Senate Democrats
Gun violence as a public health crisis explored by U.S. Senate Democrats
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats on Tuesday discussed how to treat gun violence as a public health crisis, in hopes of building upon last year’s federal gun safety legislation. “Across the country, gun violence is a public health epidemic,” Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin, the chairman of the committee, said in his opening remarks. […]
Democrats urge feds to update banking ‘red flags’ on legal marijuana businesses
The federal government unfairly penalizes state-legal marijuana businesses whose owners have been convicted of marijuana-related crimes, restricting them from loans and other banking tools, a group of U.S. Senate and House Democrats wrote to the Treasury Department asking for a change in policy. The group of 20 lawmakers, who mostly represent states where recreational marijuana […]
Democrats’ struggle to keep U.S. Senate majority complicated by Manchin decision
WASHINGTON — U.S. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin III announced Thursday he does not plan to run for reelection come 2024, giving Republicans an opportunity to pick up a seat and increasing their chances of flipping Senate control. A centrist who has long frustrated his party’s leadership and outside advocacy groups with his views on fossil […]
U.S. Senate spending panel sets funding levels for annual bills
WASHINGTON — A group of U.S. Senate Democrats on Thursday approved funding levels for dozens of federal departments for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1 — setting up a likely clash with House Republicans as a deadline approaches later this year. The move to advance the spending plan was essential if Congress is going […]
Michigan’s Stabenow, Minnesota’s Klobuchar rise in U.S. Senate Democratic leadership
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Democrats on Thursday elected their leadership for their new 51-seat majority in the upcoming 118th Congress, elevating two Midwesterners — Michigan’s Debbie Stabenow to the No. 3 slot and Minnesota’s Amy Klobuchar to the No. 4 role. Stabenow, chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, and Klobuchar, chair of the […]
Sen. Phil Berger won’t launch legislative review of Istation contract
Senate leader Phil Berger has declined to launch a legislative review into Superintendent Mark Johnson’s controversial decision to award the state’s K-3 reading assessment contract to Istation. Last week, a group of Senate Democrats asked Berger, a Republican from Rockingham, to form a Senate Select Committee to investigate the three-year, $8.3 million contract award. The […]
Senate Dems follow elections bill, investigation money ahead of vote
As the fate of the State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement looms, so does the possibility of a do-over election in the 9th congressional district. State Board investigators have been examining allegations of absentee ballot fraud in the 9th congressional district, and calls for a new election are mounting. What hasn’t been publicly discussed, […]