Following U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s visit to Connecticut and Yale last week, Governor Ned Lamont, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker and the Yale Tobin Center for Economic Policy announced a set of policy collaborations between the University and the state. 

Under the newly-announced collaboration, the Tobin Center will work with New Haven Public Schools to study different metrics of educational performance, the Department of Energy and Environment Protection Commissioner to identify ways to better fight climate change and strengthen Medicaid coverage in the state. 

“Here in Connecticut, we are fortunate to have leading academic researchers like those at Yale’s Tobin Center who we can partner with to ensure that the policies we are implementing are efficient, methodical, and produce the best results for the residents of our state,” Governor Lamont said. “I appreciate their willingness to partner with us, and academics at the state’s other great universities, on these efforts.”

The announcement last week came on the heels of Yellen’s visit to Yale last week as part of her national tour to discuss President Joe Bidens’s “Investing in America” agenda. 

Lamont announced that senior members of his administration — including Chief of Staff Jonathan Dach, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Katie Dykes and Office of Early Childhood Commissioner Beth By — and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro met with Yellen at Yale University’s Tobin Center for Economic Policy to discuss Biden’s plan  for expanding economic opportunity and boosting productive capacity in Connecticut.

Yellen also highlighted the latest investments that states will receive from the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act. These investments, according to Yellen, are aimed at building a clean energy economy, rebuilding crumbling infrastructure, strengthening supply chains, spurring manufacturing and creating well-paying jobs across the United States. 

According to the U.S. Treasury Department, states play a critical role in implementing these new investments and research universities are integral to deploying skills and talent in support of essential public policy goals. 

To further these efforts, the Lamont administration and the Tobin Center announced a series of new steps that respond to Secretary Yellen’s call for states to implement inclusive and green policies and for academic economists to utilize their skills in support of state efforts.

“I am grateful to Secretary Yellen for providing thoughtful perspectives regarding the federal administration’s economic priorities in the context of the Yale Tobin Center’s research and policy work,” University President Peter Salovey said. “By convening leaders such as Secretary Yellen and working collaboratively with faculty members across the university, the Tobin Center is helping to set the national agenda and informing domestic public policy through evidence-based research.”

Local officials hope that the collaboration with the Tobin Center will empower them to improve their education policy through scientifically driven findings. According to Elicker, increasing access to high-quality childcare and early education will have significant impacts not just on students and their outcomes but will also free parents to participate in the workforce, thereby boosting the New Haven economy. 

New Haven Public Schools’ Director of Communications and Marketing Justin Harmon, echoed Elicker’s sentiments, hoping that the research of the Tobin Center would allow access to education to be improved, benefiting both students and their parents. 

“We know based on the experiences of our families that high-quality childcare and early childhood education are essential to parents’ full participation in the workforce, as well as to the wellbeing of our children,” Harmon told the News. “We are pleased to partner with the Tobin Center to provide longitudinal data on school choice outcomes that can contribute to a formal assessment of those linkages.”

The Tobin Center is located at 87 Trumbull St.