Will Malloy be forced to send deficit closure plan to legislators?
If nonpartisan legislatie analysts are right – and if Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo agrees – the deficit is at least $50 million worse than Gov. Dannel P. Malloy reported last week.
View ArticleLembo backs Malloy’s assessment of smaller CT deficit
State Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo gave Gov. Dannel P. Malloy a big vote of fiscal confidence Monday, certifying that Connecticut’s $89.4 budget shortfall is well below the emergency level of one...
View ArticleLarger deficit looms as Malloy warns of more emergency cuts
Nonpartisan fiscal analysts again asserted Wednesday that the current state budget deficit is worse than Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration has reported — and that’s despite a recent administration...
View ArticleState’s top nonpartisan budget analyst takes UConn post
The director of the state legislature’s nonpartisan budget office, Alan P. Calandro of Burlington, announced Thursday he is leaving to take a post at the University of Connecticut. Calandro oversaw a...
View ArticleQuestions about the last recession complicate CT’s budget woes
As Connecticut officials try to balance the state budget, they grapple with a question many other states and the federal government still can't answer: How much damage was done to the economy during...
View ArticleFederal 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...
View ArticleRed ink awaiting CT lawmakers outstrips rainy day fund by almost $175M
The red ink legislators and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy must deal with beginning next week now outstrips Connecticut's emergency reserves by almost $175 million, based on a new deficit forecast released late...
View ArticleCT finances take another big hit as projected revenues plunge
Connecticut’s finances were dealt a major blow Thursday when nonpartisan analysts downgraded projected income tax receipts by hundreds of millions of dollars for this fiscal year and next.
View ArticleLembo reports $220M deficit, confirms eroding tax receipts
State Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo certified a $220 million deficit Tuesday for the current fiscal year, a report that largely echoes last week’s warning from the legislature’s nonpartisan analysts about...
View ArticleSchool bus seat belt funding goes unused except to reduce deficits
It's been six years since legislators overwhelmingly approved a tax incentive and license fees to encourage schools to buy school buses equipped with seat belts. But not a single school district has...
View ArticleEarly report shows state cut overtime costs by $33 million
The savings are a 13.9 percent reduction from the previous fiscal year. In total, 25 state agencies reduced overtime pay.
View ArticleReport: State agencies cut overtime costs by $37 million in FY16
Updated at 3:48 p.m. After releasing an initial report last month showing significant savings in overtime costs, the legislature’s nonpartisan fiscal analysts announced Tuesday that state agencies...
View ArticleGOP leader urges nonpartisan analysts to weigh in on CT budget controversy
The top Republican in the state Senate urged nonpartisan fiscal analysts Tuesday to complete their own assessment of the current state budget as soon as possible.
View ArticleNonpartisan analysts: CT budget is $78M in deficit
The state budget is running a deficit — albeit a small one — the legislature’s nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis reported Thursday. But it could have big political repercussions.
View ArticleGOP, Dems both lack solution to CT’s cycle of budget deficits
Neither Republican nor Democratic legislators' latest budget plans would spare Connecticut from grappling with another massive budget deficit two years from now, according to nonpartisan analysts.
View ArticleAnalysts: Malloy’s budget for Connecticut never was balanced
Just one month from adopting the next state budget, legislators have learned the $19 billion plan they got from Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has a $70 million hole in it, according to a new report from...
View ArticleRaising Connecticut’s kindergarten age — a help or a harm?
Personal anecdotes conflict with numerous studies saying socioeconomic status and other factors outweigh age in determining success in school. The age a child starts kindergarten has nothing to do with...
View ArticleNonpartisan analysts tracking $84M in potential cost overruns in state budget
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration isn’t projecting any troubles for the current state budget, but the legislature’s nonpartisan analysts have identified almost $84 million in potential problems....
View ArticleAfter all the campaign promises, a lot of tough choices loom
Though Connecticut’s gubernatorial contenders spent more time this fall talking about tax cuts than state budget deficits, the red ink awaiting the winner of Tuesday’s contest is very real – and can’t...
View ArticleCT budget again faces red ink as federal grants, gaming revenues shrink
Despite a small bump upward in state tax receipts, new cracks in state finances surfaced Monday that could contribute to a budget deficit forecast by week’s end. A joint report by nonpartisan analysts...
View ArticleIt’s official: CT’s budget is $89 million to $100 million in the red
The state budget received its first official deficit reports Friday when nonpartisan legislative analysts and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's administration projected shortfalls ranging from $89 million to...
View ArticleMalloy gets two extra weeks to solve next budget deficit
Despite insisting throughout the campaign that state government really wasn’t facing a deficit next year, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy asked for and received legislative approval Wednesday to postpone his...
View ArticleMalloy doesn’t get predicted revenue boost, big deficits remain
Connecticut’s economy has not eased the state’s budget crisis as Gov. Dannel P. Malloy predicted on the campaign trail last year. A new analysts’ report Thursday found tax receipts and other revenues...
View ArticleDiaper on, Connecticut! (And let’s lose the diaper tax)
It's time for Connecticut legislators to free families from the diaper tax, giving them and their children the same boost as states like Massachusetts, Minnesota and New Jersey. The Connecticut Office...
View ArticleConnecticut two steps closer to educational equity
On May 19, the Connecticut legislature took two important strides in an attempt to achieve educational equity. On that day the Senate passed bill SB 398 and the House passed HB 6844. If these bills...
View ArticleConnecticut death penalty ruling ends costly, ineffective policy
The Connecticut Supreme Court’s ruling that our state’s capital punishment law is unconstitutional has fulfilled all of the objectives of the Connecticut Network to Abolish the Death Penalty. The...
View ArticleGutting legislature’s program review staff makes no sense
Out of left field on May 4, the legislature’s bipartisan efficiency committee, Program Review & Investigations, took a direct hit of 50 percent of its personnel in the negotiated budget. The...
View ArticlePrepared food tax will hit consumers harder than lawmakers thought
A controversial tax hike on prepared foods will rake in $158 million over next two years.
View ArticleSome 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.
View ArticleState OT costs continue to creep up, but salary expenses remain way down
State agency overtime expenses continue to rise, according to a new report, but overall salary costs remain below those of a decade ago.
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