The auditors found officials mismanaged audits and failed to enforce price caps meant to hold down costs for local school building projects.
Office of Policy and Management
Posted inInvestigations
Top Lamont officials were told of school bidding complaints in 2020
An attorney for a Stamford construction company warned that CT school construction contracts were being improperly awarded.
Posted inJustice
Coming soon: Data on police officers’ use of force in Connecticut
The data will help show how police use force, along with the demographics of those who are subjected to it.
Posted inMoney
State to audit West Haven officials’ use of federal pandemic relief funds
Auditors are to review overtime-related pay that went to several West Haven officials as part of an ongoing investigation.
Posted inEducation, Money, Politics
Partisan politics or efficiency? Lamont’s plans for school building program sparks debate
A plan from Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration to shift oversight of municipal school construction process into the governor’s budget office has upset some lawmakers.
Posted inMoney
Some lawmakers want to raid the rainy day fund. Not so fast, analysts say.
Nonpartisan analysts reminded lawmakers Wednesday that the next recession could be right around the corner.
Posted inMoney
State’s next budget director brings straight talk and solutions
Connecticut’s new secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, Melissa McCaw, must help Gov.-elect Ned Lamont craft a long-term solution to a state fiscal crisis seven decades in the making. It’s a challenge she relishes, and that for which many say she is particularly well-suited.
Posted inCT Viewpoints, Talking Transportation
CT transportation funding: Something for everyone to hate
I hate to say “I told you so,” but… just as I’d predicted, Gov. Dannel Malloy’s hand-picked Transportation Finance Panel has finally issued its recommendations for paying for the governor’s 30-year, $100 billion transportation “plan.” Interestingly, as it began work last summer, the Transportation Finance Panel wasn’t allowed to debate the merits of anything in the governor’s “plan,” so all they could do was suggest how to fund the whole thing.
Posted inPolitics
Federal budget deal helps CT defense industry, state budget
Washington – One of Rep. John Boehner’s final acts as Speaker of the House this week was to negotiate a budget deal with the White House that will help Connecticut’s defense industry by boosting Pentagon spending and save the state government about $65 million in health care expenses for low-income residents and state retirees.
Posted inHealth
Hospitals could face larger cut
The governor cut $192 million in Medicaid funding for hospitals last month, but the actual hit to hospitals could end up being 25 percent higher. The state is holding back additional payments that weren’t part of the cost-saving measure, and the governor’s budget office said decisions about whether to pay them will be “based on whether we have enough money to keep the budget in balance.”
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Southbury overtime indefensible, and product of state mismanagement
The overtime created by not filling positions at the Southbury Training School is both disgraceful and not fair to the many families waiting for services. I am angry and disappointed that the state has not been responsible in providing the care for our most needy and vulnerable residents and it has wasted millions of dollars that could have been used to address the waiting list.
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
Is it a gag order or the Malloy administration speaking with one voice?
Key legislators say a directive from budget director Benjamin Barnes restricting what agency heads can tell legislators about Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget proposal is hindering lawmakers in doing their jobs and will push more of the budget-writing process behind closed doors. Barnes says the administration simply works together “as one administration, with all our commissioners and agency heads.”
Posted inMoney, Politics
Administrator Susan Weisselberg named governor’s deputy budget director
An administrator for the New Haven public school system will become the new deputy budget director for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy later this month. Susan Weisselberg, who also has served as chief legal counsel to the state House Democratic Caucus, will succeed Karen Buffkin as deputy secretary of the Office of Policy and Management on Jan. 26.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy taps Ojakian, Barnes and two commissioners for 2nd terms
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Thursday that Chief of Staff Mark Ojakian, budget director Benjamin Barnes, Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Catherine Smith and Department of Revenue Services Commissioner Kevin B. Sullivan all will return.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Budget chief: Some tax cuts may have to wait; CT colleges likely to face cuts
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget director acknowledged Monday there’s little likelihood all of the tax relief promised on the campaign trail can be provided in the next state budget, which faces a major deficit projection. And while the governor promised new tax relief for college graduates struggling with student loan debt, budget director Benjamin Barnes said Connecticut’s public colleges and universities probably won’t be spared emergency budget cuts due out this week.