The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
AG says state hopes to work with Trump
NEW HAVEN >> One clear area where Connecticut could clash with the Trump administration is over actions that negatively affect clean air and clean water, according to the attorney general.
“Environmental issues I think will be front and center,” state Attorney General George Jepsen said in an interview with the New Haven Register’s editorial board, as his office has clear enforcement authority and standing in this area.
Jepsen, however, said he has told his staff that he wil not reflexively oppose everything the new administration proposes and hopes he can work on issues with it.
“We are not going to launch frivolous lawsuits. We will pick
our battles with care,” Jepsen said, although he won’t hesitate to go to court if it is appropriate.
Connecticut already has joined with California to fight proposed lower mileage standards for medium and heavy trucks, something that will impact greenhouse emissions.
Jepsen said one of the most enjoyable aspects of his job is working in a bipartisan way with other attorneys general on national issues.
He said Connecticut is now leading a 40-state investigation into “what we believe is systematic and pervasive price fixing” within the generic drug industry. Jepsen said generic drugs are a $75 billion industry that represents 85 percent of the prescription drug market.
He said the multi-state probe was launched after Trump took office, but was initiated by research undertaken by two anti-trust lawyers in his office.
Jepsen said partisan positions taken by attorneys general are common, depending on who holds the White House, but there can be a lot of agreement across states in certain areas.
Jepsen said despite President Trump’s “full frontal assault ... on virtually every aspect of life,” this will not prevent that continuing cooperation between Republican and Democrat attorneys general.
He said there are also areas where the attorney general’s office does not have legal jurisdiction in which to play a part, but it can make a statement on a policy difference.
On Trump’s immigration policy, which held up any travelers from seven majority Muslim countries, stopped all Syrians from coming here and delayed approved refugees, Jepsen said it would have taken time to make a case for Connecticut to challenge it directly, as Washington state did.
The U.S. District Court in Seattle paused the travel ban and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, earlier this month, declined to order its reinstatement. Trump is expected to issue a revised executive order.
Jepsen said Connecticut does not have a border or an international airport, so he made the strategic decision to sign a friend of the court brief instead.
“You have to pick your battles in this business,” Jepsen said. He said filing suits in different jurisdictions also doesn’t necessarily improve a case.
Jepsen said Connecticut was the first state to take legal action against the administration over its intent to gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Jepsen said its request to intervene was denied, as a previoius suit over director Richard Cordray’s 5-yearterm continues to make its way through the court. He said Connecticut wanted to step in to protect Cordray, now that the new administration has a different view of the CFPB.
The attorney general said standing determines the issues he can litigate. The clearest jurisdiction goes to environmental issues and enforcement of the Dodd-Frank financial regulations. He said on environmental issues, one can measure harm from pollutants.
He said staff also are meeting with representatives of Planned Parenthood, which Congress has
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