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Capital Concerns
Campaign Finance Reports Swamp State Auditors
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Business New Haven
4/20/1998
By: BNH
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More than 10,000 reports of individual campaign contributions will be filed as the 1998 elections approach, and the state's Election Enforcement Commission says it just can't keep pace.
The commission has just two auditors who review campaign finance reports, which this year are pouring into the office at a record pace. To make matters worse for the auditors, the caseload of election complaints is also on the rise, contributors are sometimes not being identified, and felons remain on voter lists. More than 200 cases were examined in 1997, up from less than 100 in the early 1980s.
Jeffrey B. Garfield, the commission's executive director, says his agency is having a hard enough time simply conducting spot audits.
The crunch may ease next year, though, because all statewide campaigns that raise more than $250,000 will be required by law to file computerized reports.
Hungry for Trained Workers, Manufacturers Design New Plan
Signs of a labor shortage, particularly in manufacturing, continue to proliferate around the state.
In greater Hartford, the shortage of machinists is so dire that manufacturers have stepped in, offering equipment and tuition to help three state colleges train new workers under the Precision Machining Training Program. Manufacturers kicked in $750,000 to train 120 students at Capital Community-Technical College, Manchester Community-Technical College and Asnuntuck Community-Technical College.
Meanwhile, recent projections by the Manufacturing Alliance of Connecticut Inc. indicate that manufacturers could add as many as 12,000 jobs to the workforce in the foreseeable if trained employees are available to hire.
Minimum Wage
Increase Hits Snag
A proposal to raise the minimum wage has hit a snag over concerns that it could affect municipal and state contracts, such as those that pay lifeguards and other summer workers.
The house delayed final approval of the bill - the senate previously passed it 27-8 - and it was sent to the legislature's budget-writing Appropriations Committee. Democratic leaders say the bill will be passed this session. And Gov. John G. Rowland, who opposed a wage hike two years ago, has said he will sign the bill if it gets to his desk unaltered.
However, Republicans are said to be pushing for several amendments to the proposal, including phasing in three 33-cent increases over three years; exempting 16- and 17-year-old workers from receiving the increase; and excluding a wage hike for restaurant workers who receive tips. Such workers receive an hourly minimum base pay that is 23 percent less than the minimum wage.
The bill as drafted would add $1 by the year 2000 to the state's minimum hourly wage of $5.18 in two 50-cent hikes. The federal minimum wage is $5.15.
Comptroller Says
Budget Surplus Will Pass $300 Million Mark
State Comptroller Nancy Wyman, estimating that the state's year-end budget surplus will climb to more than $300 million for the first time in more than a decade, urged lawmakers to use the money for taxpayer rebates, fill the state's rainy day fund and pay down some of the state debt.
The projected General Fund surplus of $303 million continues to be fueled by a strong economy that is producing low unemployment and unexpectedly high revenues from the state income tax. Wyman estimates that the state will take in about $3.5 billion from the income tax this fiscal year, or nearly $380 million more than was originally projected.
Wyman says her plan is a permanent and more direct form of relief for taxpayers than other tax-cutting proposals now being considered by the legislature, including an additional two-cent-per-gallon reduction in the gasoline tax.
On the Web:
OPM's Energy Unit
The state Office of Policy & Management's Energy Unit administers two grant programs and provides numerous energy-related services to businesses and state agencies. You can find out about many of its programs, including small-business energy services, natural gas procurement assistance, various publications and even software on its Web site.
Check it out at: http://www.state.ct.us/opm/pdpd/energy/enserv.htm#Assistance
To make comments or suggestions for the
government section, contact freelance writer Jennifer M. Gangloff through BNH or via
e-mail at jgangloff@erols.com.
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