Veto Override On Vaccinations Fails In OK House
Veto override attempt rejected by Oklahoma House
by Randy Ellis
The state House of Representatives on Wednesday rejected an attempt to override Gov. Mary Fallin’s veto of a bill that would require hospitals to provide parents of newborns with information about whooping cough disease and the availability of a vaccine.
The override attempt on House Bill 2976 was initiated by state Rep. Rebecca Hamilton, D-Oklahoma City, who described the bill as providing “life-saving help to … keep from losing so many babies to whooping cough.”
The number of whooping cough, or pertussis, cases has been “doubling in this state every year,” Hamilton said.
Republican state Rep. Colby Schwartz, the House author of the bill, quizzed Hamilton about why she was pushing to override the veto when there were other bills available that could be amended to give the governor another chance to consider the issue.
Hamilton responded that she believes the state House needs to assert itself as being equal to the governor and state Senate.
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