United Van Lines released its National Migration Study on Monday and, despite the pandemic and a hot real estate market, Connecticut was once again in the top five states that saw more people moving out. […]
How can the state reduce education spending (save money on education) while continuing to support high – and improving – educational achievement? The answer likely includes some specific instances of gradual school consolidation and school-service […]
In the new horror film Bird Box, Sandra Bullock must navigate a post-apocalyptic world blind-folded so as not to see inter-dimensional creatures so horrifying they drive normal people insane. The film has inspired the best […]
Two House Democrats filed a bill to make restrictions in union membership cards state law, potentially opening Connecticut to a legal challenge based on the Supreme Court’s Janus v. AFSCME decision. Proposed Bill 6936 was […]
**Update: Senate Democrats have confirmed the figure of 40,000 students was a mistake in the bill. Instead, the regionalization effort would apply to towns with less than 40,000 total population. The article below is amended […]
Officials in the Uniformed Professional Fire Fighters Association of Connecticut used dues money to fund the Miss Connecticut Scholarship Organization, pay for trips for UPFFA President Peter Carozza and his fiancé, and borrowed money from […]
State employee unions gained 2,952 members between April and December of 2018, according to figures from the State Comptroller’s Office, but half of those gains came from just two bargaining units: Corrections Officers and the […]
Two proposed bills – one allowing union re-certification elections and another ensuring labor contract language complies with the Supreme Court’s Janus decision – were filed with the House of Representatives and referred to the Labor […]
In the six months since the controversial Supreme Court decision in Janus v. AFSCME, state employee unions gained 2,952 members but lost income from 11 percent of state employees, according to a comparison of union […]
Democrat Leaders in the Connecticut House and Senate indicated they would be willing to reduce the gasoline tax in order to gain public and political support for tolls. Senate President Martin Looney, D-New Haven, said […]
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.