Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

LEGISLATURE:

Gibbons vetoes four bills, expected to veto more

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Gov. Jim Gibbons

Sun Coverage

CARSON CITY – Gov. Jim Gibbons vetoed four bills Thursday and has promised to reject a number of others, including the tax bill. It’s not clear whether he will set the record by a governor for the most bills vetoed in a single session of the Legislature.

Of the four bills has vetoed by Gibbons this session, the Assembly and the Senate were able to override Assembly Bill 480, which will increase the fees charged by the office of state engineer for filing water applications. The Assembly passed AB480 by 34-7 and the Senate approved it 21-0.

In research dating back to 1945 by the Legislature, Gov. Bob List, a Republican, holds the record with 12 vetoes in 1981. Three of them were overridden by the Legislature.

On the other end, Gov. Mike O’Callaghan, a Democrat, did not veto any bills in 1975 and Gov. Kenny Guinn, a Republican did not reject any bills from the 2003 Legislature.

Gibbons in 2007 vetoed seven bills, one of which was overridden by the Legislature. That dealt with information provided to a grand jury.

This session, the attempt to override the veto of Assembly Bill 257 failed when the Senate voted 12-9. The Senate needed 14 votes to get the two-thirds necessary to overcome the veto of Gibbons. The Assembly had already voted for it 34-7.

The attempt to override the veto of Assembly Bill 122 -- to expand the authority of the director of the state Office of Consumer Health Assistance -- failed. The Senate voted 12-9, but 14 votes were needed to keep the bill live.

The Assembly had voted 34-7 to overcome the veto of the governor on AB122.

Gov. Gibbons also vetoed Senate Bill 201 to allow Washoe County to raise its gasoline tax to fund maintenance and construction of roads. The bill returned to the Senate which has not taken action on that measure so far.

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