Lawmakers from both parties started to get word last night that it won’t be necessary to clear their schedules for a Monday veto session.
The June 25 date was reserved for the legislature to attempt to override any of the eight bills Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy vetoed over the past few months.
But for the second year in a row, the Democrat-controlled General Assembly has decided against challenging the first Democratic governor in 20 years.
Some members were upset over Malloy’s veto last week of the campaign finance reforms, but they admitted didn’t have the two-thirds majority necessary to override it.
That bill was an attempt to respond to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case that allowed corporations, unions, and special interest groups to funnel unlimited funds into political campaigns. It aimed to shed light upon the election process by requiring corporations to disclose their campaign activity, but Malloy said he could not support it because of its “many legal and practical problems.”
House Majority Leader Brendan Sharkey said last week that they had tried to negotiate a compromise for last week’s special session, but the Malloy administration told them the problems were too numerous to address.
Asked if the issue can be addressed next year, Sharkey expressed concern that many lawmakers won’t survive the election in the absence of the bill.
The other seven bills Malloy vetoed didn’t seem to rise to the level of an override.
An Act Concerning Municipal Charters
An Act Concerning Delays In Revaluation for Certain Towns
An Act Concerning Polling Places for Primaries
An Act Concerning Foam-In-Place Insulation Material
An Act Concerning the Applicability of Sales and Use Tax to Vessel Storage, Maintenance, and Repair
This year, Malloy signed 211 bills, and vetoed eight.
Last year Malloy vetoed six bills and signed 269 before the end of the year.