Month: December 2019

#WASHINGTON, D.C. – As thousands of Americans prepare to journey by train during the busy holiday travel season, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), lead sponsor of the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal (FAIR) Act, led a group of fourteen senators writing Amtrak to “demand that Amtrak immediately eliminate [its] anti-consumer arbitration and class action policy.” In January, Amtrak implemented a broad new policy that not only prevents Amtrak riders, employees, and others from seeking justice in the courts, it also prohibits them from banding together in a group to seek accountability for their claims.

“We write to express our concern that Amtrak’s mandatory arbitration and class action policy is gravely imperiling traveling Americans’ access to justice and public accountability.  As our national railroad, Amtrak has a responsibility to ensure the traveling public – including victims of crashes – have their day in court,” the senators wrote. 

Amtrak’s new forced arbitration policy was specifically written to be “as broad as legally permissible,” and would include discrimination and any personal injury claims. In their letter, the senators raised specific concerns about the application of this policy to claims of gross negligence and wrongful death. The senators wrote: “The 2015 train derailment in Philadelphia, the 2017 derailment in Washington State, and the 2018 collision in South Carolina left hundreds injured and took the lives of 13 crewmembers and passengers. In arbitration, victims and families would have no say in what state the arbitration will occur in, the payment terms for the arbitration, and under what rules the arbitration will take place, making a tragic situation much worse.”

 

Or you can ride in style with our sponsor of this press release:

 

HARTFORD, CT – Governor Ned Lamont is urging people in Connecticut to use caution as the first significant winter storm of the season begins impacting the state.

 

The forecast as of Sunday afternoon shows that moderate to briefly heavy snow at times will develop across Connecticut during the afternoon and it will mix with sleet and rain by the evening. Moderate precipitation will continue during Sunday evening and is anticipated to change over to rain by midnight. Light rain will impact the state during the Monday morning rush hour, with light snow developing around noon. Light to moderate snow will continue through Monday night and remain through Tuesday morning, causing some snow and slush patches and black ice on many roads.

 

“While it might get a bit nasty out at times, we appear to be dodging the brunt of this storm as it moves a bit more to the north and northwest than originally anticipated. Still, we are urging everyone to use caution, especially considering this is the first significant snowfall of the season,” Governor Lamont said. “If you don’t need to head out tonight, try to stay in. If you must travel, use caution, drive slow, and if you see a plow truck on the road do not pass them and leave them enough space to allow them to do their jobs. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as necessary.”

 

Although the state Emergency Operations Center is not anticipated to be fully activated as of Sunday afternoon, emergency management staff will be at the center beginning early Monday morning to monitor the storm and respond accordingly.

 

The governor is reminding Connecticut residents of the following resources his office provides to make sure everyone is informed anytime there are significant weather events:

 

·       CTPrepares website: The CTPrepares website contains several emergency preparedness resources, including tips on what people should do before, during, and after certain types of emergency situations. It also contains a list of important contact information that might be useful during a weather event, including the phone numbers for every utility company in the state in case an outage needs to be reported. In addition, announcements from the governor related to significant weather events are posted as they happen in the “News” section. The website is located at ct.gov/CTPrepares.

 

·       CTPrepares mobile app: The CTPrepares mobile app is essentially a mirror image of the website but was specifically designed for mobile devices. Download it for free on iPhones and iPads at the Apple App Store, and on Android devices at the Google Play Store.

 

·       Governor Lamont’s Twitter account: Throughout the duration of any weather emergency, Governor Lamont will continue to provide updates through his Twitter account, @GovNedLamont.

 

·       DEMHS Twitter account: The staff at the Connecticut Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security also post updates on Twitter during emergency events. Their account is @CTDEMHS.

 

This press release was made possible by:

 

HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that he has scheduled Tuesday, January 14, 2020 as the date to hold special elections to fill two vacancies in the Connecticut House of Representatives, including:

 

·       the 48^th Assembly District, which consists of portions of Colchester, Lebanon, Mansfield, and Windham. The seat was most recently held by Linda Orange, who passed away on November 20; and

·       the 132^nd Assembly District, which consists of portions of Fairfield. The seat was most recently held by Brenda Kupchick, who resigned on November 22.

 

Under state law, the governor is required to issue a writ of special election within ten days of a vacancy in the General Assembly and a special election must be held exactly 46 days after the date the writ was issued. Governor Lamont issued the writs for the 48^th Assembly District and the 132^nd Assembly District today.

 

This press release was made possible by: