Governor’s Veto List

Under Hawaii’s Constitution, the Governor has 45-days after the legislatures' adjournment (i.e., sine die) to consider bills presented to her on, or less than 10-days prior to, the legislatures’ adjournment. After the 2008 Legislative Session adjourned on May 1, the 45-day deadline is July 8. (See, note supra).

However, the Governor is required to give the legislators 10-days notice regarding the bills she intents to veto before July 8, that notice deadline was yesterday, June 23. The Governor’s notice proclamation is commonly referred to as the veto list. Any bill not on the list cannot be vetoed and becomes law.

All of the land use bills that I wrote about in the 2008 Legislative Session Round Up were not on the veto list and so will become law. Noticeably absent from the list were the important agricultural lands (“IAL”) bills and the mandatory solar bill.

Notable bills on the veto list include:

• SB2198, which would provide a tax credit to landowners who donate land for open space or conservation.
• SB2644, which would require that the state historic preservation officer (i) be a qualified historic preservation professional in architecture, architectural history, archaeology, history, culture, or a closely related field, who meets the professional qualification standards established by the United States Secretary of the Interior; and (ii) have professional experience with respect to historic preservation in Hawaii.
• SB2933, which would prevent any agreement (e.g., covenants, conditions, and restrictions) that would prohibit a landowner from erecting and using a clothesline for the purpose of drying clothes on the premises of any single-family residential dwelling or townhouse.

The legislature may reconvene on the July 8 in a special session to override the Governor’s veto.

Note: If you’re wondering how July 8 is 45-days from sine die which was May 1, the magic number is arrived at by excluding weekends, holidays, and days in which the legislature was in recess prior to adjournment. (See Haw. Const. Art. III, § 16.) Talk about voodoo math!