Governor Andrew Cuomo is using the final days of the year to catch up some of the remaining 935 bills passed by the legislature earlier this year. The governor has left some of the more controversial vetoes to last.
Cuomo vetoed a measure to permit the use electric scooters and bicycles , saying, in his veto message, that he wants a requirement that helmets be worn, and that there be speed limits set for operating the vehicles.
Several other vetoes fall into the category of “I can do it better myself”-- Cuomo vetoed a measure to create a state office of utility consumer advocate, saying his administration’s Public Service Commission already does that.
And the governor vetoed two measures related to prescription drug insurance policies and prices. One would regulate pharmacy benefit managers, who are the gatekeepers between the patient and health insurance plan, and often deny prescriptions to certain drugs. The other would prohibit health plans from changing their formularies half way through the year, sometimes resulting in steeply higher prices for a drug. Cuomo said both bills were technically flawed, and might even result in higher prices.
The governor says that in his State of the State message in January, he will be proposing his own plan to deal with rising prescription drug prices, including perhaps buying drugs from Canada.