Connecticut continued its nearly eight-year streak of losing more residents to other states in 2019, as the state saw a net loss of more than 22,000 residents, the fifth highest number of outmigrants in the […]
According to several news reports, some Connecticut residents were unaware they would be paying .5 percent of their paycheck toward Connecticut’s new paid family and medical leave program beginning in January, but there is another […]
A rule change to how Medicaid payments are issued to home healthcare providers implemented by the Donald Trump administration was overturned by a California court in a lawsuit that was backed by Connecticut Attorney General […]
The Department of Public Health has concerns over the presence of the chemical PFAS in solar panels that will be installed near a watershed area that supplies drinking water, but the unnamed solar company has […]
Connecticut’s fixed costs like Medicaid, debt service and retiree benefits continue to grow faster than state revenue and make up 52 percent of the state’s budget, according to the Office of Fiscal Analysis. In fiscal […]
Somehow, Thanksgiving felt slightly transgressive this year amid pervasive gloom – and not just for those who defied repeated injunctions from “authorities” and gathered with family and friends anyway. Given everything that’s happened in 2020, […]
Waterbury had one of the highest increases in the percentage of residents renting apartments in the country, while Hartford, on the other hand, saw one of the highest increases in homeownership over the last ten […]
The Connecticut Port Authority was unable to provide documentation for why a project labor agreement was included for the estimated $157 million State Pier project in New London, according to a Freedom of Information request. […]
The Inner-City Foundation for Charity and Education, based in Bridgeport, announced it was closing its nearly 30-year operation after corporate donations dried up, donors left for other states and the pandemic ended their ability to […]
During an October 29 hearing before the Freedom of Information Commission, an attorney representing the Office of the Governor said the department was not in possession of specific data supporting the administration’s revenue claims for […]
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.