A bill to allow cities and towns to cut school budgets when enrollment declines–opposed by educators but backed by municipal leaders and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy–won key approval from the legislature’s Education Committee Friday. Local governments are currently barred by state law from cutting the amount they spend on education, even in towns where enrollment […]

Yale-New Haven Hospital and the Hospital of St. Raphael announced plans Friday to explore a merger that would produce one hospital with two campuses in New Haven. The news came just three days after St. Mary’s Hospital disclosed plans to form a joint venture making the Waterbury hospital part of a small national chain. Experts […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Friday he has begun work on an “ugly” alternative budget in case talks with state employees do no not yield significant savings in the next month. “I am preparing recommendations with respect to what that would look like,” Malloy said. “I hope we don’t have to go there. It would […]

Hundreds of students, parents and school choice advocates journeyed to the state Capitol this week to back a proposal that would boost support of magnet, charter and other school alternatives, but Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget director says the administration doesn’t support the plan. The plan, referred to as “money follows the child,” would shift […]

NEWINGTON–Gina Corraccio set up her laptop on Frank Silva’s kitchen table and began quizzing her patient. What had he cooked in the past week? Was he having trouble with routine activities, like making the bed? And why had he been gaining weight? Ever since Silva got out of the hospital in January, part of Corraccio’s […]

They used to be known as the Caucus of Crying Mayors, so reliably did the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities show up at the State Capitol to bemoan inadequate state aid or unfunded mandates. Not this year. In the midst of a national budget meltdown that has prompted other governors to slash local aid, CCM on […]

WASHINGTON–The Department of Defense today issued a stop-work order on production of the Joint Strike Fighter’s alternate engine, knocking out the rival to Connecticut-based Pratt & Whitney, which makes the military fighter plane’s main engine. But even as Connecticut lawmakers applauded the Pentagon’s move, GE and Rolls Royce, which are developing the alternate engine, vowed […]

One year after raising the dropout age to 17–and before that change even takes effect–legislators are considering another change to require that students stay in school until they graduate or turn 18. “We can’t have the dropout rate as high as it is,” said Tom Murphy, spokesman for the State Department of Education. “Something has […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s relationship with the General Assembly is showing the first signs of strain as legislators and the administration begin the inevitable scuffling over the governor’s budget and plans to reorganize government. As legislative committees reach their deadlines for reporting out the governor’s reorganization legislation, some legislators are balking at the new administration’s […]

Hiring freezes are among the most common ways state and local governments try to address budget problems, but they’re not always effective, Melissa Maynard says at Stateline.org. For starters, there are always exceptions, like the need to maintain staffing for ’round-the-clock police and corrections operations. And invariably, attrition will cost agencies employees with skills not […]