By CHRISTOPHER KEATING
and ARIELLE LEVIN BECKER
The Hartford Courant
July 9, 2009

Two bills to reform health care in
Connecticut drew vetoes Wednesday
from Republican Gov. M. Jodi
Rell, who called the measures too

The bills would have provided
universal health care and allowed
municipalities, small businesses,
and nonprofit organizations to join
the state’s gigantic insurance pool.

Although the Democrats hold
veto-proof majorities in both
chambers of the legislature, it was
not immediately clear whether
lawmakers would attempt an

projected $8.85 billion deficit over
the next two fiscal years, Rell said
the universal SustiNet plan would
cost an estimated $1 billion per
year. A key problem, she said, was
that the bill did not provide any
explanation of how the plan would
be paid for.

“These are well-intentioned bills
that seek to address critically
important issues, but they ultimately
fail to resolve the central problems
of access and affordability,” Rell
said. “These bills also raise serious
fiscal concerns that — in a time
of record budget deficits, record

unemployment and record business
closures — simply cannot be
ignored. These two bills would
cost billions of dollars before any
economic recovery is complete.”

She added, “At the same time,
there are daily developments in
Washington that have the potential

to make extraordinary and
fundamental changes in the way
health care coverage is provided in

Rell announced the vetoes on her
final day to act on the health bills.
At the same time, she created a 15-
member advisory board under an
executive order to create policies
that would respond to President
Barack Obama’s expected reforms.

There had been overwhelming votes
of approval in both chambers of
the legislature for both bills, one to
create the Connecticut Healthcare
Partnership, which would open
up the state’s insurance pool to
municipalities, small businesses
and nonprofit agencies; the other
to establish a nine-member
board of directors to recommend
implementing the so-called SustiNet
plan, designed to achieve universal
health care coverage in Connecticut.

in the House of Representatives and
24 votes in the Senate — meaning
that all 24 Senate Democrats would
need to be present on a midsummer
day to enact the override.

in five years. The first override
came on a minor bill involving
Medicaid waivers, and the second
was on an increase in the state
minimum wage. There has never
been an override on major bills
regarding the state budget or tax

Rep. Stephen Dargan, a veteran
West Haven Democrat, said some
legislators will be unable to attend
the veto session, tentatively set for
July 20, because of long-planned

committed,” said Dargan, who
expects to miss the override because
of a trip to Ireland. “They’re trying
to make sure they have enough

The House had voted largely along
party lines, 107-35, in May for the
SustiNet system, a landmark bill
aimed at achieving universal care
by creating a public insurance pool
that anyone could join, regardless
of health history. The pool, backed
by a coalition of social activists,
religious leaders and Democratic
lawmakers, would be based on the
existing pool for state employees,
and is designed to compete with, not
replace, private insurance plans.

existing Charter Oak health plan,
has now vetoed the pooling bill for
two consecutive years. Separately,