At a press conference Friday, Senate Democrats announced plans to once again try to pass legislation limiting what employers can talk to their employees about during mandatory meetings – known as “captive audience” legislation. Senate […]
The Rhode Island Supreme Court has upheld a Superior Court decision to allow the City of Cranston to cut cost of living adjustments for city retirees, citing the city’s dire fiscal problems. In 2011, Cranston […]
United States District Judge J. Paul Oetken dismissed a lawsuit by Connecticut and three other states against the Donald Trump administration, the U.S. Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service over its cap on […]
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong on Friday broke with former Attorney General George Jepsen and issued a short, three-page opinion stating one of Democratic lawmakers’ latest captive audience bills would not be preempted by national […]
The former chairman of the National Labor Relations Board issued a letter stating a bill pushed by union leaders and supported by a number of Democrats would be pre-empted by federal law and likely be […]
The Labor Committee voted to draft a committee bill to prevent employers from holding mandatory meetings with employees regarding politics, religion or union organizing, referred to as “captive audience” meetings. The legislation, which has been […]
Four times in the past ten years Democratic lawmakers and union officials have tried to pass a bill restricting businesses from talking to their employees about unionization efforts only to have Attorney General George Jepsen […]
Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen on Wednesday issued a formal opinion saying a mistake in a June bond sale covenant will not impact the state’s ability to borrow over the $1.9 billion bond cap.
Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen issued a formal opinion today indicating a proposed “captive audience” bill being pushed heavily by state labor leaders is preempted by the National Labor Relations Act.
In a cautiously worded opinion issued Thursday, Attorney General George Jepsen said the state legislature does have the ability to change existing labor contracts but would need “substantial justification.”
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.