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State - Budget
Keep Current on the State’s Budget with CTMirror

Keep Current on the State’s Budget with CTMirror.org at http://ctmirror.org/money

 

 

January 6, 2012

State's cash flow problem sparks partisan feud

By Keith M. Phaneuf

While House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero, R-Norwalk, tried to link the cash flow problem to an unstable state budget, Office of Policy and Management Secretary Benjamin Barnes countered that it stems from decades of fiscal gimmicks that preceded the current administration.

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January 5, 2012

Proposed cap on gas tax could suffer from poor timing

By Keith M. Phaneuf

With gas prices climbing again, a Meriden lawmaker and service stations want to put the brakes on a volatile state fuel tax that accelerates prices hikes even further. But with taxpayers still recovering from the $1.5 billion increase in all state taxes last year, any plan to revisit taxes in the coming legislative session could be doomed.

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January 4, 2012

Watchdogs urge lawmakers to limit Executive Branch oversight

By Keith M. Phaneuf

The divisions of state government's new and loosely unified watchdog agency found a common voice this week as they opposed recommendations that would increase executive branch oversight of their missions. Leaders of the right-to-know, clean elections and ethics agencies, along with the child advocate, urged lawmakers in a new report not to enhance the powers of the new executive administrator of the Office of Governmental Accountability.

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December 31, 2011

Despite challenges, state can influence 2012 economic outcome

By Keith M. Phaneuf

"There's never been a time in my 30 years when there have been so many wild cards on the table," economist Don Klepper-Smith said this week. "I can't recall a time when we've had so many risks out there, both upside risks and downside risks."

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December 29, 2011

Prison population headed for an 11-year-low in 2012

By Keith M. Phaneuf

After dropping by nearly 4 percent in 2011, Connecticut's prison population is on pace to dip below 17,000 inmates in early January after hitting an 11-year-low earlier this month, according to the state's Criminal Justice Policy and Planning Division.

And former state Rep. Michael P. Lawlor, who has led the division for the past year, said Thursday that the inmate ranks should decline at a similar pace in 2012 as Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's administration looks to close a third prison in two years.

December 22, 2011

 

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Your credit card bill is high? The state owes $19.5 billion

By Keith M. Phaneuf

Holiday shoppers aren't the only ones taking a wary look at their credit card balances these days. State government recently undertook its own annual debt review, looking from several perspectives, but coming to the same conclusion each time: Connecticut remains one of the most indebted states in the nation.

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