GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1991

S	1 

SENATE BILL 156*

Short Title:  Veto.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Senators Smith; and Bryan.
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Referred to:  Constitution.
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February 21, 1991

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR A GUBERNATORIAL VETO REQUIRING A TWO-THIRDS VOTE TO OVERRIDE AND INCLUDING A LINE-ITEM VETO FOR APPROPRIATIONS MEASURES.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  Article II, Section 22 of the Constitution of North Carolina reads as rewritten:
	"Sec. 22. Action on bills.  
(1)	Appointments by General Assembly. Every bill in which the General Assembly makes an appointment or appointments to public office and which contains no other matter, shall be read three times in each house before it becomes law, and shall be signed by the presiding officers of both houses.
(2)	Joint resolutions. Every joint resolution shall be read three times in each house before it becomes effective, and shall be signed by the presiding officers of both houses.
(3)	Local bills. Every bill that applies in fewer than 15 counties shall be read three times in each house before it becomes law and shall be signed by the presiding officers of both houses. The exemption from veto by the Governor provided in this subdivision does not apply if the bill, at the time it is signed by the presiding officers:
a.	Would extend the application of a law so that the law would apply in more than half the counties in the State, or
b.	Would enact a law so similar in effect to another law or laws that the result would be a law applying in more than half the counties in the State.
Notwithstanding the previous sentence, a bill is exempt from veto if by its terms it applies to the government of only one named county, city, town, school administrative unit, or other unit of local government and contains no other matter. Notwithstanding any other language in this subdivision, the exemption from veto provided by this subdivision does not apply to any bill to enact a general law classified by population or other criteria, or to any bill that contains an appropriation from the State treasury.
(4)	State Senate redistricting. Every bill revising the Senate districts and the apportionment of Senators of the General Assembly among those districts, and containing no other matter, shall be read three times in each house before it becomes law and shall be signed by the presiding officers of both houses.
(5)	State House redistricting. Every bill revising the representative districts and the apportionment of Representatives of the General Assembly among those districts, and containing no other matter, shall be read three times in each house before it becomes law and shall be signed by the presiding officers of both houses.
	(6)  Bills subject to veto by Governor; override of veto. Any other bill shall be read three times in each house and shall be signed by the presiding officer of each house before being presented to the Governor.  If the Governor approves, he shall sign it and it shall become a law; but if not, he shall return it with his objections, together with a veto message stating his reasons for such objections, to that house in which it shall have originated, which shall enter the objections and veto message at large on its journal, and proceed to reconsider it.  If after such reconsideration two-thirds of all the members of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections and veto message, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered; and if approved by two-thirds of all the members of that house, it shall become a law notwithstanding the objections of the Governor.  In all such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the members voting shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively.
(7)	Time for action by Governor; reawakening of session. If any bill shall not be returned by the Governor within 10 days after it shall have been presented to him the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the General Assembly shall have adjourned:
a.	sine die; or
b.	for more than 30 days,
in which case it shall become a law unless, within 30 days after such adjournment, it is returned by the Governor with his objections and veto message to that house in which it shall have originated. When the General Assembly has adjourned sine die or for more than 30 days, the Governor shall reconvene that session as provided by Article III, Section 5(11) of this Constitution for reconsideration of the bill, and if he does not reconvene the session, the bill shall become law on the 40th day after such adjournment.
(8)	Return of bills after adjournment. For purposes of return of bills not approved by the Governor, each house shall designate its principal clerk or another officer to receive returned bills during its adjournment.
(9)	Line-item veto. If any bill presented to the Governor contains items of appropriations of money, he may object to one or more items while approving of the other portion of the bill. In such a case he shall append to the bill, at the time of signing it, a statement of the items to which he objects; and the appropriations so objected to shall not take effect. He shall transmit to the house in which the bill originated a copy of such statement, and the items objected to shall be separately reconsidered. If after such reconsideration any such items be approved by two-thirds of all the members of that house, the item or items approved, together with the Governor's statement of objections thereto, shall be transmitted to the other house and the item separately reconsidered; and if any item be approved by two-thirds of all the members of of that house, the same shall be part of the law, notwithstanding the objections of the Governor. All the provisions of this section in relation to bills not approved by the Governor shall apply in cases in which he shall withhold his approval for any item or items contained in a bill appropriating money.”
