(Updated 4 p.m.) Legislators in the House have been asked to report to the state Capitol at noon Tuesday, Oct. 3, to “vote on the question of overriding the Governor’s veto of the Republican budget.”
That’s according to an email that went out to Democratic legislators.
“We are hopeful that the Governor’s negotiations with the hospitals will be concluded soon. If that agreement is ready, we will look to vote on it as soon as possible as well,” the email from House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz and House Majority Leader Matt Ritter states.
It’s unclear when the Senate will convene to take up the override. The House would have to pass it before the Senate could take it up, if they raise it for a vote.
Republican legislators, who were hoping for more time to convince their colleagues to override the veto, were expecting a session to be held on Tuesday, Oct. 10.
Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy vetoed the two-year $40.7 billion approved in mid-September by Republicans with the help of eight Democratic legislators. The House voted 77-73 and the Senate voted 21-15.
In his veto message, Malloy said the budget was “unbalanced, unsustainable, and unwise.”
In order to override the budget, legislators will need 101 votes in the House and 24 votes in the Senate, which means 29 Democratic legislators in the House and six in the Senate would have to join with all their Republican colleagues to override the veto.
Local elected officials with the Council of Small Towns came to the state Capitol last week to say they support an override of Malloy’s veto. Partly, because the executive order that went into effect on Oct. 1 eliminates the Education Cost Sharing grant for 85 communities, and reduces it for another 54 communities.
Senate Republican President Len Fasano, R-North Haven, said it’s obvious Democratic legislators are “afraid of the growing public support to override the governor’s veto of the state budget.”
“Every day pressure increases to adopt a budget that paves a path out of chaos for our state,” Fasano added. “ But the speaker is trying to take the only viable option off the table as quickly as possible. He is rushing to hold a veto session in an attempt to kill this budget before sympathetic Democrats have a chance to witness the full devastating effect of the only alternative: the governor’s executive order. “
He said “vetoing the only state budget at this time is blindly accepting the governor’s executive order. It’s accepting hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to towns, cities and schools.”
Legislative leaders are meeting with Malloy at 5 p.m. today.