Isabel graduated cum laude from the University of Connecticut in 2017 and completed a master’s degree in Public Administration in 2018. A former Yankee intern, Isabel involved herself in politics during her time at UConn and held several internship positions including positions at the ACLU of CT and the Democracy Fund in Washington D.C.
Today, Governor Lamont joined governors in the Northeast region in signing onto the newly-released Transportation Climate Initiative (TCI) Memorandum of Understanding. The initiative would result in $388.6 million per year in increased gasoline costs across the […]
Meeting in special session, the Connecticut House of Representatives yesterday voted on an eclectic range of bills, with the most controversial centering on police reform and voting changes. Protesters outside the Capitol included unionized nursing home workers and teachers; police; self-designated representatives of Black Lives Matter; and […]
The state Department of Economic and Community Development released industry specific sector guidelines for businesses that will be permitted to reopen on May 20, the date of the first of four phases of the reopening. […]
Sine Dine with a nearly empty Capitol and LOB: In a very different scenario from the usual pomp and fanfare of the midnight adjournment of legislative session, legislative leaders in the Senate and House of […]
COVID 19 pandemic update: At yesterday’s COVID-19 briefing, Governor Lamont had the two co-chairs of the Reopen CT Advisory Board available to answer questions and discuss the possible timelines for the reopening of non-essential businesses […]
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, this week it was no surprise that legislative leaders announced the 2020 legislative session is over, and will adjourn without any further action. The constitutionally mandated adjournment date is midnight, […]
The Connecticut State Legislature will begin its 2023 session on January 4th and will adjourn on June 7th. The “long session,” as non-election years are called in Hartford, will be centered around the biennial budget. The Office of the State Comptroller reports that state government found a way to spend $47.11 billion in 2022 and, if trends continue, we can expect that number to grow even more going forward. Concerns over energy prices, inflation, and general cost of living continue to dominate the headlines and the threat of a recession hovers over economic forecasts.
What will our elected officials be working on to improve policy outcomes for Connecticut residents? What tax reform proposals will there be? What can be done to lower home heating bills? How will state and local budgets be affected by fewer federal resources? How will schools be implementing to curriculum requirements?
While we wait to see the thousands of individual and committee bills that while dominate the myriad policy debates this year, Yankee Institute is hard at work promoting free-market solutions to the problems we face from Stamford to Putnam and Mystic to Salisbury. To that end, we have produced a new edition of our Charter for Change. The Charter provides commonsense reforms to make Connecticut’s government work for its residents.
Though the list of reforms may be exhausting to review, it is far from exhaustive! And that’s why we want to work with you to build a broad-based coalition to encourage sound policy reforms to enable Connecticut residents to forge a better future for themselves and their families.
It’s also imperative that we do so. As we noted in a report and CT Mirror op-ed last year, the debate over whether we’re in a national recession really misses the point for Connecticut residents. We had more people employed in the private sector in 2007 than we do today. Our economy has grown at one of the slowest rates in the nation for the past decade, and we are getting outpaced year after year. We’re not attracting innovation and industry. We’re losing some of our best and brightest as they seek other parts of the country where it’s easier to make a living.
But together, we can reverse this trend.
At Yankee Institute, we know Connecticut is a state with boundless opportunity, and we intend to help make our state more than a place where people are just able to make ends meet! Connecticut should be a place where everyone can thrive – and with your help, it will be.