The House Speaker wants to repeat the success of UConn 2000 with Connecticut’s poorest urban centers by investing in cities.
bonding
Posted inTransportation
Funding to fix CT’s roads and bridges is drying up, and officials don’t have a solution
Connecticut’s transportation building program is on a financial diet after a five-year ramp-up after lawmakers rejected tolls.
Posted inMoney
Pandemic restricts Connecticut’s credit card; planned projects would shatter it by $2B
More than $2 billion in planned projects might have to be suspended to keep state borrowing under a tight cap.
Posted inMoney
Lamont eases up on debt diet to win support for truck tolls
Gov. Ned Lamont added an average of $442 million to his two-year bonding proposal — about 20% more than he insisted Connecticut could afford when he took office 13 months ago.
Posted inMoney
Lawmakers propose $5 million to boost safety measures at religious institutions
With an arson at a New Haven mosque still fresh in the news, legislators said the state should provide money to protect Connecticut houses of worship.
Posted inMoney
Connecticut ‘locks’ into new budgetary restraints in three weeks
In less than three weeks state government will contractually bind itself to a new series of budgetary controls for the next five years despite numerous warnings the maneuver could cause fiscal chaos.
Posted inEducation, Money, Politics
Nappier, Malloy divided over how to fix teacher pension fund
State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier warned this week that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s recommendation that Connecticut defer and otherwise restructure contributions into the teachers’ pension fund could jeopardize the state’s standing on Wall Street.
Posted inEducation, Money
Wall Street firm: CT schools ruling helps state, hurts cities
A major Wall Street rating agency said the recent Connecticut Supreme Court ruling that the state provides at least a minimally adequate education in all school districts is a “credit positive” for state government, but a “negative” for its largest cities.
Posted inMoney
Nappier pitches dedicating share of income tax to control borrowing costs
After watching its standing fall on Wall Street in recent years, Connecticut may have to pledge a portion of its income tax receipts when borrowing for future capital projects. State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier unveiled a program Monday she says will help control borrowing costs and enable the state to rebuild its depleted reserves.
Posted inMoney
S&P warns CT: Surging debt costs could lower bond rating
While legislators learned Wednesday how surging debt costs would hamper the next state budget, a major Wall Street credit rating agency downgraded its outlook for Connecticut for the same reason.
Posted inMoney
State offers reassurances over its aid to Bridgewater hedge fund
The state Department of Economic and Community Development responded with reassurances Thursday to a recent news report that a major Fairfield County hedge fund — to which Connecticut just pledged $52 million in economic assistance — is slowing its hiring.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Analysis: CT bond premiums grow debt by $550M since 2011
State government added more than $550 million to its enormous debt burden over the past five years through its controversial practice of using borrowed funds effectively to support operating costs. An analysis prepared by Treasurer Denise L. Nappier’s office also noted, however, that the interest costs on these bond premiums are more manageable than some critics realize.
Posted inMoney
Another Wall Street agency downgrades CT’s credit rating
Connecticut’s longstanding fiscal problems continued to raise concerns on Wall Street Tuesday as a third major rating agency downgraded the state’s credit ranking. Kroll Bond Rating Agency announced its downgrade Tuesday, citing Connecticut’s high debt, low reserves, eroding income tax receipts and a lack of wage growth.
Posted inMoney, Transportation
Report: CT, New England states lag nation in capital spending
State and local capital spending in Connecticut and the other five New England states has been well below the national average since 2000, according to a new report issued this week by the public policy arm of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
Posted inMoney, Politics
New CT budget contributes to credit downgrades from Wall Street
The new state budget’s ability to mitigate longstanding fiscal problems got poor marks Thursday on Wall Street as two of the four major rating agencies downgraded Connecticut’s credit ranking — probably boosting borrowing costs in the future.