WASHINGTON –Since the scandal this spring over long wait times and cover ups of poor performance at veterans’ health facilities, there’s been a sharp upturn in the numbers of Connecticut veterans who have waited more than 30 days to receive medical help.
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 inEducation, Health, Politics
Murphy, Blumenthal seek reforms to aid thousands of immigrant children
U.S. Sens. Christopher Murphy and Richard Blumenthal called Thursday at the state Capitol for passage of an immigration reform bill they called crucial to safeguard as many as 80,000 children expected to illegally enter the U.S. alone this fiscal year.
Posted inNews
Blumenthal thanks Target for gun policy by becoming customer
Washington – Sen. Richard Blumenthal on Wednesday rewarded Target for adopting a new no-guns policy that bars bringing any firearms into its stores by giving the giant retailer some business.
Posted inNews
Connecticut, New York lawmakers try to stop sale of Plum Island
WASHINGTON – Connecticut and New York lawmakers are trying to persuade colleagues on the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to repeal legislative language that requires the sale of Plum Island, which environmentalists want to keep as a largely undeveloped natural habitat.
Posted inNews
Junkets or not, taxpayers pick up the tab for CT lawmaker trips
WASHINGTON – Connecticut’s Senators are fairly new to office, but they picked up a congressional tradition in a flash, joining their elders in logging thousands of miles in taxpayer-funded trips to destinations as diverse as Belgium and Egypt.
Posted inHealth, Politics
CT women’s groups, politicians, decry high court’s Hobby Lobby decision
WASHINGTON – To opponents of the Affordable Care Act, it’s a political victory, but to Connecticut women’s rights groups and its Democratic politicians, the Supreme Court decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby will erode a woman’s right to contraception.
Posted inNews
Connecticut advocates lobby Congress to tackle sexual crimes on campus
WASHINGTON – Should the University of Connecticut and other colleges in the state and across the nation be forced to report all incidents of sexual assaults on their campuses to law enforcement authorities? That’s one of the questions under debate as Congress tackles the thorny issue of sexual violence in the nation’s schools.
Posted inNews
Connecticut restaurants, tourist attractions on display on Capitol Hill
Washington – The Connecticut State Society, a club that allows people from Connecticut, especially those working on Capitol Hill and for federal agencies, to socialize together is hosting an event Tuesday to showcase the state’s food producers, restaurants, breweries, tourist attractions, and other businesses .
Posted inPolitics
Blumenthal, family: Slain woman a victim of faulty law
Family members of Lori Jackson Gellatly, the 32-year-old mother from Oxford who was shot to death last month in what police say was a case of domestic violence, came to the State Capitol on Monday to say that a loophole in state and federal law may have contributed to her death.
Posted inNews
Feds to send team to inspect Walk Bridge
WASHINGTON – The Federal Railroad Administration is sending a team of inspectors to Connecticut next week to assess the conditions of all of the state’s five movable railroad bridges, including the Norwalk River’s Walk Bridge, whose recent malfunctions have snarled commuter traffic.
Posted inNews
CT lawmakers lean on Harry Reid to schedule Schwartz VA vote
WASHINGTON – Members of the state’s congressional delegation on Thursday told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid they are tired of tapping their feet waiting for a confirmation vote for Linda Schwartz, the head of the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs, who has been nominated by President Obama for a top VA job in Washington.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Norwalk bridge to remain closed? Depends who’s talking
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., surprised the Malloy administration by announcing Thursday that a mechanical swing bridge in Norwalk would remain in the closed position during repairs, providing reliable passage for Metro-North commuter trains while interrupting marine traffic on the Norwalk River.
Posted inNews
Washington Watch, Week of June 8
This week Congress will fight over the Bowe Bergdahl prisoner swap, and over how to find money to avert at a summertime highway-project funding “cliff” that could slow and even halt road projects in the state.
Posted inNews
Deal on bill to allow vets to see private doctors
Washington – The scandal at the Veterans Affairs Administration has done what little else could do in Congress – bring Democrats and Republicans together on a bill.
Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt, and John MCain, R-Ariz., announced an agreement late Thursday afternoon that combined elements of three separate bills aimed at reforming the VA, which is under investigation because of allegations that staff had covered up delays in the providing care to veterans and other wrongdoing.
Posted inNews
Blumenthal slams GM report on defects, recalls
WASHINGTON – A General Motors -commissioned report on the company’s slow response to a deadly ignition-switch defect was blasted by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who said it left critical questions unanswered and absolved top officials of responsibility.