Governor Rell Vetoes Seven Bills, Including

‘Calorie Bill’ and Long Island Sound Commission

            Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced she has vetoed seven bills, including legislation that would have required chain restaurants to post calorie counts on their menus and created yet another commission to deal with environmental issues in the Long Island Sound.

            “Each of these bills is problematic in some fundamental way,” Governor Rell said. “Some – like the ‘menu bill’ – are attempts to legislate what should be common sense and would impose burdens on the people of Connecticut and add costs for businesses and agencies in the midst of a deep recession. I cannot, in good conscience, let any of these measures become law.”

            Bills vetoed today by the Governor are:

• Senate Bill 1080, An Act Concerning Access to Health and Nutritional Information in Restaurants: This bill would have required chain restaurants in Connecticut to disclose on their printed menus or menu boards total calorie counts for standard menu items. The state Department of Public Health would have been charged with enforcing the measure.

While acknowledging the growing problem of obesity, Governor Rell noted that “healthy lifestyles and good eating habits are personal decisions and commitments.”

“Does it come as a surprise to anyone that a vegetable salad is healthier and more nutritious than a bacon cheeseburger?” the Governor said. “There has been a growing and troubling tendency by some to legislate nearly every aspect of our lives and society, including personal responsibility. Such legislation always comes at a cost to the taxpayer and to individual freedom.”

Governor Rell also noted the cost such a bill would impose on restaurateurs and on the Department of Public Health, adding, “This is hardly the economic climate in which to further burden our businesses and state agencies.”

She also noted similar legislation pending on the federal level, which would impose uniform national standards, which she said would be preferable to a patchwork of state regulations.

• Senate Bill 1078, An Act Establishing a Bi-State Long Island Sound Commission: This bill would have created a 14-member panel comprising seven members each from Connecticut and New York. The panel would have been tasked with reviewing major environmental, economic and ecological issues concerning the Sound.

Governor Rell called the measure duplicative of several existing groups to deal with issues related to the Sound. A Bi-State Long Island Sound Marine Resources Committee already exists, as do three Long Island Sound Advisory Councils, a Long Island Sound Assembly and – when needed – task forces created to deal with specific issues, such as the group the Governor created to study the proposed Broadwater liquefied natural gas platform.

Moreover, New York is currently revising its statutes to match existing Connecticut law, and any new panel would require New York’s participation to be effective.

“The Long Island Sound is a magnificent and precious resource that I have fought to protect and will continue to protect, utilizing the mechanisms already in place, Governor Rell said. “I cannot condone the creation of yet another commission that provides little or no benefit to our state at the expense of our taxpayers.”

• House Bill 6502, An Act Concerning the Standard Wage for Certain Connecticut Workers: This bill would have allowed private contractors, whose employees work in state buildings, to pass along increased costs to the state based on private sector union contracts.

“I cannot sanction wages and benefits that are determined completely outside of the state’s control and that have not been included in the budget for the next biennium,” the Governor said.

Governor Rell said the bill also would have created an exemption to the standard wage law and established two distinct classes of workers: those hired before July 1, 2009, and those hired after.

“By removing the link of certain employees’ wages and benefits to the Department of Labor’s standard wage rates, we are exposing the state to an unknown and unmanageable level of cost,” Governor Rell said. “There will be an entire subset of services whose price will be dictated by privately conducted union negotiations and contracts to which the state is not a party.

• House Bill 6684, An Act Establishing a Correctional Staff Health and Safety Subcommittee of the Criminal Justice Policy Advisory Commission: This bill would have created a subcommittee to study inmate assaults on correction officers and how they are reported. While saying “the health and safety of state workers – especially correction officers, who do an extraordinarily difficult and dangerous job – is of the utmost concern,” Governor Rell said the bill is well-intentioned but flawed because it has no provision for representation from the Governor’s Office.

However, because the issue is so important, in vetoing the bill Governor Rell simultaneously asked Department of Acting Correction Commissioner Brian Murphy to work with the affected unions to address their concerns that inmate assaults on personnel are being downplayed.

While the subcommittee would have included the Commissioners of the departments of Correction, Public Safety and Mental Health and Addiction Services, the Governor said, representation from the Office of the Governor is important as well. “True reform requires all stakeholders to be present at the table. This bill is woefully lacking in that regard.

“I also take note, once again, of the size and bureaucracy of state government,” Governor Rell added. “Every year we enact legislation creating more study groups, task forces, boards and commissions. Sadly, far too often there is little attempt to reach consensus without legislation.”

• House Bill 5021, An Act Concerning Wellness Programs and Expansion of Health Insurance Coverage: This bill would have expanded mandated health insurance coverage for individual and group policies in several ways. It would have increased the coverage limit for mandatory ostomy supplies and add mandatory coverage for prosthetics, wigs for hair loss associated with alopecia areata, hearing aids for children between ages 12 and 18 and leukocyte testing for bone marrow transplants. It also prohibited copayments for colonoscopies and required group health insurance policies to offer a health wellness program that provides incentives to participate.

The Governor noted that each of the provisions have merit and would provide additional benefits to people with serious medical conditions, but expressed  concern over the significant cost to taxpayers, policyholders and employers in the future. The bill’s mandate would not affect the state health plan until Fiscal Year 2012, but the Governor cited a review by the non-partisan Office of Fiscal Analysis that indicated “the FY 12 cost of these mandates could be significant.”

“The simple truth is that we cannot afford this bill,” Governor Rell said. “It would be fiscally irresponsible to burden our recovery with these significant future costs.”

The Governor further noted that municipalities could bear a heavy burden as well when they enter into new health insurance contracts on or after January 1, 2010.

“Our national and state economies have experienced significant turmoil of late and projections of future revenue indicate that we will not quickly return to the days of a booming economy,” Governor Rell said in her veto message. “We must therefore be fiscally cautious and prudent so as not to place roadblocks in our way of eventual recovery.”

• Senate Bill 1068, An Act Concerning Green Jobs: The bill required the Department of Economic and Community Development to apply for federal stimulus funds to establish a program to create green jobs, promote green energy and conservation by targeting investments in renewable energy. The Governor called the bill both “unnecessary and inconsistent.”

The Governor said ever since the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), DECD and all state agencies have applied and continue to apply for every stimulus dollar available to Connecticut.

“Each funding opportunity has been identified and a comprehensive plan has been developed for both communicating such opportunities to potential applicants and ensuring that Connecticut receives the greatest amount of dollars possible,” Governor Rell said.

The Governor explained that her Executive Order No. 23 of February 2, 2009 created a Green Collar Jobs Council, which has already reviewed every available ARRA green job grant opportunity and recommended which entities should apply.

• House Bill 6649, An Act Concerning the Programs and Activities of the Department of Transportation: This bill would have made several changes to statutes affecting the Department of Transportation, including amending the process for a municipality to terminate or modify a port authority and requiring the DOT to erect numerous signs naming roads, bridges, overpasses and other infrastructure. None of the provisions, the Governor said, are critical to the DOT’s daily operations and the proliferation of signs would be costly to install and maintain “at a time when significant financial challenges have made it necessary to implement reductions in the state fleet, designate furlough days and eliminate all non-essential contractual services,” the Governor wrote in her veto message.

The Governor said that since the DOT Commissioner’s approval is not necessary for the establishment of port authorities, it is incongruous that his approval is required for termination. She noted that the language, inserted last-minute into legislation by lobbyists, would have stripped the city of Bridgeport of its authority to terminate its port agency.

“We have historically allowed municipalities to form, modify and terminate various types of special districts without state interference,” Governor Rell said. “This process appears to have worked successfully since its inception and I see no reason to change the process now.”