News Coverage
Patriot Ledger: Senate OKs delay of big flood insurance premium hikes
By: Jessica TrufantJanuary 31, 2014 Legislation to delay an overhaul of the federal flood insurance program took a major leap forward Thursday when it passed the U.S. Senate on a 67-32 vote. Massachusetts Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren were among the 67 senators who voted to postpone parts of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 for four years. The act is hitting homeowners with massive premium hikes. "I have met with and heard the fear and frustration of homeowners and … Continue Reading
January 27, 2014
Boston.com- Cambridge 11-year-old to attend State of the Union address
By: Brock ParkerJanuary 27, 2014 Cambridge sixth-grader Zev Dickstein will attend President Barack Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday as a guest of U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren. Dickstein, 11, who volunteered for Warren's senate campaign and last fall served as the campaign manager for a Cambridge School Committee candidate, is traveling to Washington D.C. for the address in the U.S. Capitol Tuesday night. "I am very pleased to have Zev joining me for the State of the Union," Warren … Continue Reading
January 25, 2014
Associated Press: In Mass., a push for tighter regulations on for-profit colleges with aim to protect students
By: Steve LeBlancJanuary 25, 2014 BOSTON - Two top Massachusetts elected officials are trying to tighten regulations on for-profit colleges, arguing some of the schools are leaving students with high debt and without the skills needed to land a good job - all while reaping the benefit of federal student loans. Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has filed a bill she said will protect student borrowers by requiring colleges to assume some of the risk of student loan default. Massachusetts … Continue Reading
January 23, 2014
Worcester Telegram & Gazette: Warren, Markey call for more heat aid
By: Steven H. Foskett Jr. January 23, 2014 U.S. Sens. Edward J. Markey and Elizabeth Warren have called on the Obama administration to immediately distribute remaining low-income heating assistance funds in light of harsh weather and tough economic conditions. The senators, both D-Mass., sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius arguing that the passage of the 2014 appropriations bill allowed the department to immediately distribute nearly $490 million remaining in … Continue Reading
January 23, 2014
Daily Collegian (UMass Amherst): Sen. Elizabeth Warren visits UMass to discuss LSL, life science research funding, student loan debt
By: Aviva LuttrellJanuary 23, 2014 Sen. Elizabeth Warren met with students, faculty and administrators at the University of Massachusetts on Wednesday afternoon to tour the University's recently constructed Life Science Laboratories and discuss student loan debt and the affordability of higher education. The visit was part of Warren's "Priorities for the Future" tour in Massachusetts, which focuses on her plans to make higher education more affordable, to refinance student loan debt, and to … Continue Reading
January 22, 2014
WAMC Northeast Public Radio: Senator Warren Promotes Priorities In Massachusetts Tour
By: Paul TuthillJanuary 22, 2014 Senator Warren met with about 100 constituents in the lobby of the downtown Springfield building where the senator's western Massachusetts office is located. Warren spoke about her agenda for the year ahead in Congress, highlighting three priorities-reducing college student loan debt, increasing government funding for medical research and shoring up Social Security. "Our job, our job together is to make sure our government works not for the rich and powerful … Continue Reading
January 22, 2014
Worcester Telegram & Gazette: Warren, McGovern muster support for extension of jobless benefits
By Stephen H. Foskett, Jr.January 22, 2014 WORCESTER - Tony Caramello's story is one heard many times in today's economy. At age 55, with 18 years of executive experience under his belt, Mr. Caramello got called into the meeting nobody wants to ever be a part of. "They told me my services were no longer needed," he said. His wife is a schoolteacher, which softened the blow somewhat, but unemployment helped fill the gaps as he began a long search for a new job. He said he never thought he would … Continue Reading
January 22, 2014
Daily Hampshire Gazette: In Amherst visit, Sen. Elizabeth Warren cites UMass affordability model
By: Scott MerzbachJanuary 22, 2014 AMHERST - Continuing efforts she is pursuing in Washington to reduce the financial burden on college students, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren will file a bill to refinance student loan debt. At a meeting Wednesday afternoon with University of Massachusetts students and Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy at the flagship campus, Warren promised to introduce legislation that would refinance $1.2 trillion in student loan debt. "Student loan debt is a strong stimulus for … Continue Reading
January 22, 2014
The Patriot Ledger: Sen. Warren visits Marshfield to hear flood insurance woes
By: Jessica TrufantJanuary 22, 2014 MARSHFIELD - The Marshfield-based nonprofit Road to Responsibility used all but $18,000 of its $25 million budget last year to serve hundreds of developmentally disabled people on the South Shore through housing and programs. But Road to Responsibility, one of the town's largest employers, could face some serious cuts. Its Ocean Street property now falls in a flood zone on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's new maps, requiring flood coverage that … Continue Reading
January 22, 2014
Springfield Republican: Sen. Elizabeth Warren says focus in 2014 includes boosting Social Security program, making higher education more attainable and increasing medical research funding
By: Robert RizzutoJanuary 22, 2014 SPRINGFIELD - Surrounded by dozens of citizen supporters and elected officials on Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said the new year comes with a sharpened focus on three specific areas where she plans to help craft legislation. Among them are boosting the nation's Social Security Program, helping make college more affordable while lowering student loan debt, and increasing the amount of medical research funding available to potentially further … Continue Reading
