A bill advanced by the Judiciary Committee is drawing concern from an unexpected source — the state’s own Judicial Branch, which warns a key provision could disrupt how states coordinate child protection cases. Senate Bill […]
Connecticut has a rare opportunity in front of it. The question is straightforward: Will we allow new investment in our students to stay here, or will we watch it flow to other states? Last year, the federal […]
At least four Connecticut legislators changed their votes on a homeschool regulation bill on March 18, switching from “no” to “yes”, reversing the outcome and allowing the measure to advance the bill out of the […]
Yankee Institute President Carol Platt Liebau discusses how SEBAC negotiations will shape state worker pay, benefits, and long-term costs for Connecticut taxpayers. Read the full article here.
A Middletown mother of three has launched a new petition demanding Sen. Matt Lesser (D-Middletown) be removed from a minority legislative caucus — reigniting a two-year-old controversy over the last-minute removal of funding for a […]
Connecticut House Republicans say a little-known tax policy is quietly sending hundreds of millions of dollars out of Connecticut each year, and it is increasingly drawing attention from lawmakers on both sides of the issue. […]
A revealing moment at the March 27 Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee hearing showed how quickly policy arguments can weaken when they are not grounded in the specifics of the legislation being discussed. That dynamic […]
“I have picked a side, and I picked that side a long time ago, and it’s with working families and with the workers of Connecticut, and I’m proud of that.” Sen. Julie Kushner (D-Danbury) made […]
Tax Day is around the corner, and a new national report suggests Connecticut taxpayers are getting less for their money — and falling further behind. According to WalletHub’s 2026 “States with the Best & Worst […]
A government employee union is urging its members to gather at the Connecticut Capitol during normal state work hours to lobby lawmakers on pending labor legislation. According to an announcement from AFSCME Council 4, the […]
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.