Legal/Legislative Scene

Governor's amendatory veto overridden

By Peter M. Murphy
Legal/Legislative Counsel

Peter M. Murphy

On October 22, the Illinois House overrode Governor Thompson's amendatory veto of H.B. 1256, which included among its provisions the bid limit increase for Illinois park and forest preserve districts.

The Governor's specific recommendations for change made through his amendatory veto provided for an extension to the collar counties of the bill's provisions giving authority to the Cook County Forest Preserve District for a right of first refusal, not to exceed 30 days, for the purchase of any golf course. Such right of first refusal would then pass to a park district within which the territory of the golf course was located.

The override was necessitated by H.B. 1256 being identified by Speaker Michael Madigan as one of those bills where the Governor exceeded his amendatory veto power.

Provided the Senate follows the House's action on H.B. 1256, the bid limits for park and forest preserve districts should increase at the conclusion of the veto session on November 5.

Effective dates and veto power

On the subsequent page you will find an excellent overview and clear-cut description of a rather complicated process. Such process involves the myriad forms a gubernatorial veto can take and its subsequent impact on the effective date of legislation. I recommend you save this information for future reference.

Voting records

No method of reporting on your individual Senator's and Representative's action in Springfield can give a total picture of those individuals' support of park and recreation issues in Illinois. However, one of the best gauges is their voting record on issues of interest to Illinois park districts.

On the following pages you will find your Senator's and Representative's voting record on a number of major park and recreation issues, including the Legislative Platform proposals of the IAPD/IPRA.

In particular, note your legislator's vote on hard issues such as S.B. 600, which increased the tax rate for park districts and municipalities participating in special recreation associations.

I recommend that you share the voting record of your legislators with them so they can better determine their support for park and recreation issues in Illinois. If you have questions regarding your legislator's voting record, call the IAPD office at (217) 523-4554.

New bill introductions

H.B. 2887—McNamara—Creates the Property Tax Limitation Act which provides that amount of such taxes, extended for any taxing district in any calendar year, may not exceed property taxes extended for that district for immediately preceding year increased by percentage of increase in federal Consumer Price Index for immediate preceding calendar year.

H.B. 2890—McNamara—Creates the Senior Citizens Property Tax Limitation Act which provides that such taxes in any calendar year of elderly persons on fixed income may not exceed such taxes for the immediately preceding calendar year by percentage of increase in the federal Consumer Price Index of the previous year.

S.B. 1519—J. E. Joyce-- Amends Revenue Act and State Mandates Act to provide that equalization factor for all assessment years beginning in 1987 shall not exceed that factor for assessment year 1985; exempts from the State Mandates Act.

Illinois Parks and Recreation 23 November/December 1987

Governor's action on bills: a primer

A bill must be sent to the Governor within 30 days after passage. If he approves a bill, he signs it, enacting a law. If the Governor does not approve a bill, he vetoes it, returning it with his objections to the house where it started. If the Governor fails to act on a bill within 60 days after receiving it, a law is enacted without his signature. The Illinois Constitution allows the Governor to make four kinds of vetoes: total, amendatory, item and reduction. The last two apply only to appropriation bills. Amendatory vetoes have in practice been used only on substantive bills.

Total Veto

The Governor may reject an entire bill and send it back with a statement of objections. The house where the bill started enters the objections on its journal. Then, within 15 calendar days after receipt of the bill, that house votes on overriding the veto.

If, by at least three-fifths of the members elected to it (71 in the House, 36 in the Senate), the first house repasses the bill over the veto, the bill is sent to the second house. If that house within 15 calendar days re-passes the bill by vote of at least three-fifths of the members elected to it, the bill enacts a law. Otherwise the total veto stands, and the bill is dead.

Amendatory Veto

A Governor who approves the general purpose of a bill but finds fault with some of its details can return the bill "with specific recommendations for change" to the originating house. In practice, Governors have returned these bills with the exact wording of suggested changes.

An amendatorily vetoed bill is considered the same way as a vetoed bill, except that each house may, instead of overriding the veto, accept the recommendations by a majority of the members elected to it. Thus, two responses are possible to pass an amendatorily vetoed bill:

The General Assembly can override the veto by three-fifths vote of each house and enact the bill into law, or it can accept the Governor's recommendations by a majority of the members elected in each house. In the latter case, the bill is returned to the Governor, and if he certifies that it conforms to his recommendations, this enacts a law.

The Constitution does not say how long a Governor has to certify a bill or return it as a vetoed bill. If the General Assembly refuses to accept the proposed changes and also fails to override the veto, the veto stands, and the bill is dead.

Item and Reduction Vetoes

Item and reduction vetoes allow a Governor to cut parts (line items) of an appropriation bill without vetoing the whole bill. In an "item" veto, the Governor eliminates an entire line item; in a "reduction" veto, he merely reduces an amount in a line item. In either case, the amounts remaining in the bill are enacted immediately upon the Governor's transmission of his veto message.

However, the majorities needed to restore amounts cut are different. A line item that has been vetoed is treated like a totally vetoed bill; that is, a three-fifths majority in each house is needed to restore the item. An item reduced, however, can be restored to its original amount by a majority of the members elected to each house.

Effective dates

The effective date of a law must be distinguished from the day a bill enacts a law. A bill enacts a law when the last step for enactment occurs. This may be (1) the Governor's signing it, (2) the Governor's failure to act within 60 days, (3) override of a veto, or (4) certification by the Governor that it conforms to his amendatory veto recommendations.

When any of these things happen, the bill has enacted a law; it is filed with the Secretary of State who assigns it a Pubic Act number.

However, when the law becomes effective depends on several factors. The Constitution provides that a bill passed before midnight June 30 without an effective date in its text will take effect on a uniform date set by law; at present that day is January 1 of the next year. However, a bill passed before midnight June 30 may set an effective date in its text which can be earlier (or later) than the uniform date established by law.

If a bill is passed after June 30, the Constitution provides that the law cannot take effect until July 1 of the following year, unless it contains an earlier effective date and is passed by three-fifths of the members elected to each house.

Determining the effective date of a law resulting from an amendatorily vetoed bill is more complex. If the General Assembly accepts the Governor's recommended changes, the bill is considered "passed" for effective-date purposes when those changes are accepted by the second house. Assuming that is after June 30, the effective date will be July 1 of the next year, again unless an earlier date is in the text and the amendatory veto is accepted by three-fifths vote in each house.

If the General Assembly rejects the Governor's recommended changes, the bill is before the General Assembly as a totally vetoed bill. If the veto is then overridden, the bill has been enacted in the same version in which it first left the General Assembly. Assuming that was before midnight, June 30, the law can take effect on the uniform statutory date or another date stated in its text.

These rules are subject to one overriding exception: A law can never be effective before it becomes law, regardless of any dates in its text or the statute on effective dates.

Note: This information was prepared by the Legislative Research Unit, State of Illinois.

Illinois Parks and Recreation 24 November/December 1987