Jun 25 2008
House Overrides Sanford Sprinkler Veto
I have no doubt the Senate will concur.
COLUMBIA — The House voted 109-0 to override Gov. Mark Sanford’s veto on the bill intended to get sprinkler systems in more homes and businesses.
The bill now goes to the Senate, where two-thirds of the body must agree to override the veto.
The Legislature reconvened at noon. So far, the Senate has taken up three bills. The House has spent most of the morning recognizing members who lost re-election campaigns.
Such a sufficient use of the peoples’ time and tax dollars.
Sanford wrote in his veto message that he agreed with the intent of the legislation but saw the incentive as a government subsidy.
“Things get more expensive when someone else is picking up the tab,” Sanford wrote. “If the costs are largely paid by a third party, as they are in this proposal, competitive pricing becomes a secondary concern and, in this regard, taxpayers suffer.”
The legislation was prompted by the Sofa Super Store blaze that killed nine Charleston firefighters.
Sanford is right on this. When a company is doing business with the government they can jack up the price enormously because they know the government is picking up the tab with our money. That is part of the reason why health care is so damn expensive in this country.
This bill was a knee jerk reaction to what happened in Charleston last year and historically bills that are thrown together like this out of an emotionally charged incidents with little forethought end up having unintended consequences. Look at how TSA is operated at the airports and all of the flaws that the media has uncovered with airline security. Look at the Patriot Act!
