Governor Veto Branding Irons on Fire HELENA -MT.
Call it political grandstanding or a message to the Republican majority in the Legislature, the Governor held a one-of-a-kind ceremony Wednesday. “Frivolous, unconstitutional, and just bad ideas,” said the Governor with a political spectacle on the steps of the Capitol Wednesday as he stayed true to his word with a display of showmanship. “I would give it a bull brand, but it really is a little on the silly side, so we’ll give this one a yearling brand,” adds Schweitzer. He had three different sizes of veto branding irons on hand: a calf, yearling, and bull-sized brand.
The Democratic Governor vetoed 17 Republican bills Wednesday, seven of which he left his mark on for dozens of onlookers. “I respect the 990,000 people more than I do the 96 who showed up here with a different idea,” said the Governor. From a bill that ends same day voter registration to the repeal of medical marijuana. “Have you ever heard people in Montana complain that too many people were voting? Did you ever hear, as you travel across Montana, people say, oh, boy I tell ‘ya, too many people showing up at the polls,” said Schweitzer.
As he took his veto party inside to veto more bills, he rejected Speaker of the House Mike Milburn’s attempt to repeal the state’s medical marijuana law, which was passed by voters in 2004. As he signed the veto he said, “When the 990,000 people say one thing and the 96 say something else, I’ll put my stock every time in the 990,000 so we are vetoing House Bill 161.” The Governor passionately rejected proposals from the GOP and made it clear that it’s for the people. “For some in this building who say we don’t care about the Constitution and we don’t care about the will of the people, I care about both, deeply, and this is serious business,” Schweitzer said. The Governor also vetoed a measure that requires parental permission before a child can take a sex-ed class and another that would have attempted to place state eminent domain authority over federal land.
Schweitzer also made it clear there are more vetoes still to come. Speaker of the House Mike Milburn (R - Cascade) said, “Today the Governor rejected bipartisan legislation that would have put people back to work. Vetoing a good idea in tough times does nothing but leave folks feeling the burn of fewer jobs, more expensive housing, and higher healthcare costs. If the Governor insists on burning Montanans by vetoing common sense legislation, he can expect the overrides to continue.”
The Governor decided to veto the following bills Wednesday:
- SB 114 - Hinkle - Federal law enforcement officers should communicate with Sheriff.
- HB 318 - Warburton - Ensure county oversight in movement of publicly-owned wild buffalo or bison.
- SB 109 - Barrett - Revise definition of eligible renewable resources.
- HB 272 - Flynn - Eliminate ability for FWP to use hunting access fees to acquire fee title lands.
- SB 159 - Priest - Revise energy efficiency and code adoption requirements in building codes.
- HB 180 - Edmunds - Revise close of voter registration.
- SB 306 - Murphy - Revise mining laws regarding cyanide health and vat leach open-pit mining.
- HB 456 - Smith - Define scope/boundaries of human sexuality/reproductive ed in K-12 public schools.
- HB 464 - Blasdel - Provide medical liability protection for hard-to-recruit sub specialists.
- SB 111 - Sonju - Limit noneconomic damages in motor vehicle accidents.
- SB 228 - Priest - Prohibit creation of health insurance exchange under PPACA.
- SB 324 - Balyeat - Revise consumer protection laws and settlement proceeds.
- SB 370 - Priest - Require cost-benefit analysis of mandated health insurance coverage of service.
- SB 254 - Hutton - Provide state eminent domain authority for federal lands.
- HB 161 - Milburn - Repeal medical marijuana law.
- SB 183 - Brown - Revise interim zoning laws.
- HB 542 - Esp - Revise subdivision and platting act.
Governor Schweitzer has already vetoed 3 bills during the 2011 session (House Bills 64, 531, and Senate Bills 176) and has issued 10 amendatory vetoes (House Bills 219, 327, 307, 559, 90, 333, and Senate Bills 106, 125, 294, 351).
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