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 […]
State physicians and psychiatrists for Connecticut’s Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services received two additional step increases to their pay scale as part of the bevy of union contracts approved with the 2017 SEBAC […]
Connecticut dropped twelve places to rank second worst in the nation for fiscal solvency, according to an annual ranking of states released last week by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.
As his term concludes, it’s entirely predictable that Governor Malloy would seek to shape his legacy for the history books. But the “spin” in his recent op/ed for the Hartford Courant is so dizzyingly incomplete and inaccurate […]
Connecticut ranked 49th in the country in a new analysis of state fiscal health by Truth in Accounting, due to its massive taxpayer burden of $53,400 per person and, once again, earned the organization’s label […]
There's a growing recognition among Connecticut state and local government that 401(k)-style retirement plans will be necessary in the long run. The private sector does it, so why are government employees so worried?
If nothing had changed, Connecticut would not be trapped in the situation it is now. But Connecticut also allows collective bargaining agreements to supersede state law, allowing subsequent SEBAC agreements to once again underfund state […]
My two-year old grandson, Kellan, who lives in Connecticut is in trouble, but doesn't know it yet. I haven't had the heart to tell him he owes some money, some BIG money. At stake is […]
If the accused were trying to “stick it to the man,” they stuck it to the wrong one – the taxpayers who have been forced to subsidize these bad decisions through higher taxes.
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.