WASHINGTON – Concerned about complaints of sexual harassment and bullying at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Rep. Joe Courtney and two other Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday asked the new Coast Guard commander, Admiral Karl Shultz, for information and internal records that would aid them in an investigation of racial disparity and harassment.
Joe Courtney
Joe Courtney, a Democrat, has served as the U.S. representative for Connecticut’s second congressional district since 2007.
Posted inNews, Politics
White House objects to three-subs-a-year plan
WASHINGTON – The White House’s Office of Management and Budget has objected to a provision in a massive defense bill approved by the House Thursday that would press the Navy to procure two additional Virginia-class subs in 2022 and 2023. The White House said those additional subs, manufactured by Electric Boat, exceeds President Donald Trump’s request for 10 subs, not 12, in the Navy’s next contract with EB.
Posted inEducation, Politics
Courtney slams DeVos for failing to respond to East Hartford high letters
WASHINGTON – Rep. Joe Courtney on Tuesday lashed out at Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for her failure to respond to letters from Connecticut officials and students who were offended by her disparaging remarks about East Hartford High School a year ago.
Posted inNews
New defense bill increases sub production, other CT defense work
WASHINGTON — A new defense bill, a summary of which was released Friday, would authorize increased production of Virginia-class submarines built by Electric Boat and boost other Connecticut-made defense programs by even more than President Donald Trump requested.
Posted inPolitics
Esty leads in fundraising, but will have to give most money away
WASHINGTON — Rep. Elizabeth Esty, who had to reach into her own pockets to help fund her first bid to represent the 5th District, will leave Congress with a hefty war chest. Since she is not running for re-election, Esty will have to return some of those donations, and give the rest of the money away.
Posted inEducation
U.S. Ed Dept. comes to aid of CT students of shuttered for-profit school
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Education has come to the aid of hundreds of Ridley-Lowell Business & Technical Institute students whose education came to an abrupt end last week when the school shut down without warning. The help includes allowing students file claims to have their student loans discharged.
Posted inPolitics
Courtney draws ‘Quiet Corner’ challenger
WASHINGTON – Dan Postemski, an Iraq War veteran and chairman of the Hampton Republican Town Committee, said on Wednesday that he plans to challenge Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District.
Posted inMoney, News, Politics
CT lawmakers help pass massive spending bill
Updated at 12:55 a.m. Friday
WASHINGTON — Connecticut’s entire congressional delegation voted for a massive, $1.3 trillion federal budget bill that will provide the state with millions of additional dollars for education, health care and transportation and boost production in the state’s defense industry.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Trump health plan gets mixed reviews in CT
WASHINGTON — Connecticut officials have joined a pushback against a Trump administration plan to allow unrelated employers to band together so they can provide their employees affordable — but perhaps limited — health care, while others in the state are celebrating the move.
Posted inJustice, Politics
School massacre provokes calls for ‘red flag’ laws like one CT pioneered
WASHINGTON — The school shooting in Parkland, Fla., has opened a debate on whether more states should do what Connecticut was first to do — pass laws that allow the confiscation of weapons from those who are believed to be a danger to others and themselves.
Posted inHousing, Money, News, Politics
Trump budget calls for huge increases in CT-made subs, ‘copters
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s new budget would dramatically boost spending on the Virginia-class and Columbia-class submarines built by Electric Boat in Connecticut and sharply increase the Pentagon’s purchase of Sikorsky helicopters in the next federal fiscal year. While those increases may be approved by Congress, much of Trump’s budget was considered DOA.
Posted inPolitics
CT Dems scorch memo charging FBI, DOJ abuses
WASHINGTON — House Intelligence Committee Republicans on Friday released a controversial, once-classified memo critical of the way top FBI and Justice Department officials sought court permission to wiretap Carter Page, an adviser to the Trump campaign. Connecticut Democrats scorched the memo as a partisan attempt to discredit a probe into possible ties between Russia and the Trump campaign.
Posted inPolitics
Esty leads House delegation in fundraising
WASHINGTON — Rep. Elizabeth Esty raised the most campaign cash among the state’s delegation to the U.S. House, nearly $1.3 million, as Connecticut’s Democratic incumbents, for the most part, handily outraised their political rivals last year.
Posted inJustice, Money, Politics
Most CT lawmakers opposed bill that reopened government
WASHINGTON — Saying the deal was not good for Connecticut, most Connecticut lawmakers on Monday voted against a short-term spending bill that will reopen the government. The Connecticut Democrats who opposed the CR said it failed to fund programs important to the state and to protect young undocumented immigrants known as “dreamers.” But it did authorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as HUSKY B in Connecticut, for six years.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Federal government shuts down, CT to feel aftershock
WASHINGTON — Connecticut residents will still get their mail and Social Security checks, but the shutdown of the federal government will reverberate through state agencies – especially those that are most reliant on federal grants and federal workers — and many in the state would eventually feel an impact.