By State Senator Sam Slom
On June 25, Governor Neil Abercrombie, as required by law, sent a list of his potential vetoes to the Hawaii State Legislature. There are 19 bills from the 2012 Session on his list.
The Governor may decide not to veto every bill on his list. He is constrained to let the Legislature know what he might do; however, any bill not on this list cannot be vetoed.
To date, Governor Abercrombie has signed more than 195 measures into law. A total of 345 bills were passed by the 2012 Legislature; many of them, “Administration Bills.”
The Governor has until July 10 to decide to veto, sign, or allow the remaining bills to become law without his signature. The Legislature then has the option to convene in special session on July 10 in order to attempt to override—it would take a 2/3 majority of each house to do so—any or all of the actual vetoes.
However, it is unlikely that the majority party (43 of 51 in the House and 24 of 25 in the Senate) will decide to override any of the bills, especially in an election year. Since 1962 when all Governors were Democrat, except for Republican Linda Lingle between 2002 – 2010, only one veto was overridden. That was the “age of consent bill” veto by Governor Ben Cayetano. In contrast, more than 100 of Governor Lingleʼs vetoes were easily overridden during her 8 year term.
The Senate Minority voted “no” on 7 of these measures—often casting the lone vote in opposition — and on one bill “with reservations.”
The following measures are on notice of “intent to veto.”
HB 46: Prohibition; smoking in public housing
HB 246: Appropriation for City Prosecutorʼs Office
HB 280: Hawaii grown green coffee beans – inspections
HB 283: $196,000 appropriation; eradicate coffee berry borer
HB 1617: Commercial, hotel, resort, industrial lease extensions
HB 1671: Procurement – time limits; judicial review decisions
HB 1879: Extension – Pest Control Operatorsʼ One Call Center
HB 1984: Hawaiian language usage – State letterheads, documents
HB 2275: Hospitality Sustainability Fee & New Special Fund
HB 2436: CIO – Information Privacy & Security Council
SB 2158: Bail bonds – Cash bail, bail bonds after hours
SB 2214: Collective Bargaining – EUTF; Unfunded Liability
SB 2341: Agricultural Tourism within Agriculture District
SB 2424: Professional Employersʼ Organizations – Fees, Regulation
SB 2536: Temporary Clean & Sober Halfway House Task Force
SB 2640: Counties Permit Use of Individual Wastewater Treatment
SB 2742: HCDA – Amends Composition of Boards
SB 2946: Motor Vehicle Surcharge Tax Increase to $7.50 per day
SB 3017: $10 a Day TAT – Complimentary Rooms