January 22, 2014
Associated Press: Sen. Warren To File Bill Allowing Refinancing For Student Loans
Associated PressJanuary 22, 2014 BOSTON - U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is planning to file a bill to let students refinance their old loans at a new lower rate. Warren said she wants to ease the loan burden that she says is burying graduates in debt and stifling economic growth. Warren said it's important to let students with old, high-interest loans take advantage of lower rates now being offered to students under a new federal law this year. An undergraduate student who took out an … Continue Reading
January 21, 2014
Brockton Enterprise: Sen. Elizabeth Warren: students being 'crushed' by loan debt
By: Ed DongaJanuary 21, 2014 BROCKTON- With student loan debt reaching $1.2 trillion nationwide, Marisa Cox, has taken to working not one, not two, but six jobs as she tries to make ends meet while attending Massasoit Community College. A typical day for Cox usually starts with her liberal arts classes at Massasoit, followed by work at a day-care center, nursing home or one of her other jobs, before she finishes the day with homework and studying. Cox added that sometimes her studies can keep … Continue Reading
January 17, 2014
Gloucester Times: Fishing aid gets Senate's final OK
By: Sean HorganJanuary 17, 2014 A year ago, the bill to provide $150 million in direct federal disaster assistance to fishermen rolled through the Senate, only to die a lingering death in the House - a casualty of the internecine and partisan bickering over the debt ceiling. Yesterday, that failure by Congress to lift a deliberative finger to help fishermen was reduced to a political footnote when the Senate passed an appropriation to send $75 million to help fishermen, and fishing communities … Continue Reading
January 11, 2014
Associated Press: For Sen. Warren, a focus on kitchen table finances
By: Steve LeBlancJanuary 11, 2014 BOSTON (AP) - U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has garnered the kind of fevered attention during her freshman year that would make most political figures drool - with supporters even calling on her to consider a 2016 presidential bid, a notion she's dismissed. As she enters her second year in Congress, the Massachusetts Democrat said her focus is instead on improving the economic fortunes of ordinary Americans, a theme that is dovetailing with a renewed emphasis in … Continue Reading
January 08, 2014
Springfield Republican: Sen. Elizabeth Warren introduces bipartisan bill to increase transparency in reporting federal settlements
By: Robert RizzutoJanuary 8, 2014 WASHINGTON - With the aim of increasing the transparency around settlements reached with companies found to be in violation of federal laws, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has teamed up with U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican, to push a new bill. The Truth in Settlements Act, as introduced by the bipartisan duo on Wednesday, comes amid steady concern in Washington that companies which settle with the government amid investigations into … Continue Reading
January 08, 2014
Associated Press: US Sen. Warren: New mortgage rules will protect potential homeowners, guard nation's economy
Associated PressJanuary 8, 2014 BOSTON - U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is hailing new mortgage rules set to go into effect this week. Warren said that under the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rules, lenders must determine that a borrower has the ability to repay a mortgage before issuing the loan. The Massachusetts Democrat said the rules will prohibit brokers from being paid by lenders to steer customers into higher-cost loans and strengthen the mortgage market by improving mortgage … Continue Reading
December 23, 2013
Boston Globe: One year in, Warren not shying from populist aims
By: Nora BiermanDecember 23, 2013 WASHINGTON - Elizabeth Warren seems tired as she sits down in her straight back office chair at the end of a long rookie year in the Senate. But her voice suddenly rises when her favorite subject comes up, the populist ideas on which she has spent the last 30 years. It's not just Democrats who need a jolt of it, she says, holding up her arm like a crossing guard. "Everyone," the Massachusetts Democrat says. "Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, … Continue Reading
December 17, 2013
Boston.com: Elizabeth Warren measure would forbid employers from looking at job applicant’s credit history
By: Nora BiermanDecember 17, 2013 WASHINGTON -- Senator Elizabeth Warren announced today that she will introduce a measure to forbid employers from requiring credit histories on job applicants. The Massachusetts Democrat's measure has support from dozens of liberal consumer groups, who argue that credit history is a poor measure of character and discriminates against the economically disadvantaged. But it could face resistance from Republicans who oppose more restrictions on businesses and … Continue Reading
December 05, 2013
Telegram: Sen. Warren at Veterans Inc. hears concerns on housing
By: Alli KnotheDecember 5, 2013 WORCESTER - U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren visited Veterans Inc. on Grove Street Thursday, speaking with veterans, advocates and politicians about issues facing former service members. "The more I know, the better I can do my job," she told them during a 20-minute roundtable discussion before touring the facility. Steven J. Connor, director of Central Hampshire Veterans Services of Northampton, said he would like Ms. Warren to consider having financial assistance … Continue Reading
November 12, 2013
American Banker: Warren: 'It's Time to Act' on Too Big to Fail
By: Victoria FinkleNovember 12, 2013 WASHINGTON - Sen. Elizabeth Warren rallied supporters on Tuesday to help end "too big to fail" and back her bill to separate commercial banking from riskier activities, in a fiery speech before consumer advocates. The Massachusetts Democrat, a longtime critic of Wall Street, expressed frustration that three years after the Dodd-Frank Act the biggest banks continue to grow, regulators keep missing their statutory deadlines and the problem of "too big to … Continue Reading