Free Republic

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) introduced legislation on Thursday to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $25 per hour through phased increases. The bill, titled the Living Wage for All Act, includes a companion measure in the House led by Rep. Delia C. Ramirez (D-Illinois). It aims to phase in the increase, starting with an initial jump to $12 per hour, reaching $25 over several years. Larger employers would face a shorter compliance timeline of about six years, while smaller businesses would receive up to 13 years. The proposal would also eliminate subminimum wages for tipped workers, youth employees,...

Californians can expect a wave of changes this summer, from classroom policies to grocery store shelves, as a slate of new laws takes effect.

On Thursday’s broadcast of Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power,” Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) responded to Sen. Chris Murphy’s (D-CT) proposal to raise the minimum wage to $25 an hour by saying that “I’m delighted that Sen. Murphy is talking about this and I think the voting record of a lot of us, the Democrats that had led on this before is we’re willing to do it, it was $15, plus inflation adjustments.” Co-host Joe Mathieu asked, “I want to ask you, quickly, with our small amount of time remaining here, Congressman, if you think raising the minimum wage would help. …...

A fiery confrontation erupted during a congressional hearing as DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Rep. Rosa DeLauro clashed over immigration policies, border security, and child separation. Mullin fired back, accusing the congresswoman of ignoring issues involving unaccompanied migrant children during the Biden administration and challenging her criticism during a tense back-and-forth.

Donald Trump's Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin clashed so heatedly with a Democratic lawmaker at a committee hearing that even the Republican chairman lost patience with him. Mullin got into a finger-pointing argument with blue-haired Democratic Representative Rosa DeLauro on Capitol Hill Thursday during a debate over the administration's child separation policy for undocumented migrants. Mullin accused DeLauro of being a 'hypocrite' for being outraged over children separated under Trump when she 'didn't say a word' about the minors who went missing during Joe Biden's tenure. 'Don't interrupt me!' DeLauro screamed at Mullin, pointing her finger at the DHS secretary....

Federal immigration agents have nabbed more than 10,000 migrant gangbangers since the start of President Trump’s second term, the US Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday. The milestone, reached just a year and a half after Trump launched his sweeping mass deportations agenda, includes arrests tied to murder, assault with a deadly weapon, drug trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, robbery and extortion, according to DHS. “Many of these gang members were released into our country by Joe Biden,” said DHS Sec. Markwayne Mullin. “These vicious criminals murdered, assaulted, robbed, and terrorized innocent Americans for sport.” “Thanks to the Secure America Act, ICE...

The political committee of Democratic Senator Chris Murphy — himself well versed in the "Resistance" talking points against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — is dedicated to resisting President Donald Trump and has funded a prominent left-wing nonprofit that has been at the center of highly organized, “mass mobilization” anti-ICE protests around the country. Murphy’s newly rebranded Political Action Committee, American Mobilization, donated $100,000 last year to Indivisible, a progressive movement and organization formed in the wake of Trump’s first election in 2016 and dedicated to resisting the Trump agenda, Federal Election Commission records for the PAC show. Indivisible says...

On a leafy Connecticut road in the summer of 2024, would-be kidnappers pulled a couple from their Lamborghini SUV, beat them in broad daylight and threw them into a van, only to be arrested shortly thereafter as multiple witnesses, including a passing off-duty FBI agent, called police. The investigation would lead police to some sensational findings. The attack turned out to be linked to a $245 million Bitcoin heist the month before involving the couple’s son. And this week, a California cryptocurrency mogul who authorities say called himself “The Godfather” and had previously hired off-duty sheriff’s deputies to strongarm his...

Connecticut officials just adopted the first major new restriction on homeschooling in America in decades, forcing parents to seek permission from “child welfare” authorities while imposing a slew of new regulations on families who exit government schools. Advocates for home education blasted the move. And they vowed to fight on. The legislation, known as House Bill 5468 and signed into law as Public Act 26-37 or “An Act Concerning the Provision of Parent-Managed Learning,” treats all homeschool families as guilty until proven innocent, critics said. Before starting to homeschool, parents must report to the government and receive approval from the...

