Saturday, July 14, 2007
Lingle was first U.S. governor in history to veto a Safe Haven bill
Safe Haven laws are safe surrender laws that protect newborn infants who might otherwise be abandoned in an unsafe environment. Instead, they can turn the babies over to designated authorities.
Lingle's mentor, President George W. Bush, may not be too happy with her for this veto--as governor of Texas, he was the first in the country to sign a Safe Haven law in 1999. 58% of these laws have been signed by Republican governors (see table below). Heck, even Oprah supports these laws. You'd think Lingle would take the hint.
On July 10, 2007 both houses voted to override the veto, so HB1830 became law as Act 7 of the 2007 session.
The bill had a long list of introducers from both parties: Reps. Mizuno, Awana, Berg, Cabanilla, Evans, Geen, Hanohano, Ito, Karamatsu, Maumoto, McKelvey, Morita, Nishimoto, B. Oshiro, Shimabukuro, Sonson, Takai, Takumi, Thielen, Ward, Belatti, Bertram, Brower, Carroll, Magaoay, Manahan, Nakasone, Rhoads, Sagum, Souki, Tokioka, and Tsuji.
Rep. John Mizuno was the principal advocate in the legislature throughout, and kept advocates informed of the bill's progress.
The following table has been circulating in emails. It was compiled by Baby Safe Haven New England, who maintain a wonderful MySpace web page (click on the link to go there) with national information. Scroll down to see pictures of Rep. Mizuno presenting an award from the state House of Representatives to Mike and Jean Morrisey for their long and hard work advocating for passage of the bill. On the right side of the MySpace page is a link which will take you to the award itself. Don't miss the pics of attention-getting black-and-yellow signage on the MySpace page. I'm not sure what state that sign is from, but I hope we'll have something similar in Hawaii.
1, Texas, Safe Haven Legislation Passed June 6, 1999 * First in nation.
Governor: George W. Bush ( now President) Party: Republican
2, West Virginia, Safe Haven Legislation Passed March 11, 2000
Governor: Robert E. 'Bob' Wise Jr. Party: Democrat
3, Indiana, Safe Haven Legislation Passed March 17, 2000
Governor: Frank L. O'Bannon Party: Democrat
4, Minnesota, Safe Haven Legislation Passed April 2000
Governor: Governor Jesse Ventura Party: Independence Party
5, Louisiana, Safe Haven Legislation Passed April 17, 2000
Governor: Murphy J. 'Mike' Foster Jr. Party: Republican
6, Kansas, Safe Haven Legislation Passed May 2000
Governor: Bill Graves Party: Republican
7, Alabama, Safe Haven Legislation Passed May 11, 2000
Governor: Don Siegelman Party: Democrat
8, Florida, Safe Haven Legislation Passed June 2, 2000
Governor: John Ellis 'Jeb' Bush Party: Republican
9, Colorado, Safe Haven Legislation Passed June 3, 2000
Governor: Bill Owens Party: Republican
10, South Carolina, Safe Haven Legislation Passed June 6, 2000
Governor: James H. Hodges Party: Democrat
11, New York, Safe Haven Legislation Passed June 18, 2000
Governor: George E. Pataki Party: Republican
12, Michigan, Safe Haven Legislation Passed June 26, 2000
Governor: John M. Engler Party: Republican
13, New Jersey, Safe Haven Legislation Passed July 7, 2000
Governor: James E. McGreevey Party: Democrat
14, California, Safe Haven Legislation Passed September 2000
Governor: Joseph Graham 'Gray' Davis Jr. Party: Democrat
15, Connecticut, Safe Haven Legislation Passed October 1, 2000
Governor: John G. Rowland Party: Republican
16, Ohio, Safe Haven Legislation Passed January 5, 2001
Governor: Bob A. Taft Party: Republican
17, Arkansas, Safe Haven Legislation Passed February 13, 2001
Governor: Michael D. 'Mike' Huckabee Party: Republican
