If you think bipartisan budget talks are going well, consider Jodi Rell’s veto this afternoon of Senate President Pro Tem Don Williams’s pet bill, which would have required chain restaurants to post caloric information. It’s as if Williams was behind the window at Mickey D’s drive-thru and the governor just motored by in the Town Car and gave him the finger while shouting the words “personal responsibility.”.
Sen. Jonathan Harris, D-West Hartford, co-chairman of the Public Health Committee, said Rell’s reasons for vetoing the bill show little knowledge with the legislation. He said that lawmakers worked with businesses so the signs could conform to ones they’re already using in Nw York City and California. The effective date was pushed back to July 1, 2010 to allow Congress time to create a nationwide law. He said that at the rate the nation’s obesity rate is ballooning, particular among fat kids who’ll become fat adults, the potential savings in healthcare costs is huge.
The bill is a possible target for a veto override later this month though. It got 89 votes in the House, with opposition for some reason from urban lawmakers. They need 101 to override and there are 114 House Democrats. So that’s a challenge to House Speaker Chris Donovan. There were only six “no” votes in the Senate, which is run by Democrats 24-12.