 
The Democrat-dominated Connecticut General Assembly voted to override seven of 20 bills vetoed by Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell, including a bill to create the SustiNet health insurance plan in 2012 with the goal of providing near-universal insurance coverage.
The assembly fell one short vote of overriding a Rell veto on a bill to allow small businesses to join the insurance pool for state employees, while converting the state plan to a self-funded model.
Rell had vetoed the bills on a pledge not to raise taxes, and related concerns the state would not be able to comply with a statute requiring the state to maintain a balanced budget. She said the vetoes add up to $1 billion in new spending for the state, which has yet to pass a budget to erase a deficit estimated at more than $8 billion over the next two years at current revenue and spending levels.
“I remain particularly concerned about the fiscal impact of the SustiNet bill,” Rell said, in a written statement. “The simple fact is that the families and employers of Connecticut cannot afford the new taxes that will be required by this new program.”
Democrats responded SustiNet will rein in costs, in time limiting premium inflation.
 “The disproportionate cost of health care as a function of our budget demands decisive action to identify efficiencies, pool resources, and bring down the overall burden,” said state Sen. Joe Crisco of Woodbridge, in a prepared statement. “The urgency for this is self-evident: spiraling costs will only be compounded by our steadily aging population. We simply must have in place a system to accommodate the specific needs of everyone.”
The assembly also overrode Rell vetoes of an omnibus transportation bill, which among other provisions would require the state Department of Transportation to analyze the potential for tolls on Connecticut roadways; and to permit DOT to sell land along Route 7 for potential use as the Route 7 expressway once proposed to connect Danbury and Norwalk.
