Health Care Security Act Veto Override

It is looking increasingly likely that the City Council will, on October 11th, overwhelmingly override the mayor's veto of the Health Care security Act in spite of late efforts from independent supermarket owners and their suppliers to amend the legislation. This does not mean that all hopes for changing the legislation are lost. It does mean, however, that the effected parties are going to have to collaborate on a common strategy if they are to avoid Pogo's comic strip observation: "We have met the enemy and he is us."

What this means is that the entire industry must understand that it is faced with a choice: try to amend the bill or employ all of your resources to defeat it. The simple fact is that you can't do both at the same time, especially when support for the legislation is so extensive.

Since we have been asked to intervene in this matter, we are working to develop the industry consensus that is a prerequisite for successfully amending the bill. The jury is still out on whether cooler heads will prevail.