Sen.-elect Chris Murphy officially received his committee assignments for the next Congress Wednesday and was appointed to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Health Education , Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Meanwhile Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who becomes Connecticut’s senior senator in the 113rd Congress, has given up his seat on the HELP Committee for a […]
Washington
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Obama asks Congress for $60.4 billion in Sandy disaster aid
President Obama submitted a request to Congress late Friday for $60.4 billion in emergency spending to help the states hit by the Superstorm Sandy. That’s less than the total of about $83 billion the governors of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey had asked for. It’s also likely to be reduced by a deficit-conscious Congress. […]
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Senate confirms Shea for U.S. District Court in Connecticut
The U.S. Senate voted 72 to 23 Wednesday night to confirm Michael P. Shea as a U.S. District Court judge in Connecticut, filling the vacancy created by the elevation of Christopher Droney to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. Shea, 45, a native of Hartford, is a partner at Day Pitney. He […]
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Pelosi talks up Larson’s new job
Rep. John Larson, D-1st District was House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s featured guest at a press conference aimed at tough talk about congressional negotiations over the “fiscal cliff.” In that press conference, Pelosi urged her Republican rival, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to bring up legislation next week that would extend a series of tax […]
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Larson shrugs off loss of leadership post
U.S. Rep. John Larson, D-1st District, who has been the fourth-ranking member of the House Democratic leadership since 2006, was gracious on Thursday about losing a game of political musical chairs this week. “My grandfather Nolan used to say, peacock one day, feather duster the next, so I am heading up the feather duster caucus,” […]
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Health
CT snares only one USDA Farm to School grant
Given Connecticut’s bear-hug embrace of the local food movement, you might have expected the state to have been all over the U.S. Department of Agriculture‘s new Farm to School grant program. And you would have especially expected that because: 1. There was some serious money involved, and 2. Much of the grant focus was on […]
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Senators ask Obama for more Sandy recovery money
Connecticut Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Joe Lieberman Tuesday joined colleagues from New York, New Jersey and other states affected by Hurricane Sandy in asking President Obama for more money for recovery efforts. The Federal Emergency Management Agency says it has enough money to respond to Sandy, but the senators urged Obama to request an additional […]
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Murphy, Esty head to Washington to get organized
You wouldn’t think three-term u.s. Rep. Chris Murphy would need lessons getting around Capitol Hill, but he’ll be attending freshman orientation next week with all other first-time senators, including Sen.-elect Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Sen.-elect Angus King of Maine. Murphy, a Democrat who won retiring Sen. Joe Lieberman’s seat, will have double duty. He’s […]
Posted inEnergy & Environment
HUD implements forclosure moratorium for Sandy victims
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan said Monday he has imposed a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures of Connecticut properties and others in Hurricane Sandy-hit areas that were bought with Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans. “People have already suffered one disaster, they don’t need two,” he said. The mortgage moratorium was declared […]
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Money
Rush to meet Plum Island comment deadline
Environmental groups in Connecticut and New York are scrambling to meet a Friday deadline to submit comments on a draft environmental impact statement for the sale of Plum Island by the federal government. Their collective consensus — with some nuanced differences — is that most, if not all, of the island, located in the New […]
Posted inPolitics
Pelosi to raise money for Esty
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will be the featured guest next week at a Greenwich fundraiser for Elizabeth Esty, the Democratic candidate for the 5th District congressional seat. Pelosi, the most powerful Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, is a prodigious fundraiser. Last month, she held 77 fundraisers in five states and in Washington, […]
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Hartford-New Haven on list of top markets for political ads
It’s official: Connecticut voters are suffering more than most others from a deluge of political ads. According to the Sunlight Foundation, the Hartford-New Haven market ranked 10th in the nation during the past week in the number of political ad files that secure television ads — 131 of them. Las Vegas topped the list with […]
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4th district fundraising depends on how you count
Washington -Republican Steve Obsitnik’s campaign is bragging it raised more money than rival Rep. Jim Himes in the last quarter – but the numbers tell a slightly different story. “Steve Obsitnik’s successful fundraising quarter is proof positive that voters are tired of Congressman Himes partisan hypocrisy,” Obsitnik campaign spokeswoman Amanda Bergen said in a statement. […]
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Ohio Super PAC promises $1 million to help Roraback
What does moderate Republican Andrew Roraback have in common with the conservatives in Ohio? On the surface, very little. But right after House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, held a fundraiser in Hartford this week for Roraback, a Super PAC based in Ohio said it would spend more than $1 million running ads for the Republican […]
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Money
More bad air days in Connecticut
All that complaining you did about the hot, smoggy summer — turns out you had every reason to whine. Preliminary data from the Environmental Protection Agency shows that from April to September, Connecticut had the worst air quality in New England with the number of bad air days nearly doubling since last year. For the […]