The state Senate adopted a deficit reduction plan shortly before 5:20 a.m. Saturday that aims to close a $518 million gap in the current year budget, despite the promise of a veto by Gov. M. Jodi Rell. Although Democratic leaders of the Senate said they would not be deterred by Rell’s threat, it was enough to […]

The Democrat-controlled state House of Representatives, which caved Friday to Senate pressure to back a new deficit-mitigation plan, likely will cancel its Saturday session to vote on the package now the Gov. M. Jodi Rell has pledged to veto it, House sources said. As the Senate entered session just before midnight to vote on the […]

Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced late tonight she would veto a new Democratic compromise plan to eliminate this fiscal year’s $518 million deficit and also wipe out about 10 percent of the red ink projected for 2010-11. The Republican governor said the plan, which boosts taxes on hospitals and cancels a recent tax break for […]

Democratic state lawmakers’ new deficit-mitigation plan would eliminate 21 deputy commissioners in Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s administration, saving $3.1 million annually, according to documents and other sources. The plan also would cancel seniority bonuses and require another furlough day for non-union workers, cut back health care, social service and education programs and make other reductions […]

The Democratic majorities in the state House and Senate reached a compromise this afternoon on a plan to eliminate most of this fiscal year’s $518.4 million deficit, relying chiefly on restoring a gross revenues tax on hospitals and reversing a January reduction in the levy on wealthy estates, sources said. The Senate is scheduled to […]

Cities and towns received a much-needed fiscal shot in the arm this week when Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s administration released $30 million in long-overdue road reconstruction grants. Municipal leaders have been clamoring since July for their Town Aid Road grants, one of the chief funding sources of local road improvements. The grant traditionally is dispersed […]

Funding for the state’s social “safety net” programs would be increased by nearly $345 million over spending levels proposed by Gov. M. Jodi Rell in the budget bill approved by the legislature’s Appropriations Committee Thursday, paid for by an anticipated influx of federal money and levying a new hospital tax. The hike in the Department […]

The General Assembly inched toward fiscal gridlock Thursday as its budget panel narrowly passed a plan that would boost spending next fiscal year by $350 million, shift social and environmental programs into unrelated funds backed by industry fees and electric bills, and dramatically redistribute payments to hospitals. The $19.28 billion Appropriations Committee proposal not only […]

Republicans who see political opportunity in Connecticut’s fiscal crisis tried not to gloat Thursday watching the General Assembly’s Democratic majority lurch towards a budget deadlock. Democrats on the Appropriations Committee voted to add $350 million in spending to the governor’s budget proposal, despite facing projected deficits for at least the next three years. House Minority […]

How powerful are the members of the legislature’s Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee? They can keep the sun from setting for two years. By a vote of 35 to 15, the committee approved a bill that delays for two years the “sunset” of the real-estate conveyance tax, which was due to expire July 1. The […]

Gov. M. Jodi Rell has asked the Department of Economic and Community Development to issue a report by April 15 of the economic impact of the national health care reform law. “Connecticut employees – in businesses large and small – face some steep costs associated with the federal health care reform bill.  I think it […]

With demand for safety net programs growing, the legislature’s Appropriations Committee on Thursday proposed increasing funding to state’s social services by $444 million. They also proposed a new hospital tax on providers to bring in $206.8 million for the coming year, which begins July 1. State Medicaid spending increases $67.8 million, but does cut $2.3 […]

Despite nearly $5 billion in deficits projected for through 2012, the state legislature’s Appropriations Committee will recommend later today adding nearly $350 million in spending to next year’s preliminary budget, according to draft documents released by the committee. The Democrat-controlled Appropriations will be asked to adopt a$19.28 billion spending plan for 2010-11, which also tops […]

Gov. M. Jodi Rell demonstrated a flash of defiance and a dash of irony Wednesday in nominating a new batch of judges that Democratic legislators insist the state cannot afford. One of the nominees is her budget chief, Robert L. Genuario, who has been preaching to legislators the gospel of frugality. Now, he has to […]

The 600 Realtors who came to the State Capitol Wednesday couldn’t help but feel like they were being sucker punched when they heard legislators were moving full speed ahead to extend a tax on real estate sales. “They’re picking on us,” said Barry Rosa, vice president of the Connecticut Association of Realtors. “They are singling […]