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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Research Group: Scissors Aren’t the Only Way to Balance the CT Budget

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Thursday, December 17, 2009   

HARTFORD, Conn. - Budget cutting should not be the only way to dig the state out of its budget hole, according to Connecticut Voices for Children. The research group is calling for a balanced approach, after finding that 36 percent of the governor's budget cuts directly affect children.

One cut, for example, is in early care spending that makes child care more affordable. The group also points to large cuts in aid to cities and towns, which are likely to dig into public school funding.

Connecticut Voices executive director Jamey Bell says that just like a family facing tough finances, balancing the bottom line takes a combination of cutting while also raising revenue. She says several options exist for the state, including closing corporate tax loopholes.

"To get the state through this period, there must be some shared sacrifice that all sectors - families, communities, businesses - can all commit to."

Bell says one existing loophole allows companies to move money to other states where they operate, to avoid paying Connecticut taxes. The business lobby has warned that changing tax laws could result in lost jobs.

Bell says another option is delaying, or maybe canceling, the scheduled reduction in the estate tax.

"Right now is not a time to be giving tax breaks to wealthy families' heirs, when we're really talking about very drastic cuts that will harm kids and families."

Some economists say raising any taxes during a recession is a bad idea. However, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a research-based policy think tank, finds that states that raise taxes during a recession are usually the quickest to rebound from the economic downturn.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities research is available at www.cbpp.org.




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