Governor to decide which bills he’ll veto

December 19, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

COLUMBUS (AP) — For the first time in recent memory, an Ohio governor will decide whether to veto bills pushed by the opposing party in its waning days of total legislative control.

Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, is mulling the fate of a handful of bills passed by Republicans, who next year lose control of the Ohio House but still will dominate the Senate.

The Legislature finished its business Thursday, having sent at least three bills to Strickland he has voiced concerns about. He has already promised to veto a bill that pays bonuses to the veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars out of the state’s emergency budget fund.

He also will decide in the coming days whether to veto a bill that trims 15 days off Ohio’s early voting period and one that gives tax breaks to the movie industry at a time when the state budget is facing a projected $7 billion deficit over the next two years.

Strickland, who vetoed a Republican bill on his first day in office nearly two years ago, finds himself in an unusual position as he faces bills from a lame-duck legislative session completely controlled by Republicans.

Strickland’s predecessor, former Republican Gov. Bob Taft, worked with a Republican-controlled Legislature during his entire eight-year tenure from 1998-2006.

Former Gov. George Voinovich, a Republican, dealt with a Democratic-controlled House from 1991-94. And the last Democratic governor before Strickland, Richard Celeste, contended with a Republican Senate from 1985-89.

Celeste vetoed three individual bills in the 1987-88 legislative session. Strickland vetoed a bill limiting lead-paint lawsuits his first day in office and may veto three bills from just the lame-duck session that began after the Nov. 4 election.

“This is the first time in a long time that a governor of one party has faced a lame-duck legislative session controlled by the opposite party,” said Ohio State University political science professor Herb Asher. “The Republicans fully expect the governor to veto some of their bills.”

Strickland will decide whether Republicans were too aggressive after their election losses. His decisions could have political implications.

Republicans have passed the veterans bonuses bill over the objections of the governor, who wanted to pay for the bonuses by issuing state bonds. Strickland can follow through on his veto threat — and risk the likely GOP attack that he’s not for veterans — or he can sign it.

Even Republican lawmakers said the bill was being treated like a political football.

The early-voting reduction, opposed by most Democratic lawmakers, also is a politically charged topic.

Strickland spokesman Keith Dailey said the governor had not yet decided whether he would veto the elections bill or the tax credit proposal.