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State Government Afraid to “Pull the Trigger” on Spending Cuts
While the weather may have been rather pleasant on January 8th, the new Connecticut legislative session opened that day with a rather ominous fiscal cloud overhead. According to the Office of Fiscal Analysis, the expected revenue for the year has once again been...
Supreme Court nominee used Gmail account for official duties
Supreme Court nominee Andrew McDonald used a private email account in his official capacity as general counsel to Gov. Dannel Malloy on at least three occasions, according to emails obtained by Raising Hale, raising questions about whether he used the account to evade...
State database to track medical costs, which could increase competition in the healthcare marketplace
The state is moving closer to the creation of a database that will track the intimate details of our medical choices – linking our social security numbers, dates of birth and other demographic information to the health care we receive. While the regulations for this...
Contrary to biography on city website, New Haven official wasn’t drafted by Knicks
New Haven City Clerk Ron Smith was not drafted by the New York Knicks, and he never played for the team, contrary to his official biography on the city’s website. Smith said he didn’t know how the error entered his biography. “Somebody made a big blunder,” he said....
Audit faults DECD for overtime without permission, overpayments and failing to review employees
Auditors found a state employee worked overtime “for approximately one hour a day for almost the entirety of fiscal year 2009” without approval from the agency’s commissioner as required by department policy. Despite the claim by auditors that they found no evidence...
Political Shell Games Taking a “Toll” on Voter Trust
As the state once again finds itself in a fiscal hole, legislators scramble to offer new (or in this case, not so new) ways to raise much-needed revenue for the state. With expected cuts to state and municipal aid at the federal level and a budget storm rumbling in...
New Affiliated Writer To Raising Hale
I would like to take a moment to introduce myself to the Raising Hale community. My name is Zack Albert and I will now be adding, on a weekly basis, to the news and commentary found on this site. Beginning today I will be posting to the site each Wednesday on a...
Middle-management bloat: General Assembly has 99 leaders out of 187 members
Despite already outnumbering rank-and-file members, Connecticut’s legislative leadership grew this year to 99 leaders in the 187-member General Assembly. Each legislator with a leadership title gets a small pay increase. Twenty-seven committee chairmen and 19 ranking...
Will lawmakers tackle Connecticut’s fiscal mess this session?
According to all signs and indicators Connecticut is in a financial mess. While other states are starting to see signs of recovery and job growth, Connecticut still faces high unemployment, continued budget deficits and an onerous tax burden on the state’s families....
Connecticut’s state-employee safety net
My latest post to Public Sector Inc.: … Whoever Connecticut’s next governor is – whether Malloy wins, loses or takes a job in Washington – his or her single most important task will be to negotiate a new agreement with state employees. If...