Graham Platner, Maine’s likely Democrat nominee for U.S. Senate, was hand-plucked by a pair of socialist political operatives who sought him out after catching wind of him through the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) network. After being accused of abusive behavior by women he has dated, wearing a Nazi tattoo for 18 years, sexting several women while married, and a host of other scandals, Platner is now being criticized for the Ivy League-educated radicals behind him. Daniel Moraff of Yale Law and his fiancée, Leanne Fan of Harvard and University of California-Berkeley, met while working for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)...

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — Monday marks the start of Pride Month and a new beginning for the New Haven Pride Center. The center officially re-opened on Monday after financial challenges forced it to close for several months. A $500,000 campaign was launched in March to restore it.State and local leaders were on hand to help celebrate the new chapter.“This is a phoenix that is rising and we are really proud,” ___________ said. “This is what resilience looks like. This is what love looks like. This is what community looks like.”

After 40 years, police made an arrest in the rape and stabbing death of Roberta Walls. Charles Randall Berry, the 66-year-old suspect, was arrested Monday in Newington, Connecticut. Virginia Beach police said advancements in technology combined with investigative work helped detectives solve the case. ... In the spring of 1986, the body of Walls, a 22-year-old volunteer at the Bayside Area Library, was found on a baseball field behind Old Donation School, near Independence Boulevard north of Town Center.

Erin Stewart suspended her campaign for governor of Connecticut Thursday after an investigative report concluded that her personal use of a city credit card as mayor of New Britain was a “repeated and deliberate circumvention of the city’s purchase order system to benefit herself, members of her family, and her political campaigns.” The “great majority” of the $207,076 in purchases charged to Stewart’s city-issued credit card over nearly a decade were unrelated to city business, and they warrant a criminal investigation by state and federal criminal authorities...

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — A marathon session of the State Senate that began Tuesday ended early Wednesday morning with a bill banning “convertible pistols” being passed.At the state Capitol, legislators voted largely by party lines, except for Republican Tomy Hwang, who joined the Democrats in support, and Democrat Cathy Osten, who joined Republicans in opposition.

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — The debate over legislation aiming to restrict U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) actions in Connecticut is expected to resume Friday. The bill was approved in the state Senate earlier this month.Discussion at the state Capitol stretched into Thursday night. There were hours of questioning from House Republicans and repeated attempts to amend portions of the bill.

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — The state House of Representatives voted Thursday largely along party lines to advance a bill adding new oversight to the state’s homeschooling system, with the Republican minority mounting a lengthy, if futile, campaign of opposition.The final vote count was 96-53. All 49 Republicans voted against the bill and were joined by four Democrats who defected from their caucus. Democrats hold a 102-49 majority. Two Democrats were absent.

A quiet western Massachusetts town is being torn apart by a proposed 50% property tax hike — with neighbors stealing yard signs from one another and some residents warning they could be forced to sell their homes. Residents of South Hadley, Mass., head to the polls Tuesday to vote on proposals to close the local budget gap. One would raise $11 million for the town and hike average property tax bills by about $1,700 per year, according to the Daily Hampshire Gazette. The more modest proposal would generate a cool $9 million, increasing average property tax bills by roughly $1,400....

BRANFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — What’s known to some as “gas station heroin” will officially be illegal in Connecticut to manufacture or sell.Kratom has been described by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as more potent than morphine and, at times, addictive like opioids. Starting Wednesday, Kratom will be classified as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, meaning it’s going to be banned from gas stations, convenience stores, vape shops, and other businesses in Connecticut.

Connecticut already has some of the toughest gun restrictions in the country, and a new bill advancing in the state legislature targets Glocks and Glock clones. Backed by Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D), state House Bill 5043 advances a ban on popular handguns that have been on the market for over 40 years and are commonly used for lawful self-defense. The measure, advanced last week in a partisan vote of the House Judiciary Committee, ambiguously bans the future manufacture, sale, and importation into the state of "convertible pistols" defined as "any semiautomatic pistol with a cruciform trigger bar" that could...

An Israel Defense Forces soldier was killed in a Hezbollah rocket attack on troops in southern Lebanon overnight between Friday and Saturday, the military announced early Sunday morning. Sgt. Moshe Yitzchak Katz, 22, of the Paratroopers Brigade’s 890th Battalion, was a member of the Chabad community in New Haven, Connecticut. “My oldest son, with a zest for life and jokes,” wrote Katz’s father Mendy on Facebook. “My heart is shattered and the wound is real.” ...Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also offered condolences in a post, noting that Katz had moved to Israel to join the IDF, and saying he “fought...