“Gov. Lamont’s decision to exempt his recently-formed Reopen Connecticut Advisory Group from Freedom of Information laws is unacceptable and should be reversed. The Reopen Connecticut Advisory Group is tasked with making decisions that will impact […]
More than 21 percent of Connecticut’s workforce has filed for unemployment, the second highest rate in the country, according to a new report from the Tax Foundation. The Tax Foundation based its report on figures […]
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, this week it was no surprise that legislative leaders announced the 2020 legislative session is over, and will adjourn without any further action. The constitutionally mandated adjournment date is midnight, […]
Gov. Ned Lamont announced the names of appointees to a task force focused on reopening the state on Thursday, but Indra Nooyi – co-chair of the advisory group – said the state will not begin […]
Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said on Wednesday he would rather see states declare bankruptcy than issue another $500 billion requested by the National Governors Association to bail out states facing lower revenues and […]
The Northford Congregational Church, in Northford, CT, has set up a food box in front of the church, where people in need of a food item can take what they may need. The local food […]
Beach House Café, a local restaurant in the Riverside community of Greenwich has mobilized their team to make and deliver hot meals to medical professionals fighting to save lives in Greenwich. Restaurant owners Kane Xu […]
Traffic numbers from the Connecticut Department of Transportation show a steep drop-off in people traveling on Connecticut’s highways in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the closure of nonessential businesses by the governor. The number […]
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.