Connecticut Inside Investigator found a group of divorcees who claim the state’s family court system is not only ignoring abuse allegations in ongoing child custody battles, but enabling them. YI President Carol Platt Liebau discusses the claims with Lisa Fontes, a psychotherapist, author and activist who lectures on topics ranging from the sexual abuse of children to intimate partner violence. Learn more about her here.  

During an April Appropriations Committee meeting, Rep. Rachel Chaleski (R-138th) noticed that only three out of four charter schools were funded in the proposed state budget. The one left out was a school planned for Danbury, which had already been approved by the State Board of Education in 2018. To rectify the situation, Rep. Chaleski introduced an amendment to fund the school, unaware she was upsetting the procedural applecart! The move caused an uproar at the Capitol. Although the amendment eventually failed, Rep. Chaleski is fighting on to give every student the chance to receive a good education. Learn more about her here.

Did you get free Covid-19 test kits from the U.S. Postal Service? If so, you may have been one of 68 million citizens whose private information was given to labor unions. This breach in sensitive data was discovered by Americans for Fair Treatment (AFFT) — a nonprofit organization that educates public employees about their rights in a unionized workplace and connects these employees with all available resources to defend those rights. Elisabeth Kines Messenger (CEO of AFFT and former executive vice president at Yankee Institute) explains how AFFT is holding the U.S. Postal Service accountable and discussed how Connecticut is a testing ground for labor policies across the country. Learn more about AFFT here.

With session winding down and the budget taking shape, Reps. Holly Cheeseman (R-37) and Tammy Nuccio (R-53) discuss the importance of the 2017 bipartisan budget’s fiscal guardrails on the current proceedings, and ways to improve the overall process so Connecticut can avoid economic hardships. Learn more about Rep. Cheeseman here; and more about Rep. Nuccio here.

More than 700 bills that made it out of committee now await for a vote by the General Assembly. Bryce Chinault — Yankee Institute's director of external affairs — breaks down the good bills that expand free market principles and individual liberties, and the bad bills that restrict those rights. To help Connecticut voters know what bills are good and bad, Chinault developed a ‘Bill Tracker’ providing analysis on high priority pieces of legislation as well as an easy-to-use ‘Take Action’ tool to contact your representative. Learn more, and Take Action here.

Why is the vast regulatory state dangerous? Todd Gaziano, chief of legal policy and strategic research at the Pacific Legal Foundation, explains how Congress’ delegation of legislative authority to unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats has undermined the “separation of powers” enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, what led us here and how to reverse the trend. Learn more about how PLF is defending liberty and justice for all here.

Matt Guarnieri believes in unionization; however, when he failed to receive support from his local union, and witnessed the over-politicization of school policies from the national union, he left. He now belongs to Christian Educators and became a member of Americans for Fair Treatment (AFFT).

As Connecticut Inside Investigator celebrates the first anniversary of its launch, Conner Drigotas (managing editor) and Marc Fitch (senior investigative reporter) provide a retrospective on the challenges and rewards starting a news outlet has presented. They also dive into the investigations and stories that have made a real impact on the lives of state residents. If you want hard-hitting stories and original investigations that no other news outlet will touch, subscribe to CII’s free newsletter today! Follow here. 

David Flemming has joined Yankee Institute as its new policy director. A lifelong Vermonter and former energy policy analyst at the Ethan Allen Institute, he discusses the policy opportunities in Connecticut, his passion for research, political ‘awakening’ and education at Hillsdale College. David recalls his experience briefly interning for Sen. Bernie Sanders — and how he may even have accidentally hit him while riding a bike in Burlington. 

The UConn Men’s Basketball Team has just won a national championship, the program’s 5th since 1999, which now ties Duke and Indiana for the number of titles all time. Joe D’Ambrosio — a sportscaster known as the “Voice of the Huskies” — joins Y CT Matters to discuss how UConn’s coach Dan Hurley built a team to win it all and what the championship means for the state. D’Ambrosio is currently the broadcaster for UConn Hockey and UConn baseball, filling in on WJMJ-FM. Follow him here.