Senate Republican Leader Kevin Kelly, R-Stratford, called on Sen. Richard Blumenthal to urge Democrats in the Connecticut General Assembly to reject the Transportation and Climate Initiative, which would increase the price of gasoline by forcing […]
With the passage of President Biden’s infrastructure package, Connecticut will see a projected $5.6 billion come to the state to support bridge and highway construction, railroads and broadband extension, among other projects. That could mean […]
Connecticut borrowed over $700 million from the federal government to bolster its underfunded Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund after the forced closure of businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic put hundreds of thousands of people out of […]
Gov. Ned Lamont and Department of Public Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani announced that Connecticut is changing policy regarding COVID protections in schools during a press conference at Newington High School Starting today, schools will have […]
Three Republican Board of Education candidates claimed victory in Newtown after accusations of online and public harassment and intimidation forced the Republican Town Committee to withdraw those candidates from a town hall event in late […]
West Haven Mayor Nancy Rossi declared victory over her Republican rival Barry Lee Cohen Tuesday night by a mere 24 votes, which will force an automatic recount in a city that has become backdrop for […]
During a campaign rally on the eve of election day, Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin told supporters in Richmond, “Friends, we don’t want to be Connecticut.” The former CEO of The Carlyle Group spoke […]
Carol Platt Liebau, Yankee Institute’s president, was published in the Connecticut Post October 29. “Gov. Ned Lamont has a unique strategy for reducing income inequality, at least on Connecticut’s roads: He’s going to stop poor […]
In an op-ed for The Connecticut Post entitled “The simple math of addressing climate change,” Rep. Christine Palm, D-Chester, wrote that the Transportation and Climate Initiative program, which would require fuel wholesalers to purchase emission […]
The Newtown Republican Town Committee has pulled three Republican board of education candidates from participating in a scheduled candidate event with their fellow Democrat candidates due to public hostility both online and in town. “Here […]
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.