5168

VETOES

children may be placed at risk as a result of a local
department of social services' inability to introduce such
evidence in court, the Department of Human Resources and
other proponents of the veto believe the number is
substantial.

The Department of Human Resources and Office of the
Attorney General have further considered the anomaly in the
law whereby the testimony of licensed social workers would
be subject to the privilege but the testimony of unlicensed
social workers -- who do exactly the same "counseling" in
protective services cases -- would not. The Attorney
General has expressed the view that "such an anomaly in the
law will undoubtedly lead to litigation, particularly in
view of the large percentage of social workers who have
chosen to be licensed."

Under these circumstances the need to veto this bill
and avoid its negative impact on the welfare of children and
others is unfortunate but unavoidable. I have, however,
been assured by the Secretary of Human Resources that a
priority effort will be made to assist the proponents of
this measure to structure legislation for the 1983 session
that corrects the deficiencies of the present bill. My
Administration supports the enactment of an appropriate
privilege between social workers and their clients that
recognizes and safeguards such a professional counseling
relationship.

Sincerely,
Harry Hughes
Governor

Senate Bill 921

AN ACT concerning

Landlord and Tenant - Failure to Pay Rent
- Summary Ejectment

FOR the purpose of providing that when a complaint is filed,
judgment is made, and summons is issued in a court
action by a landlord to collect past due rent from a
tenant, the total amount of rent due includes the
amount of each periodic rent payment as it accrues
together with the determination of the amount of all
late fees and court costs; requiring that an express
statement of the effect of these provisions be printed