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It Could Happen Here: Profanity police
The town of Middleborough, Mass., recently revived a ban on swearing in public after foregoing enforcement for over 40 years. The law allows officers to use their own judgment to give a $20 fine to anyone using curse words. According to the Boston Globe, residents...
Legislature violates its own spending rules
The General Assembly violated its own rules by spending leftover money at the end of the fiscal year, overspent on electricity and provided an $84-per-visitor subsidy to the Old State House, according to auditors. The Auditors of Public Accounts found the Joint...
The individual mandate (tax) won’t work
I explained why I don’t think the individual mandate will work at a January speech to the Connecticut chapter of the Federalist Society. I included the text of those arguments in a blog post here: Once you reach 133.01% of FPL, things stop being so clear. At...
It Could Happen Here: Savings, unknown
Canada’s Parliamentary Budget Officer wants to know how the government plans to save $5.2 billion. The departments say the savings are “efficiencies,” but won’t give any more details, forcing the PBO to go to court. Parliament created the PBO because Conservatives...
This is why we have a U.S. Department of Education?
Wallingford schools will receive almost $70,000 in federal grants, according to the New Haven Register, for “electronic success programs,” teaching entrepreneurship and starting an aquaculture program. The Register reports Wallingford officials didn’t even know about...
COMMENTARY: Political shell games
Give the governor a round of applause! He has successfully convinced the Connecticut-based Alexion Pharmaceuticals to move from one Connecticut location to…another Connecticut location. Meanwhile, the state still continues to struggle to create jobs, attract business,...
CT pensions worth about 50 cents for each $1 in pay
Pensions for Connecticut state employees are worth nearly 50 percent of their income, according to a memo from the state Comptroller, only exceeded by the value of pensions for judges, worth about 58 percent of income. Regular state employee pensions are worth 46.01...
Accounting board votes to change pension rules for state and local governments
Norwalk, Conn. – State and local governments will need to disclose unfunded pension promises alongside debt on their balance sheets beginning in 2015 after an oversight board voted unanimously Monday to change relevant accounting rules. The rule change will not change...
The New York Times is wrong about smoothing
From what I can tell, the New York Times is wrong when it says GASB is getting rid of actuarial smoothing: The board will also do away with the commonplace practice of “smoothing” the value of pension investments, or spreading the recognition of market gains and...
Board set to vote on pension accounting changes
The nonprofit board charged with regulating accounting for state and local governments in the U.S. will take up a proposal Monday to change the way the public sector reports on pensions. The Governmental Accounting Standards Board is scheduled to vote on two new sets...