Jeff Wentworth

When a Texas governor vetoes a bill after the Legislature has adjourned, as we did this year on May 28, the chances of overriding that veto are, as we say in Texas, “slim to none.”

Although the writers of the Texas Constitution back in the 1870s placed the majority of political power in the hands of the Legislature, they also gave the governor an effective tool to control public policy – the power to veto bills after the Legislature adjourns.  Unless the governor vetoes a bill while the Legislature is in session, we have no opportunity to override the veto. 

As a result, the last time the Legislature overrode a veto was in 1979 when Bill Clements was governor.  Prior to that, no veto had been overridden since 1941 during the administration of Gov. W. Lee O’Daniel.

After the close of the 80th Legislative Session this year, Gov. Rick Perry vetoed 49 bills.  He also used his line-item veto to take away funding for a number of projects that we had appropriated funds for in the 2008-2009 budget.

Many of you contacted me after Gov. Perry announced his vetoes and asked why the Legislature didn’t override his veto of a certain bill or restore funding to a particular project.

While the Legislature is in session, a governor has 10 days to veto bills that have been sent to his desk; however, most bills are passed in the final days of the session.

The governor has 20 days to review the legislation.  If he vetoes it, nothing can be done because the Legislature has adjourned.  Because I would like for lawmakers to have the opportunity to override vetoes of bills passed in the last days of a session, I authored Senate Joint Resolution 28, which was identical to State Rep. Gary Elkins’ House Joint Resolution 59.

Both resolutions proposed a constitutional amendment that would allow the Legislature to override vetoes during a special five-day session at the end of the gubernatorial veto period in June of odd-numbered years.  House Joint Resolution 59 passed the House by a vote of 109-29 and was referred to the Senate Committee on State Affairs where it had overwhelming support.

Unfortunately, the committee chairman, State Sen. Robert Duncan, who had originally signed on as a co-author of my resolution, changed his mind and did not allow the committee to vote on the joint resolution, even though six of the nine members of the committee committed to me that they would vote in favor of it.

I believe that a five-day session to consider vetoed bills is an idea whose time has come, so I will refile the resolution when the Legislature convenes again in 2009.

Unfortunately, some of the bills that the governor vetoed this year addressed problems that needed to be resolved before 2009.

A list of the bills Gov. Perry vetoed and his reasons for doing so may be found on the Internet at www.governor.state.tx.us/divisions/press/bills/veto.  The House Research Organization has rebuttals by legislators to the governor’s vetoes on its Web site at www.hro.house.state.tx.us.                        

Texas State Sen. Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio) represents District 25, which includes Kendall County and part of Bexar County. He can be reached via e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .