Towns ask Appropriations Committee for help in fiscal crisis

Town leaders told the Appropriations Committee today that the state is making it difficult for them to function because town aid is flat funded and towns are limited to levying a tax only on property. “Local cost cutting alone cannot counteract the state funding. Connecticut is one of only 15 states that handcuffs municipalities to […]

At a televised U.S. Senate debate Monday night, Merrick Alpert took the stage as an underdog trying to hook Democratic primary voters with calls for universal health care, diplomatic relations with Cuba and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, already ordained by pollsters and party regulars as the Democratic candidate-in-waiting, responded with […]

After repeatedly declaring that more taxes won’t solve the state’s budget problems, Gov. M. Jodi Rell Monday proposed reinstating a tax on hospital earnings as well as raiding the next fiscal year’s revenues as part of a plan to close a half-billion-dollar budget shortfall. Rell’s second deficit mitigation plan of 2009-2010 would strip nearly $220 […]

The new state watchdog panel charged with safeguarding hundreds of millions of dollars worth of annual contract awards is stuck at the starting line awaiting a final appointment from Gov. M. Jodi Rell. The Contracting Standards Board, which was supposed to have started work on Jan. 1, still is waiting for an executive director, which […]

A bill backed by 19 Senate Democrats would tap “excessive” executive bonuses to support job creation in the state, backers told a legislative committee Monday. But critics, including legislative Republicans and the business community, said there are significant constitutional questions about the measure, and the added tax would drive businesses out of state. “Do not […]

Gov. M. Jodi Rell proposed stripping nearly $220 million in revenue from the next state budget Monday to help close a $500 million-plus shortfall in the current one. But the $18.93 billion budget approved last fall for 2010-11 has a $726 million deficit of its own, according to legislative analysts. And though the governor’s proposal […]

Frustration with how big banks handle foreclosures has united Democrats and Republicans behind a bill intended to force financial institutions to work with mortgage holders. Banks frequently fail to designate a contact person on foreclosures, leaving homeowners to repeatedly begin the process of working out their troubled loans, legislators said. “This is a much-needed measure,” […]

At least things haven’t gotten much worse. State Comptroller Nancy Wyman reported Monday that the state budget deficit for this fiscal year has inched downward by $3.4 million over the past month, reaching $518.4 million. The $18.64 billion budget, which has been plagued by monthly deficit forecasts close to $500 million since October, continues to […]

Economists say Connecticut will continue to lose jobs for another two years. His own analysts are predicting that the next governor and legislature will face a $3.8 billion deficit, an astonishing 20 percent hole in the state budget. But House Speaker Christopher G. Donovan is bullish on Connecticut’s economy. In speeches to skeptical business groups […]

As enrollment hit record lows at Stamford’s state-operated Wright Technical High School last year, and per-student costs soared to $27,000, state education officials decided they had run out of options. Facing a deep recession and intense pressure to slash budgets, they shut down the troubled school. But the closing unleashed a wave of anger, including […]

With the state facing billions in deficits in coming years, lawmakers are warming to the idea of a new revenue stream: Keno gambling. “We are in tough economic times and let’s face it, there’s a number of people who have trouble not voting for things that cost money,” said Rep. Stephen D. Dargan, D-West Haven. […]

The chairman of the state’s ethics panel violated state law by donating $250 to Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell and two other Republican candidates vying for the legislature in 2008, reports the Office of State Ethics. G. Kenneth Bernhard, chairman of the Citizen’s Ethics Advisory Board and an attorney from Westport, said he was “unaware […]

The state’s Judicial Branch either is at risk of losing its independence due to crippling budget cuts, or wants to be handled with fiscal kid gloves, depending on who was offering testimony Friday before a state legislative panel. Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s budget director urged the Judiciary Committee to reject a measure that would restore […]

U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District, moved quickly to distance himself from Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel of New York, who was admonished today by the House Ethics Committtee. Himes said he would donate to charity campaign contributions from Rangel, a noted rainmaker for Democrats. “I admire Mr. Rangel for his decades of leadership on civil […]

A state legislative panel agreed this week to consider a bill that would bar a controversial funding cut for work and social programs for the mentally retarded. The Human Services Committee raised a bill that would block the reduction until after Jan. 1, 2011, when a new group studying program rates is scheduled to report […]