By Mark Pazniokas and Keith M. Phaneuf

In his final State of the State address, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy today proposed a progressive agenda to the legislators who shut him out of last year’s budget talks.

First Lady Cathy Malloy with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and their granddaughter at today’s opening session. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Clarice Silber for CTMirror.org

He promised to help fellow Democrats to raise the minimum wage, enact a family paid medical leave law, address sexual harassment and take a stand on pay equity as acts of “Connecticut fairness.”

His attempt to shape the political agenda of his final year as governor was an early effort to shape his legacy.

Malloy cast his proposals as overdue expansions and updates of policies enacted in his tumultuous first seven years in office, including first-in-the-nation laws that raised the minimum wage to $10.10 and required certain private employers to offer paid sick days.

By Keith M. Phaneuf and Clarice Silber

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy today recommended two measures aimed at protecting Connecticut households and businesses that may face higher federal taxes under the plan passed recently by Congress.

One would allow municipalities to create charitable organizations to support local services, offering property tax credits in exchange.

A second would help small businesses to reduce federal income tax liability through a change in how they pay taxes to the state — at no cost to Connecticut.

The governor acknowledged that federal tax officials might challenge such moves as an end-run around the new U.S. income tax system. But Malloy said it’s still worth doing.

By Keith M. Phaneuf, Mark Pazniokas, and Jacqueline Rabe Thomas

Unveiling his final budget proposal two days early, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy today challenged legislators to take politically difficult steps to close modest deficits in the current, two-year budget and mitigate larger shortfalls looming after the November elections.

Malloy, who is not seeking re-election, recommended eliminating a middle-class income tax credit, boosting cigarette, hotel and real estate conveyance taxes, closing a sales tax exemption for over-the-counter medications, and stretching out spiking teacher pension costs similarly to last year’s restructuring of government contributions to the state employees’ pension.

Spending growth in the $20.7 billion proposal is limited to 0.3 percent while many programs would face cutbacks compared with the preliminary 2018-19 budget adopted last October.

Malloy’s plan came two days before the opening of the short, even-year legislative session, when the administration normally releases its proposed revisions to the two-year budget.

By Keith M. Phaneuf

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy will ask legislators this year to establish electronic tolling on Connecticut highways by mid-2022 and to phase in a seven-cent gasoline tax hike to not only avert insolvency in the transportation program but also fund a major, 30-year rebuilding initiative.

Malloy, who announced his plans today, will propose the final budget adjustments of his administration next week to the General Assembly.

The governor, who declared last year he would not seek a third term, said these revenues would rescue not only an aging, clogged network but also an economy handicapped by an inadequate transportation infrastructure.

“We stand at a crossroads in Connecticut,” the governor said during a mid-morning announcement at the Capitol. “We need to make a decision, and we need to make it soon.”

By Keith M. Phaneuf

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the state Senate’s top Republican today intensified their debate over an issue expected to be the focal point in Malloy’s final budget proposal: transportation.

The Democratic governor accused Sen. Len Fasano, R-North Haven, of misleading the public about an impending transportation crisis.

Fasano countered the governor and his fellow Democrats were rushing forward without sufficient information.

Though Malloy hasn’t disclosed specifics, the governor is expected to urge lawmakers to support higher gasoline taxes and tolls to fund a major transportation investment program.