Congress is in recess and President Obama is on vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, so Washington Watch is on vacation, too. It will return next week.
Washington Watch in recess
Posted inHealth
CT’s individual insurance market grew 55 percent under Obamacare
Data from the Connecticut Insurance Department show that more than half the people who bought their own health insurance last year have maintained their old policies. But more than 50,000 of them won’t be able to keep their health plans beyond this year, potentially setting up a repeat of last fall’s turmoil and frustration among people whose policies were discontinued.
Posted inEducation
After the Newtown and Giffords shootings, polar opposite reactions from states
Four months after the elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut lawmakers banned at least 115 types of semi-automatic firearms.
Four months after the shooting of a congresswoman and a federal judge in Tucson, lawmakers in Arizona declared the Colt Army Action Revolver the official state gun. The differences reflect the wide divide separating Americans from one end of the country to the other.
Posted inMoney, Politics
July job gains drive CT unemployment rate down to 6.6 percent
Connecticut’s unemployment rate fell to 6.6 percent in July as the state gained 2,400 non-farm jobs, the Labor Department reported Friday.
Posted inHealth
After rate hike rejected, Anthem to decrease premiums next year
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s individual-market customers will, on average, see a slight decrease in their premiums next year under new rates approved by the Connecticut Insurance Department. The company initially sought to raise rates by an average of 12.5 percent, but the Connecticut Insurance Department said no.
Posted inPolitics
Hopkins-Cavanagh takes on Courtney in a long-shot bid
Like many challengers, Lori Hopkins-Cavanagh is short on campaign cash and name recognition and long on ideas, enthusiasm and disgust with the way things are run in Washington D.C.
“I’ve got quite a mountain to climb,” said Hopkins-Cavanagh, a Republican, of her bid to win the 2nd District seat in Congress.
Posted inPolitics
CT GOP claims illegal coordination between Malloy, DGA
The Connecticut Republican Party has filed an elections complaint claiming illegal coordination between Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s re-election campaign and Connecticut Forward, an independent expenditure group recently created by the Democratic Governors Association. It makes a novel argument, but offers no direct evidence.
Posted inPolitics
Courtney hoping nickname ‘Landslide Joe’ not a joke anymore
WASHINGTON – Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, came into office on the slimmest of victories, a surplus of just 83 votes that earned him the jocular nickname “Landslide Joe” among his colleagues. This time, as he seeks re-election for a fifth term in Congress, Courtney hopes the nickname is no joke.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Connecticut gears up for 15th annual sales-tax-free week
Connecticut consumers will look to save an estimated $7- $9 million starting Sunday and running through Saturday, Aug. 23, as the state offers its 15th annual sales-tax-free week.
Posted inPolitics
On air and in a speech, Malloy pursues the new GOP nominee
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy pushed his idling re-election campaign to full-throttle Wednesday night, aiming in one speech to take down the newly minted Republican nominee and lift up a Democratic base unsettled by a slow economic recovery and their candidate’s tepid poll numbers.
Posted inPolitics
Malloy attacks Foley with mashup of GOP ads from ’10 and ’14
John P. McKinney defended his final attack ad against Tom Foley, saying the Democrats would hit him harder and faster. On the first day of the general-election campaign, Democrats posted a newer version of the piece McKinney used to close out the Republican primary for governor.
Posted inPolitics
Sure, Tom, I’ll endorse you, but there’s just one thing…
He allowed that his late mother would have been appalled, but John P. McKinney dumped a bucket of ice water over the head of Tom Foley on Wednesday, living the dream of every politician who has ever dutifully attended a unity press conference the morning after losing a primary. Ostensibly, it all was for charity.
Posted inPolitics
Somers emerges winner of GOP lieutenant governor nomination
The Republican primary battle for lieutenant governor appeared to be over by mid-afternoon Wednesday when state Rep. Penny Bacchiochi of Somers conceded the narrow contest to former Groton Mayor Heather Bond Somers. Though official results still hadn’t been confirmed yet, Bacchiochi issued a written statement by email around 2:30 p.m. in which she pledged to work for party unity.
Posted inPolitics
Map: Gubernatorial primary results, by town
McKinney gained a lot of ground with huge margins of victory in his hometown of Fairfield and nearby Wilton, garnering almost 3,500 more votes than Foley. But Foley’s consistent showing throughout the state earned him the chance to run against Governor Dannel P. Malloy in November.
Posted inEducation
After scandal, state to tighten rules on charter schools
In the wake of recent controversies, state education officials have announced plans to start requiring that charter schools operate more like other public schools—“transparently,” with clear standards to meet.