House Republican Press Release

May 22, 2007

Press Office: 860-240-8700

REP. RYAN: APPALLED AT DEMOCRATS’ POWER GRAB

“Governor Rell’s Power to Seek DSS Waivers would be Hampered”

HARTFORD – State Rep. John J. Ryan (R-Darien, Rowayton) joined fellow House Republicans in voting in opposition to an effort by Democrats who hold a “supermajority” in the State Legislature to override Governor M. Jodi Rell’s veto of HB-7065, An Act Concerning Legislative Review And Approval Of Waiver Applications Submitted By The Commissioner Of Social Services To The Federal Government.

The bill would require legislative approval before the executive branch seeks any waiver on behalf of the Department of Social Services of federal rules. This would allow legislative committees to modify, or outright reject such applications before they are submitted.

Rep. Ryan said, "This seems to be the Democratic super-majority’s attempt to take power away from a recently elected Governor who won with a very large majority. With issues still to take up before our June 6^th adjournment such as energy costs, a new state budget and healthcare access, this power grab seems purely political and shameless."

The Governor wrote in her veto message to the legislature that the bill raises the possibility that individual committees of the General Assembly can circumvent the budget process.

In 1993, the Legislature's Human Services and Appropriations Committee have advised the state Department of Social Services regarding waivers, but it has no authority to block a request. Waivers of Medicaid rules are typically sought to obtain federal payments to cover medical needs for a wide variety of individuals, such as elderly people needing personal care assistance, the mentally ill, those with acquired brain injuries and children with special needs. States can apply for exemptions of federal rules if they can demonstrate special need; one of the biggest waivers came for the state's welfare reform initiative in the 1990s.

There has not been a single veto overridden since 1994 when Governor Lowell P. Weicker Jr. was in office. In her nearly three years in office, Rell has not been overridden.