Senate Overrides 6 Vetoes

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Senate Overrides 6 Vetoes

Special Report - July 14, 2011
On their first day back in Raleigh, the North Carolina Senate successfully voted to override the Governor’s veto on six different measures that had been vetoed after the traditional session came to a close at the end of June. After formally reconvening at noon, Senators wasted no time, overriding in less than an hour all of these vetoes of bills that had originated in the Senate. Procedurally, a veto override motion must start in the same chamber the bill originated from, which means that House bills vetoed by the Governor, including HB 854—Abortion-Woman’s Right to Know, must receive a successful three-fifths majority vote in that chamber before being sent to the Senate. See our previous story for a complete list of possible bills in the House that lawmakers may consider during this month’s special redistricting session.

The bills (with vote counts in parentheses) the Senate successfully overrode on Wednesday, July 13 were:

SB 33—Medical Liability Reforms (35-12)
SB 496—Medicaid and Health Choice Provider Req. (47-1)
SB 532—ESC/Jobs Reform (31-17)
SB 709—Energy Jobs Act (31-17)
SB 727—No Dues Checkoff for School Employees (30-18)
SB 781—Regulatory Reform Act of 2011 (48-0)

Although Republicans in the Senate already have the necessary three-fifths supermajority needed, three of the measures had bipartisan support for an override. SB 727—No Dues Checkoff for School Employees was overridden on a strict party-line vote.

Now that these measures have successfully made their way through the Senate, they are now eligible for override consideration in the House of Representatives. The House leadership has indicated that the chamber will begin taking up potential veto overrides July 25, after the chamber concludes its business related to redistricting.

Related resources:
Special Redistricting Session Begins - July 13, 2011