WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government awards billions of dollars in contracts each year to companies that routinely violate safety, health and wage regulations, according to a report released Wednesday that calls for stricter measures to hold federal contractors accountable. The study from Democratic leaders on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee found that nearly 30 percent of companies hit with the highest penalties for federal labor law violations from 2007 to 2012 were also federal contractors. The report identifies 49 federal contractors that paid $196 million in penalties for nearly 1,800 violations over the six-year period. The same contractors received more than $81 billion in taxpayer dollars in 2012. "I fear we are all too often paying companies that fail to pay their workers what they have earned and that regularly subject those workers to unsafe working conditions," said Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, who chairs the Senate HELP Committee and commissioned the report. The U.S. government spends over $500 billion each year paying private companies for services ranging from weapons and construction to cleaning and security services. Federal spending for service work alone has tripled since 2000, from $99 billion to $307 billion. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING
STORRS, Conn. (AP) — The University of Connecticut is getting out of the municipal water business. The school's Board of Trustees approved a deal Wednesday with the Connecticut Water Co. for the company to supplement UConn's water supply. The agreement also calls for Connecticut Water to supply parts of Mansfield, including Storrs, that currently rely on the university for their water. A separate deal is being worked out with the town. "The university does a lot of things, but running a water supply system is not essentially a core competency of the University of Connecticut," said Thomas Callahan, UConn associate vice president for infrastructure planning and strategic project management. Under the agreement, Connecticut Water will absorb the estimated $21 million it will cost to build a 5-mile pipeline from Tolland to the campus. The school is expected to spend about $2 million to hook the line up to its existing system. The agreement calls for the company to sell the school up to 1.5 million gallons of water daily as needed over the next 46 years. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING
Developer looks for tax incentives from Norwich
Norwich - Mayor Deberey Hinchey and the new City Council hope to hear answers Monday to questions pertaining to a hotel developer's request for $2.8 million in tax breaks over a 20-year period to take over a defunct hotel construction project on Route 82 at Interstate 395. Raleigh, N.C.-based Winston Hospitality Inc. completed a two-year complex foreclosure against the former owner, PRA at Norwich LLC. and numerous other lien holders in May for what had been a nearly completed hotel building at 154 Salem Turnpike. Winston Chief Executive Officer Robert W. Winston III presented a plan to the previous City Council in November that would call for investing $12.7 million to rejuvenate the hotel into a 113-room Hampton Inn. The firm is seeking a tax break in the form of tax increment financing in which $140,000 in property taxes per year for 20 years owed to the city would instead be used to pay off project debt. Tax increment financing is allowed in Connecticut by state law, but has restrictions. The council on Monday will hear a report from several city economic development, legal and financial officials on how the program would work and what the costs and benefits would be to the city. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE READING