Rell Vetoes CEP Fix Bill

by: mattw

Mon Aug 02, 2010 at 18:30:48 PM EDT

Now, with the primary election about to be held and the general election campaign set to begin in a matter of days, I once again urge the General Assembly to reconvene as soon as possible -- this week, in fact -- to enact a more fiscally prudent response to the Court's decision -- one that does not include increasing the size of the grants. Such a bill would repeal those provisions that the court found to be unconstitutional and enact a true severability clause, rather than a reversionary clause. It would preserve the integrity of the CEP and allow it to remain a viable option for candidates in both statewide and local races.

She also criticises the fix for increasing only the gubernatorial grants and not the other statewide grants (a critique I agree with), and zings the legislature for not doing anything up through this point.

So can they override? My guess is no. The vote tally in the House (not available until today) shows passage by a margin of 74 to 45, which breaks down as:

Democrats
18 against
75 for
21 absent

Republicans
27 against
0 for
10 absent

That shakes out so that, even if all the remaining Democrats turned up and voted aye (which is already pretty unlikely), the override would come up six votes short. And insofar as some legislators may have voted nay because voting yes was politically difficult for them, switching their vote will be doubly so.