Lamont on the mic

Gov. Ned Lamont stood up for Connecticut on Thursday, making press visits to CNBC and MSNBC to tout what he says is Connecticut’s turnaround.

Meanwhile, on Friday, Lamont vetoed three bills, in a move that opponents called “antibusiness.”

Exercising his veto power for the first time, Gov. Ned Lamont on Friday rejected three laws passed by the Democratled General Assembly in 2019.

Lamont vetoed a bill that would have resulted in lower wages for some restaurant workers who receive tips for only part of their work. The bill also would have had serious implications for several pending lawsuits regarding compensation for restaurant workers. It also contained provisions that made changes to the state’s Workforce Training Authority board, within the Department of Labor.

Lamont also vetoed a bill increasing the criminal penalty for the theft of used cooking oil, as well as legislation delaying when real estate agents must disclose the identity of their clients in residential transactions.

All three bills passed General Assembly nearly unanimously.

Lamont did not veto a bill regulating rates charged by ophthalmologists and their insurance coverage agreement, although on Thursday Lamont’s chief of staff told legislative leaders this bill was under consideration for a veto.

Lamont did notify legislative leaders to expect a veto on the real estate and cooking oil bills, but not the legislation regarding restaurant wages and workforce training.

House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, DBerlin, disapproved of this last veto in particular.

“I am disappointed the governor choose to veto a bill that I believe helps Connecticut businesses grow,” he said. “Over the next few days I will be talking with members about what action we will take.”

House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, RDerby, and her deputy, Rep. Vincent Candelora, RNorth Branford, strongly condemned Lamont’s veto of this restaurant wage legislation.

“The bill that was an attempt to bring certainty to the restaurant labor force,” said Candelora. “This veto is yet another nail in the coffin for our restaurant industry.”

Restaurants will already struggle under a minimum wage rising to $15 over the next four years, a new one percent surcharge on restaurant meals and prepared food and a half percent payroll deduction for paid by all workers for family and medical leave benefits, Klarides and Candelora said.

Klarides called the legislative session “the most antibusiness of our lifetime,” and said this “very insidious” veto proves Lamont is an “antibusiness governor,” despite the fact that he previously founded and ran a cable company called Campus Televideo.

The General Assembly will meet on July 22 for a special session to revisit vetoed legislation and approve a state bond package. A twothird vote of the both the House and Senate is required to override a governor’s veto.

Klarides predicted a “very good chance” of an override for the restaurant wages bill, adding that legislative leaders are already discussing it.

“Sometimes a governor can forestall a veto override by promising to work with the legislature to fix a flaw in the bill,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, DNew Haven, on Friday before Lamont’s vetoes were issued.

Looney added that’s only if lawmakers decide they agree with the governor’s reasoning. Lamont explained his vetoes in three letters on Friday.

Regarding wages for restaurant workers, Lamont wrote that he did not wholly oppose part of the bill which would align state law with federal law in outlining when restaurant workers receive a lower, “tip wage” versus a standard minimum wage. But he did such a change should be made “after study, debate and input from affected stakeholders,” which he said did not happen.

State law allows restaurants to pay workers a tip wage only for hours when they are engaged with patrons in “service duties,” and the higher minimum wage for other duties. But if restaurants forget to keep track of when workers are engaged in each kind of duty, they owe the higher minimum wage for the whole shift. Federal law allows restaurants to pay workers the lower tip wage more of the time.

The tip wage for most restaurant service workers is $6.38 per hour, or $8.23 for bartenders, whereas the minimum wage is now $10.10.

Lamont did strongly object to a part of the legislation that said new Connecticut tip wage regulations would apply retroactively to wage dispute lawsuits pending or filed on or after the bills’ passage.

Lamont also signed 29 bills on Friday.