As expected, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has conditionally vetoed NJCare’s bad S799/A1399 bill; combined parts of the New Jersey Catholic Conference/ACLU, NJRT/Quigley S3672 badder bill, and submitted “recommendations” to create the baddest bill. Christie’s recommendation statement is here.
While Bastardette is glad that Christie vetoed the bill, he’s on the road to creating an even bigger mess and maze for Jersey adoptees to travel. This new scheme, timed as it is, will make it more difficult than ever for the rights of all New Jersey bastards to be restored.
I’m going to be away a good part of today, and won’t have time to analyze the changes; so I won’t have anything online until this weekend. I have A LOT to say!
In the meantime, people have asked what a conditional veto actually means.
Good question!
The New Jersey legislature now has three options.
(1) Affirm Christie’s recommendations making them law.
(2) Override Christie’s veto and 799/1399 becomes law. There are not enough votes to do that.
(3) Take no action; come back next year or when Christie is no longer in office and try again.
Since Christie and the legislature overall want something “fixed” my bet is Option 1.
Too bad Christie didn’t veto for the right reasons.
I am away for the week, but following NJ “open record” situation on a borrowed computer. I look forward to your “having a LOT to say.”
The NJ folks were gobsmacked. For some reason they actually seem to have believed that Christie would sign their bill. I’m astounded by their “innocence.” It was all kabuki.
“(2) Override Christie’s veto and 799/1399 becomes law. There are not enough votes to do that.”
You’re wrong. The original bill passed 27-10-3. Veto override requires 2/3 majority. 27 votes is 67%, enough to override.
While I don’t agree with you that S799 is a bad bill, even you have to admit it’s far better than what we’re apparently going to get. Your best option now is to put down the ideology for a moment, work to get at least S799 passed and then set out to improve on it later.
Write or call your Senator, regardless of how they voted initially, and encourage them to support an override. Also call or write Steve Sweeney (who voted for S799) as Senate President and ask him to bring an override vote.
I’d personally rather have S799 than what Christie is proposing.