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Updated: May 20, 2019 Newsmakers

Yankee Institute pres. pans tolls, state's pension crisis

Photo | Contributed Carol Platt Liebau
By Sean Teehan

From toll proposals to state pension liabilities, there are many policy issues in Connecticut for Carol Platt Liebau to weigh in on. And weigh in, she does.

Liebau is president of the Yankee Institute for Public Policy, a Connecticut think-tank that promotes free market and small government solutions to state public-policy issues. The nonprofit group, which was founded in 1984, regularly commissions studies — or conducts them in-house — on major policy issues.

Before becoming president of the Yankee Institute in 2014, Liebau worked as an attorney, author, political and policy advisor, and media commentator, appearing on PBS, the Fox News Channel, CNN and contributing to the editorial pages of outlets including The Hartford Courant, Los Angeles Times and Washington Times.

Above all, Liebau said, she wants the Yankee Institute to make available to policymakers data that supports the group’s limited-government philosophy.

“I’m convinced that individuals and families can make better decisions for themselves than an impersonal, bureaucratic government can make for them,” she said.

What is the role of state-based think-tanks like the Yankee Institute?

Up at the Capitol, plenty of special interests have people who are paid to represent them. At Yankee Institute, we consider it an honor and a privilege to serve as the eyes, ears — and voice — of the Connecticut taxpayer. And we are grateful for the opportunity to provide lawmakers with free-market policy alternatives to the same old, failed, high-tax, big government ideas that constantly inundate them.

What is the biggest Connecticut legislative issue of interest to the Yankee Institute that isn’t being discussed much right now?

Too little is being said about the danger to our state being posed by Connecticut’s massive pension debt. Our state-employee, teacher and municipal pensions are so terribly underfunded that without meaningful reform, we are in jeopardy of massive tax increases being needed for the next two decades.

That obviously will drive a vicious cycle: taxes go up, people leave, thereby shrinking the tax base, requiring even steeper tax increases for those remaining. The ripple effects are significant as this cycle occurs: declining home values, fewer jobs, a stagnating economy.

At the moment, what would you say is Connecticut’s biggest strength and biggest weakness?

Connecticut is a beautiful state with a proud history; resilient, highly educated people; and a fantastic location midway between New York and Boston. But we struggle with laws that have kneecapped our state by weighting the deck in favor of government unions.

For example, Connecticut is one of only four states that collectively bargains for government pension benefits and the only state that allows government union contracts to override virtually all state laws.

Business interests are split on the issue of tolls. What do you think businesses should be most concerned about regarding toll proposals?

I think we all can agree that our state’s job creators should expect their government to tell them the truth about important issues so they can base their decisions on facts, rather than on hopes and wishes.

But as Yankee Institute’s investigative journalism established, the state’s rosy scenarios about the out-of-state revenues resulting from tolls were based on biased studies, conducted by a company that’s a dues-paying member of an international tolling advocacy group.

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2 Comments

Anonymous
May 23, 2019

It is pretty clear that she thinks the pension obligations are the problem that drain funds from everything else the state needs to accomplish, including road maintenance. Reduce pension benefits and everything gets better. Really, the sooner this happens, the better it will be for the beneficiaries as well. A well funded, sustainable plan is better than an unfunded dream!

Anonymous
May 20, 2019

Her comments on tolls say nothing. If she is so opposed to tolls, then tell us what the alternative is. Does she think the Republican's plan to borrow billions with no way to pay for it is best? Or does she think raising the gas tax which is paid for mostly by Connecticut drivers is the way to go? Or even worse, does she really think our roads are fine the way they are? Without an alternative, she shouldn't be offering an opinion. That is not objective or helpful.

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