The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
No veto overrides, legislators decide
HARTFORD — Lawmakers decided on Monday not to overturn any of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s seven vetoes of bills they passed, often with overwhelming support, in the 2018 legislative session.
“The outcome of today’s session is positive for the state,” said Leigh Appleby, spokesman for the governor, who is in Ireland for vacation with his family this week. “We’re glad these vetoes were upheld, and we remain committed to trying to seek compromise and working through our differences on these important topics.”
Five bills failed to gain the requisite two thirds majority needed for passage because Senate Democrats voted against overrides.
The House approved an override of one of Malloy’s vetoes — a bill that would have prevented him and future governors from cutting municipal education grants. Though the override passed the House by two votes, it fell four votes short of passage in the Senate.
The measure was among the most hotly contested of the legislative session, with supporters saying it would prevent cuts to state school aid mid-year and opponents saying the blanket freeze on the grants would have unforeseen consequences for other budget areas.
Senate Democrats had worked to draft a school safety bill that would change the process for removing a child from the classroom after an alleged physical incident, but decided Monday not to override the governor’s veto. Their change of heart was largely caused by public backlash from parents of minority and special education students who worried that their children would be disproportionately impacted.
“This is the first time we have tried to address this significant issue and it’s complicated,” said Sen. Gayle Slossberg, D-Milford, chair of the Education Committee.
Malloy has agreed to negotiate with lawmakers and other stakeholders to draft a better bill, New Haven Democrat Martin Looney, senate president pro tempore, said.
Senate Democrats also abandoned support of a bill that would allow passthrough entities to apply a manufacturing tax credit to their personal income taxes.
Revising the school safety and manufacturing tax credit could be part of an upcoming special session of the Legislature this summer, Looney said. In such a session, lawmakers might also address recent Supreme Court rulings closing a sales tax loophole for online purchases and legalizing sports betting nationwide, he added.
The Senate also did not override Malloy’s veto of a bill that made changes to a state municipal aid board in order to try to avert a future Hartford bail-out situation. The state has pledged hundreds of millions in aid to the broke capital city, and many legislators felt blindsided and dismayed by the agreement when details emerged.
“The state simply can’t afford to do this kind of thing,” said Sen. Scott Frantz, R-Greenwich, one of the authors of the bill. “Interest rates have no where to go but up, and it’s going to be a real challenge.”
A party line vote also caused the Senate not to override Malloy’s veto of a bill that would have made changes to the oversight of the state Department of Children and Families.
“It is sickening that Governor Malloy would veto this measure that would shine a light on an agency that has ignored advice from advocates and failed far too many children,” Senate Republican Leader Len Fasano, R-North, said.
The Legislature chose not to discuss two other bills vetoed by Malloy: one that would have established an animal abuse offender registry and one that would allow a town clerk to decide the location of a municipality’s polling place if the two registrars of voters cannot agree.