by Ryan McKeen
Earlier in the week I heard Attorney General Blumenthal on TV. Attorney General Blumenthal being on TV is hardly post worthy but what he had to say is.
He said that Governor Rell couldn’t use her line item veto powers without signing the budget. Mr. Blumenthal said letting the budget become law without her signature and vetoing certain provisions violated the Connecticut constitution.
The Attorney General said the Connecticut Constitution is clear on this issue. The words “clear and constitution” caught my attention. Very rarely is any constitution clear on anything. Such is the nature of constitutions.
I decided to break out my copy of the Connecticut Constitution and do a little digging myself. Below is what I found and a quick and dirty lesson on constitutional interpretation.
If the governor shall approve a bill, he shall sign and transmit it to the secretary of the state……Article IV Section 15 of the Connecticut Constitution
This provision clearly states if a governor shall approve a bill he shall sign it. Thus if Governor Rell wanted to approve the budget she must sign it. Simple enough. Next up:
In case the governor shall not transmit the bill to the secretary, either with his approval or with his objections, within five calendar days, Sundays and legal holidays excepted, after the same shall have been presented to him, it shall be a law at the expiration of that period…Article IV Section 15 of the Connecticut Constitution
Governor Rell choose to use her right under the Connecticut Constitution to have the budget enacted without her signature. Below is the final piece of the puzzle:
The governor shall have power to disapprove of any item or items of any bill making appropriations of money embracing distinct items while at the same time approving the remainder of the bill…. Article IV Section 16 of the Connecticut Constitution.
The above quoted section gives the governor line item veto power. Something that’s not available to the president of the United States. The line item veto section gives the governor the power to disaaprove items in the budget while at the same time approving the remainder of the bill.
Going back to Article IV Section 15 of the Connecticut Constitution (relevant section quoted above) to approve the bill the governor must sign it. In order to exercise line item veto authority the governor must approve the bill. Since Governor Rell choose not to approve the bill and have the budget go into effect as an operation of law she could not use her line item veto powers.
The Attorney General was right. The Connecticut Constitution is clear on this very issue.