June 19, 2017      9:33 PM
KR: Policy implications of Abbott vetoes
Abbott continues to surprise stakeholders after never engaging with them, his direction lies in administrative powers instead of new lawmaking, and if he didn’t sign it last time, don’t bother running it up the flagpole again
Gov.
Greg Abbott’s slew of vetoes last week, 51 in all, left some staffers
and lawmakers alike feeling burned at the end of what already was a contentious
session – with more fun to come in July. We’re using “fun” loosely, of course.
The
actual number of vetoes by Abbott is probably closer
to 44,
if you exclude the line-item budget vetoes and the bills pulled at the request
of the lawmaker or duplicates what other bills in the current or past sessions
have accomplished. Those veto statements look something like this, this, this, this, this, this, this and this.
What
frustrated lawmakers two years ago – and what continues to frustrate them this
session – is Abbott’s absence from legislative negotiations. That was true in
his marquee legislation like Senate Bill 4 and grants for pre-k all the way down
to more minor issues.
By Kimberly Reeves
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