A little over a week ago I wrote a post titled, “Connecticut looking to overhaul persistent offender law”, detailing Governor Jodi Rell’s proposal to overhaul Connecticut’s persistent felony offender law.
The Hartford Courant now reports Rell is considering vetoing the bill.
Rell said the state is facing fiscal troubles and she does not believe significant new spending is possible. The Republican governor said it’s “very likely” she will have to veto the bill or just the sections that call for new spending. Rell has the authority to veto portions of a bill, in addition to the entire legislation.
I have said three words, over and over and over and over again: no new spending for next year, she said. We are facing financial hardships. We are looking at revenue declining each and every day.
I don’t really know much about Governor Rell, but this is typical political flip-flop. Tell the voters what they want to hear, deal with the logistics later. C’mon Jodi, this proposal is a must, regardless of cost. Just last week you got on your soapbox and stated the following:
Make no mistake: we will not simply stand by while unrepentant and incorrigible predators kill people, Rell, a Republican, said. These thugs need to be removed from the street — and from society — permanently.
What changed in one week’s time so that, all of the sudden, there’s no money? Perhaps her budget people—who had to have known the amount of funding available and the cost of the proposal—should have informed her there was a good chance this wasn’t going to happen.
Maybe I’m being a little insincere—I’m sure she had good intentions last week, and maybe was misled by her staff on how much money was available. Still, instances like this make people question whether anything that comes out of a politician’s mouth is worth listening to, before it’s actually signed into law.
