Gov. Ned Lamont had lofty goals, but found was that fixing Connecticut’s budget meant grappling with the state’s enormous debt.
lockbox
Posted inMoney, Transportation
Malloy tight-lipped on whether he will propose tolls
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy told a business audience Wednesday that saving the Special Transportation Fund from insolvency is an urgent issue for the General Assembly, but he was coy about whether he intends to propose tolls, a gas tax increase or any other solution in the final budget he’ll propose in February.
Posted inMoney, Transportation
A new push to tackle an old problem: transportation neglect
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Thursday a day of reckoning has arrived for Connecticut’s depleted special transportation fund and the services and projects it finances, outlining what is likely to be an election-year challenge for the General Assembly and, perhaps, the last major initiative of a lame-duck governor.
Posted inEducation, Money, Politics, Transportation
Malloy asks CT businesses to push for transportation ‘lockbox’
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy urged business leaders Wednesday to help him convince legislators to safeguard transportation funds. The governor also said cities and towns must shoulder some of the burden of surging teachers’ pension costs.
Posted inMoney, Politics, Transportation
Transportation funding debate still centered on ‘lockbox’
While Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has released no transportation-related details from his next two-year budget plan, he also hasn’t backed away from his demand that legislators first back a constitutional ‘lockbox’ amendment to safeguard transportation revenues.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Business leaders push to intensify control of state spending
Connecticut’s business leaders had high praise Tuesday for the deep spending cuts and absence of tax hikes in Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s new budget. But they also warned that without an even harder, bipartisan push to control spending, businesses will remain reluctant to grow — or to support the tolls and gasoline tax hikes recommended to finance transportation improvements.
Posted inPolitics, Transportation
Malloy calls ‘lockbox’ vote a milestone, not a setback
What do you say when your pitch for a constitutional amendment protecting transportation revenue is strongly endorsed by the General Assembly, just not by the three-fourths margin necessary to place it before the voters in 2016? “This is a victory,” Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Wednesday. “It’s not a hundred-percent victory, but it’s a victory.”
Posted inMoney, Politics
Griebel: Rushing CT’s transportation ‘lockbox’ is a mistake
State officials will move forward Tuesday with new constitutional language to protect transportation spending, despite warnings Monday from one of Connecticut’s staunchest “lockbox” advocates that a hurried approach could lead to trouble.
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
CT deficit plan taps many special funds and one-time sources
While the General Assembly is expected to adopt a plan in special session Tuesday to close most or all of this fiscal year’s budget deficit, restore some funds for hospitals and finance modest business tax breaks, almost 40 percent of the plan diverts resources from specialized funds and various one-time sources.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Transportation advocates urge ‘lockbox’ despite budget woes
Transportation advocates were certain Thursday they want a new constitutional lockbox to protect planned new state investments in highways, bridges and railways. But they weren’t as specific about how state officials can shield new transportation dollars from a looming budget deficit roughly six times its size.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy vows to up the pressure for transportation ‘lockbox’
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy urged the public Monday to join him in pressuring the General Assembly to support a constitutional amendment to safeguard budget revenues earmarked for transportation.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Legislators resist granting Malloy his transportation ‘lockbox’
While Gov. Dannel P. Malloy watched his transportation initiative take another step forward Tuesday, it remained uncertain whether legislators are willing to insulate transportation funds from future budget cuts.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy signs, then promotes, newly tweaked budget
The rocky path to a fiscal plan for the next two years ended Tuesday with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signing the budget adopted June 3 in the closing minutes of the 2015 session — and tax rollbacks passed earlier Tuesday in special session to quell an outcry from business interests.
Posted inEducation, Money, Politics
Looming deficits already threaten transportation, town aid initiatives
A new, two-year state budget would make unprecedented investments in communities and transportation. But while Gov. Dannel P. Malloy insists his transportation investment will be protected by a legal lockbox, and Democratic lawmakers profess their commitment to local aid, looming deficits that start arriving in 2017-18 have advocates for both constituencies admitting they’re worried.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Proposed state budget diverts most new transportation dollars
Updated at 9:44 p.m.
While the tentative state budget deal technically dedicates $436 million in sales tax receipts over the next two years to stabilize transportation finances and back a major infrastructure overhaul, that same spending plan effectively diverts more than 85 percent of those funds for non-transportation programs.