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Financial Literacy Bill Is Rejected by Governor
GOVERNOR VETOES HUNDREDS OF BILLS
Financial Literacy Bill Is Rejected by Governor
Yesterday at midnight was the deadline for Governor Schwarzenegger to sign or veto the hundreds of bills that reached his desk in the final days of this legislative session. To the shock of many legislators and sponsors of legislation, the Governor vetoed hundreds of bills using the identical veto message, which read: "I am returning [this bill] without my signature. The historic delay in passing the 2008-09 State Budget has forced me to prioritize the bills sent to my desk at the end of this year's legislative session. Given the delay, I am only signing bills that are of the highest priority for California. This bill does not meet that standard and I can not sign it at this time." In some cases, the Governor's veto actions defied logic, as many bills passed the legislature unanimously, with no opposition, and others were non-controversial "committee bills." Needless to say, there are a lot of angry legislators and frustrated sponsors of legislation due to the Governor's highly unusual actions.
If you have been following this year's Budget debacle closely, you may recall that in August, the Governor threatened to veto any measure that was sent down to him, until a Budget was signed. As a consequence, the legislature held over 700 bills "at the desk" in the Senate and the Assembly until a Budget agreement was in place. One member of the Governor's staff told a group of us lobbyists several weeks ago, "If the legislature thinks they can send us 700 bills in the final days of the Governor's bill signing deadline, they will be met with 700 vetoes." Since the Budget stalemate was so prolonged, and the Budget bill only signed last week, this left the Governor with only a week to act on the 700 plus bills that the legislature unleashed on his office two weeks ago.
On a few bills, the Governor gave very explicit signing or veto messages, explaining the reasons for his actions. Last night, as one of his final actions, the Governor vetoed AB 2123 by Assemblyman Ted Lieu. The measure would have created a financial literacy clearinghouse of information in the State Controller's Office. The measure was supported by the State Controller's Office, CLA, and various bank and financial groups. In his veto message, the Governor states:
"I am returning AB 2123 without my signature. While financial literacy is not a cure-all for personal economic troubles, expanding educational outreach efforts to improve financial literacy can be helpful for consumers who could be better equipped to make positive financial choices. However, this bill merely duplicates existing services and resources. Many financial institutions and service providers already provide an abundance of information on financial literacy, much of which is available online and otherwise....I prefer to have the appropriate state agencies work collaboratively together and with private sector entities to meet the objective, within their existing resources. For these reasons, I am unable to sign this bill."
In 2008, Governor Schwarzenegger has signed 772 bills, and vetoed 415 bills. This reflects a veto rate of 35%, which far exceeds the rate of any previous Governor. The previous high for a veto rate was approximately 25% by Governor Gray Davis in 2000.
Submitted by Mike Dillon and Christina DiCaro, CLA Lobbyists
Posted on October 2, 2008 2:32 PM | Permalink