticut has more people with developmental disabilities living in state-run residential facilities than any other state except New York, at a cost up to 2.5 times the expense of contracting with private group homes for the service. “I was struck by the public-private cost difference,” said Rep. T.R. Rowe, the […]

The cost of employer-sponsored health insurance has grown more than four times faster than inflation since 2001, and the costs borne by workers have risen at an even faster pace as companies increasingly shift health care expenses to their employees. Instead of simply increasing premiums, many employers now require their workers to pay more when […]

WASHINGTON–A partisan clash over funding to refill the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s coffers was resolved late Monday with Senate leaders announcing a deal for $2.65 billion in disaster aid for fiscal year 2012. In addition, the Senate approved a bill to keep federal programs operating through Nov. 18, pulling Congress back from the brink of […]

Lucas Codognolla’s story is the classic immigrant saga: He’s working two jobs to put himself through the University of Connecticut’s Stamford branch, where he’s determined to be the first in his family to earn a bachelor’s degree. But there’s a twist: He’s one of a handful of students taking advantage of a new law granting […]

The technology needed to cut the world’s greenhouse gas emissions by 85% by 2050 already exists, a statement issued by 11 of the world’s largest engineering organizations says–but not the governmental commitment to develop and use it. Technologies for generating electricity from wind, waves and the sun, growing biofuels sustainably, producing zero emissions transport, building […]

When the special jobs session called by Governor Malloy convenes next month, the question legislators-and the rest of us-should ask is what sort of Connecticut we want: cheaper and poorer, or better and richer? Strip away the politics and posturing and that is the heart of the matter. Do we cut people’s wages, curtail public […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy says he is “invigorated” by the coming special session on jobs and encouraged by the bipartisan commitment he sees to improve the state’s economic climate. Just don’t ask him for a quick turnaround amidst an uncertain global economy. “You’re not going to see instantaneous results,” Malloy said Monday after a meeting […]