Manifolds, Manolos, and Manure The Final Say, or Just Another Negotiation Tool
The 1970 Illinois Constitution, Article 4, Section 9 establishes the Governor’s veto powers, which are among the most extensive in the nation.
The Governor is allotted four types of vetoes: total, item, reduction, and amendatory. A total veto can apply to any bill, whereas item and reduction vetoes apply only to appropriation bills. Most controversially, an amendatory veto can be used on non-appropriation items.
Amendatory vetoes allow the Governor to approve part of the bill and to change the part of the bill that s/he doesn’t agree with. As to the degree that a Governor can wield their amendatory veto pen, the Illinois Supreme Court has held that a completely new bill cannot be penned in. Equally, the fundamental purpose of the original bill cannot be changed. The Governor make any “substantial or expansive changes.” But the Governor can make more than technical changes.
Voters in 1974 rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to restrict the Governor’s amendatory veto power to only technical corrections and matters of form. Farm Bureau policy supports limiting the Governor’s amendatory veto power to only technical corrections and matters of form (Policy 109 Legislative Bodies).
If the General Assembly disagrees with the Governor, they have the ability to override the veto with a three-fifths vote. If they agree or want to restore an amount reduced by an item veto, they need a simple majority.
Since taking office, Governor Pritzker has rarely issued vetoes, instead opting to negotiate with the supermajority in the legislature. Former Governor Bruce Rauner, on the other hand, issued vetoes every year he was in office. Notably, Rauner vetoed 83 bills in 2018 and the Illinois budget in 2017.
Speaking of veto power, the Illinois Municipal Code (65 ILCS 5/Art. 6-4-2) provides the veto power of Chicago’s Mayor. The power is further reflected in the operations of the city.
According to the City Clerk’s office, veto power has been used sparingly by recent Chicago mayors. According to a recent WBEZ article, Chicago mayors have issued at least 1,889 vetoes since 1851. A vast majority of those vetoes occurred from 1871 to 1931 during the ‘Council of the Gray Wolves’ era. Unsurprisingly, like gray wolves sparing over their quarry, aldermen who were also party bosses scrapped over their split of the city’s budget. Hence the moniker.
Vetoes are typically used in one of two manners. To return all parties to the negotiating table. Or because the Executive opposes the measure.
Veto power has been used sparingly during the twenty-first century. However, just 17 months into office Chicago’s mayor issued the first Chicago veto in 19 years. Prior to that Mayor Richard M. Daley issued one veto during his entire 22 years in office.
Time has yet to tell whether today’s veto will stand or be overridden. The measure passed with 27 votes, 7 shy of a veto-proof majority.
However, the single veto issued by Mayor Daley passed with a veto-proof 35-member majority; but when the dust settled Mayor Daley had flipped just enough members to ensure that the veto override failed.
Veto power is an integral part of the process of checks-and-balance in the great experiment we call democracy.