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Legislative staff warn AG opinion on veto markings could shrink lawmakers’ override power
Summary
Legislative Council attorneys told Legislative Management that a June 10 Attorney General opinion — concluding the governor’s veto letter, not markings on the bill, controls — conflicts with prior court precedent and could create lasting uncertainty about how item vetoes operate and how appropriations are reduced when part of a section is struck.
Legislative Management members were presented with a legal analysis June 26 on an Attorney General opinion that concluded the governor’s written veto message, rather than pen markings on the returned bill, is the legally operative statement of what was vetoed.
The memo and presentation by Legislative Council staff stressed why the issue matters now: the governor crossed out an entire section of Senate Bill 2014 on the bill face but said in his veto letter he intended to disapprove only a $150,000 passthrough; the AG opinion sided with the veto letter. "The AG concluded that the Governor's veto letter was the legally operative document," Legislative…
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