WASHINGTON – Sen. Chris Murphy announced Thursday that he is backing Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in her bid for the White House. “I am proud to support her. I’m all in,” Murphy, D-Conn., said in a statement.
Chris Murphy
Chris Murphy, Connecticut’s junior U.S. senator, was first elected in 2012. Sen. Murphy has supported stricter gun legislation and affordable health care.
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In buying stocks, CT lawmakers like blue chips and mutual funds
WASHINGTON — The STOCK Act, a bill signed into law by President Obama in 2012, has opened the door a crack wider on the financial dealings of members of Congress.
Posted inPolitics
Murphy, Blumenthal, other Dems seek boost in Amtrak funding
WASHINGTON — Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy are among a group of nearly a dozen Democratic senators trying to derail a proposed cut in Amtrak funding and instead help the passenger rail company tackle billions of dollars worth of backlogged repairs and capital improvements.
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Murphy pushes ‘Buy American’ in Pacific trade bill
WASHINGTON – Sen. Chris Murphy is trying to make it harder for the Pentagon to shop overseas by attaching a “Buy American” amendment to a bill that would help President Obama negotiate new free trade agreements.
Posted inMoney, Politics
CT says it has six months of transportation funds if Congress fails to act
Washington — The law that authorizes federal transportation spending in Connecticut and across the nation runs out at the end of the month, and the fund that pays for that spending is expected to go broke two months later, but Connecticut says it has funding in place for at least six months’ worth of projects if Congress fails to act in time to avert the looming crisis.
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Connecticut yet to implement train-crash preventive technology
WASHINGTON – In the wake of the fatal Amtrak crash in Philadelphia, railroad experts and lawmakers like Sen. Richard Blumenthal are touting safety technology that’s been slow to come to Connecticut. The state hopes to install Positive Train Control technology by 2018.
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Murphy questions AG on failure to build Danbury prison facility
WASHINGTON — Sen. Chris Murphy on Thursday questioned Attorney General Loretta Lynch on the failure to begin construction of a new facility on the grounds of the federal prison in Danbury that would allow about 200 female inmates to return to Connecticut, where they had been incarcerated until last year.
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Struggling Hartford neighborhood now first in line for federal aid
WASHINGTON – Hartford has won out over dozens of other communities trying to achieve “Promise Zone” status, a designation that will bring an impoverished city neighborhood priority access to federal resources, the White House announced Tuesday.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Connecticut’s lawmakers must see through the ‘edu-profiteers’ and testing mania
I can’t begin to tell you how frustrating it is, as a public school employee and practicing school psychologist, to have federal legislation written that continues to allow our students to be assessed by an unproven and invalid standardized test process and also enables the charter school industry to take funds allocated for public school students and divert them to their own private business interests.
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With Murphy’s support, Senate moves forward on education overhaul
WASHINGTON – A bipartisan compromise that would shift control of some key education issues from the federal government to the states unanimously cleared a key committee Thursday.
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Murphy bill would create tax break for ‘angel’ investors
WASHINGTON – Sen. Chris Murphy would give “angel” investors a new federal tax break and is also co-sponsoring another bill introduced Thursday that would erase a barrier between those investors and start-up companies that need their money.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Despite reservations, CT senators join in approving ‘doc fix’ bill
WASHINGTON — While they had reservations about some provisions of the bill, Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy joined an overwhelming majority in the U.S. Senate to approve a bill preventing a 21 percent cut in Medicare fees for doctors.
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Murphy helps give Congress a say on Iran nuclear deal
WASHINGTON — After the White House reluctantly withdrew its objections, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy voted for a bill Tuesday that would give Congress a say in any agreement with Iran over its nuclear power program. The bill also bridges a disagreement between Murphy and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal over the role Congress should play on an Iran deal.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy uses ‘F word’ (not that one) at transportation rally
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who sees a need for $100 billion in transportation spending in Connecticut over 30 years, engaged in word play Thursday on the question of whether U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy is right to seek the first federal gasoline tax increase since 1993 to fund infrastructure projects.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Medicare fees to drop sharply as Senate falters on ‘doc fix’ bill opposed by CT senators
Updated at 10:43 a.m. Friday
WASHINGTON – The Senate’s failure to act on a bill, opposed by Connecticut’s senators, means fees paid to doctors who treat Medicare patients will drop sharply at the end of the month. If Congress, which left on a two-week Easter recess, acts as soon as it returns, the government says it may be able to avoid the fee cuts.