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. […]
A minimum-wage increase is likely coming. It should arrive in the form of a home-rule option to raise the rate to some maximum and should be offset by cuts in regulatory costs on the hardest-hit […]
In a classic Saturday Night Live skit, Will Ferrell played a goofy George W. Bush and debated Darrell Hammond as a boring, one-note Al Gore in the lead up to the 2000 Presidential Election. When […]
CTFastrak will be part of Gov. Dannel Malloy's legacy in Connecticut and has been a political talking point for both sides of the aisle for years. A 12-hour bus ride helps tell the history, effect […]
The U.S. Department of Labor has ruled in favor of a challenge to the election of Jody Barr as executive director of AFSCME Council 4, according to emails from AFSCME Chief of Staff Troy Raccuia.
Connecticut State Auditors found 47 students were enrolled in magnet schools outside of the lottery process during the 2016-2017 school year in a new audit of the State Department of Education, potentially violating the 1996 […]
Connecticut’s unions mounted a strong push to support Democratic Party candidates – including gubernatorial candidate Ned Lamont -- in the final weeks leading up to election day. Spending has topped out at more than $1 […]
Connecticut saw a net loss of loss of $2.6 billion to other states in 2016, and those migrating into the state earned only 55 percent of those who left, according to a study from the […]
Imagine a workplace in which you feel it necessary to video-record yourself making a trip to the bathroom in case you are confronted by colleagues; where employees allegedly hire private investigators to follow each other […]
Empty school desks and chairs were arranged on the steps of the U.S. District Courthouse in Bridgeport Tuesday for a press conference with parents of children who have been denied entry into magnet schools because […]
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.