WASHINGTON — U.S. Reps. Joe Courtney and Jim Himes. Democrats who gave the Republican Party a veto-proof majority on a bill that would suspend Syrian and Iraqi refugee admissions, are now demanding the bill’s language be left out of a massive budget bill.
Washington
Posted inPolitics
Rare bipartisan votes advance education, transportation bills
With the unanimous support of the Connecticut delegation, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a landmark education bill, and both houses of Congress approved a five-year transportation bill that will send billions of dollars to the state.
Posted inPolitics, Transportation
Transportation bill will boost CT road funds and help Amtrak
WASHINGTON — Congress was expected to approve a massive five-year transportation bill Thursday that would send Connecticut more than $3.5 billion in federal transportation money, bar the rental of cars under recall and commission a study that would determine an impairment standard for drivers who have smoked marijuana.
Posted inPolitics
Day after mass shooting, Senate rejects gun control measures
WASHINGTON — The day after California’s mass shooting, Richard Blumenthal Chris Murphy and other Senate Democrats pressed for largely symbolic votes on a couple of gun control measures. As most expected, they lost.
Posted inEducation
House overwhelmingly votes to replace No Child Left Behind
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives approved a new federal education bill Wednesday that would replace No Child Left Behind and turn back much authority over K-12 educational policy back to the states.
Posted inHealth
Lembo helps Dems in D.C. sharpen attack on high drug costs
In testimony Wednesday, Connecticut Comptroller Kevin Lembo joined a growing Democratic attack on high drug prices, an issue expected to be at the center of many Democratic election campaigns next year.
Posted inPolitics, Transportation
New federal transportation bill would boost funding to CT
WASHINGTON – In a long-awaited compromise, Congress unveiled a final, five-year transportation bill on Tuesday that would boost money to the states and change the way Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor routes are funded.
Posted inEducation
U.S. education bill may spell new clash between Malloy, teachers
WASHINGTON — Since the new federal education bill would end many requirements of No Child Left Behind and give states broad authority to fashion their own education policy, Connecticut’s teachers unions are pressing Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to take advantage of the new freedoms. But Malloy has not indicated whether he would do so.
Posted inNews
Once a Sikorsky-flying Marine, he now pilots the company
WASHINGTON – Dan Schultz doesn’t like to talk about it, but he flew a harrowing rescue mission to Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1991 in a Sikorsky Super Stallion chopper. Now at the company’s helm, he says he plans no big, immediate changes at Sikorsky.
Posted inPolitics
With Congress deadlocked, CT senators press Obama on gun checks
WASHINGTON – Sens. Richard Blumenthal, Chris Murphy and other gun control advocates have switched their focus from Congress to the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue to try to close what they call loopholes in the FBI background checks of gun buyers.
Posted inHealth
Unlike UnitedHealth, Aetna, Anthem say they will stay in ACA exchanges
WASHINGTON — UnitedHealth may quit the nation’s insurance exchanges, but Aetna and Anthem say they are staying and will work on problems with the marketplaces.
Posted inNews
Paris attacks, Syrian refugee policy dominate Congress
House and Senate negotiators did manage to finish work on an education bill that will take the place of the “No Child Left Behind Act,” but the week in Washington was dominated by the Paris attacks and debate in Congress and across the country over Syrian refugee policy.
Posted inNews
Himes, Courtney defy Obama, vote for bill pausing refugee program
WASHINGTON — The debate over U.S. policy on Syrian refugees that has roiled the nation and Congress split the Connecticut delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday over a measure that would effectively suspend entry of refugees from Syria and Iraq until the screening process is strengthened.
Posted inEducation
Murphy helping Congress scrap ‘No Child Left Behind’
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy is part of a team of House and Senate lawmakers who hope to finish work on a bill this week that would overhaul federal education policy and eliminate the No Child Left Behind law.
Posted inNews
Murphy: Visa waivers pose bigger risk than Syrian refugees
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy is among several lawmakers who are saying there is little danger to the United States from the Syrian refugee resettlement program under debate after the Paris attacks, but there are vulnerabilities in the way tourists and other visitors to the United States are processed.