Students in Yale Law School’s Connecticut Policy Lab turned a state-government course into public research on problems that affect Connecticut drivers, job seekers, towns, rail passengers, and people in prison. The papers, published by Yale’s Tobin Center for Economic Policy, examine how state rules and processes can slow government action and raise costs.
Key facts
- The fall 2025 Connecticut Policy Lab studied the legal foundations of state government effectiveness.
- Students each wrote a paper on one issue under state government’s purview that they identified as needing improvement.
- The papers are now online through Yale’s Tobin Center for Economic Policy.
- Topics include a contested traffic light removal on Route 9 in Middletown and Connecticut’s state hiring process.
- Students presented their findings last spring to current and former government officials at Yale Law School.
What does this mean for students and public policy in Connecticut?
The course gave students a chance to move from classroom study to applied policy research on issues that affect how Connecticut government works. Their work addressed operational problems with immediate consequences, including delayed hiring, traffic safety and congestion, and the speed of public infrastructure decisions.
The papers are publicly available now, which means policymakers, researchers, and the public can review student analysis of state-level bottlenecks and possible ways to improve them. The topics also show the kind of issues students can study when a class focuses on government effectiveness rather than abstract theory.
- Traffic light removal on Route 9 in Middletown: students examined a 20-year effort and noted that the state held five meetings when one was legally required.
- State hiring: one paper found vacancies take five to eight months to fill on average, compared with 36 days in the private sector.
- Other topics covered East Coast high-speed rail speeds in Connecticut, town service sharing, and healthcare costs in Connecticut prisons.
Why did the traffic light case matter?
It mattered because the traffic light placement had long frustrated Connecticut drivers and was linked to congestion and crashes on Route 9 in Middletown. One student paper described a 20-year effort to remove the lights, and said excessive outreach was among the reasons the effort failed.
The example illustrates a broader theme in the class: state procedures can shape whether practical changes happen quickly or stall for years. In the traffic-light case, the difference between the legal minimum and the actual process became part of the problem.
How slow is Connecticut’s state hiring process?
One student found that state job vacancies take five to eight months to fill on average, far longer than the 36-day average cited for the private sector. The research identified two mechanisms that slow the process, pointing to the hiring system itself as a source of delay.
That finding matters because staffing delays can affect the state’s ability to deliver services and respond to needs. The paper frames hiring speed as a government effectiveness issue, not just an administrative annoyance.
Who reviewed the students’ work?
Students presented their findings last spring for feedback from current and former government officials at Yale Law School. Those who responded included Liz Keyes of the Connecticut Department of Transportation, former New Haven Public Schools superintendent Garth Harries, former Gov. Ned Lamont policy director Patrick Hulin, and former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin.
Professor Zachary Liscow, who teaches the course, said the class is meant primarily for learning but could also help people inside government make Connecticut work better.
