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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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