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Override looms on budget veto
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Posted on Jun 07 2000
Lawmakers are plotting possible override of Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio’s veto on the FY 2000 budget bill. But it is uncertain whether they will have enough votes of two-thirds from each chamber.
Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider said the eight House members in the minority bloc have agreed not to support an override, noting that such a move will mean “negligence in our responsibility.”
There was no official statement yet from the 10-member House leadership, but Floor Leader Oscar M. Babauta said they still need to discuss what course to take.
The lower house will need 12 members voting in favor of the override to meet the constitutional requirement.
The Senate, on the other hand, seems to have the required six votes in the bag, coming from Rota and Tinian senators who had pushed for the $15 million spending level each for their respective municipalities during this fiscal year.
But the Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee is scheduled to meet later this week to tackle the plan, according to its chair Sen. Edward U. Maratita.
“The Senate has enough votes and the House floor leader said that they have enough votes to override the veto,” he told reporters in an interview yesterday.
Senate Vice President Thomas P. Villagomez said in an interview after a meeting with his colleagues that he remains “cautious” on any override proposal. “I’m concerned that we may have unbalanced budget this year,” he added.
The upper house is set to hold its session next week where the override is likely to take place.
The governor disapproved the proposed spending plan for the projected $207 million revenues in the current fiscal year, citing potential deficit and layoffs of government employees due to the budget cuts made by the Legislature.
He also noted several provisions that could affect ability by the government to collect taxes as well as violations of constitutional requirement concerning expenditure of public lands funds.
Mr. Maratita, however, maintained those concerns were addressed when they passed the budget bill nearly four months into the next fiscal year.
