Freudenthal issues first veto, panel ponders quality child care bill
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Mar 10, 2006 Posted by Bill Luckett
Sorry for this oh-so-brief and oh-so-late blog post, but somehow my life is getting busier as the budget session is starting to wind down.
Among the biggest news of the day was that Gov. Freudenthal issued his first veto of the session Thursday. He vetoed Senate File 5, which would specify that legislators' communications with their staff, constituents and consultants don't have to be disclosed.
In his message accompanying his veto, the governor said the measure "creates curtains of secrecy at the expense of the average citizen. ... We are all proud of the privilege of service granted us by the citizens of Wyoming. Why then should that honor be exercised in secret? This bill suggests that in a democracy, the citizen operates on a need-to-know basis and each legislator decides what they need to know."
We'll see today (Friday) if the Legislature attempts to or succeeds at overriding his veto. Lawmakers need two-thirds support in both houses to force the bill into law without Gov. Freudenthal's consent. It passed 30-0 third reading in the Senate, but it only cleared the House on a 36-22 margin, so it could be a close vote, should legislators try to override the veto.
Thursday afternoon, a conference committee met to try to work out a compromise between House and Senate versions of House Bill 92, the quality child care bill. I couldn't stay through the meeting, but when I left, the six conference committee members were discussing a way to set up the one-year planning period for the program that appeared drastically different to me than the plans in the original bill. That's not to say it wasn't a good idea, but I wasn't able to fully understand all the ramifications of where they were going. I do know that they discussed a compromise that would involve both the state Department of Family Services (which the House supported) and the Department of Workforce Services (a change added by the Senate) in implementing the program. We should know more by the end of business today, and we will also know whether lawmakers will stay in Cheyenne until Saturday before they declare an end to the session.