Syracuse, NY -
The Onondaga County Legislature did not override County Executive Joanie Mahoney’s veto of Tobacco 19 this afternoon. The eleven votes to override were two short of the necessary two-thirds majority.
Robert Warner, R-Baldwinsville, spearheaded the effort to prohibit tobacco sales to anyone under the age of nineteen except those in the military.
“About 20 percent of 18-year-olds sell tobacco to younger students, and they’re getting addicted,” Warner said. “If this law could just stop a couple of kids from smoking and getting addicted, if we can save just three or four kids, then it’s worth it.”
Warner also argued that cutting down on smoking will lead to saving millions on Medicaid. Democrats who voted with him agreed.
“Republicans believe it’s not conservative to take smoking away from people,” David Stott, D-Liverpool, said. “They don’t want to limit the freedoms that come with being 18-years-old. Today they believed those freedoms were more important than disease or cancer.”
Eight Republicans voted against his proposition.
Seventeen-year-old West Genesee High School senior Alissa Orlando wanted the bill passed. She is now pessimistic at another opportunity to override Mahoney’s veto.
“The Republicans won’t change their mind because they have had a lot of time to look at the issue,” Orlando said. “They’re set on where they stand.”
The Onondaga County Legislature has never overridden a veto by a County Executive.
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