Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin’s new $613 million city budget needs at least $49 million in extra state and private-sector aid to stave off ugly choices that could include bankruptcy.
2017 State Budget
Posted inMoney, Politics
For Malloy, re-election is off the table but other tough tests loom
Within minutes of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s announcement Thursday that he wouldn’t seek a third term, speculation began over whether it would weaken his position with legislators, employee unions and other interest groups.
Posted inCities & Towns, Health, Money
Independent living centers at risk from state, federal budget cuts
The five centers provide a wide array of training, counseling and referral services to thousands of residents with physical and mental disabilities, the elderly and the poor. Leaders of the centers have watched state funding shrink by 62 percent over the past year and are at risk of losing the rest this spring.
Posted inCities & Towns, Money, Politics
Looney wants half-penny sales tax option for cities and towns
Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney of New Haven called Friday for an optional local sales tax increase to help cities and towns control property tax rates. This would add a local surcharge of one-half of 1 percentage point to the existing 6.35 percent state sales tax.
Posted inMoney
Wall Street agency warns CT budgets will be bleak for years
A major Wall Street credit rating agency warned investors Wednesday that Connecticut’s weak economy and surging retirement benefit costs are likely to plague state budgets and test the state’s fiscal management for several years to come.
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
CT hospitals rally to block tax hikes
Connecticut’s hospitals intensified their push Wednesday to block hundreds of millions of dollars in tax increases recommended for their industry by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.
Posted inEducation, Money, Politics
Aresimowicz offers phase-in compromise on pension bills for CT towns
House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz offered a compromise Wednesday on one of the stickiest points in Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget: asking communities to gradually assume a portion of skyrocketing teacher pension costs.
Posted inEducation, Money, Politics
Black and Puerto Rican Caucus wants to broaden CT tax debate
Leaders of the legislature’s Black and Puerto Rican Caucus said they are exploring raising income tax rates on wealthy households — a once popular proposal among House and Senate Democrats that has fallen into disfavor as Republicans have gained seats in both chambers.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Democrats eyeing sales tax hike to plug holes in next CT budget
While Gov. Dannel P. Malloy continues to push spending cuts as the chief solution to Connecticut’s latest budget crisis, his fellow Democrats on one key panel say a more balanced mix of reductions and revenue might be unavoidable.
Posted inHealth, Money
State worker union launches TV ad to fight layoffs
Two days after Gov. Dannel P. Malloy threatened to lay off 4,200 unionized state workers unless concessions are granted, Connecticut’s largest healthcare workers union launched a television ad urging viewers to keep its members on the job.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy says budget remains in balance, despite nonpartisan warning
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration reported a modest $22 million surplus projection Monday for the current fiscal year — despite nonpartisan analysts’ warnings that eroding income tax receipts have created a $65 million deficit.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Will partisan gridlock push CT budget debate behind closed doors?
While Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Senate Republican leader Len Fasano were swapping barbs recently about the next state budget, their public exchange ironically hinted at something just the opposite. Namely, that the next state budget may be crafted behind closed doors to a much greater extent than in any other recent session.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy budgets for big raises yet seeks union concessions
Why does his two-year budget include $800 million for state employee raises — an amount that far exceeds anything Malloy set aside before and doubles the funding his staff estimated was necessary just five months earlier?
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy challenges GOP to show its CT budget plan now
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy effectively told Republican legislative leaders Thursday to put up or shut up when it comes to the next state budget.
Posted inEducation, Money, Politics
Small towns want teachers’ pension bills ‘off the table’
Connecticut’s small towns pressed the General Assembly on Thursday to take the governor’s proposal to shift a third of teacher pension costs onto communities “off the table” in state budget deliberations – but administration officials held firm on their plan.