Ruminations |
lobby fanned the popular prejudice against railroads and the bill was passed . The governor , sitting outside the heat and turmoil of the two busy houses , with an opportunity to survey the bills that came to him without the bias of a partisan and in the coolness and even-temper of a position far removed from the influences of either chamber , with plenty of time for reflection and opportunity to consult the best judges of the law — vetoed the bill . And straightway it was passed over his veto amid the shouts and jeers of a throng of men who for the most part did not know what they were doing any more than if they had been little boys .” 36
The newspaper led the charge to amend the constitution . The target was the majority override . The paper urged a change in the override percentage to two-thirds of each chamber . “ Educate the public to the idea that an honest , fair-minded governor can do the state as much good by his veto as the lawmaker can with his bill , and frequently more . Rebuke on every occasion the tendency of the general assembly to treat a gubernatorial veto with contempt . Seat in the governor ’ s chair men with the courage of their convictions and let us have some vetoing . We need it .” 37
Another veto was overridden in 1904 . The act relating to witness fees was judged by Governor Charles Bell to increase litigation . 38 The large fees mandated by the bill would soon “ render it profitable to be a witness ” and raise “ an army of professional witnesses .” The St . Albans Messenger heard the derisive laughter again . 39 Other editors and other Vermonters began to agree that something must change . 40
In 1910 , the legislature appointed a committee to recommend constitutional amendments . Among the proposals was the change from a majority to a two-thirds override vote . Its report to the legislature explained its reasoning .
Our constitution contemplates that the governor shall have a voice in legislation by means of a veto power . The veto power given him by the 11 th article of the amendments is not substantial and practically of little effect . The same majority which originally passed a bill can pass it over his objection . The result is that vetoes by governors have sometimes received but scant consideration and governors have often refrained from risking a veto which had so little effect . . . . .
The constitution of the United States and of thirty-two of the states require a two-thirds vote to pass a bill over a veto , some two-thirds of all the members and some only two-thirds of those present . If the governor is to have a constitutional part in law making , and
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we believe such is the desire of the people and that it is a wise provision , then more than a majority should be required to pass a bill over his objection . 41
In 1910 , Governor John A . Mead vetoed six bills , and the following year two more , all of the bills sustained by the legislature . In 1913 , Governor Allen Fletcher vetoed four more bills , also all sustained . One of these vetoes drew strong supportive reaction from the press . The Montpelier Morning Journal of February 13 , 1913 stated , “ That monstrous piece of fad legislation , the sterilization bill , is dead . A timely and courageous veto by Gov . Fletcher saved the State of Vermont from the shame and disgrace of having in its statutes a law so inhuman so unjust to its unfortunate wards and so repugnant to the sentiments of all right thinking men .” The override vote in the Senate was 13 to 10 , and the Lieutenant Governor mistakenly ruled it effective in reversing the veto . Sixteen votes were needed to make a majority .
The proposal to amend the constitution to change the majority override to a two-thirds vote passed each chamber in 1910 by a near unanimous vote . The people approved the change at the annual town meeting of 1913 by a vote of 11,047 to 8,078 . 42
Article of Amendment 11 became Section 11 of Chapter II after the Supreme Court redrafted the Constitution to merge the various amendments into the body of the document . Section 11 then read ( and reads so today ) as follows .
Every bill which shall have passed the Senate and House of Representatives shall , before it becomes a law , be presented to the Governor ; if the Governor approve , the Governor shall sign it ; if not , the Governor shall return it , with objections in writing , to the House in which it shall have originated ; which shall proceed to reconsider it . If , upon such reconsideration , two-thirds of the members present of that House shall pass the bill , it shall , together with the objections , be sent to the other House , by which it shall likewise be reconsidered , and if approved by two-thirds of the members present of that House , it shall become a law .
But , in all such cases , the votes of both Houses shall be taken by yeas and nays , and the names of the persons voting for or against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House , respectively . If any bill shall not be returned by the Governor , as aforesaid , within five days ( Sundays excepted ) after it shall have been presented to the Governor , the same shall become a law in like manner as if the Governor had signed it ; unless the two Houses by their adjournment , within three days
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after the presentation of such bill shall prevent its return ; in which case it shall not become a law .
Unlike the prior version of Section 11 , the 1913 amendment required two-thirds of the members present and voting to override , where the 1836 amendment required a majority of the members of the House and the same of the Senate to reverse the veto .
The Vetoes of the Twentieth Century
Of the 94 vetoes of the twentieth century , six were overridden . These included , in addition to Governor Stickney ’ s veto of the Central Vermont Railroad charter in 1900 and Governor Bell ’ s 1904 veto of the law on witness fees , both discussed above , the 1921 veto of the Homestead Act by Governor James Hartness , who believed the legislation was premature and that women ought to become used to their newly-awarded suffrage rights before having to deal with laws that equalized the property rights and obligations of both men and women ; 43 the 1925 veto by Governor Franklin Billings of the Intangibles act , on grounds that it shifted the burden of the taxes from the bank to its shareholders ; 44 Governor Snelling ’ s 1981 veto of an amendment to the sales and use tax , exempting film rentals , on grounds of lost revenue and bad policy ; 45 and the 1990 veto by Governor Madeleine Kunin of the budget act , denied because it proposed new spending without additional revenues in a tight fiscal time for Vermont . 46
The journals of the House and Senate include the veto message , and details of a vote to override or sustain the veto , but never an explanation of why the legislature won ’ t accept the reasoning of the chief executive . Floor debates are not a matter of record .
In 1921 , Secretary of State Harry Black decided that 80 bills passed by the General Assembly and signed by the Governor after adjournment were not valid , and refused to publish them in the Acts and Resolves for that year . Black read Section 11 not to give the Governor the power to approve them and that they had been the subject of a pocket veto , as more than five days had passed since adjournment . The Supreme Court ’ s decision , written by Justice William H . Taylor , granted a mandamus to Hartness , ordering the printing of the acts . Taylor concluded “ that there is no provision of the Constitution restricting the power of the Governor to approve bills after the adjournment of the Legislature , except that he is limited as to time to the period of five days ( Sundays excepted ) after the bill has been presented to him . No such provision is needed to make the plan of executive revision complete . To hold as the petitionee contends would make it necessary to read into the Constitution a provision restricting its plain and express
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