The Division of Criminal Justice has ignored a 2009 executive order by Gov. M. Jodi Rell, which limited the amount of time retired employees could be rehired by an agency, according to a new state […]
When a city or town is forced to go to binding arbitration over a labor contract, they often have little to gain and a whole lot to lose, but the decision comes down to one […]
More than 27,000 current state employees are receiving cash payouts or extra vacation time as the result of a lawsuit settlement with Connecticut’s state employee unions, which dates back to 2003.
The personal income growth for Connecticut residents was the slowest in the nation in 2017, according to a report by Pew Charitable Trusts. Personal income in Connecticut for 2017 actually dipped .6 percent into the […]
Although Connecticut’s 2017 budget crisis may have come to an end when Gov. Dannel Malloy signed the bipartisan budget on Tuesday, the next budget promises to be just as difficult. The nonpartisan Office of Fiscal […]
Connecticut’s government spending outpaced the state's gross domestic product by a wide margin since 1990, according to a review of past figures compiled at U.S. Government Spending, an online database of state and federal spending.
The newest budget negotiated between Democratic and Republican leaders in both the House and Senate has yet to be released, but based on the information we have received, this is a breakdown of the changes […]
Lawmakers may increase the teacher pension contribution rate from 6 percent of a teacher’s pay to 7 percent as part of a new, compromise budget package. Although proposal has drawn strong criticism from the state’s […]
A financial stress test of all fifty states by Moody’s Analytics showed that Connecticut is unprepared should the country experience another recession - even a moderate one. Connecticut was one of the bottom 15 states […]
There are only a few states that generally rank lower than Connecticut in terms of fiscal stability and outlook and New Jersey is usually one of them. Like Connecticut, New Jersey is saddled with high […]
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.