This Monday, Gov. Ned Lamont and the General Assembly are expected to vote during a special legislative session on whether to extend the 25-cents per gallon gas tax holiday, which expires Dec. 1. Waived last […]
House Republican leadership is questioning the constitutionality of a proposed “Equitable Investment Fund” that would use new and increased taxes on capital gains, digital advertising, sports gambling, marijuana sales and a second income tax on […]
Republican leaders today announced they are partnering with No Tolls CT to hold a series of rallies around the state to oppose the Transportation and Climate Initiative and the highway use tax on trucks, which […]
The General Assembly’s joint Finance, Revenue and Bonding committee observed the 30th anniversary of Connecticut’s state income tax by imposing a new, separate income tax on the state’s top earners. The committee approved a 25-part measure which includes a new “consumption tax” on state residents with federal adjusted gross […]
The Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee heard testimony Monday regarding a property tax cap bill that would cap property tax increases at 2.5 percent but allow municipalities to levy a sales or income tax to […]
The legislature’s Environment Committee today voted 21-11 to pass a bill authorizing Connecticut to participate in the Transportation and Climate Initiative, an multi-state initiative that would require gasoline producers to purchase carbon credits at auction. […]
Since its inception in 1991, Connecticut’s income tax has been raised four times, new brackets have been added, and the income tax has become the state’s largest source of revenue, projected to bring in $9.4 […]
Three decades have passed since the historic budget crisis that culminated in the creation of Connecticut’s personal income tax.The tax was enacted out of desperation: a roaring private sector buoyed a multi-year explosion in state spending, which left state government deep in the red as the economy slowed and tax revenues sank. Connecticut’s income tax experience has been a cautionary tale about increasing the state’s reliance on higher-earners
Businesses that have not been making the .5 percent employee pay deduction for Connecticut’s Paid Family and Medical Leave program could be left paying the cost out of their own pocket, according to a March […]
Connecticut has the second largest tax burden in the United States, according to a new report by the Washington D.C.-based Tax Foundation, which measured the economic impact of taxes on residents in each state as […]
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.