State legislators gave unionized employees an early taste Thursday of what labor negotiations could be like at the Capitol if major wage and benefit concessions aren’t granted to help balance the new budget. After the Senate voted 30 to 6 to adopt a measure curtailing collective bargaining rights tied to pensions and longevity pay, the […]

The House Democratic majority and the administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy agreed Thursday to spare municipalities from proposed cuts in state aid, a change that will come at the expense of additional layoffs of state employees if a failed concession deal is not salvaged. The Democratic majority in the House refused to grant Malloy’s […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has asked state legislators to scale back a new tax credit for the working poor–but not to help close the $700 million shortfall in the next state budget. The administration proposal to reduce the maximum new state earned income tax credit by one-sixth instead would boost projected reserves for the next two […]

Higher Education Commissioner Michael P. Meotti has been named interim president of the new Board of Regents that will comprise his agency, the state’s community and online colleges, and the Connecticut State University System. “In absence of someone at the helm, the governor has asked Commissioner Meotti to step in,” said Mark Ojakian, who is […]

The General Assembly is poised today to grant Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s request for additional budget-cutting authority in response to a failed labor concession deal, but his proposal to curb some collective-bargaining rights for state employees faces resistance in the House. The budget cutting authority will come with strings: The legislature intends to retain the […]

Not the kind of news you really want to hear going into one of the biggest beach weekends of the summer: The water at Connecticut’s ocean beaches was a lot more polluted last year than it’s been in awhile. The Natural Resources Defense Council’s annual report on the nation’s marine beaches showed there were 143 […]

High school students and parents planning some college tours this summer might want to check out a new federal website that lists the most and least expensive colleges and universities in several categories. It was created by the U.S. Department of Education under the Higher Education Opportunity Act, and this home page also includes links […]

As the Malloy administration prepares to cut spending in social service agencies–part of the plan the governor released Tuesday and wants the legislature to approve today–the nonprofits that provide many safety net services for low-income and disabled residents are wondering what the changes could mean for them and their clients. People who work with nonprofits […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy will ask legislators today to suspend a linchpin of the state’s “clean contracting” law as he seeks to privatize state services in the face of nearly 5,500 recommended state employee layoffs. As part of a proposal to fill the $1.6 billion two-year budget gap created when state employee unions rejected a concession deal, Malloy is […]

WASHINGTON–The Supreme Court’s recent decision in the Wal-Mart v. Dukes sex discrimination lawsuit was re-litigated on Wednesday–in the political arena, with the debate focused on the court’s approach to corporate cases. The Wal-Mart case was Exhibit A at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing probing whether the nation’s highest court has tilted too much toward big […]