WASHINGTON — Last week, a small band of House Republicans, including presidential contender and Tea Party favorite Michele Bachmann, introduced legislation to prioritize federal payments in case Congress does not raise the debt ceiling before the looming Aug. 2 deadline. It’s a contingency plan if the U.S. defaults on its financial obligations, which Bachmann says […]

WASHINGTON–Memo from Washington to state transportation chiefs: Be careful what you wish for. Transportation officials in Connecticut and other states have long lamented Congress’s inability to pass a new, long-term transportation plan that details federal spending levels and outlines national priorities. Critics say the lack of such a roadmap hampers state planning and creates uncertainty […]

WASHINGTON–After a quiet lobbying campaign by his Democratic colleagues in recent weeks, Rep. Joe Courtney finally acquiesced to their request: He agreed to fill a looming vacancy on the House ethics committee, a politically dicey assignment that requires him to sit in judgment of his congressional colleagues. But just as Courtney took up his new […]

WASHINGTON–The Senate waded into the emotionally and politically-charged issue of gay marriage Wednesday, with the first-ever hearing on repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. Lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee heard deeply personal testimony from gay and lesbian witnesses, including a widower from Connecticut, about how that federal law has undermined their financial […]

No shocker here: Connecticut’s all-Democratic U.S. House delegation voted against the Republican’s “Cut, Cap & Balance” plan Tuesday night. The measure would impose dramatic spending cuts in 2012, cap federal spending in future years, and send to the states a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. It passed 234-190, with all five Connecticut lawmakers voting […]

WASHINGTON–It’s a rare moment–maybe even exceptional–when Rep. Joe Courtney finds himself lining up behind Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, a bedrock Kentucky conservative. But that’s how odd the politics are getting in Washington these days, as lawmakers grope for a way to break the gridlock over raising the nation’s debt ceiling. Courtney, a Democrat from […]

WASHINGTON–One of the most contentious elements of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s recently-passed budget was a new tax on Connecticut hospitals, which won legislative approval despite fierce opposition from the industry. Now, policymakers in Washington may restrict the ability of states to enact such taxes–and they could even force Connecticut to scale back or eventually repeal […]