Politics on the Hudson

   Gov. David Paterson vetoed two bills this week, one of which would have enacted the Omnibus Alzheimer’s Services Act of 2008. It would have set up a system similar to the “Amber Alert” system for missing children. It would help locate missing people with cognitive impairments. Other states, including Illinois, West Virginia, North Carolina and Texas have done this.

   The governor said in his veto that the goal of the bill is laudable, but it would mandate programs that are costly, and there are “better and more fic  sally responsible ways to achieve this goal.” The legislation could have led to several hundred “Silver Alert” programs in the state. Paterson suggested the state Department of Criminal Justice Services, which runs the “Amber Alert” system, could modify it to include people with Alzheimer’s and other dementia.

   The other bill he vetoed would have removed the power of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children to take children into protective custody, conduct investigations and visit/inspect group homes. According to the bill’s sponsors, the societies were created in the mid-1870s to protect children, but they now conflict with the authority of state and local child protective services. The state took over these responsibilities in 1973. A state Commmission of Investigation probe into the SPCCs found that agents in the societies had abused their powers.

   The governor wrote in his veto that he supports the legislation, but Erie County currently contracts with an SPCC to provide child protective services outside of county business hours. Enacting the legislation would create an emergency situation for the county, the governor said. Paterson added that he wants to work with lawmakers to correct the “fatally flawed” bill.