An updated Connecticut State Bond Commission agenda shows the commission will consider bonding $2.7 million for updates to Scalise Field at Sage Park in Berlin, where the Berlin High School football team – coached by […]
Out-going Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, posted on his Facebook page Monday that “Tolls are never going to pass or even be proposed in this state.” “I tried and used all of my […]
Gov. Ned Lamont may be running the state via executive order, but lawmakers have also been holding virtual informational hearings, listening sessions and committee votes. However, Republican Senate Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, says that […]
At his swearing in to the House of Representatives, newly-elected Democratic representative Brian Smith, D-Colchester, thanked Connecticut’s labor unions for helping secure his victory over Mark DeCaprio in the 48thdistrict to replace a Democratic seat […]
House Democrats, including Transportation Committee co-chair Rep. Roland Lemar, D-New Haven, are holding campaign fundraisers on the day of an information hearing on Gov. Lamont’s new transportation plan, which would install truck-only tolls on Connecticut […]
Senate Democrats gave tepid support for Gov. Ned Lamont’s plan to toll trucks following a long caucus meeting, but a special session on the matter remains in limbo as a bill has yet to be […]
Protesters from No Tolls CT and a small group of union leaders gathered at opposite ends of the circular driveway to the governor’s mansion on Tuesday, while inside Gov. Ned Lamont and legislative leaders attempted […]
Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives on Tuesday brought the toll debate full circle in Connecticut, tell the press yesterday that Connecticut should toll only trucks, something Gov. Ned Lamont campaigned on in 2018, […]
Over the past year, Connecticut’s Auditors of Public Accounts have found instances of workplace violence, benefits paid to deceased individuals, abuse of overtime, state agencies that violate both state policy and union contracts and “massive […]
It’s like a lesson in how to create a public-policy upheaval in Connecticut. One small law firm of five attorneys based in Hartford has successfully created a public-policy rift between Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration and […]
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.