One bill co-sponsored by Sen. Patty Ritchie and one bill championed by Assemblywoman Addie Russell were vetoed this week by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, resulting in a relatively strongly-worded news release from Mrs. Russell.

Mrs. Russell's bill would have exempted small camp grounds from having to install expensive dumping stations.

Her bill would have helped ease regulations on small businesses, she argued.

"Instead, the Governor chose to veto this legislation, stating that there is a waiver process for campgrounds. Requiring that campgrounds go through an arduous process to obtain a waiver is only temporary and is far more business-unfriendly than what my bill would have allowed," Mrs. Russell said.

Some strong tea from Mrs. Russell to her fellow Democrat, and uber-popular, governor.

The governor also vetoed a bill that would have required the Department of Correctional Services to study how many beds in the prison system were double-bunked. The state's website still hasn't updated with the veto message, and the dental work required to get an answer out of the governor's office might take me a little bit more time than I have, so I might have to employ the "no comment" button here a few times.

Mrs. Ritchie was a sponsor of the prison bill. Her staff hasn't gotten back to me yet on that one.

Thousands of readers like you have made Northern New York Newspapers the number one ranked website* for local news and sports coverage in the north country.

You can continue on to this article in a few seconds, or you can visit one of our websites:

• Watertown Daily Times
• The Ogdensburg Journal
• Daily Courier-Observer