Veto session letters sent to La. lawmakers

Published Jun 19, 2012 at 3:00 pm (Updated Jun 19, 2012)

Notification letters were sent to Louisiana lawmakers today, advising them about the planned July 14 veto session and how to scrap the meeting if they don't want to hold it. The veto session was automatically set when Gov. Bobby Jindal rejected bills from the regular legislative session that ended this month. A veto session would allow lawmakers to decide if they want to override some of the governor's decisions, after he jettisoned 21 bills and several million dollars in financing from next year's $25.6 billion budget. A majority written vote of either the House or Senate can cancel the veto session. The deadline for lawmakers to send in ballots to stop the session is midnight July 9. Lawmakers have not held a veto session since the current Louisiana Constitution was enacted four decades ago. Most years, the sessions are canceled as an afterthought. Even if lawmakers choose to hold a veto session, it takes a hefty vote to override the governor: two-thirds backing in both the House and Senate to enact a law the governor has rejected. Among items jettisoned by Jindal were bills that would tweak video poker laws, renew local taxes in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, give a tax break for public school donations, require annual reports on Jindal administration health initiatives run by private companies, and mandate each state agency to report yearly on tax break programs.