The Connecticut Comptroller’s Office released its updated report on savings generated by Gov. Dannel Malloy’s 2017 agreement with the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition, showing the that actual savings to the state were $200 million […]
The Connecticut Office of Policy and Management is searching for a vendor who could analyze and model a complicated new taxation strategy that would replace part of the income tax with a payroll tax. If […]
The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College issued a report on the pandemic’s effect on state and municipal pension systems and listed Connecticut’s State Employee Retirement System as one of the ten worst-funded pension […]
Connecticut’s teacher pension debt is officially listed at $16.8 billion, but a new study says that figure might be much higher. According to a new study published by Yankee Institute, Connecticut’s discount rate for its […]
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 […]
Democratic governors in New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia are temporarily suspending raises for state employees or freezing pay until they can better understand the fiscal impact of the pandemic, but, thus far, Connecticut state employees […]
The COVID-19 pandemic has rightly led to high praise and support by lawmakers and state officials for hospitals that face potentially overwhelming numbers of infected patients and for small businesses that have been forced to […]
The State of Connecticut and municipalities face a substantial burden – and now threat – from pension and retiree healthcare funds, as the stock market has plunged in recent weeks, which could leave taxpayers on […]
The Department of Economic and Community Development was cited by state auditors for forgiving or modifying state loans to companies totaling $23.6 million and awarding $16 million in excess assistance through the First Five Plus […]
Connecticut is one of only four states that give state employees a paid day off on February 12th for Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, but while the state government may be on holiday, the cost to taxpayers […]
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.