CONNECTICUT CHARITIES GET BOOST:

Travelers Property Casualty Corp. and The St. Paul Cos., which are planning to merge, have promised to increase charitable giving in Connecticut by more than $800,000 this year. Hartford-based Travelers and Minnesota’s St. Paul Cos. gave $2.7 million to Connecticut causes last year and plan to donate $3.5 million in the state this year, executives of the companies told regulators at a Feb. 17 public hearing on the merger, which is expected to be completed by the end of June. The new company, to be known as The St. Paul Travelers Cos. Inc., would give $3.5 million in Connecticut each year at least through 2006, Travelers Chief Executive Officer Robert I. Lipp said at the Connecticut Insurance Department hearing. “With the increased size and economic power of the company, we felt it would be appropriate,” he said. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who spoke at the hearing, said Travelers “has been particularly attuned to the needs” of Hartford and the surrounding area and he hopes the companies sustain their commitment. Travelers, in the first year since Citigroup spun it off, says it donated about $2.6 million in Connecticut through The Travelers Foundation to education, health and human services, community development and arts and culture last year. The St. Paul contributed about $146,000 in 2003 to Connecticut-based organizations.