It’s easy to see the rationale behind the deal. How could offering pasty-faced Connecticut residents direct flights to Ireland fail to rake in the cash? But things didn’t quite take off as expected so now, along with buses and trains, Connecticut is subsidizing airline travel — a sort of public transportation system for the sky.
In the face of declining tax revenues and weak job reports, state lawmakers have to decide whether or not to continue to fund Governor Malloy's controversial First Five Plus program, which is scheduled to end this year. To fund the program, the state borrows money, which it then hands out to major corporations through grants, low interest loans and tax subsidies in order to create jobs. Commissioner Catherine Smith of the Department of Economic and Community Development testified before the Commerce Committee on March 15 that the program should continue for another three years.