In the News

A $5.4 million federal grant will give another financial boost to Bradley International Airport for the construction of a $151 million facility where checked bags will undergo security inspections.

Lawmakers and union leaders are calling on Congress for fiscal changes during the year. Along with conversations about the budget and fair pay, some lawmakers want more attention to Social Security.

The 2023 Social Security Trustee report showed trust-fund reserves could be depleted in 2034, meaning only 80% of benefits would get paid. It will fall to Congress and the White House to resolve it, but some are uncertain how it can occur given split opinions on Social Security.

Mary Cannon-James, president of AFSCME Iowa Retiree Chapter 61, spoke Thursday at a Capitol Hill event hosted by Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), warning of the risks to older Americans like her if the Fiscal Commission Act (H.R. 5779) becomes law.

The bill is a solution in search of a problem. It would convene a group of experts – individuals who surely don’t or won’t depend on monthly Social Security checks to pay the bills – to address a so-called fiscal crisis that doesn’t actually exist.

A coalition of U.S. labor leaders spoke out forcefully on Thursday against the Republican-led push for a "fiscal commission," denouncing the proposal as an attack on Social Security, Medicare, and other programs that tens of millions of current and retired workers depend on to meet basic needs.

A proposed fiscal commission to fast-track deficit reduction measures, already under attack from the right, also faces a stepped-up assault from the left.

Rep. John B. Larson, D-Conn., led labor union leaders at a news conference Thursday to protest legislation that would create a bipartisan, bicameral commission that would devise a plan to curb red ink and require Congress to take an up-or-down vote on it with no amendments.

Many retired Americans have struggled with rising prices in recent years. A survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that 58% of retired workers worry they will have to make substantial spending cuts due to inflation.

For more than two decades in Washington, D.C., East Hartford Congressman John B. Larson has been harping on the need to protect the Social Security system, or as he likes to say, America’s best insurance policy.  

SOUTH WINDSOR — As a teen who loves technology and video games but struggles with procrastination, South Windsor High School senior Ryan Duong found a way to use his passion to solve his problem. 

Ryan, 17, created an app called "ClockIn!," a program that allows users to schedule out their tasks.

While there are many apps that have similar functions, what makes his app unique is that "you can only schedule plans for today or tomorrow, so you don't overwhelm yourself," he said.