Bill to restore pensions for veterans advances
WASHINGTON – The Senate has taken the first step toward approving legislation that restores full cost of living increases to pension benefits for military retirees under age 62, although it’s unclear when the measure may pass.
Monday’s vote was 94-0 to advance the bill over an initial hurdle.
As drafted by majority Democrats, the $7 billion, 10-year cost of the legislation would add to the deficit. Republicans want cuts elsewhere in the budget.
The measure would reverse one part of a budget bill that cleared Congress late last year. Under the provision, cost-of-living increases in pension benefits for military retirees under age 62 would be held below the rate of inflation beginning in 2015. Veterans groups have strongly protested the change.
California prisons get time to meet goals
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Federal judges on Monday gave California two more years to meet a court-ordered prison population cap, the latest step in a long-running lawsuit aimed at improving inmate medical care.
In doing so, the judges said they would appoint a compliance officer who will release inmates early if the state fails to meet interim benchmarks or the final goal.
The order from the three-judge panel delayed an April deadline to reduce the prison population to about 112,000 inmates. California remains more than 5,000 inmates over a limit set by the courts, even though the state has built more prison space and used some private cells.
N.J. legislators issue more subpoenas
TRENTON, N.J. – A New Jersey legislative panel intensified efforts Monday to force two key aides to Gov. Chris Christie to turn over documents related to traffic gridlock near the George Washington Bridge as it authorized 18 more subpoenas.
Recipients in the third round of subpoenas include executives at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the agency that runs the bridge; a failed Supreme Court nominee who Christie later named to the bridge agency; and the state police aviation unit, which could provide information about Christie’s helicopter travel during the time the lanes were blocked for four days in September.
Christie’s office acknowledged Monday that the governor flew to the state capital after attending a Sept. 11 ceremony in New York City. He arrived at the event via ferry, said his spokesman, Colin Reed. The governor’s office said Christie never shared a helicopter with David Wildstein, his former No. 2 man at the Port Authority, who oversaw the lane closings and has since resigned.
Associated Press
