Gov. Ned Lamont’s state of the state address this week hit many of the right notes – Connecticut’s people need a bit of cheerfulness and optimism after eight years of the opposite. But… (You knew that was coming, didn’t you?) After listening closely to his State of the State address, ...
Gov. Dannel Malloy released his 4th budget proposal this year in an effort to reach a bipartisan consensus to pass a budget. Connecticut is well over 100 days into the new fiscal year, and is the last state in the nation without a budget. Touting it as a “bare bones” budget, Malloy eliminated many of the controversial proposals from both Republican and Democrat authored budget plans, but still shifts some of the state's burden onto municipalities.
As Connecticut faces a continuing budget crisis, a new study has found Connecticut has the third highest taxpayer burden in the nation due to its unfunded pension liabilities. Connecticut’s high debt burden earned it the classification as a “sinkhole state.”
With the state facing a $3.5 billion budget hole and the legislature unable to reach a budget agreement, Gov. Dannel Malloy put forth a revised budget which offers a mix of smaller tax increases and municipal cuts. The governor’s "compromise" budget offers some mandate relief to municipalities but would require towns to pay a portion of teacher pensions, albeit less than his original budget proposal.
Reports surfaced Monday about a tentative deal between Gov. Dannel Malloy and the state employee labor unions to achieve $1.5 billion in concessions over the next two years and extend the state employee contract to 2027. However, a five year contract extension will mean Connecticut will be saddled with the union deal, negotiated by Gov. John Rowland, for as long as most people have mortgages.
Billionaire and hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones has left Connecticut and moved to Florida according to a report in Bloomberg News. Jones, the head of Tudor Investment Corp., opened an office in Palm Beach, Florida, and registered to vote there in November 2015. Jones’ 2014 income as a hedge fund manager was listed as $600 million by CNN Money, which would make his annual income tax about $30 million per year. The state of Florida has no income tax.