Panel wants rate rollback for electric customers diverted to bail out state budget

Nearly $1.8 billion slated to come off most Connecticut consumers’ electric bills over the next decade would remain in place to help balance the state budget under a plan adopted Tuesday by the legislature’s Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee. The Democrat-controlled panel voted 37-19, largely along party lines, to approve the so-called securitization bill, which […]

Democrats and a local union from Rocky Hill were successful last month in stalling funding for a public health laboratory in Rocky Hill, but the project’s chances look better when Gov. M. Jodi Rell brings it up for a vote again today. Democrats on the State Bond Commission last month blocked release of $69.4 million […]

Republican gubernatorial candidate Oz Griebel has raised $300,000 since declaring his candidacy two months ago, his campaign announced Tuesday. Griebel was the only candidate to release fundraising results for the first quarter, which ended March 31. No reports have to be filed with the State Elections Enforcement Commission until April 12. Republican Mark Boughton said […]

Transcripts of the testimony of Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, being questioned under oath about her qualifications to be attorney general, have been released by Attorney General Richard Blumenthal’s office. The daily transcripts, covering 10 hours of testimony over three days, can be seen here, here and here. A video of her deposition is […]

There are no legal grounds to keep private a video of Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz being questioned under oath about her qualifications to be attorney general, her lawyer said today. Wesley Horton, who is representing Bysiewicz in a legal proceeding she hopes will resolve questions about her qualifications to serve as attorney general, […]

Chamber of commerce leaders are calling on the legislature to reject the 15 different bills that mandate increased health insurance coverage for various medical conditions. “We need a moratorium on new health care mandates,” said JoAnne Ryan, president of Northwest Connecticut’s Chamber of Commerce. Chamber leaders say the costs imposed on insurance companies will be […]

The legislature’s tax-writing committee adopted a revised plan this afternoon to boost the tax on wealthy estates, and to add a 5.5 percent levy on hospital gross revenues. The measure adopted by the Democrat-controlled Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee continues to exempt estates valued at less than $3.5 million. But the bill, which now heads […]

The legislature’s Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee is expected to approve selling future revenues tied to monthly electric bills for pennies on the dollar to provide $1.3 billion to help balance next fiscal year’s budget, sources said this afternoon. The committee, which began meeting 10 minutes ago, also will not back an alternative securitization plan, […]

It wasn’t the fiscal lifeline that town leaders were hoping for, but they said they will happily take the small amount of money an increase in the hotel tax and town fees will generate. The Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee on Monday passed two bills — one increasing the hotel tax from 12 to 15 […]

Despite the reams of test scores, enrollment figures, attendance records and other data it collects on public schools, Connecticut falls woefully short in trying to make sense of it all, a noted state economist says. Lawmakers are writing legislation to design a new statewide data collection system to meet requirements of the federal Race to […]

The legislature’s bonding panel offered its own plan Monday to keep state government under its credit limit. But while the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee recommended canceling more than 180 projects previously approved for funding – including dozens of community and regional projects in lawmakers’ home districts – it also targeted millions in economic development […]

Planning to attend a concert? Be prepared to pay the state admissions tax – unless the performance is held at the Connecticut Expo Center in Hartford, Ocean Beach Park in New London, or one of a few other select venues. Looking to store something? If it’s a boat, you’re in luck–no tax. If it’s furniture, […]

Passage of national health care reform apparently has ended a long-running stalemate between the legislature and the Rell administration over seeking federal reimbursement for a state-funded health care program. Three times over the last seven years, the legislature has directed the state Department of Social Services to apply for millions of dollars in federal matching […]

It was slow going. Everyone had a kind word for the returning James A. Amann, the former speaker of the House, as he headed for the elevators in the Legislative Office Building. He interrupted one conversation to return the greeting of a passing lawmaker, Rep. Toni Walker, D-New Haven. He called after her, “Thanks for […]