Line Item Veto

Amend the Texas Constitution to grant the Governor line-item reduction veto authority over the state budget.

Some states provide a more flexible line-item veto than Texas, granting their governors a “reduction” line-item authority, by which a specific appropriation may be approved but reduced in amount. As Alexander Hamilton explained in Federalist No. 73, the veto power recognizes: “that the legislature will not be infallible… that a spirit of faction may sometimes pervert its deliberations; that impressions of the moment may sometimes hurry it into measures which itself, on maturer reflection, would condemn…”

Granting “reduction” line-item veto authority to the Texas Governor would give a fiscally responsible Governor a useful tool to reduce spending without eviscerating appropriations entirely. The “reduction” power is a flexible tool that could help constrain the growth of government.

It is important to note that the same legislative veto override authority would exist as under current law. Article IV, Section 14 of the Texas Constitution holds that “If, on reconsideration, one or more of such items be approved by two-thirds of the members present of each House, the same shall be part of the law, notwithstanding the objections of the Governor.” Therefore, the Legislature could override a reduction veto via a two-thirds vote.