POUGHKEEPSIE – Calling an electrical licensing law approved by the Dutchess County Legislature "an anti-consumer bureaucratic mandate designed by its sponsors to create an insider monopoly squeezing small business owners and the self employed out of business and driving up consumer costs,” County Executive William Steinhaus Wednesday vetoed the bill.

County Legislature Chairman Roger Higgins expects there will be enough votes for an override.

“We did have enough votes when we passed the law to override a veto and as long as everyone who supported the law last month continues to support the law and votes to override the county executive’s veto, we should be able to make it law,” he said. Higgins has scheduled an override vote for the next regularly scheduled county legislature meeting next week.

This is the second time Steinhaus took that action, having vetoed similar legislation two years ago.

In a two page veto message, Steinhaus said legislative passage “of this big government mandate has been driven by special interest lobbying from the electricians union.”