The Senate voted late Thursday rebalance Connecticut’s credit card in the face of shrinking tax revenues, canceling or delaying about $1 billion in financing for a wide array of projects and programs, and to authorize $380 for municipal school construction, down significantly from recent years.
State Budget
Posted inEducation, Health, Justice, Money, Politics
A handshake, then a vote on Connecticut’s next budget
Updated at 11:10 p.m.
The Senate adopted a $19.76 billion budget Thursday that would eliminate a nearly $1 billion deficit and significantly reduce larger shortfalls after the November state elections.
Posted inEducation, Health, Money, Politics, Transportation
5 things to know about the new state budget plan
The Senate is expected to vote today on a $19.76 billion spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year intended to wipe out a $1 billion deficit, a measure touted by Democrats for not raising taxes and blasted by Republicans for relying on illusory savings.
Posted inJustice, Money, Politics
Looney says budget deal, ‘Second Chance’ are on for Thursday
The leader of the Connecticut Senate said Wednesday night he has the votes to pass Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s criminal justice reforms and last week’s budget deal when the Senate returns Thursday in special session. The House of Representatives has yet to schedule a vote.
Posted inMoney, Politics, Transportation
Malloy trades transportation setbacks for budget savings
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s transportation rebuilding program took several hits this past legislative session as the governor sought to entice legislators to accept more long-term spending cuts.
Posted inEducation, Health, Justice, Money, Politics, Transportation
Nonpartisan analysts: Tentative CT budget wipes away lots of red ink
The tentative plan to close a $1 billion hole in Connecticut’s finances starting July 1 also would wipe away more than 40 percent of the red ink threatening state government after the November elections, nonpartisan fiscal analysts reported Tuesday evening.
Posted inMoney, Politics
CT budget details trickle out as partisan debate heats up
While Democratic legislative leaders released one key document tied to a tentative state budget deal, others remained under wraps. And Democratic leadership in the Senate, where a budget debate tentatively is expected to begin on Thursday, rebuffed a Republican call to delay any debate until all budget-related documents were available for public review.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Details on CT budget deal remain under wraps six days later
By mid-afternoon Monday, nearly six days after Democratic legislative leaders announced a tentative deal on a new state budget, full details of that agreement still hadn’t been released to rank-and-file lawmakers or to the general public.
Posted inEducation, Money
How does your town fare under the state budget deal?
State funding to help cities and towns operate public schools is hit hard in the budget deal Democratic legislators are set to approve this week. It’s a mixed bag for the other grants towns receive to help cover non-education related expenses. Curious how your city or town fares? Here’s a look.
Posted inHealth, Money
Agency head: Mosquito-control funding cut a problem as Zika spreads
Pending cuts to state funding for mosquito control could pose a problem for the agency that monitors the insects for the Zika virus and other diseases, the director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station said Friday. But Gov. Dannel P. Malloy promised to find the money.
Posted inJustice, Money, Politics
CT Judicial Branch begins serving another 113 layoff notices
The state Judicial Branch announced Thursday it had begun serving another 113 layoff notices to employees, bringing total notices served to 239.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Overtime: General Assembly to return next week for budget vote
The leaders of the House and Senate Democratic majorities gave up Wednesday on adopting a new state budget before the legislature’s constitutional adjournment deadline of midnight, instead scheduling a special session for next week to finish its business for 2016.
Posted inMoney, Politics
CT’s top taxpayers took a big earnings hit last year
Connecticut’s 50 largest state income tax filers reported nearly $3 billion less in quarterly earnings this spring than they did one year ago — which resulted in a $217 million hit to the state’s coffers, the legislature’s nonpartisan fiscal staff reported Wednesday.
Posted inEducation, Health, Justice, Money, Politics
Democrats, governor strike budget deal, aim for Wednesday vote
Updated at 1 a.m. Wednesday
Democratic legislators ended a tense day of negotiations Tuesday by announcing a deal on a new state budget that the General Assembly will race to adopt Wednesday before the constitutional adjournment deadline of midnight.
Posted inMoney, Politics
GOP leaders insist they won’t stand for a rushed CT budget debate
As majority Democratic legislators scrambled in hopes of adopting a new state budget before Wednesday’s midnight deadline, Republicans warned they wouldn’t tolerate a rushed or incomplete debate on solutions to a nearly $1 billion deficit.