GOVERNOR'S VETO

Pursuant to Section 6 of Article V of the Constitution of Virginia, I am vetoing House Bill 741.

The people of Virginia rely upon their government to serve the broad public interest and not to be beholden to any special interest. Nevertheless, special interest lobbies aggressively seek to influence public officials in the exercise of their duties. It is government's responsibility to protect the public interest against these powerful lobbies.

House Bill 741 would tip the scale of influence too far in favor of powerful special interest organizations by requiring the Director of the Department of Medical Assistance Services to "work cooperatively" with so-called "stakeholder organizations" on public policies that directly impact the people of Virginia. I believe Virginia's true "stakeholders" are the individual citizens and taxpayers of Virginia, not special interest "organizations."

Although innocuous on its face, House Bill 741s "cooperation" requirement would, as a practical matter, exert statutory pressure on a public official to heed many demands of these lobby organizations in order to curry their approval -- even though he might adamantly disagree with their policy objectives. A statutory "cooperation" requirement could also be used to subject a public official to threats of lawsuits in order to gain a policy advantage. Any lobbyist unhappy with a public official's disagreement on policy or exclusion from the decision-making process could seek to enforce "cooperation" in a court of law. The mere threat of a lawsuit could force a public official to subject the people's best interests to revision at the hands of one special interest.

Curiously, House Bill 741 would require the DMAS Director to work directly with special interest "stakeholder organizations" but requires nothing by way of serving the public interest. That is a stark omission. There is no explanation why "stakeholder organizations" are more deserving of access to government officials and the decision-making process than the general public.

Therefore, I am returning House Bill 741 without my signature.