When the Department of Economic and Community Development released its list of Connecticut’s 25 distressed municipalities for the upcoming year, there was one notable absence: New Haven. The Elm City has been on the list […]
In April of 2018, Commissioner of the Department of Economic Development Catherine Smith sent a letter to the president of the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology advising the nonprofit organization to cease and desist using […]
Connecticut’s first Chief Manufacturing Officer Colin Cooper announced that he is leaving the position after two years on the job. Cooper addressed his departure during a meeting of the Manufacturing Innovation Fund advisory board. Cooper […]
Gov. Ned Lamont announced yesterday that Digital Currency Group, a firm specializing in block chain currency, is relocating its headquarters from New York to Stamford, Connecticut with the help of $5 million in state incentives […]
The forthcoming Hallmark movie, “Christmas in Harlem,” may have wrapped up filming on Capitol Avenue in Hartford, but some of the biggest beneficiaries of Connecticut’s film tax credits may be a few blocks north. Connecticut […]
The story of Veeder Place — which begins in 1996 — almost sounds like the beginning of a joke: A priest, a doomed cellphone start-up company and Gov. John Rowland walk into a bar with […]
The Department of Economic and Community Development, which awards low-interest, forgivable loans and tax credits to businesses, has been all too forgiving and generous, according to a new audit. Loans and tax credits made to […]
With COVID-19 vaccinations well underway in Connecticut some festivals and outdoor activities appear poised to return over the summer, and it may present an opportunity for Connecticut’s capital city – and the state itself – […]
A bill that would award a massive tax break to data centers is being fast-tracked through the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee and will receive emergency certification for a vote in the House of Representatives […]
The Connecticut Restaurant Association estimates that as many as 600 restaurants have closed permanently as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent business restrictions but another wave of closures in the leisure and hospitality […]
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.