Legal Definitions - line-item veto

A line-item veto is a specific power granted to some executive officials, most commonly state governors, that allows them to reject particular parts or "lines" of a legislative bill while approving the rest of it. Unlike a traditional veto, which requires the executive to accept or reject an entire bill, a line-item veto enables the executive to strike out specific provisions, often related to spending, without affecting other provisions in the same bill. This power is designed to give executives more control over spending and to remove objectionable clauses without derailing an entire piece of legislation. It is important to note that while many states grant this power to their governors, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the President of the United States does not possess a federal line-item veto.

Here are some examples illustrating the application of a line-item veto:

• State Budget Approval: Imagine a state legislature passes a comprehensive annual budget bill that allocates billions of dollars across various state agencies, programs, and projects. The governor generally supports the overall budget but identifies a specific allocation of $10 million for a new, non-essential administrative office building that they believe is wasteful. Instead of vetoing the entire budget bill, which would cause a government shutdown, the governor uses a line-item veto to strike out only the $10 million allocation for the new building. The rest of the budget, including funding for schools, healthcare, and public safety, is signed into law and takes effect.

  This example demonstrates how the line-item veto allows an executive to target and eliminate a specific spending provision without disrupting the vast majority of a critical piece of legislation.

• Infrastructure Funding Bill: Consider a state legislature that passes a bill designed to fund several infrastructure improvements across the state, including road repairs, bridge maintenance, and the construction of a new municipal arts center. The governor strongly supports the road and bridge work, which are vital for public safety and economic development, but believes the arts center project is a local amenity that should not be funded by statewide taxpayers. The governor can exercise a line-item veto to remove only the section of the bill that appropriates funds for the municipal arts center. The provisions funding the road repairs and bridge maintenance are then signed into law, allowing those projects to proceed as planned.

  Here, the line-item veto enables the governor to approve the essential infrastructure projects while rejecting a specific, unrelated expenditure within the same bill.

• Education Reform Legislation: A state legislature passes a broad education reform bill that includes provisions for teacher salary increases, new statewide curriculum standards, and a pilot program to provide free tablets to students in a specific, affluent school district. The governor supports the teacher raises and curriculum changes, seeing them as beneficial for all students, but views the tablet program for one wealthy district as an inequitable use of state funds. The governor can use a line-item veto to eliminate only the funding and authorization for the tablet pilot program. The rest of the education reform bill, including the teacher salary increases and new curriculum standards, becomes law.

  This illustrates the power to remove a distinct program or initiative from a larger policy bill without rejecting the entire legislative package, allowing the executive to shape policy more precisely.