A few years ago, Susan Zabohonski noticed the size of government was growing too large, impacting her small business and local community. Despite not being involved politically prior, she felt compelled to speak up against government overreach. She has since testified at the state Capitol on multiple occasions — most recently against rent caps, even though she is a renter — and became involved with Families for Freedom, a grassroots organization, to help others get involved in local politics. Apart from her activism, she owns Village Pets Grooming.

Maria Weingarten and Alexis Harrison of ‘CT 169 Strong’ — a grassroots organization fighting for local zoning control — dive into the housing issues currently being debated at the state Capitol, including overdevelopment, the impact of 8-30, and ‘fair share’ zoning, which would require the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) to determine the need for affordable housing units: meaning appointed bureaucrats and housing advocates, unaccountable to the electorate, would have control. The organization tracks other ‘bad bills’ that will impact your neighborhood. Find them here. 

In early 1860, Abraham Lincoln was neither a congressman from Illinois nor President of the United States; however, as a powerful orator on slavery, he was invited to speak in Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, Meriden and Norwich — which turned out to be one of the few times he ever visited Connecticut. Former Sen. Joe Markley of Southington offers insights into Lincoln’s speeches and trip to the Constitution State. 

Since the November elections, Gov. Ned Lamont and lawmakers have proposed revisiting the way Connecticut residents vote, offering ranked choice voting as an alternative. But what is ranked choice voting and how does it work? Jason Snead, executive director of Honest Elections Project, breaks down how a ranked choice system not only misleads voters, but also makes voting less democratic and reflective of the will of the people. Learn more about Honest Elections Project here.  

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. Learn more about COST here. 

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.

She also comments on recent education bills introduced by the General Assembly, as well as the future impact of the Right to Read legislation. Some of the proposals include making teacher-student communications exempt from FOIA; mandating elementary students be taught climate change is caused by humanity; and limiting local school boards’ authority to prevent educators from indoctrinating students with their own ideologies.  

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.

Faith Ham — operations director for the Charter Oak Leadership Program and a Connecticut school board member — reflects on the impact of such bills, not only on educational outcomes, but on the ability of parents, administrators, and teachers to form healthy, trusting partnerships that will help children succeed.

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 President and host Carol Platt Liebau.  

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 overturning Roe v. Wade.