You Didn’t Build That: Occupational Licensure in CT

Posted on May 13, 2013 in Research, Tax and Budget by Ryan Murphy Connecticut needs as many entrepreneurs as it can get. But for many would-be small businesspeople, Connecticut’s stringent occupational licensure laws stand in the way. Connecticut licenses 241 occupations, from hairdressers to glaziers. Often sold in the name of public safety, more often licensure laws serve as artificial barriers to entry designed to limit supply and protect...
read more

The List of Lasts

Posted on Jan 8, 2013 in Featured, Press, Research, Tax and Budget EAST HARTFORD – The Yankee Institute for Public Policy purchased a full page advertisement (PDF) in four Connecticut newspapers today to highlight the disgraceful list of lasts Connecticut has compiled in recent years. “We aren’t just doing worse than average,” said Fergus Cullen, the Yankee Institute’s Executive Director. “We are doing the...
read more

Yankee PolicyWiki

Posted on Oct 7, 2012 in Research, Tax and Budget EAST HARTFORD – The Yankee Institute is pleased to unveil its old research in a new format: the Yankee Institute PolicyWiki. The PolicyWiki brings the Yankee Institute’s award-winning public policy research to an online format familiar to millions of Internet users. “Read, browse, click, and read again,” said Heath Fahle, the Yankee Institute’s Deputy Director....
read more

2012 Policy Guide

Posted on Aug 28, 2012 in Featured, Research, Tax and Budget Connecticut’s State Motto is Qui Transtulit Sustinet, He Who Transplanted Still Sustains. But over the last twenty years, state trends point to a different reality: He who transplanted is transplanting again to sustain. Connecticut suffered a net loss of 325,526 residents during that time, or about one in ten residents. The transplants are now the people leaving Connecticut, not coming here,...
read more

Increasing the Minimum Wage

Posted on Jan 31, 2012 in Research, Tax and Budget Yankee Institute Policy Brief: Connecticut’s Minimum Wage Overview: According to recent news reports, State Rep. Zeke Zalaski (D-Southington) will host a press conference today in which he is expected to announce a proposal to increase the state’s minimum wage. Though well intentioned, this policy option is deeply misguided and will impose yet another obstacle to job growth in...
read more

Connecticut’s Taxes and Fees 2012

Posted on Jan 13, 2012 in Research, Tax and Budget EAST HARTFORD – The Yankee Institute for Public Policy released today the updated version of its Taxes and Fees flyer for Fiscal Year 2010 and 2011. “Connecticut’s state government spending is dramatically outpacing population growth, median income, and the gross state product,” said Fergus Cullen, the Yankee Institute’s Executive Director. “It’s no...
read more

YIPP Poll: Unhappy with Malloy

Posted on Jun 14, 2011 in Polling, Research, Tax and Budget HARTFORD – Gov. Dannel Malloy’s job approval rating has dropped to 42 percent, and a majority of voters say they would not vote to re-elect him in the wake of the legislative session that saw passage of the largest tax increase in state history, according to a new survey of likely Connecticut voters conducted by Pulse Opinion Research on behalf of the Yankee Institute. Download the poll now:...
read more

77 Higher Taxes for Connecticut

Posted on Jun 13, 2011 in Research, Tax and Budget HARTFORD – According to a new tally by the Yankee Institute, the State of Connecticut will impose at least 77 separate tax increases over 24 categories as part of the changes recently made by the General Assembly. 1. Raises income tax on individuals making as little as $50K and couples making at least $100K a. Expands the number of brackets from 3 to 6 b. “Bracket Creep” shifts many...
read more

CT Voters Oppose Malloy Tax Hikes

Posted on Feb 24, 2011 in Polling, Research, Tax and Budget HARTFORD – A new poll of likely voters shows strong support for Governor Malloy’s proposed spending cuts but strong opposition to his proposed tax increases. 57% of voters think the budget deficit should be addressed “entirely” or “mainly” though spending cuts. 30% more think it should be though an “even balance” of spending cuts and tax increases. Just 11% say it should be...
read more

Gov. Malloy’s Many Tax Hikes

Posted on Feb 22, 2011 in Research, Tax and Budget Gov. Malloy’s Proposed Tax Increases Gov. Malloy has proposed dozens of tax increases across 25 categories of taxes. This is a conservative count; we aren’t counting each separate expansion of the sales tax as a separate tax hike, though of course they are. Income tax: Increases income taxes on individuals making more than $50,000 a year and couples making more than $100,000 a year;...
read more