WASHINGTON – Rep. Jim Himes split with the rest of Connecticut’s House delegation on Wednesday by voting for a bill opponents say would weaken the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill. Most Democrats opposed the bill, even some like Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-5th District, who voted for similar legislation as recently as last week.
derivatives
Posted inMoney, Politics
Senate approves terrorism insurance bill that aids CT insurers, businesses
WASHINGTON – The Senate on Thursday gave final legislative approval to a bill that would help Connecticut’s property and casualty insurers by re-establishing a federal backstop in the event a terrorist attack results in massive claims.
Posted inPolitics
Congressman Himes rode political roller-coaster in 113th Congress
WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Jim Himes faced some big challenges during the two years of the outgoing Congress and will find himself in a shrinking pool of centrists in the new session that is gaveled in after the New Year. (This is the fourth in a series of stories about the roles each member of the Connecticut congressional delegation played in the 113th Congress.)
Posted inPolitics
Blumenthal, Murphy split on budget bill that averts shutdown
Washington – Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy split over a massive omnibus spending bill the Senate approved late Saturday little more than an hour before the government would have shut down due to a lack of funding. Murphy voted for the$1.1 trillion bill, Blumenthal did not.
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Himes has tough win on Wall Street provision in spending bill
WASHINGTON – For Rep. Jim Himes, House approval late Thursday of legislation that would allow banks to trade derivatives — a measure he’s been promoting for years — is a bittersweet victory. “I’m not happy that it became a super-hot button issue when it always received bipartisan support,” Himes said.
Posted inPolitics
Himes’ provision roils fellow Democrats, threatens budget bill
WASHINGTON – Legislation championed for years by Connecticut U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District, threatened to become a “poison pill’ Wednesday in a massive budget bill that would avoid a government shutdown. Himes’ spokesman, however, insisted the congressman didn’t know how the provision was placed in the budget bill.