Nearly 75 percent of Connecticut’s public-sector workforce is part of a union, according to new numbers released by Unionstats.com, making Connecticut’s government workforce the most unionized in the country. The figures derived from 2020 Current […]
A Labor and Public Employees Committee bill set for a public hearing would allow the automatic deduction of union dues or political donations from pension checks. The bill – An Act Concerning the Right of […]
The Labor and Public Employees Committee will once again consider legislation to increase unions’ access to public employees and block others from informing those employees about their rights under the Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court […]
A bill before the Labor and Public Employees Committee would require cannabis establishments to enter into a labor peace agreement with a union in order to be licensed, a move that will make it easier […]
State Representative and vice-chair of the Labor and Public Employees Committee Joshua Hall, D-Hartford, is running for president of the Hartford Federation of Teachers, AFT, following the retirement of Andrea DiBella Johnson. Hall is facing […]
The Labor and Public Employees Committee approved a bill that would give public employee unions unfettered access to employees’ personal information and work orientations and would codify union membership cards into state law. The legislation […]
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 […]
The Labor and Public Employees Committee has filed a bill designed to push back against the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Janus v. AFSCME that allows public sector employees to opt out of union membership […]
The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Janus v. AFSCME has cost Connecticut’s public sector unions millions in lost agency fees, but now those unions are pushing back through legislation to give them more control and […]
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 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.