2016 State Budget
Posted inMoney

Temporary reprieve for Old State House amid squabbling

Avatar photo by Mark Pazniokas

Updated at 6 p.m.
It looks like the Old State House won’t be stripped of its artifacts after all, but the Hartford landmark remains closed to the public while legislators and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy reconsider a budget provision that slashed funding and gave the building to a reluctant new landlord, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey says the administration’s opposition seems “petulant.”

Posted inEnergy & Environment, Money

As DEEP cuts budget and park hours, it gets a surprising new role

Avatar photo by Mark Pazniokas

The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection announced cutbacks Friday at state beaches, parks and campgrounds. Left out of the announcement was a significant wrinkle: As the department struggles to manage its various assets with less money, it is being handed a significant new responsibility – managing the Old State House in Hartford.

Posted inJustice, Money, Politics

Malloy signs CT budget but trims town aid to offset prison costs

Avatar photoAvatar photo by Keith M. Phaneuf and Mark Pazniokas

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy showed legislators Thursday there was a fiscal price to be paid for rejecting his anti-recidivism proposals. The governor signed the legislature’s $19.76 billion budget for 2016-17 into law, but only after using the rarely employed line-item veto to cancel more than $22 million earmarked for municipalities, health clinics and the Connecticut Humanities Council.

Posted inMoney, Politics

New rule: Curbing state spending or masking looming deficits?

Avatar photo by Keith M. Phaneuf

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy insists recently adopted legislation that restricts how nonpartisan staff report future budget trends — including deficits — will help ensure state spending doesn’t increase “on autopilot.” But the measure places no restrictions on what the legislature can propose or adopt, nor will it prevent legislators from obtaining the material nonpartisan analysts will not be able to publish in one high-profile report.

Posted inEducation, Energy & Environment, Health, Justice, Money, Politics, Transportation

Measure strips $1B in bonded projects off of CT’s credit card

Avatar photoAvatar photo by Keith M. Phaneuf and Jacqueline Rabe Thomas

The Senate voted late Thursday rebalance Connecticut’s credit card in the face of shrinking tax revenues, canceling or delaying about $1 billion in financing for a wide array of projects and programs, and to authorize $380 for municipal school construction, down significantly from recent years.