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Congress votes to override Obama for first time

9/11 wtc

September 28, 2016, 02:54 pm
By Katie Bo Williams and Cristina Marcos

Congress voted Wednesday to override President Obama for the first time in his eight-year tenure, as the House followed the Senate in rejecting a veto of legislation allowing families of terrorist victims to sue Saudi Arabia.

The House easily cleared the two-thirds threshold to push back against the veto. The final tally was 348-77, with 18 Republicans and 59 Democrats voting no.

The Senate voted 97-1 in favor of the override earlier in the day, with only Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) voting to sustain the president’s veto.

“We can no longer allow those who injure and kill Americans to hide behind legal loopholes denying justice to the victims of terror,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte(R-Va.).

The White House immediately slammed lawmakers following the Senate vote.

https://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/298315-house-overrides-obamas-9-11-bill-veto

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Bill allowing 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia heads to Obama’s desk

9/11 wtc

The House approved legislation Friday by voice vote that would allow families of 9/11 victims to sue the government of Saudi Arabia, CBS News has confirmed.

In May, the Senate passed the measure, which was sponsored by Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Chuck Schumer, D-New York.

The White House has expressed opposition to the bill. Speaking to CBS News’ Charlie Rose in April, President Obama warned that the bill could have consequences that would, for example, allow people in other countries to sue the U.S.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bill-allowing-911-victims-to-sue-saudi-arabia-heads-to-obamas-desk/

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Veto leaves hospitals open to lawsuits and PILOT programs

valley_hospital_theridgewoodblog
 JANUARY 20, 2016    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016, 1:21 AM
BY LINDY WASHBURN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

Municipalities may try to levy property taxes against non-profit hospitals now that Governor Christie has vetoed legislation that enshrined the property tax exemption of the non-profits and instead would have required them to pay a community-service fee.

Advocates of the measure said they planned to return this session with a bill that satisfies the governor, while protecting hospitals from costly lawsuits and compensating local governments for some of the services they provide.

State Senate President Stephen Sweeney said he was “extremely disappointed” with the governor’s action, which he attributed to the governor’s “personal political ambitions.” By assessing a fee on non-profit institutions, the measure might have been construed as a new tax by Christie’s conservative competitors for the Republican presidential nomination, Democrats said.

The measure followed last summer’s Tax Court decision that invalidated the property-tax exemption enjoyed by non-profit Morristown Medical Center. The hospital’s parent company, Atlantic Health System, eventually agreed to pay $15.5 million to satisfy back taxes and interest, and will make future payments of about $1 million annually as tax on the for-profit part of its operations.

Non-profit hospitals across the state have been concerned that they, too, will face costly litigation — and big tax bills. In a historic shift, those hospitals had volunteered to make the “community contributions” outlined by the measure that went before the governor.

“We are disappointed with the pocket veto,” said Betsy Ryan, president and CEO of the state’s largest hospital association.

But critics had considered the measure lenient on the hospitals. Several local governments had expressed concern that the measure shortchanged local governments. Its $2.50 per-bed, per-day fee was far too little, they said. The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, for example, would have been assessed about $407,000 annually, less than one-tenth of the potential property taxes on its full 15.5-acre property.

Some municipalities already are in “fact-finding mode” and are requesting information from their hospitals about their for-profit and non-profit operations, said Michael Cerra, vice president of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, which opposed the measure. “No one is looking to put anyone out of business,” he said.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/nj-state-news/veto-leaves-hospitals-open-to-lawsuits-1.1495249

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New Jersey Democrats Move to Raise Taxes

Trenton_New_Jersey

TRENTON—State Democrats plan to advance budget bills Tuesday that raise taxes on high earners and corporate profits to shore up the state’s underfunded pension system, a proposal likely doomed because Republican Gov. Chris Christie has pledged to veto any tax increases.

The annual budget dance in Trenton typically leads to interparty fighting in June, but observers said that this year’s proceedings were particularly defined by gridlock, resulting in more political theater than fiscal negotiations.  (Haddon/Wall Street Journal)

https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-jersey-democrats-move-to-raise-taxes-1435020808

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Gov. Christie vetoes ammo limit law in favor of expanded mental health treatment

ChrisChristie_2427203b

Gov. Christie vetoes ammo limit law in favor of expanded mental health treatment

The existing magazine limit in New Jersey is 15 bullets, one of ten states with some restriction on magazine capacity.

In his veto message, Christie replaced that restriction with recommendations for expanded mental health services, echoing the findings in a 2013 report from his NJ SAFE Task Force. Convened after the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., the task force investigated the relationship between gun control, urban violence, mental illness, substance abuse, violence in the media, and school security.

Recommendations include changing what it takes to force someone into mental health treatment, whether inpatient and outpatient. They also suggested how to limit gun sales to people who have been committed.  Training first-responders on mental health issues and crisis de-escalation was also suggested.

A spokesman for Gov. Christie declined to discuss the conditional veto, only forwarding Christie’s message to the legislature.

Phil Lubitz, associate director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness in New Jersey, says the governor’s plan improves existing laws by getting people with serious mental into treatment earlier. “It’s the hope of advocates that the law would allow for early intervention so that they would not need hospitalization prior to imposing involuntary treatment,” said Lubitz.

https://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/70007-gov-christie-vetoes-ammo-limit-law-in-favor-of-expanded-mental-health-treatment