Line Item Veto Research Paper

The power to veto makes the governor awfully powerful in the legislative game. The veto is a negative power in which the governor can say "no" to a piece of legislation when it comes to his desk for passage. Two kinds of vetoes exist for the governor's utilization. A regular veto says no to the entire bill. The other kind of veto available to governors, and not the President of the United States, is the line-item veto. The line-item veto gives the governor the ability to remove part of a piece of legislation, vetoing that part but leaving the rest of the bill intact. This only appears in budgetary proposals, but still gives the governor the power to restrict spending on certain programs the legislature wants to fund. It is difficult for a …show more content…
So, the legislature may go against their wishes since they know their attempt would just result in a gubernatorial veto. Bargaining is a crucial way for the legislator to get the policy they want since the governor can use "the veto or its threat as a bargaining tool to help secure passage of their preferred legislation" (Robertson 6). The veto is a powerful tool the governor can use and in recent events its effect can be tremendous especially when it comes to the line-item veto. The full power of the line-item veto was seen in Wisconsin when the governor pulled together parts of the budget bill to add $330 million to state public school aid (Proctor 1). With no legislative override, the budget became law. This has become known as the Frankenstien veto since the governor stitched parts of the bill together to create something entirely new. This line-item veto was controversial because it was clear that the governor was creating his own legislation. The veto powers of the governor gives the governor a direct impact on the bills the legislative branch giving the governor a great deal of power over the legislative