Bill cuts most of this year’s deficit

Just 2½ months before the end of the fiscal year, Gov. M. Jodi Rell and the state legislature agreed Wednesday on a plan to eliminate nearly 90 percent of the projected $371 million deficit without tax hikes or major reductions in municipal aid. The plan cuts million of dollars from social services, health care and […]

Pete DeGregorio has seen it for months: Customers come into his New Haven bait and tackle store, stock up on gear to go fishing in nearby Long Island Sound, then find out a license will cost them $40 per person. “It’s ridiculous. It’s just too expensive and people are walking out,” said DeGregorio, owner of […]

Connecticut’s public schools could be required as early as this year to keep most suspended students in alternative in-school programs rather than sending them home, a key legislative committee has decided. A law limiting out-of-school suspensions was passed in 2007 but has been delayed because some educators and municipal officials have said it would be […]

Gov. M. Jodi Rell pledged Wednesday to offer a new plan to help balance the next state budget by selling close to $1.8 billion in future revenues at a discount in exchange for $1.3 billion now. And this plan, according to the governor, would be one she would sign into law. That distinction is important […]

Under oath and in open court, the Democratic front-runner for attorney general was roughly cross-examined Wednesday about her qualifications by a lawyer for the Connecticut Republican Party. Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz invited the novel interrogation by asking a Hartford Superior Court judge in February to rule on whether she has the necessary 10 […]

Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed a bill late this afternoon that eliminates nearly 90 percent of this fiscal year’s $371 million budget deficit. Rell’s signature came about 30 minutes after the Senate unanimously adopted the compromise measure. The House of Representatives adopted it 147-1 on Tuesday. federal revenue and raids on special accounts and trust […]

A bill extending the seven-day window the legislature has to respond to a court decision on the state’s embattled campaign finance program was passed by the Senate Wednesday and signed by Gov. M. Jodi Rell. A federal appeals court is currently considering the state’s appeal of a lower court ruling that the public finance law […]

Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz took the witness stand today in the lawsuit she filed over her qualifications to run for attorney general. (The updated story is here.) For two hours this morning, Bysiewicz was uneventfully questioned by her attorney, Wesley Horton, about the operation of her office and legal issues she encountered as […]

The state closed in on its first balanced budget in two years Tuesday as the House of Representatives approved a measure to eliminate nearly 90 percent of this fiscal year’s $371 million shortfall. The measure, which relies on a combination of spending cuts, additional federal revenue and raids on special accounts and trust funds  to […]

Despite calls for an immediate resolution of problems that threaten the state’s public campaign finance program, the House of Representatives Tuesday approved a bill that only buys more time for a fix if the state loses a court appeal to rescue the program. Almost 250 committees have been formed for the 2010 elections, and are […]

Accused of gross mismanagement one day, the state Department of Children and Families responded the next by asking a judge to end 18 years of court oversight, citing “monumental and sustained improvements.” “The timing is nothing short of astonishing,” said Sarah Eagan, who has closely followed the case as the director of the Child Abuse […]

House members voted Tuesday to give themselves 30 days to fix the state campaign finance program if a federal appeals court upholds a trial judge’s decision concluding that the program is unconstitutional. Before the 137-12 vote, several lawmakers said the present 7-day window was insufficient, calling it “a ticking time bomb.” “This bill simply gives the General […]

The state House of Representatives stood poised this afternoon to adopt a plan to eliminate most of the $371 million deficit projected for this fiscal year. Speaker Christopher G. Donovan, D-Meriden, and House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero, R-Norwalk, both said most of their respective caucus’ are expected to vote in favor of the plan, […]

The state filed a motion today asking a federal judge to end court oversight of the Department of Children and Families, citing dramatic progress protecting children since the case was filed 20 years ago. The move comes one day after a child-advocacy group notified the state that DCF is so badly managed that it is […]

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ned Lamont reported Monday that he raised $342,000 in the quarter ending March 31, matching the Republican front-runner, Tom Foley. The two Greenwich businessmen have opted out of the state’s public financing system and are raising money privately. Each can afford to also use their own money in the race. Neither candidate’s […]