2% pay cut may happen after all ?

House will review legal challenge to Crist veto

By Joe Follick


Published: Thursday, May 28, 2009 at 11:48 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, May 28, 2009 at 11:48 a.m.
House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, will be in Tallahassee next week and one appointment he’ll have will be with staff to determine if the Legislature might challenge one of Gov. Charlie Crist’s two vetoes on the budget bill this week.

Crist vetoed a paragraph spelling out that state employees making more than $45,000 per year should receive a two percent pay cut. Crist did not veto the myriad line items in the budget related to the pay cut.

While the state’s constitution allows governors to veto line items in a budget approved by the Legislature, it does not allow the governor to veto such “proviso” language unless each of the corresponding spending line items are also vetoed.

Senate budget chairman JD Alexander, R-Lake Wales, said Wednesday that Crist’s veto was “clearly unconstitutional” and that he would favor a legal challenge on the principle of maintaining the Legislature’s constitutional authority.

Legislative lawsuits to limit a governor's power are not unusual. The House and Senate successfully challenged Crist's gambling agreement with the Seminole Indians last year, a lawsuit that cost about $100,000 in legislative legal costs alone.

Hopefully it is legal and the veto stands. :|

Fascinating, isn't it? No matter what happens, the Governor comes out with no stink on his hands. A very good move politically, don't you think?

Fascinating, isn't it? No matter what happens, the Governor comes out with no stink on his hands. A very good move politically, don't you think?

I was thinking about the same thing. With the lawyers up there he should know if this is legal or not.

Senate budget chairman JD Alexander, R-Lake Wales, said today that Gov. Charlie Crist’s veto of budget language that mandated a two-percent pay cut for state employees making more than $45,000 was unconstitutional.

While the state’s constitution allows governors to veto line items in a budget approved by the Legislature, it does not allow the governor to veto “proviso” language that spells out how the executive branch shall carry out certain spending decisions unless each of those corresponding spending line items are also vetoed.

“It’s clearly unconstitutional,” said Alexander.

Asked if he thought the Legislature would sue over the issue, as it has done in the past with a successful challenge of a 2000 veto by Gov. Jeb Bush, Alexander said, “If it was up to me, I certainly would just out of principle. I don’t have any personal issue with the governor but it’s against the constitution.”

Still, a legal challenge seems unlikely. Lawmakers didn’t challenge Crist’s 2007 veto of proviso language that allowed for limited tuition hikes at state universities, a position Crist reversed the following year.
Crist said Wednesday that he believed he had the legal authority to veto the salary reduction for state employees. And his veto will not affect the state’s budget picture since he asked agency heads to make cuts in spending equal to that of the proposed salary cuts.

“I believe now is not the best time to reduce state employees’ pay – especially as we are seeing many signs that our economy is beginning to turn around,” Crist said. “It has been my hope that we would not have to take millions of dollars out of the pockets of 28,000 people throughout our state.”

If this isnt' the biggest bunch of horsh shite I've ever seen! All you PBA union bunnies must be proud to have backed all these arseholes!