The nine Connecticut state employees arrested by police for abuse of a patient at the Whiting Forensic Division of Connecticut Valley Hospital in Middletown continue to be paid by the state, according to the Department […]
A survey by the Connecticut Business and Industry Association shows that business owners want Connecticut to reform its state retirement benefits by a wide margin. Of the business owners surveyed, 91 percent want reforms to […]
With the state facing a $3.5 billion budget hole and the legislature unable to reach a budget agreement, Gov. Dannel Malloy put forth a revised budget which offers a mix of smaller tax increases and […]
Noticeably absent from the latest budget by House Democrats are 11 of the 12 reforms Democratic senators requested as a condition of their approval of the union concessions deal passed on July 31st. In exchange […]
An audit of the Connecticut state employee retirement system released Thursday led to Republican House Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, to call for a hearing on the auditors’ findings. The report by the state auditors revealed […]
Fewer and fewer students are enrolling in Connecticut’s schools but that hasn’t stopped education budgets from growing and per-pupil costs from sky-rocketing to previously unheard of levels, according to figures compiled by the Western Connecticut […]
Gov. Dannel Malloy’s executive order, which zeroes out education funding for 85 school districts in Connecticut, could result in massive property tax increases - even to towns that are already struggling - if the state […]
Connecticut’s unfunded pension liabilities continue to grow despite efforts to curb the growing costs to the state. In hard numbers, Connecticut’s pension liability - the money owed to future state workers - has grown from […]
Fringe benefit costs for Connecticut state employees can range anywhere from 56 percent of payroll to 86 percent for judges, family magistrates and compensation commissioners, according to a memorandum from state comptroller Kevin Lembo.
Connecticut spent more money than it took in for 10 out of 13 years, according to a long-term state analysis by Pew Charitable Trusts. Overall, Connecticut was one of only eleven states that were consistently […]
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.