Line-Item Lawsuit

Republican legislative leaders have filed a “friendly” lawsuit with the Oklahoma Supreme Court to get a legal opinion on the governor’s line-item veto power.

House Speaker Chris Benge, R-Tulsa, and Senate president pro tempore Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, said Gov. Brad Henry exceeded his line-item power when he vetoed portions of two general legislation bills in 2008. The measures specified how funds appropriated to the Department of Corrections and the Ethics Commission were to be spent.

Benge and Coffee contend that the governor can only use a line-item veto to strike portions of appropriations bills. The suit is being filed to get guidance from the court on the issue, according to Benge.

Paul Sund, Henry’s press spokesman, said limiting the governor’s veto power would require striking an agency’s entire annual appropriation to get rid of an objectionable item.

“Gov. Henry acted appropriately and in compliance with the law when he used his line-item veto, and he strongly disagrees with the assertions of this lawsuit,” Sund said in a statement. “The line-item veto is one of the few tools the governor has to stop questionable or wasteful spending by the Legislature.”

“If this lawsuit is successful, the line-item veto will be irreparably crippled and Oklahomans will lose an important check and balance against wasteful spending,” Sund said.

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