Welcome to The Hartford Portfolio, Yankee Institute’s update on what’s happening at the State Capitol during the legislative session. Here’s some of what we saw in Hartford this week: Respect the process, not the taxpayers: Connecticut […]
A proposal in the Connecticut General Assembly’s Labor and Public Employee Committee would allow workers who choose to go on strike to collect unemployment benefits—and, as at least one supporter put it, stay on strike […]
Carol Platt Liebau, Yankee Institute’s president, was published in the CT Mirror March 10. People grieve in many ways. But it’s unfortunate that State Rep. Christine Palm used ad hominem attacks last week while relitigating […]
“Fundamental fairness requires that taxpayers have the chance to see what promises their elected officials have made behind closed doors before they’re asked to pick up the tab for them. That’s why Governor Lamont must […]
Frank Ricci, Yankee Institute’s Fellow for Labor and Special Initiatives, was published in the CT Examiner March 8. “Accountability” for rank-and-file police officers on the street is important – but so is accountability for their […]
A proposal in the Connecticut General Assembly’s Energy and Technology committee would apply a “community access support” charge to Netflix, Hulu, Disney+ and other streaming video services by making them subject to the surcharge now […]
More than 8,000 Connecticut businesses registered with the state’s new paid leave agency but haven’t paid into the system, leaving state officials wondering how many registered unnecessarily—and how many will face penalties. Officials with the […]
Welcome to The Hartford Portfolio, Yankee Institute’s update on what’s happening at the State Capitol during the legislative session. Here’s some of what we saw in Hartford this week: CT’s one-bedroom “mansions” Governor Lamont has […]
A proposed bill would give state agencies new powers to sue private employers—and would let the state labor commissioner steer a portion of the proceeds to hand-picked labor unions. The legislation (HB 5245) is designed […]
Welcome to The Hartford Portfolio, Yankee Institute’s update on what’s happening at the State Capitol during the legislative session. Here’s some of what we saw in Hartford this week: The General Assembly’s Finance, Revenue and […]
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.