The General Assembly’s finance committee had an amendment ready last week to add Sunday liquor sales to an unrelated sales-tax bill, but declined to bring it up for a vote. Sunday liquor sales, a perennial issue at the Capitol in recent years, would have been added to a bill charging sales tax to room [...]
“At some point this debate is not about spending in the abstract. It’s about what the proper role of government is,” said Ed Crane, founder and president of the Cato Institute, at a luncheon held April 14 by the Yankee Institute for Public Policy. “Somebody has to stand up and say, ‘You know what, [...]
[This article appeared in Budget & Tax News, published by the Heartland Institute, on April 25, 2011.) Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy took office in January knowing he had to balance a budget deficit in excess of $3 billion. Malloy, the former Mayor of Stamford and a Democrat, makes $150,000 a year under a state law [...]
Congressman Jim Himes told a group of Hartford business leaders Thursday that Congress is “playing with fire” by debating whether to increase the debt ceiling. Himes, D-4th, said hesitation puts the full faith and credit of the U.S. government in jeopardy. “We have to do the hard work,” he said. “We shouldn’t be governing by [...]
Update your GPS. Bridgeport just got bigger. Forty-eight acres formerly in Trumbull are now in Bridgeport. Gov. Dannel Malloy signed Senate Bill 1238, a special act changing the municipal-boundary line between Bridgeport and Trumbull, Saturday after the General Assembly passed it unanimously. The state made the boundary change because Bridgeport and Trumbull could not come [...]
“One thing I feel strongly about is American exceptionalism,” said Ed Crane, founder and president of the Cato Institute, at a luncheon held Thursday by the Yankee Institute for Public Policy. Crane said he objects to President Barack Obama’s view of American exceptionalism, which he showed while taking questions in Germany. “Some kid asked [...]
The rich benefits of state-employee pension plans are well known. Many critics suggest they should be changed from defined-benefit to defined-contribution plans. Connecticut already has an optional defined-contribution plan, similar to a 401(k), higher education employees can choose, forgoing their pensions. The Alternate Retirement Program is designed to give employees additional flexibility and portability, while [...]
The Connecticut General Assembly is considering a bill that would prevent employers from talking about religious or political topics with their employees, the two forms of speech most protected by the First Amendment. The labor and public employees committee has already approved the bill. It is awaiting action by the House and Senate. “This content-based [...]
Connecticut’s accountants have noticed an unhappy pattern. The state is: 50th in debt per person 48th in debt as a share of personal income 49th in funding of pensions 49th in amount of working capital The Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants is running a campaign, called Fix Our Future, to raise awareness of Connecticut’s [...]
The University of Connecticut Health Center malpractice account is underfunded with only enough money to cover one-third of the estimated claims against the state-owned hospital. Two years ago, this underfunding would have been illegal. The state required the health center to deposit money in the account on an actuarial basis. But then the state needed [...]
