By Laura Davison, includes “Residents of New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut will face the highest tax burdens over a lifetime, according to a new study.”

Includes “Investors seeking higher returns and lower taxes are scooping up debt sold by state and local governments, pushing borrowing costs to record lows and boosting funding from California to Connecticut. “

By Ronni Newton, includes “… The POBs will virtually eliminate the town’s existing unfunded pension liability, funding it at 100% while also leveling annual payments for the next 30 years … POBs will create an obligation for the town – a hard liability – as opposed to the soft liability of just paying ADEC … All six Democrats … voted in favor of issuing the POBs. … Fay said that this approach looks at the asset size, but she believes the pension liability is still going to grow and will put the town at risk. In voting against the measure, Fay said she would like to see a more holistic approach to looking at the pensions to ‘drive that liability down.’ …”

By Scott Rasmussen, includes “… On a percentage basis, the biggest increases were found in Idaho, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah.”

Last week this column examined the government pension racket in Connecticut through the example of the “retirement” of New Haven Police Chief Tony Reyes, who is only 49 and is giving up his city salary of $170,000 to become police chief at Quinnipiac University in adjacent Hamden.

The principle of inclusive economic growth, holistic strategies aimed at helping all income groups prosper, is appealing in concept to state Sen. Saud Anwar, a physician for the past 25 years.

Connecticut acted fast. Social distancing, lockdowns and testing slashed Covid-19 cases in the spring.

Connecticut’s budget forecast has continued to improve as revenues from sales, income and real estate taxes exceed earlier projections.

Here’s a possible solution to Connecticut’s transportation and infrastructure problems and the state’s current unemployment woes: a WPA-style building project.

The 2020 Financial State of the States report surveys the fiscal health of the 50 states prior to the coronavirus pandemic. This data is released today by Truth in Accounting (TIA), a think tank that analyzes government financial reporting.

Student debt is at an all-time high of $1.5 trillion. College is more expensive than ever as it is estimated the cost of tuition has raised about 25 percent in the last 25 years, and it shows no signs of slowing down.

The state comptroller projected Monday that Connecticut will finish the recently completed fiscal year with a $128.1 million deficit, adding that the future of the state’s economy will be dependent on federal action.

It’s crunch time for U.S. states as they face their worst fiscal crisis in decades brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic that’s decimated tax collections.

Even before the coronavirus slammed the economy, Connecticut’s unemployment trust fund had only about half the amount it would need to weather a recession. 

Connecticut continues to pay millions of dollars annually in pension benefits in excess of federal and contractual limits, a problem that’s gone unresolved for nearly a decade, state auditors reported Monday.

How laughable that state legislators from both parties are starting to express annoyance with Governor Lamont -- some about the pace of reopening commerce amid the virus epidemic, others about financial issues.

How large could the shortfall in state government general revenues be, amidst the coronavirus and related crises? 

The House recently passed a plan for the federal government to spend another $3 trillion to help mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Congress should stop this proposal in its tracks — particularly its elements that are unrelated to the pandemic.

“Marie Antoinette said ‘let them eat cake’ and Mitch McConnell said ‘maybe let them [states] file for bankruptcy.’” So lamented Gov. Ned Lamont, in response to Senator McConnell’s suggestion that states whose financial distress has been made worse by the coronavirus should consider bankruptcy instead of looking to Congress for federal aid.

The coronavirus pandemic is paving the way for a state budget crisis that will likely be deeper than any Maine has seen in decades.