Y CT Matters

Small towns in Connecticut will be feeling the financial and staffing burdens if bills on project labor agreements, affordable housing and ‘right to housing’ —  to name a few — become law. Betsy Gara, executive director of the Connecticut Council of Small Towns (COST), dives into the issues with YI President Carol Platt Liebau and they discuss how small towns make up the fabric of Connecticut. Lea...

Faith Ham — operations director for the Charter Oak Leadership Program, school board member, and a former teacher — returns to the podcast to discuss why there is such widespread distrust of the education system. Speaking from experience, she reveals how local boards of education members have limited control, noting that members are actually “agents of the state” beholden to Hartford’s mandates. S...

Legislators in the General Assembly have recently introduced bills that would make teacher-student communications not subject to FOIA; mandating elementary students be taught climate change is caused by humanity; and chilling local school boards’  efforts to hold educators accountable for teaching their personal ideologies, even when those are completely opposed to parents’ or districts’ values. F...

If Connecticut is so financially sound as suggested by candidates in the November elections, why are lawmakers proposing new taxes that will drive the state economy into the ground, political commentator Steve Noxon asks. He dives into the latest legislation being debated at the Capitol — from increased taxes to tax agents to surveillance cameras on motorists. He breakdowns the mayhem with YI Pres...

Will affirmative action in the college admissions process survive a U.S. Supreme Court decision later this year? John Yoo — the Emanuel Heller Professor of Law at the University of California at Berkley — breaks down the case and how affirmative action is antithetical to a “color blind Constitution.” He also comments on other cases before the high court, as well as the impact of the Court overturn...

For years, the administrative state within the U.S. government has been overreaching its powers, limiting the freedom of speech. In steps Peggy Little, senior counsel at the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NLCA). With more than three decades of legal experience, she joins the show to discuss how far agencies have gone to stifle speech in business to even the American Bar Association, her recent liti...

At a young age, Bob Scinto feared of being a ‘nobody,’ with no legacy. Rather thanresorting to despair, he used that fear as a powerful motivator. Beginning as a plumber, Bob rose through hard work and established R.D. Scinto Inc., one of the largest privately held Connecticut commercial real estate corporations. He discusses his backstory — struggles in school, battling dyslexia and anxiety — as...

With 14 years of legislative experience in CT, Terrie Wood joins the first episode of 2023, providing color commentary and insights into Gov. Ned Lamont’s inauguration. She also gives perspective of what being a legislator is like, building relationships with other lawmakers, developing policy, as well as what to expect in the long legislative session — with a particular focus on housing and educa...

What’s in store for the legislative session beginning on Jan. 4? Andy Markowski — Yankee Institute’s advisor on government affairs — previews how Democrat and Republican leadership will react legislatively in the House and Senate following the 2022 elections. He also predicts that lawmakers will propose more than 3,000 bills focusing on energy, healthcare, law & order, as well as the bi-annual...

Tis the season of giving, so what better than to learn from an expert about ‘giving.’ In this episode, Lukas Dwelly — philanthropic advisor at DonorsTrust — discusses how donating (or not donating) to charitable causes, churches, colleges, or other institutions is an expression of free speech; and how government overreach has impacted philanthropy to go against peoples’ values and principles. Lear...

Meghan Portfolio — Yankee Institute’s manager of research and analysis — has developed a mild obsession with exposing government’s transgressions since joining YI in 2019! She broke the story of Sen. Richard Blumenthal attending a communist dinner; Jane Fonda saying COVID was “God’s gift to the Left”; and lawmakers nearly allowing senators and representatives accessing anyone’s tax returns. She re...

Marc Fitch — senior investigative reporter at Connecticut Inside Investigator — reflects on the news outlet’s inaugural year, being a government watchdog, and telling the stories no one else will cover. 

In the latest episode of Y CT Matters , Dr. Scott Nicol — superintendent of the Ellington Public Schools — discusses re-establishing trust between parents, teachers and the education system with an aim at transparency. He also shares how the school district’s math and reading test scores actually improved during the pandemic, and approaching education through an unbiased lens.  Follow him on Twitt...

In the latest episode of Yankee Institute’s podcast Y CT Matters , political columnist Don Pesci discusses Election Day 2022 results and its repercussions on state policies toward unions, inner cities, education and more. Pesci is a political columnist of long standing, about 40 years, who has written for various state newspapers, among them The Journal Inquirer , the Waterbury Republican American...

So what happened on election day? Themis Klarides — former House Minority Leader in the General Assembly — joins the latest episode of Y CT Matters to discuss the state and national election results. Klarides served in the 114th district for more than 20 years, and was the first woman to lead Republican members in the CT General Assembly.

In the latest episode of Yankee Institute’s podcast Y CT Matters , Daniel Di Martino — an a Columbia PhD. student, activist and economist — shares insights into life in Venezuela under socialism took hold, and the destruction it its brought to his homeland.  To learn more about DiMartino, click here . 

In this episode, Dan Miressi — a state senate candidate for the 25th district — discusses Connecticut politics, his motivation to run for office, as well as how government in the past 20 years has not provided enough economic opportunities for his generation to achieve the American dream. (His opponent, Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, has also been invited to appear on the podcast.) To learn more...

In the latest episode of Yankee Institute’s podcast Y CT Matters , Chris Healy — executive director of the Connecticut Catholic Conference and board of education member in Wethersfield — discusses his organization’s public policy and advocacy efforts.

After six months since CT Inside Investigator launched, managing editor — Conner Drigotas — joins Y CT Matters to discuss the outlet’s top stories, continued mission and the future of journalism. Follow CII at https://insideinvestigator.org/

In the latest episode of Y CT Matters , Jack Horak — a lawyer with The Alliance for Nonprofit Growth & Opportunity (TANGO) and former YI board member — returns to discuss how nonprofits are uniquely positioned to alleviate societal and cultural issues as an alternative to big government.

In the latest episode of  Y CT Matters , Jack Horak — a lawyer with The Alliance for Nonprofit Growth & Opportunity (TANGO) and former YI board member — discusses how nonprofits are a fundamental pillar in American society, as well as critical to promoting free enterprise and limited government.

In this episode of Y CT Matters , Gregory Stroud, the editor-in-chief and co-founder of the CT Examiner, discusses the importance of local journalism and the online newspaper’s mission of providing nonpartisan news to the small towns and cities of Connecticut. 

In the latest episode of Yankee Institute’s podcast Y CT Matters , Joe Sculley shares highlights of his seven-year career promoting and protecting the trucking industry and CT businesses as president of the Motor Transport Association of Connecticut — including the group’s advocacy against tolls. 

In the latest episode of Yankee Institute’s podcast Y CT Matters , Jeff Hogan, president of Upside Health Advisors, returns to discuss innovations in healthcare, as well as potential reforms to improve transparency and accountability within the system. 

In the latest episode of Yankee Institute’s podcast Y CT Matters , Chris Powell — an opinion columnist at the Journal Inquirer — shares insights from his more than 50 years in journalism, as well as the increased partisanship in media.