Sec. 2.  Section 5 of Article III of the Constitution of North Carolina is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
	"(11) Reconvened sessions.  The Governor shall, when required by Section 22 of Article II of this Constitution, reconvene a session of the General Assembly. At such reconvened session, the General Assembly may only consider such bills as were returned by the Governor to that reconvened session for reconsideration.  Such reconvened session shall begin on a date set by the Governor, but no later than 40 days after the General Assembly adjourned:
a.	sine die; or
b.	for more than 30 days.
If the date of reconvening the session occurs after the expiration of the terms of office of the members of the General Assembly, then the members serving for the reconvened session shall be the newly elected members."
Sec. 3.  Article XIII, Section 1 of the Constitution of North Carolina reads as rewritten:
"Section 1.  Convention of the People.  
No Convention of the People of this State shall ever be called unless by the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members of each house of the General Assembly and of the Governor, and unless the proposition ‘Convention or No Convention' is first submitted to the qualified voters of the State at the time and in the manner prescribed by the General Assembly.  If a majority of the votes cast upon the proposition are in favor of a Convention, it shall assemble on the day prescribed by the General Assembly.  The General Assembly shall, in the act of submitting the convention proposition, propose limitations upon the authority of the Convention; and if a majority of the votes cast upon the proposition are in favor of a Convention, those limitations shall become binding upon the Convention.  Delegates to the Convention shall be elected by the qualified voters at the time and in the manner prescribed in the act of submission.  The Convention shall consist of a number of delegates equal to the membership of the House of Representatives of the General Assembly that submits the convention proposition and the delegates shall be apportioned as is the House of Representatives.  A Convention shall adopt no ordinance not necessary to the purpose for which the Convention has been called."
¨	Sec. 4.  Article XIII, Section 4 of the Constitution of North Carolina reads as rewritten:
"Sec. 4.  Revision or amendment by legislative initiation. 
A proposal of a new or revised Constitution or an amendment or amendments to this Constitution may be initiated by the General Assembly, but only if three-fifths of all the members of each house shall adopt with the concurrence of the Governor an act submitting the proposal to the qualified voters of the State for their ratification or rejection.  The proposal shall be submitted at the time and in the manner prescribed by the General Assembly.  If a majority of the votes cast thereon are in favor of the proposed new or revised Constitution or constitutional amendment or amendments, it or they shall become effective January first next after ratification by the voters unless a different effective date is prescribed in the act submitting the proposal or proposals to the qualified voters."
Sec. 5.  The amendments set forth in Sections 1 through 4 of this act shall be submitted to the qualified voters of the State on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November of 1991, and the election shall be conducted under the laws then governing elections in the State.
Sec. 6.  At that election, each qualified voter desiring to vote shall be provided a ballot on which shall be printed the following:
"[]	FOR constitutional amendments to give the Governor a veto, including a line-item veto for appropriations, subject to being overridden by two-thirds of all the members of each house of the General Assembly.
[]	AGAINST constitutional amendments to give the Governor a veto, including a line-item veto for appropriations, subject to being overridden by two-thirds of all the members of each house of the General Assembly."
Those qualified voters favoring the amendments shall vote by marking an "X”or a check mark in the square beside the statement beginning "FOR", and those qualified voters opposed to the amendment shall vote by marking an "X”or a check mark in the square beside the statement beginning "AGAINST".
Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, voting machines may be used in accordance with rules and regulations prescribed by the State Board of Elections.
Sec. 7.  If a majority of votes cast are in favor of the constitutional amendments set out in Sections 1 through 4 of this act, then the State Board of Elections shall certify the amendments set out in Sections 1 through 4 of this act to the Secretary of State who shall enroll the amendments so certified among the permanent records of his office.  The constitutional amendments proposed by Sections 1 through 4 of this act shall become effective January 1, 1992.  
Sec. 8. This act is effective upon ratification.