Gibbons vetoes his way to a record

June 1, 2009 by Pashtana Usufzy 

Governor sticks angers Democrats, justifies rejecting dozens of bills

By the afternoon of May 30, Gov. Jim Gibbons vetoed his 43rd bill, breaking the record that stood since Nevada’s first legislative session 144 years ago.

During the 1864-1865 legislative session, Governor Henry Blasdel rejected 33 bills, the former record for bill dismissals until Gov. Gibbons’ actions in the 2008-2009 legislative session.

According to Dan Burns, Gibbons’ communications director, the governor carefully reviewed each item sent to his desk and rejected the “bad bills” – pieces of legislation that Burns said called for additional taxes, fees or unnecessary government policies.

“The suggestion that perhaps [the vetoed] bills came over and weren’t closely studied was made by a person who is…misinformed,” Burns said.

 The massive number of vetoes has led some in the legislature and in the media to refer to the rejection of proposed bills as “veto-palooza,” a term Burns called “a childish bit of nonsense.”

“None of [the vetoes] should be a surprise,” he said.

Burns also took issue with the bills being sent to the governor.

“The governor freely admits, and I think everybody recognizes, that the Senate and the Assembly [are] controlled by very liberal…Democrats,” he said.

The legislative period lasts 120 days every two years. Today will be the last day of the session if no special sessions are called for.

Burns continued on to say that the governor has made his stance clear on the issues dealt with in many of the bills.

“His vetoes and his signatures—none of them are by accident,” he said.

Representatives of the Nevada State Democratic Party were not available for comment, but a blog on the party’s Web site criticized Gibbons’ attitude toward the current state of the economy and his constituents.

“The message coming out of the Gibbons listening tour so far is, ‘I feel your pain. I just don’t care,’” the post stated.

Some of the bills Gibbons vetoed found their way back to the floors of the Senate and Assembly. The Senate overturned Gibbons’ veto of a bill offering rights to registered unmarried couples  similar to the rights of married couples, with a tight 14-7 vote.

Many of the rejected bills were turned down due to financial constraints and lack of adequate resources, according to Gibbons’ letters of explanation to Assemblywoman Barbara Buckley.

“If the economy begins to improve,” Burns said, “…I wouldn’t expect [to see] so many vetoes.”