WASHINGTON – Newtown activists on Thursday helped introduce the first gun safety bill in this Congress, officially kicking off the gun control debate on Capitol Hill. The bill would ban large capacity ammunition clips for everyone but military members and law enforcement officers.
Elizabeth Esty
Posted inPolitics
CT lawmakers big joiners of special-interest caucuses
WASHINGTON – Interested in wine, soccer, bicycles or corrosion prevention? In Congress there’s a caucus for that. In fact there are more than 700 member organizations, most of them informal, and Connecticut’s lawmakers are some of the biggest joiners.
Posted inEducation, Health, Money, Politics
CT lawmakers to back Obama, their own agendas, at State of the Union
WASHINGTON – President Obama is expected to roll out an ambitious agenda in his State of the Union speech that could increase the distance between the White House and Republicans in Congress. Connecticut’s lawmakers, however, will use the occasion to show support for that agenda – and promote their own.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Himes splits with delegation on Wall Street bill; Esty reverses
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.
Posted inHealth, Politics
House approves bill that helps firehouses comply with the Affordable Care Act
WASHINGTON – Who says there’s gridlock? The U.S. House of Representatives voted unanimously Monday, 401-0, to amend the Affordable Care Act so it’s clear volunteer fire fighters don’t count as full-time employees under the health care law
Posted inMoney, Politics
DeLauro breaks with Obama, big CT firms on Pacific trade deal
WASHINGTON – Rep. Rosa DeLauro is on a collision course with President Obama and some of Connecticut’s largest companies over a proposed trade deal with 12 countries on the Pacific Rim that span from Chile to Japan. DeLauro, D-3rd District, has become a leading opponent of the president’s plans for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP.
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For Esty, first term tested survival skills
WASHINGTON – Days after she won re-election, in a move that was as symbolic as it was practical, U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty and her Capitol Hill staff moved into a new office, an indication she had moved up in seniority and solidified her place in Congress. (This is the fifth in a series of stories about the roles each member of the Connecticut congressional delegation played in the 113th Congress.)
Posted inHealth, Politics
Lawmakers urge feds to buy CT-made flu vaccine
WASHINGTON – Reps. Rosa DeLauro, D-3rd District, and Elizabeth Esty, D-5th District, released a letter Monday that urges the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to consider a local company when the agency awards contracts for next year’s flu shots
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Sandy Hook remembered with prayer, politics and litigation
The second anniversary of the Dec. 14, 2012 massacre of 26 women and children at Sandy Hook Elementary School was marked in Connecticut by litigation, prayer and politics.
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227 CT gun deaths later, Newtown families continue their campaign
WASHINGTON — Some 227 people have died from gun violence in Connecticut since the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre two years ago. On Wednesday, Connecticut lawmakers joined Newtown families and victims of gun violence across the nation in renewing their calls for new federal gun laws.
Posted inEducation, Politics
On anniversary, advocates mark 95 shootings since Newtown
WASHINGTON – Gun-control advocates have marked the two-year anniversary of the massacre of first graders and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School with a report that says there have been 95 school shootings since the Newtown tragedy.
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White House honors high-tech efforts at Region 6 schools
Washington – Connecticut’s Region 6 School System has been singled out by the Obama adminstation for its use of technology and digital content to teach students.
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Voters return Connecticut’s five Democratic incumbents to Congress
Despite some well-funded Republican opponents, Connecticut voters have returned all Democratic incumbents to the House of Representatives.
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Esty beats Greenberg in Key 5th District
Waterbury – First-term U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty won re-election in the state’s most competitive congressional district Tuesday, fending off a challenge from Republican Mark Greenberg in an election year considered to be tough for Democrats. The 5th District, which includes Danbury, Waterbury and New Britain as well as rural Litchfield County and parts of the Farmington Valley, was considered the GOP’s best shot at gaining a Congressional seat in Connecticut.
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Live blog: Keep up with today’s election
We’ll keep you up to date on what’s happening around the state during today’s elections with reports from Mirror staff and social media. Have a report from the polls? Tweet to us at #ctelection14!