I just learned today of a very disturbing law concerning the Governor's veto power over legislation. The Texas state constitution gives the Governor the power to veto bills that have been passed by the legislature.
Though this a very powerful tool I believe it essential, and one of the few things that strengthen the generally weak office of Governor in this state,but it seems it is being used in an unfair and dishonest way. Once the governor receives a bill he has ten days to veto, if there are still ten days or more remaining in the 140 day session. If there are less than 10 days remaining the Governor is given 20 days to veto. Once the Governor vetoes a bill the Legislature is given the power to vote down the Governor's Veto, requiring a 2/3 vote to do so. The problem with this law is that it is being manipulated by the Governor's office to take the power of voting down a veto out of the hands of Legislature. Once the legislative session has ended, the legislators go home and no one is there to vote down the veto. Governors often wait until the last day available to them to veto a bill so there veto can not be overturned. This essentially makes our Legislature powerless. These are the people we vote into office to protect our interests in government. We should be very concerned that constitutional laws can be used in such a dishonest manner. Clearly the intention of the law is to provide the Governor more time to make decisions on bills at a time when his or her desk tends to be a little crowded. The law is definitely not there to strip away the power of the Legislature. This is especially crippling to the legislature due to the fact that the Governor alone has the power to call for a special session. This means that if the session has ended when a veto takes place there is nothing that the Legislature can do about it. This could potentially cause a very unjust law to be upheld for at least two years, until the Legislature meets again. The argument has been made that Legislature should not wait until the last minute to submit bills to avoid this situation. I believe that this frame of mind would cause Legislature to prioritize every issue presented to them and could cause some issues to be overlooked all together. I also fear that some complex issues may require the entire session to address properly. If this is the case it places the most important issues in the hands of one person. The situation could also arise where an important issue does not come to light until late in the session. I, for one; do not want Legislature making hurried decisions about anything. I can think of two possible resolutions to this problem. One possible solution is for Texas to adopt a full time legislature. The other would be to allow the legislature to call for special sessions to deal with these issues. Maybe a 2/3 vote would be needed to call the special session. Something has to change since it is apparent that no Governor will call a special session to have his own veto overridden
The 10-20 rule
ReplyDeleteIn his blog titled “When our Backs are Turned,” jadamsark, reminds us of the veto power invested in Governor Rick Perry. Because of the 10-20 rule, the Governor can keep a bill from becoming law simply by vetoing it after the regular 140 legislative session is over and all the legislators have gone home. They do not have the power to return and try to rally a vote to override the veto, so it stays.
This process seems to disrupt the ideal of checks and balances that our national founding fathers fought so hard to preserve in the U.S Constitution.
Powerless in Texas
ReplyDeleteI was reading one of my classmates blogs titled "When are backs are turned," about the veto power granted to the Governor of Texas. In his article, he demonstrates a strong argument the the Governor has more power than the legislation given the 10-20 rule under the Texas Constitution. I will agree that we do need a full-time legislation to balance the power between the House, Senate, and the Governor. It's highly unfair to many Texans who need the help of the Texas Government facing adversity. Hopefully in the near future, Texas can establish a full-time Legislation to help bring balance to our Conservative State.