(TRENTON) — Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Bergen/Hudson) issued a multimedia package Thursday reacting to the refusal of Assembly Republicans to override Governor Christie’s veto of common sense public safety legislation.
Republicans failed to support overriding Gov. Christie’s veto of legislation (A-3593) to require notification of local law enforcement before expungement of mental health records of prospective firearms purchasers.
The bill, sponsored by the Republican leader, previously passed the Assembly 74-0.
The multimedia package consists of Speaker Prieto’s remarks on the veto override attempt and audio and a transcript of same.
The video can be accessed directly via our website — www.assemblydems.com — or by clicking here.
The audio file is available upon request.
A transcript of the Speaker’s comments is appended below:
Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Bergen/Hudson):
“I’m disappointed that we did not get an override today. And it’s a sad day for the State of New Jersey when you have Republicans putting politics before policy.
“When this bill came up the first time, it was a bipartisan bill, with having the Minority Leader as a prime sponsor on the bill. There were 31 Assembly members from the Republican Party present that day. Each and every one of them voted yes for it. So, to me, it’s unheard of and I think it’s putting politics before policy.
“So in this lame duck session, I am planning to bring this bill back up and let people know that they’re going to have to see it again and they’re going to have to answer to the residents of the State of New Jersey if they do not want to do the right thing, because again, this was a common sense bill; it’s a single issue that needs to be addressed in the State of New Jersey.
“And again, if everybody thought it was the best thing to do at that point in time, what has changed? Let’s get it done and do the right thing because the residents of the State of New Jersey deserve to get this common sense bill passed for their safety.”