The Office of the State Treasurer says that it worked with teachers’ union officials, the Governor’s Office and the Office of Policy and Management on pension changes that union officials are now telling their members are “illegal.” Language included in […]
The 2020 Legislative Session continues to move along at a rapid pace with committee meetings and public hearings. Criminal Justice: The Chairs of the Judiciary Committee held a press conference this week announcing the committee would […]
Connecticut’s teachers’ unions are angered over changes to how the state calculates teacher pension death benefit payments for spouses and are working behind the scenes to reverse the reforms, according to emails obtained by Yankee […]
A bill to classify probate court employees as state employees and allow them to unionize for collective bargaining purposes is currently under consideration by the Labor and Public Employees Committee. An Act Strengthening the Probate […]
Gov. Ned Lamont’s now-defunct transportation bill aimed to install truck-only tolls on Connecticut highways in order to raise an estimated $172 million per year to fund federal infrastructure loans. Tolls supporters have repeatedly insisted that Connecticut has serious transportation […]
I meet Justin Augustine on a Thursday morning at Triple AAA Pizza on Whalley Avenue in New Haven, a diner bedazzled with digital signs that make it hard to miss. It’s a neighborhood place. The […]
A decision handed down by the State Board of Labor Relations in January offers details of a stipulated agreement between the Connecticut Judicial Department and AFSCME Local 749, which led to Local 749’s former president, […]
It was a busy week at the Capitol with various committees meeting and holding public hearings. The Progressive Caucus unveiled their legislative proposals this week, and no surprise they are proposing a more progressive tax […]
Legislative leaders in the Connecticut House of Representatives and Senate proposed holding “synchronized voting” for a tolling bill because it was so unpopular with the public neither chamber wanted to go first and neither was […]
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.