The annual veto session in the General Assembly saw an attempt, in the House, to override one of Governor Jay Nixon’s vetoes. But there was no such attempt in the Senate, which decided to accept the Governor’s decisions following the regular session of the Legislature.
Senate Majority Leader Kevin Engler (R-Farmington) didn’t think any Senate bills could muster the votes needed for an override, so the chamber didn’t even bother to try.
"We had a lot of bills that the Governor vetoed and I don’t think any of them rose to the level that we thought we could get enough votes to override a veto," said Engler in an interview with the Missourinet. "So, there’s no reason to sit here (the Senate) and just get comments and talk about things that weren’t going to happen so we adjourned."
That doesn’t mean Engler wouldn’t have liked a chance to override a House bill.
"I thought the bill on the oversight for the stimulus money was one bill that probably needed to go into effect," said Engler.
But failure of the House to come up with the votes needed to override meant the veto effort was dead.
"They acted on it but didn’t have enough votes – the two-thirds necessary – so it didn’t even get sent over here."
Engler understands Governor Nixon and the Legislature must make some tough choices where the budget is concerned. He doesn’t expect that situation to improve much during the 2010 legislative session.