Beware of what you write on social media because thin-skinned elected officials might be able to tattle if a new bill studying online harassment passes. On March 20, the Government Administration and Elections Committee heard […]
Only in government can bad ideas breathe new life The Environment Committee is meeting Friday (March 24) to vote on a bill that would allow the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) to implement […]
The University of Connecticut (UConn) and the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities (CSCU) are requesting lawmakers provide more funding for capital improvement projects than allocated in Gov. Ned Lamont’s proposed budget. Dr. Radenka Marci, […]
Connecticut lawmakers have introduced several bills that would expand the state’s and local housing authorities’ eminent domain powers for environmental protection purposes, as well as the creation of bike paths. H.B. 6593 — An Act Concerning […]
Last month, the Connecticut Comptroller’s Office released its statutorily required report on savings generated by Gov. Dannel Malloy’s 2017 deal with the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC), which consists of 15 unions representing 45,000 […]
Ricky Bobby, a character from the racing comedy movie Talladega Nights, has the life motto, “If you ain’t first, you’re last.” Well Connecticut is first — but also last, disappointedly topping yet another list as […]
Connecticut legislators are proposing an amendment that would provide new “inherent, inalienable, and indefeasible” environmental rights to the state constitution. The proposed amendment states that each Connecticut resident shall have the “individual right to clean […]
Since the November elections, Gov. Ned Lamont and lawmakers have proposed revisiting the way Connecticut residents vote, offering ranked choice voting as an alternative. Several pieces of legislation have been introduced, including House Bill 5712 […]
Labor unions may have been given access to the private information of 68 million citizens who received free COVID-19 test kits from the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). The permission to sensitive data was discovered by […]
Earlier this year, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission set the national conversation ablaze, receiving immediate backlash for stating that a ban on natural gas stoves was “on the table,” according to its commissioner. […]
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.