18, South Dakota, Safe Haven Legislation Passed March 3, 2001
Governor: William J. 'Bill' Janklow Party: Republican
19, New Mexico, Safe Haven Legislation Passed March 14, 2001
Governor: Gary E. Johnson Party: Republican
20, Utah, Safe Haven Legislation Passed March 15, 2001
Governor: Michael O. 'Mike' Leavitt Party: Republican
21, Mississippi, Safe Haven Legislation Passed March 23, 2001
Governor: Ronnie Musgrove Party: Democrat
22, Wisconsin, Safe Haven Legislation Passed April 6, 2001
Governor: J. Scott McCallum Party: Republican
23, Idaho, Safe Haven Legislation Passed April 9, 2001
Governor: Dirk Kempthorne Party: Republican
24, Montana, Safe Haven Legislation Passed April 19, 2001
Governor: Judy Martz Party: Republican
25, Arizona, Safe Haven Legislation Passed April 23, 2001
Governor: Jane Dee Hull Party: Republican
26, Iowa, Safe Haven Legislation Passed April 24, 2001
Governor: Tom Vilsack Party: Democrat
27, Oklahoma, Safe Haven Legislation Passed April 30, 2001
Governor: Frank A. Keating Party: Republican
28, North Dakota, Safe Haven Legislation Passed May 28, 2001
Governor: John H. Hoeven Party: Republican
29, Nevada, Safe Haven Legislation Passed May 31, 2001
Governor: Kenny C. Guinn Party: Republican
30, Oregon, Safe Haven Legislation Passed June 2001
Governor: John A. Kitzhaber Party: Democrat
31, Rhode Island, Safe Haven Legislation Passed July 9, 2001
Governor: Lincoln Carter Almond Party: Republican
32, Delaware, Safe Haven Legislation Passed July 9, 2001
Governor: Ruth Ann Minner Party: Democrat
33, North Carolina, Safe Haven Legislation Passed July 19, 2001
Governor: Mike Easley Party: Democrat
34, Tennessee, Safe Haven Legislation Passed July 19, 2001
Governor: Don Sundquist Party: Republican
35, Illinois, Safe Haven Legislation Passed August 20, 2001
Governor: George H. Ryan Party: Republican
36, Maine, Safe Haven Legislation Passed March 28, 2002
Governor: Angus S. King Jr. Party: Independent
37, Washington, Safe Haven Legislation Passed April 3, 2002
Governor: Gary Locke Party: Democrat
38, Georgia, Safe Haven Legislation Passed April 2002
Governor: Roy E. Barnes Party: Democrat
39, Maryland, - Safe Haven Legislation Passed April 2002
Governor: Parris Glendening Party: Democrat
40, Kentucky - Safe Haven Legislation Passed April 2002
Governor: Paul E. Patton Party: Democrat
41, Missouri - Safe Haven Legislation Passed July 2, 2002
Governor: Bob Holden Party: Democrat
42, Pennsylvania - Safe Haven Legislation Passed December 9, 2002
Governor: Mark S. Schweiker Party: Republican
43, Wyoming - Safe Haven Legislation Passed March 6, 2003
Governor: Dave Freudenthal Party: Democrat
44, Virginia - Safe Haven Legislation Passed March 21, 2003
Governor: Mark R. Warner Party: Democrat
45, New Hampshire - Safe Haven Legislation Passed April 9, 2003
Governor: Craig Benson Party: Republican
46, Massachusetts - Safe Haven Legislation Passed July 30, 2004
Governor: Mitt Romney Party: Republican
47, Vermont - Safe Haven Legislation Passed May 3, 2006
Governor: James H. Douglas Party: Republican
48, Hawaii - Baby Safe Haven Legislation Passed and Enacted on July 10, 2007
Overriding a veto by Governor Linda Lingle, Party: Republican
States that do not have a Safe Haven statutes
Alaska - Governor: Sarah Palin Party: Republican
Nebraska - Governor: Dave Heineman Party: Republican
Remaining: 0 (D)Democrats, 2 (R)Republican Governors
Governors who have signed:
27 Republicans -- 58%
18 Democrats -- 38%
2 Independents -- 4%
Vetoes -- 1, by a Republican
Veto Overrides -- 1
(data used with permission of Baby Safe Haven New England)
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