A Waterbury-based manufacturer of plastic medical devices says that for the first time they are having difficulty finding workers to fill the low-skill positions necessary to fulfill their orders and keep the business running. President […]
Connecticut’s Auditors of Public Accounts found an ethics violation at Central Connecticut State University when they discovered a family member of a university employee had been paid $3,800 to take photographs. “During our investigation, we […]
State unions filed an injunction in Hartford Superior Court against Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration, fighting what they perceive as a grave injustice perpetrated by the governor through his mandate that employees return to the office and are […]
The Connecticut Senate and House of Representatives both voted to extend Gov. Ned Lamont’s emergency executive powers through September, although several Democrats broke ranks and voted with Republicans against the extension. Republicans argued that Connecticut’s […]
After eight months of trying to hire staff, the owner of the small sandwich and burger joint Blue Cactus Grill closed his location in Fairfield with a message for Connecticut lawmakers: “We hope the state […]
An estimated 250 protesters gathered in the rain at the Capitol today to rally against the continuation of Gov. Ned Lamont’s emergency powers and carrying signs against mask-wearing mandates for school children. Lamont has asked […]
Connecticut’s economic troubles since the 2008 recession are well known. The state has experienced some of the lowest job growth and personal income growth in the country during a time when the national economy surged. […]
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY By Ken Girardin with Daniel Gressel, Ph.D. Connecticut missed out on much of a decade-long national economic expansion. The state added essentially zero private-sector jobs between 2017 and 2019, its population was essentially […]
State employee contract negotiations between the governor’s administration and government unions typically happen in secret, but part of that negotiation is playing out in public as various government employee unions plan to picket the governor’s […]
Rhode Island closed out its legislative session for the summer without passing the Transportation and Climate Initiative, leaving Massachusetts and Washington D.C. as the sole participants in the regional cap and trade system for transportation […]
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.