Keith M. Phaneuf / CT Mirror

The legislature’s Finance Committee agreed to explore income tax cuts aimed at the middle class, the working poor, renters and businesses on Wednesday, but the Democrat-controlled panel also renewed its push to raise more from Connecticut’s wealthiest households.

State contracting watchdog officials say they would lose their power to suspend improper or illegal procurements under Gov. Ned Lamont’s latest budget proposal.

House Republicans unveiled the Capitol’s most aggressive tax-cutting plan to date Wednesday, pitching a combination of ongoing and one-time relief worth more than $700 million and centered on middle-income households and small and mid-sized businesses.

Gov. Ned Lamont proposed a new state budget Wednesday that shifts hundreds of millions of dollars in federal pandemic relief outside of normal appropriations, funds a middle-class property tax relief program and makes major new investments in social services, health care, education and economic development.

Gov. Ned Lamont is expected largely to push the status quo on Wednesday when he delivers his latest proposals for the 2022-23 fiscal year.

The quasi-public Connecticut Port Authority, which is overseeing development of a major wind-to-energy project in Long Island Sound, launched a public-private partnership in 2020 without proper authority to do so, the State Contracting Standards Board concluded Friday.

Gov. Ned Lamont announced a $336 million tax relief plan Wednesday centered on capping car tax rates and expanding an income tax credit for middle-class property owners.

Connecticut officials have ignored for decades the effects of inflation on the state income tax, an oversight that costs low- and middle-income families tens of millions of dollars annually, according to a new report.

Despite Connecticut families losing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal COVID aid since September, state government’s revenues have swelled to record levels, according to a report released Tuesday.

Unions say labor shortage will worsen unless workers harmed by COVID-19 are compensated