In the News
Three House Democrats introduced a bill last week to provide Americans with monthly direct payments through 2022 — or, at least, while prices remain exceptionally high.
Reps. Mike Thompson of California, Lauren Underwood of Illinois, and John Larson of Connecticut unveiled the plan. It would provide $100 monthly checks to individuals and $200 to couples while the national gas price average is $4 a gallon or above. Households would also be able to claim another extra $100 for each dependent they claimed on their tax returns.
The University of Connecticut has been awarded $662,400 in federal funding for research on the state’s crumbling foundations crisis.
The announcement was made Thursday by Democratic U.S. Reps. Joe Courtney (CT-02) and John Larson (CT-01). The money was secured in the House of Representatives’ fiscal year 2021 omnibus spending package, the congressmen’s offices announced.
The funding was awarded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and comes one year after UConn received $768,000 for similar research.
Connecticut’s congressional and Ukrainian-American community leaders condemned Russia’s wide-ranging attack on Ukraine Thursday and said the U.S. and its European allies will respond with the full force of crippling sanctions.
Russian forces hit cities and military bases as fleeing civilians piled into trains and cars. NATO’s chief said the “brutal act of war” shattered peace on the European continent, as the U.S.-led alliance mobilized more troops to move toward eastern Europe.
With President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better legislation halted in the U.S. Senate, Connecticut Democrats hoped to drum up support Monday by highlighting the bill’s extension of a recently-expired monthly tax credit for families with children.
HARTFORD — A year later, some of Connecticut’s top elected leaders Thursday recalled the terrifying moments when violent insurrectionists stormed into the nation’s Capitol as Congress prepared to certify Joe Biden’s electoral vote win.
At a Hartford press conference, Sen. Chris Murphy and Sen. Richard Blumenthal described rushing out of the Senate Chamber as rioters were within eyesight and earshot. Rep. Rosa DeLauro recounted lying on the floor of the House and calling her husband to say she loved him.
The U.S. House of Representatives has authorized nearly $780 billion in military spending that would keep Connecticut’s three Pentagon contractors and hundreds of suppliers busy building fighter jet engines, helicopters and submarines.
The National Defense Authorization Act, which the House backed Tuesday in a bipartisan vote of 363-70, now heads to the Senate. It’s among the first steps toward final approval for the federal budget that begins next year.
Max Richtman, President and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, wrote the following op-ed that appeared in The Hill:
WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice is providing over $1.8 million in federal funding to the City of Hartford to hire more police officers. It's part of the DOJ's plan to award $139 million for law enforcement agencies to hire more officers across the nation.
Hartford will be receiving $1,875,000 to hire 15 full-time officers.
HARTFORD, CT — Standing on Hartford’s Union Station train platform Monday, the state’s congressional delegation called the weekend passage of a long-gestating $1 trillion infrastructure package a victory for Connecticut’s highway and rail systems as well as its construction workforce.
The U.S. House gave the massive spending bill final passage on a bipartisan vote early Saturday morning, nearly three months after it was approved by the Senate.