Keith M. Phaneuf / CT Mirror

Members of the Citizens' Assembly talk about reforming Connecticut’s property tax system.

Hundreds of immigrants lawfully present in Connecticut are slated to lose their Medicare coverage by January, the latest federal cutback that’s spurred some lawmakers and advocates here to call for state intervention.

The General Assembly adopted a $28.1 billion state budget that orders major new investments in municipal aid and affordable childcare and restructures Connecticut’s tax on hospitals to leverage more federal aid and assist the industry.

Connecticut officials are bracing for a key federal nutrition assistance program to stop abruptly in 10 days, absent intervention from President Trump’s administration or an end to the federal government shutdown.

Leaders say saving rules likely to evolve as federal aid shrinks.

The Democratic-controlled Senate voted along party lines to adopt the $55.8 billion two-year budget, which now heads to Gov. Ned Lamont for his expected signature. But the plan still may be tweaked before the General Assembly adjourns because of problems with a related hospital tax increase.

The plan scales back increases to health care providers and reforms the state's "fiscal guardrails."

Talk of abandoning the two-year cycle — a planning tool enacted in 1991 to temper public frustration over the newly created state income tax — drew criticism from Gov. Ned Lamont, who said legislators need to provide a long-range plan that would give predictability to municipalities and taxpayers.

Gov. Ned Lamont declares the state's first spending cap emergency since 2007.