Connecticut’s recent bond rating upgrades are a clear sign that the state’s fiscal guardrails are delivering results. Yet, even as these reforms strengthen our long-term financial outlook, lawmakers continue to test the limits of the […]
In Connecticut, students who miss more than 10 percent of school days in a year are labeled “chronically absent.” That designation triggers a series of interventions: districts must notify families, monitor attendance closely, and implement […]
A legislative working group created to explore student debt relief in Connecticut took an unexpected turn last week when one of its co-chairs, Rep. Eleni Kavros DeGraw (D-Avon), suggested that residents without college degrees are […]
A new report by the Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA), reveals a divided outlook among the state’s business leaders. While state finances have stabilized in recent years, persistent affordability challenges — from high energy […]
If lawmaking were graded on quantity not quality, Connecticut would be on the honor roll. In 2025 the General Assembly introduced 4,064 bills — eighth most in the nation for a state with barely 3.6 […]
Connecticut’s Office of the Child Advocate (OCA) is using a high-profile tragedy as a springboard to regulate homeschooling, but critics say the state’s case is built on flawed data and sloppy analysis. On May 5th, […]
Connecticut is not considered a “fun” state, ranking 43rd overall in a new WalletHub report. This quirky detail reveals a deeper problem plaguing the state: that high taxes and burdensome regulations directly impact residents’ quality […]
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by The Hartford Courant. *** Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s promise to grant state employee unions raises every year of his term is either a stunning misstep or wrongdoing that undermines […]
Connecticut’s budget surplus presents a critical choice: use the one-time windfall to address the state’s deep-rooted financial problems or spend it on new, permanent government programs. Progressive activists are pushing for the latter, urging lawmakers […]
Senate Bill 1 was promoted as a $300 million investment in early childhood education and special education services. But buried in the bill is a provision with little to do with students — and everything […]
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.