The final piece of legislation that Gov. Jim Douglas had to make a decision on was the education cost containment bill. He signed that Monday afternoon.
In all, the governor and his staff had to review 100 bills. During the session, some folks said this was a "do-nothing" Legislature. One hundred bills isn't nothing, although quantity doesn't always mean quality. Some folks would look at a tally of 100 potential new laws and worry the Legislature had done too much.
The final tally of the governor's action on the 100 bills is as follows:
Three vetoes
- The budget adjustment bill back in the middle of the session because it didn't include the scholarships.
- The campaign finance bill
- The energy bill
Four bills that became law without his signature
- Revisions to the medical marijuana law
- Insurance provisions for naturopathic physicians
- Tax exemption on payments to foster families caring for adults
- Optional change in signature requirements for reconsideration of local votes.
Once all the paperwork makes it way to the Secretary of State, there will be 97 new acts.
Lawmakers could add a couple more to the list if they could muster enough votes at the special veto-override session scheduled for July 11. House Republican Leader Steve Adams of Hartland said Monday, however, that overrides on the energy and campaign finance bills weren't likely if his vote-count was accurate. He said at least one member of the Republican House caucus was flying back from vacation to participate.
-- Nancy Remsen
