As the 2026 legislative session convenes on Feb. 4, Yankee Institute has released its policy agenda aimed at keeping Connecticut affordable, livable, and workable for families, businesses, and communities.
Yankee Institute’s agenda focuses on safeguarding long-term fiscal stability and addressing the key cost drivers that continue to burden residents. Priorities include protecting the state’s bipartisan fiscal guardrails, preventing new broad-based taxes, respecting local governance and home rule, improving energy affordability and reliability, expanding educational opportunity, increasing transparency in the upcoming SEBAC negotiations, and improving access to healthcare.
“Making Connecticut more affordable and workable for families and businesses requires an honest assessment of what’s driving costs and limited opportunity” said Carol Platt Liebau, president of Yankee Institute. “With some of the nation’s highest taxes and most burdensome regulations, Connecticut needs reforms that restore affordability, strengthen the economy, and improve everyday quality of life.”
To support its legislative agenda, Yankee Institute has created a policy one pagers below featuring research and analysis, along with a “Take Action” platform that allows residents to engage directly with their legislators.
Protecting Fiscal Guardrails and Improving Affordability
Connecticut’s recent fiscal stability reflects deliberate policy choices that imposed discipline and reduced long-term risk. That progress, however, is not guaranteed. In 2026, the central challenge is preserving what is working while addressing persistent affordability pressures — without weakening fiscal guardrails or undermining local governance.
Yankee Institute supports strengthening the state’s spending and volatility caps by limiting off-budget erosion and advancing a Pension Acceleration Trust to lock in one-time surpluses for permanent pension debt reduction.
Reducing Unfunded Mandates and Preserving Local Decision-Making
Connecticut’s municipalities vary widely in infrastructure capacity, fiscal condition, and community character. Increasingly, statewide mandates shift costs and administrative burdens to local governments without providing resources or flexibility.
Preserving home rule and reducing unfunded mandates allow communities to respond to local needs while maintaining accountability and fiscal responsibility.
Energy Affordability & Reliability
Lowering household energy costs requires increased scrutiny of the Public Benefits Charge, a state-imposed fee that funds various energy programs. Yankee Institute supports regular legislative review and sunset provisions to ensure these charges deliver measurable value.
This work builds on Yankee Institute’s recent New England energy cost and reliability analysis, which found that policy-driven charges, rather than fuel prices, are a primary driver of rising higher bills. Read the study here.
Expanding Educational Opportunity
Connecticut can expand access to educational opportunities by opting into federal scholarship tax credits, which leverage private donations and federal incentives without impacting state appropriations or ECS funding.
Despite significant investment, educational outcomes remain uneven, and access to alternatives is often constrained by income. Connecticut’s failure to fully utilize federal mechanisms that expand opportunity without new state spending represents a missed opportunity for students and families.
Labor & Workforce Sustainability
State labor agreements shape Connecticut’s fiscal obligations for decades. With SEBAC set to expire in 2027, decisions made in advance of negotiations will determine whether future budgets remain sustainable or increasingly constrained.
A small number of practices drive a disproportionate share of long-term costs, including:
- Overtime practices: Increase transparency and oversight, including disclosure of ordering-in policies and capping pensionable overtime that inflate long-term liabilities.
- Cost-driver clarity: Require clearer reporting on how bargaining provisions affect future pension and OPEB obligations.
- Workforce accountability: Establish automatic unpaid leave, while preserving due process, with restitution pay of not guilty, to protect public trust and operational integrity.
Addressing these issues prospectively supports fair collective bargaining while protecting taxpayers, public services, and long-term budget stability.
Improving Healthcare Access and Regulation
Yankee Institute supports improving healthcare access and affordability through phased Certificate of Need (CON) reform, beginning with lower-risk services, paired with a Determination of Need framework focused on access, quality, and patient safety.
Modernizing healthcare regulations can expand capacity, reduce wait times, lower costs, and encourage investment without compromising patient protections.
