Override session unlikely despite vetoes

Legislative leaders say they plan to meet with other lawmakers this week but do not expect a special session to override any of the nine bills on Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s potential veto list.

“At this point it doesn’t appear that any of the bills are urgent, so it’s unlikely that we would consider overriding any of the vetoes,” Rep. Scott Saiki (D, Downtown-Kakaako-McCully), House majority leader, said Monday after Abercrombie informed the Legislature of the bills he might reject. “To the extent that any of the vetoes are for drafting errors or for modifications to the language, then we can work on that next session.”

Sen. Brickwood Galuteria, who leads the majority caucus in the Senate, said there has been no discussion of a special session.

“DOES anything rise to the level of override? I don’t think so, at this particular point,” said Galuteria (D, Kakaako-McCully-Waikiki).

Monday was the governor’s deadline to inform lawmakers of bills he is considering vetoing. Bills not vetoed by July 9 will become law, with or without his signature.

In a news release, Abercrombie said most of the bills are potentially objectionable because of concerns state departments or agencies have raised.

“This past session resulted in meaningful measures that will ultimately benefit the people of Hawaii,” Abercrombie said in a statement. “However, there may be difficulty in implementing some of these bills as they are currently written, and there are other measures that require further consideration.”

Among the bills are ones that would make feeding feral birds a nuisance; limit compensation that property owners may be entitled to in trying to recover property that is presumed abandoned; and grant judges discretion in setting prison terms when sentencing drug offenders in certain class B and class C felonies.

THE governor also notified the Legislature of his plan to use his line-item veto power on Senate Bill 909 — which funds union contracts — to delete funds for the rejected settlement offer to Hawaii Government Employees Union Bargaining Unit 13, which represents professional and scientific workers.

Advocates and opponents for any of the listed measures have between now and the July 9 deadline to sway Abercrombie’s decisions.

Legislative leaders say they expect the governor to meet with lawmakers who introduced the bills and chairmen of the committees who had final say over the various iterations of the bills.

“I assume there will be some members who are interested in some of these particular measures and request an override,” Saiki said. “I’m not sure if there’s any urgency to overriding any of these vetoes.”

Lawmakers would have to convene a special one-day session on the veto deadline day to vote on overrides, which require two-thirds majority approval from each chamber.

Abercrombie vetoed 19 measures last year and 17 the year before. None have been overridden.

As of Monday, Abercrombie has signed into law 172 of the 293 measures the Legislature passed this year, his office said.