Gov. M. Jodi Rell vetoed a bill today that would have created a new commission within the Office of Policy and Management to review state sentencing policies.
The governor argued the legislature’s Judiciary Committee already performs this function, and that the bill would have required an extra $130,000 in spending to provide salaries and benefits for commission staff.
“While I appreciate the need for review of our sentencing statutes and practices, given our state’s ongoing economic challenges, this is simply the wrong time to create yet another state entity,” Rell wrote in her veto message. “I have spent much of the last year examining our state budget to find ways to save money so that we would not have to increase the burden borne by our already struggling taxpayers. Some of the cuts we have made were painful. None were easy.”
The bill passed overwhelmingly during the regular 2010 legislative session, which ended May 5, clearing the House unanimously and the Senate by a 34-1 margin.
It would have created a 23-member Connecticut Sentencing Commission to review the existing criminal sentencing structure and any proposed changes to it. The panel would be funded, according to the bill, “within existing budgetary resources.”
But the governor noted that the group would have to maintain a database and conduct trend analyses to identify areas of disparity, which would create new expenses.
“I believe that the Judiciary Committee is the appropriate body to carry out these function, as they have done in the past,” Rell added.
Sen. Andrew J, McDonald, D-Stamford, co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee, disagreed strongly though, arguing his panel has neither the staff nor the othe resources needed to conduct this research.
McDonald added the legislation not only enjoyed broad, bipartisan support in the legislature but had “universal backing” from the chief state’s attorney’s office, criminal defense lawyers and criminal justice advocates. “This legislation held the prospect of creating a more coherent and sustainable system for implementing fair and proportional sntences,” he added. “We held a public hearing and nobody testified against it. And up until this veto, we’ve had no input from the governor’s office.”
The legislature is tentatively scheduled to meet in special session on June 21, and could attempt to override the governor’s veto later this month. That would require a two-thirds’ vote in both chambers. McDonald said he believes a veto override attempt would be appropriate, but he hasn’t discussed that option yet with legislative leadership.