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.
Richard Blumenthal
Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut’s senior U.S. senator, was first elected in 2011. Sen. Blumenthal has supported stricter gun legislation and support for veterans.
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.
Posted inPolitics
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.
Posted inNews
When it comes to trade pact, Himes is the man in the middle
WASHINGTON – Rep. Jim Himes has emerged as a key, swing vote as President Obama struggles to win congressional support for a new trade pact with 11 other nations that ring the Pacific Ocean.
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Politics
Northeast Dems try to block Obama plan for drilling in Atlantic
WASHINGTON — President Obama may soon break a key environmentalist commandment: Thou shalt not drill for oil in the Atlantic. But Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal and a long list of other East Coast senators want to stop him.
Posted inPolitics
Stamford Republican steps up to challenge Blumenthal
WASHINGTON– Republican August Wolf has a track record of one kind, and is the first Republican to enter the political arena against U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who has an established track record of his own.
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.
Posted inNews
DeLauro hosts salon to help Clinton drum up endorsements
WASHINGTON — Although she’s considered her party’s front-runner in the race for the White House, Hillary Clinton has not locked up the endorsements of even half of the Democrats in Congress. So Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, who endorsed Clinton last week, offered to help boost those numbers this week.
Posted inPolitics
Obama administration moving new tribal recognition rules
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is on the brink of making new federal tribal recognition rules – a move that could be a boon to several Connecticut tribes. Opponents, however, fearful of the ramifications of the new rules on casino operations and land claims, are making 11th-hour attempts to stop or slow the process.
Posted inPolitics
With $1.2 million haul, Blumenthal kicks off campaign cash chase
WASHINGTON — Although he has yet to announce his political intentions, Sen. Richard Blumenthal raised more than $1.2 million in campaign cash this year — a sign he’s mounting a race for re-election.
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.
Posted inPolitics
Bank that boosts Connecticut exports under fire
WASHINGTON – For years Connecticut companies, large and small, have benefitted from a federally backed bank that helps them sell their goods overseas — but a bitter fight over whether the Export Import Bank is taxpayer-funded corporate welfare has put its future in question.
Posted inHealth, Politics
CT official: VA’s failure to share data hurts vets at risk of prescription abuse
WASHINGTON — Connecticut veterans are escaping the notice of a state program aimed at combating prescription painkiller abuse, an epidemic among those veterans; and the federal government’s Department of Veterans Affairs is to blame, a state official says.
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.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Blumenthal: Effort to block recognition of CT tribes faces challenges
WASHINGTON – Rules under consideration that would make it easier for Indian tribes to win federal recognition have a carve-out aimed at denying that status to several Connecticut tribes, but Sen. Richard Blumenthal has joined others in saying the provision may be unconstitutional.