A Roadmap to Renewal:
POLICY SOLUTIONS TO REVITALIZE CONNECTICUT
Connecticut can prosper again!
Lately we’ve heard the frustration in the voices of friends, neighbors and family members who have moved or who have thought about moving from Connecticut:
“I’m considering joining those that have moved out.”
“I left ! Good luck, but I think it’s a lost battle!”
“Connecticut is lost! I do not plan on going down with the Titanic!”
All of these are real quotes, from real people, who are being hurt by our state’s policies. Our state is on the wrong course – but with the right policies, Connecticut can come back!
For our state to recover, the 2014 gubernatorial and state legislative candidates of both parties should adopt the following common sense solutions. They will revitalize our economy; ensure fairness for all its citizens; renew the prosperity of its people; and enable Connecticut residents of all generations to thrive together.
Reviving the Economy
Problems
• State taxes are crushing the middle class.
• Red tape and small fees are tying up our
businesses.
-The state workforce is shrinking
– The state shows favoritism in the way it distributes tax breaks and subsides.
Our Solutions
• Reduce burdensome licensing and regulatory requirements for businesses.
• Roll back all of the 2011 tax increases, and eliminate nuisance taxes and fees that cost more to collect than they bring in.
• Streamline and privatize social services; offer low income families more control over their benefits.
• Eliminate unwarranted exemptions, tax deductions and subsidies given to special allies of the governing class.
Reforming Our Public Education System
Problems
• Spending for K-12 has increased by 51 percent over the last decade, but achievement has remained flat.
• Connecticut’s achievement gap is worst in the nation.
• Common Core is reducing local control.
• Tuition at in-state public colleges and universities has gone up an average of 48 percent in eight years; the salaries of administrators and professors have soared.
Our Solutions
• Suspend and re-think implementation of Common Core State Standards.
• Empower parents by having state money follow children to their school of choice.
• Rein in costs and tuition increases at public colleges and universities
Improving Our Infrastructure
Problems
• Road quality is ranked last in the nation; 406 bridges are considered structurally deficient.
• State government uses transportation money as a slush fund to pay other expenses.
• The state overspends on transportation projects because of prevailing wage laws and project labor agreements.
• Connecticut has an inadequate energy infrastructure.
Our Solutions
• Spend special transportation money only on transportation projects.
• Revamp prevailing wage laws and open all contract to equally qualified contruction firms.
• Move forward with plans to increase access to natural gas.
• Upgrade the bridges and cars used by the Metro-North rail line.
• Expand the state’s capacity for and use of nuclear energy.
Read our full Roadmap to Renewal at www.YankeeInstitute.org
