The Connecticut Comptroller’s Office (OSC) released its annual SEBAC 2017 Savings Report on Thursday (Feb. 13), revealing that the much-hyped savings from Gov. Dannel Malloy’s 2017 deal with the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC) […]
Thank you for the opportunity to testify in opposition to H.B. No. 6904. My name is Frank Ricci, and I serve as Yankee Institute’s Labor Fellow. Yankee Institute is a policy organization dedicated to empowering […]
Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony on HB6831 or the An Act Concerning Transit-Oriented Communities. My name is Meghan Portfolio, and I am the Manager of Research and Analysis for Yankee Institute, a […]
Electric vehicle (EV) owners may soon have to start paying their fair share as House Republicans push a bill to impose new registration fees on EVs and plug-in hybrids, along with a per-kilowatt-hour tax on electricity […]
Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony on S.J. 36 or the Resolution Proposing a State Constitutional Amendment Concerning Environmental Rights. My name is Carol Platt Liebau, and I am the President of Yankee […]
Gov. Ned Lamont’s proposed $55.2 billion two-year budget, released Wednesday (Feb. 5), includes yet another round of pay increases for state employees — quietly tucked away on page 199 and conveniently left out of his budget […]
Gov. Ned Lamont’s proposed $55.2 billion two-year budget, released Wednesday (Feb. 5), includes yet another round of pay increases for state employees — quietly tucked away on page 199 and conveniently left out of his budget […]
Yankee Institute took issue with several of the proposals Gov. Ned Lamont presented in his budget address to the General Assembly today. The Governor told lawmakers that the state has “earned the opportunity to rethink […]
Yankee Institute has appointed Tim Anop as its new Director of External Affairs, overseeing the organization’s government affairs initiatives. “Tim is dedicated to fostering relationships with policymakers on a bipartisan basis to improve people’s lives […]
With Gov. Ned Lamont set to deliver his annual budget address to the General Assembly on Feb. 5, 2025, Yankee Institute is calling on him to protect the “fiscal guardrails,” bipartisan reforms that have stabilized […]
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.