A lawsuit filed Monday by AFSCME Council 4 and other state employee unions seeks to unionize National Guard soldiers during times they are called upon by the governor to perform work in Connecticut such as […]
Kevin Brookman, who writes a blog called “We The People Hartford,” was ordered by a Connecticut Superior Court judge to turn over his laptop and cellphone so forensic analysts can seek out the identity of […]
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up a lawsuit filed by New Hampshire against Massachusetts over the taxing of workers forced to work from home during the pandemic. New Hampshire, which does not have […]
Former Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona, who was recently made U.S. Secretary of Education, is named in a lawsuit appeal brought by the Connecticut Parents Union in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals over the […]
If you live in Connecticut but work in New York, you end up paying income taxes in New York and receiving a credit from the state of Connecticut, known as the convenience rule. But what […]
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on Thursday struck down a challenge to Gov. Charlie Baker’s emergency powers in a lawsuit similar to those filed in Connecticut, including one that will be heard in Connecticut Supreme […]
A lawsuit filed in state superior court Monday on behalf of two restaurant owners, a skin care business, a woman who was fined for violating quarantine after travel and Rep. Mike France, R-Ledyard, is asking […]
A litany of sexual harassment, inappropriate behaviors and even assault allegations have been lodged against male officials within the Service Employees International Union in an on-going lawsuit against the union. Plaintiff Mindy Sturge, a coordinator […]
Connecticut State Auditors found 47 students were enrolled in magnet schools outside of the lottery process during the 2016-2017 school year in a new audit of the State Department of Education, potentially violating the 1996 Sheff v. O’Neill State Supreme Court ruling.
Cheryl Spano Lonis, a 19-year veteran nurse working with prisoners in Connecticut’s Department of Correction filed the lawsuit after SEIU 1199 ignored her request to have her dues donated to charity because of her religious beliefs. Lonis’ story was originally reported by Yankee Institute in July 2018.
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.