Faced with mandated pay hikes and surging pension costs, Connecticut’s public college and university system may need an 11 percent increase in state funding over the next two years to maintain current programs, according to a preliminary analysis from system administrators.
State Budget
Posted inPolitics
Despite no leverage, candidates promise labor concessions
While all of Connecticut’s gubernatorial candidates say they want more concessions from unionized state employees, the reality is the next governor will have little leverage to force negotiations until his third year in office. So, how do you cut a state budget dominated by personnel expenses if you can’t eliminate personnel?
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
Change is coming for nonprofit human service providers, but will it make or break them?
It is a time of reckoning for Connecticut’s private, nonprofit social services. After two decades of flat or reduced funding from its chief client — state government — community-based agencies are struggling to retain both their programs and the low-paid staff who deliver care for thousands of poor, disabled and mentally-ill adults and children.
Posted inMoney
Panel seeks new ways to slow skyrocketing state pension costs
A new panel is exploring how Connecticut can use state assets — both physical properties and revenue streams — to mitigate pension costs expected to surge dramatically over the next 15 years.
Posted inMoney
Report: ‘Sin’ taxes pose fiscal — not health — risks for states
Connecticut and most other states need to be cautious about their rapidly increasing reliance on cigarette and other volatile “sin” taxes, according to a new report from Pew Charitable Trusts.
Posted inTransportation
Malloy does what legislators won’t: Orders $10 million study of tolling
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy ordered state agencies Tuesday to develop a comprehensive, $10 million study of electronic tolling that would examine pricing, locations, and the potential to capture revenue from out-of-state motorists.
Posted inMoney
CT builds its budget reserve — as post-election deficits loom large
After three consecutive years of draining its emergency reserves, state government is on pace to deposit nearly $780 million in its rainy day fund.
Posted inMoney
Meals for seniors caught in latest feud over CT budget cuts
Republican legislative leaders are balking at the governor’s plans to cut $2 million from an elderly nutrition program. The governor must find $21.5 million in savings in the General Fund once the new fiscal year gets underway on Sunday.
Posted inMoney
Feds OK first stage of new Connecticut hospital taxing system
Connecticut received a key approval Friday for a new hospital taxing arrangement designed to draw $150 million in new federal money annually into the state’s coffers.
Posted inMoney
Malloy veto of education funding bill likely will stand
Legislative leaders are leaning against attempting to override Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s latest veto. The reason: they included what effectively amounts to duplicate language in a second bill the governor already has signed.
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 inMoney
Regents: Extra state funds not a cure-all for a system in crisis
A last-minute boost in state funding won’t stave off a looming fiscal crisis for Connecticut’s public colleges and universities, the Board of Regents for Higher Education reported Thursday.
Posted inMoney
Legislature overwhelmingly enacts bipartisan CT budget
The legislature overwhelmingly approved a new state budget shortly before their midnight deadline Wednesday that restores aid for towns; reverses health care cuts for the elderly, poor and disabled; and defers a transportation crisis — at least for another year.
Posted inMoney
Collective bargaining, not money, dominates this budget fight
Connecticut’s legislative leaders struggled into the early morning Wednesday in negotiations to resolve what may be the state’s strangest budget fight: It’s not about money.
Posted inMoney
Bill to limit Hartford bailout faces opposition — from other cities
A compromise measure to effectively end the state’s fiscal bailout of Hartford after five years has stalled in the House — because of opposition from Bridgeport and New Haven.