City Budget Veto Absurdity Redux

Posted by Jeff Pruitt - 11/15/09 @ 12:59 pm - Filed Under City Council, Featured

Last year the administration claimed that they were considering using the line-item veto over the council’s decision to eliminate a PIO position. Councilman Mitch Harper reminded them that a veto can remove something from the budget but it can’t put something back in. Here was my take at the time:

I sincerely hope the city attorney was not suggesting that the mayor can veto something in order to increase a line item in the budget. The mayor might be able to strike the city council assistant position or some other act of retribution but the idea that he can veto a line that doesn’t exist is ridiculous.
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here’s the thing, as any 2nd year political science student would know, you can’t veto something into a bill…The mayor will be presented with a budget and if he wants to eliminate certain line items then he should go for it but he cannot assert some sort of kingly right to insert money into the budget without council approval

Now, with two neighborhood advocates axed from the budget, they are making the same outrageous claims:

Yet when the council eliminated two neighborhood advocates this year, no such threat was made. But that doesn’t mean Henry thinks he no longer has that authority.

“We feel we do have the ability,” he said of the line-item veto.

In fact, Henry said his staff discussed using it on the cut but decided against it partly because its legality would likely be challenged.

Why doesn’t the mayor just submit a $1 billion budget then? And when the council removes something the mayor wants he can simply veto it back into the budget. All I can say to the mayor is “your logic is flawless”…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRVgl7y8VX8