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The Best and Worst in 2006 Connecticut Fiscal Policy
Hartford, December 27, 2006 -- The Yankee Institute for Public Policy, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, research organization that creates new ideas for lower taxes and better government in Connecticut, has chosen the recipients of its 2006 awards for the best and worst in Nutmeg State fiscal policy.
"The Fiscies," first awarded last year, are given to individuals and organizations in Connecticut who have influenced the state’s fiscal condition in positive and negative ways.
Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell, New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, and Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy jointly received the "Enemy of the Taxpayer" at the state level.
"The three major-party gubernatorial candidates bungled a tremendous opportunity to highlight Connecticut's structural overspending and excessive tax burden," said D. Dowd Muska, the Yankee Institute's Philip Gressel Fellow for Tax and Budget Policy. "Citizens deserved a sweeping -- and honest -- debate about fiscal policy in the Nutmeg State this election year. Unfortunately, they didn't get one."
"It's even more unfortunate that the governor is a repeat offender in this category,” added Muska. "Last year she won the award outright, for signing a budget-busting, tax-hiking spending plan for the 2005-2006 fiscal year."
Other awards included:
* Joseph Tarzia, a member of the City of Stamford's board of finance, was awarded the "Friend of the Taxpayer" award at the local level.
* Don Michak of the Manchester-based Journal Inquirer was given the award for best media, for his valuable coverage of reports by the state's Auditors of Public Accounts.
* For its biased depiction of the alleged drawbacks of home rule in Connecticut, the Connecticut Public Television program “Regionalism: A Commitment to Place” earned the award for worst media of 2006.
* The "Bureaucrat Behaving Badly" award at the local level was given to Zachary Loavenbruck, a former Glastonbury government-school teacher who is being prosecuted for having a sexual relationship with one of his students.
* The "Bureaucrat Behaving Badly" award at the state level was given to Corynthia D. Simpson, an employee of the Connecticut Youth Training School in Middletown, for collecting workers' compensation benefits while playing as a defensive and offensive lineman for the Connecticut Crush, a female tackle-football league.
* The State Bond Commission's approval of the final funding for the initial stage of the Fort Trumbull project in New London was named the worst expenditure at the state level in 2006.
"These awards are a fun way to highlight the good and the bad about how local governments and the state spend taxpayers' money," said Yankee Institute Executive Director Lewis M. Andrews, Ph.D. "Last year 'The Fiscies' drew tremendous interest from citizens, elected officials, and the media, and we’re sure this year will be no different."
A full copy of the "The 2006 Fiscies" can be downloaded from the Yankee Institute's website, www.yankeeinstitute.org.
Muska is available for print, radio, and television interviews. Contact Mary Crean at (860) 833-2551 or mary@yankeeinstitute.org.
D. Dowd Muska is the Yankee Institute's Philip Gressel Fellow for Tax and Budget Policy.
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The Yankee Institute for Public Policy, Inc. is a nonpartisan educational and research organization founded more than two decades ago. Today, the Yankee Institute's mission is to "promote economic opportunity through lower taxes and new ideas for better government in Connecticut." The Yankee Institute for Public Policy, Inc. is classified by the IRS as a 501 (c) (3) public charity. Contributions are deductible to the extent allowed by law.
