Malloy vetoes fair hearing, neighborhood assistance bills

HARTFORD, Conn. – Advocates were disappointed Thursday that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy vetoed a bill that would give their clients a fair hearing with the Department of Social Services.

Currently, a DSS hearing officer can consult attorneys inside the agency, but they don’t have to give the individual appealing an opportunity to respond.

“Prohibiting hearing officers from consulting with counsel or with agency subject-matter experts would impair DSS’s ability to fulfill its mission of making accurate eligibility determinations in an efficient and timely manner,” Malloy wrote in his veto message.

However, that’s a misrepresentation of what the bill does because the bill doesn’t prohibit those communications. It simply gives the opposing side a chance to respond, according Sen. Gayle Slossberg, a proponent of the bill.

“We are disappointed,” Jane McNichol, of the Legal Assistance Resource Center of Connecticut, said Thursday. “It was not completely unexpected, but we’re hopeful the task force comes up with a solution that’s fair and effective.”

See the complete story at CT News Junkie.