UConn Health Center is facing $114 million loss in revenue after the coronavirus pandemic emptied beds and ended a large number of medical procedures, according to the budget presentation given to the UConn Board of […]
Barring another extension of Gov. Ned Lamont’s executive order, Connecticut’s 10 cent tax on single-use plastic grocery bags will return on Wednesday, July 1. Lamont initially suspended the plastic bag tax until May 15 in […]
The University of Connecticut is facing an estimated $50 million budget shortfall due to the COVID-19 pandemic and is having to furlough managers and cut its athletics department to make up for the deficit. Although […]
A Connecticut State Police contract passed by the legislature in 2019 is being interpreted broadly by the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection to block freedom of information requests, according to the Connecticut Freedom […]
In a June 8 letter to their 1,500 members who work in Connecticut’s judicial system, AFSCME Local 749 President Ron Nelson warned of an effort to lure members away from AFSCME to a new union. […]
With Connecticut’s budget on the rocks and a state employee pay increase just weeks away, SEIU 1199 launched a commercial on television and social media saying some politicians are “going to take away my wages […]
As protests across the nation flared into widespread civil unrest over the weekend, publications from both the left and right side of the political spectrum called for an end to police union protection of officers […]
**Meghan Portfolio contributed to this article** States and state universities from Hawaii and California to Maine are proposing employee pay cuts, pay freezes and furloughs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has wrecked havoc […]
In an email to his constituents on Wednesday, Rep. Josh Elliott, D-Hamden, wrote “there will necessarily be a combination of property tax increases or loss of services,” in Hamden, which has been struggling under crushing […]
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.