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 Center for Retirement Research at Boston College issued a report on the pandemic’s effect on state and municipal pension systems and listed Connecticut’s State Employee Retirement System as one of the ten worst-funded pension […]
“Raising taxes in response to this economic downturn ignores twelve years of Connecticut’s economic and fiscal history – and will only chop any chance of recovery off at the knees. Connecticut now has an opportunity […]
Connecticut union activists are planning a drive-by rally outside the homes of Connecticut’s wealthiest individuals in Greenwich on Thursday, May 21, calling for increasing taxes on the rich to plug an estimated $7 billion budget […]
The state Department of Economic and Community Development released industry specific sector guidelines for businesses that will be permitted to reopen on May 20, the date of the first of four phases of the reopening. […]
**UPDATE: Gov. Lamont issued an executive order at approximately 8:30 p.m. on May 13 extending the suspension of the plastic bag tax until June 30. Executive Order 7NN can be viewed here. Yankee’s original article […]
Connecticut’s teacher pension debt is officially listed at $16.8 billion, but a new study says that figure might be much higher. According to a new study published by Yankee Institute, Connecticut’s discount rate for its […]
Executive Summary By its own measures, the Connecticut State Teachers’ Retirement System has unfunded liabilities of almost $17 billion; the system has 52 cents for every dollar needed to pay for benefits accrued by its members […]
Banking giant J.P. Morgan issued a report estimating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn on states’ unfunded pension and retiree healthcare liabilities, noting Connecticut would have to pay nearly 40 percent of […]
More than 1,600 retired state employees now have pensions over $100,000 per year, totaling an annual payout of $191.9 million, according to numbers provided by the State Comptroller’s Office. The 1,609 retirees receiving six-figure pensions […]
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.