By Sam Wroblewski 630wpro.com
A local political watchdog group says it is possible Governor Gina Raimondo’s veto power may be null and void due to the pension settlement being included in the looming budget vote.
Common Cause RI said in a statement released Wednesday, that under terms of the settlement agreement, the Governor cannot “directly or indirectly, propose, support, encourage or advocate for any legislative action concerning or relating to retirement benefits other than the adoption of the Legislation.”
The group says this agreement may extend to the Governor’s veto power, tying her hands if she wishes to reject the General Assembly’s final budget; even if the rejection is based on a separate line item.
John Marion of Common Cause told WPRO’s Dan Yorke there is no precedent for a pension settlement being handled legislatively in the state.
“We don’t know for sure that she can’t veto the budget, but just the possibility of that makes us believe that it should be handled as a separate bill,” said Marion.
Common Cause advocates that the General Assembly dedicate a special session to voting on the pension settlement separately from the looming budget vote itself in order to keep the Governor’s powers intact.
When asked for comment, the Governor’s office released a statement saying, “We continue to work cooperatively with legislative leaders and the members of the General Assembly. We are optimistic that there will be a great budget that moves our state forward. At this point, there is no reason to speculate about what if scenarios.”
Dan Yorke was not thrilled by the Governor’s response, saying the concern should be taken more seriously.
“Putting the pension settlement into the budget with a caveat that precludes and prevents the governor from issuing a veto hamstrings the governor on all aspects of that budget.”
