Legislative leaders want a tiny fraction of the state budget effectively dedicated for a probe of Connecticut Port Authority contracts.
Toni Walker
Posted inMoney
CT Democrats to propose beefed-up spending plan
The Appropriations Committee will propose a two-year state spending plan Wednesday that bolsters municipal aid, higher education and social services.
Posted inGovernment, Health, Money
CT budget panel leaders pledge to reverse years of eroding funds for social service safety nets
State spending for nonprofits has grown by about 10% over about two decades. With inflation, nonprofits say they lost money.
Posted inMoney
CT budget leaders want to use massive savings to expand COVID-19 relief
Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration expects to spend about $630 million less than legislators authorized.
Posted inPolitics
Ritter’s first move: Scanlon to become finance co-chair
Rep. Sean Scanlon will be co-chair of the legislature’s finance committee, the first personnel move by a new speaker.
Posted inMoney
CT maxes out budget reserve as coffers approach $3.1 billion
The projections, much rosier than initially predicted, sparked renewed calls from lawmakers for more state spending to combat the pandemic.
Posted inJustice
Police contest the first draft of a police reform bill
The demand for police reforms have come on the street. On Friday, the cops pushed back in a virtual hearing.
Posted inHealth, Justice, Politics
Lamont, Democratic lawmakers, have different visions to rebalance CT’s finances amid crises
It is becoming clear the business-sensitive governor and his more liberal base are headed in opposite directions.
Posted inPolitics
COVID arrived, legislators left, and Lamont’s job rating doubled. Now what?
Ned Lamont was among the least popular governors. COVID changed that. But has it changed him?
Posted inJustice
Legislators consider making prison phone calls free
The state collected $7.7 million last fiscal year from prison phone calls, a cost born by inmates’ families, and ranks 49th – in front of only Arkansas — for the high cost of calls.
Posted inPolitics
Puerto Ricans press a new governor on an old grievance
The legislature’s Black and Puerto Rican Caucus say their constituents are waiting for Gov. Ned Lamont to name a Puerto Rican commissioner.
Posted inJustice
Malloy tries again to expand reach of juvenile courts
In a Boys & Girls Club not far from the State Capitol, the administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy renewed its push Wednesday to expand the reach of the juvenile court system, a reform endorsed by a leading criminal justice expert at Harvard and imitated by the states of Illinois, Massachusetts and Vermont.
Posted inEducation, Health, Money, Transportation
A legacy of debt: Squeeze on state’s priorities only getting tighter
State government’s surging retirement benefit costs are likely to have a big impact on programs and taxes over the next two decades. But they already have sapped significant funding from key priorities, including transportation, higher education, health care and social services. Second in a series.
Posted inEducation
Budget committee rejects Malloy’s plan to lock in DCF spending
The legislature’s budget-writing committee voted overwhelmingly Monday to recommend rejecting a plan being pushed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy that would lock the legislature indefinitely into a plan to spend at least $800 million yearly on the state’s child protection and foster care system.
Posted inPolitics
If Democrats win, Matt Ritter to be next CT House majority leader
The leadership of the state House Democratic caucus is set for 2017 – so long as the Democrats do not lose more than 11 seats on Nov. 8, when all 151 seats in the House are up for election. On Tuesday, Toni E. Walker conceded the race for majority leader to Matt Ritter.