Posted by:
keown
at Thu May 31 19:58:07 2007 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by keown ]
For th most part it is an excellent letter. Due to its length I think you are probably going to have to mail it in order to get it delivered to him. Perhaps overnight it.
There is one area of your letter that I would suggest you revise. You encourage Governor Perry to either "not sign" or "veto" HB 12 when it hits his desk. Unfortunately, if he just does not sign it, under Texas law the bill will still become law even though he does not sign it. For him to stop it from becoming law he is going to have to "veto" it. Personally, I think there is a very slim chance of getting him to "veto" it. But it is worth a shot to try.
Unlike in the Federal system and prehaps unlike some other states, in Texas the Governor does not have 'pocket veto' power whereby it can kill a bill by just not signing it. If he does not 'veto' it within a 20 day period it will become law with or without his signature on it. If we only ask him to "not sign" it he may agree to do that, but it will have no effect on stopping this piece of bs from becoming law. He must 'veto" it for his action to have any effect. He also can not use a "line-item veto" to carve out the riders on the bill. It is all or nothing. He can only use a line-item veto on budget items.
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Gerald Keown
Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research
www.southwesternherp.com
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RE: Not a Tx herper, but... - keown, Thu May 31 19:58:07 2007