Gunn, Hosemann blame each other for not overriding governor's vetoes

Jan. 5—JACKSON — State lawmakers on Thursday decided not to override several partial vetoes Gov. Tate Reeves issued last year over list of special spending projects, potentially giving the governor more power over spending decisions in state government.

Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, the leader of the Senate, and House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, pointed fingers at each other and blamed the other chamber for failing to whip enough votes to overcome the governor.

The effort to override the veto had to be initiated in the House because the bill in question was a House bill. But Gunn said he wanted a commitment from the Senate before attempting an override something he apparently never received.

"We had the votes," Gunn said of the 122-member House. "The Senate tells us they don't."

Hosemann initially didn't answer questions from reporters on Thursday about whether he had the votes in the Senate chamber needed to override the veto. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders at reporters and strode out of the Senate chamber.

After he filed paperwork to run for re-election, Hosemann later told reporters that he couldn't be held responsible for failing to override the governor's action because the House failed to act on the veto.

"We never took a vote in the Senate," Hosemann said. "It was a House bill, so they had to bring it out of the House. I understand today they didn't bring it out, so at this point, we'll never know. If they had brought it out, I guess we would have addressed it in the Senate."

Sen. Dean Kirby, a Republican from Pearl who is second-in-command in the Senate, told reporters that he wasn't sure if the Senate actually had the votes to override the vetoes.

"I haven't talked to any senators about it," Kirby said.

The most notable project that Reeves, a Republican, vetoed last year from House Bill 1353 is around $13.2 million to go toward improving the Otter Creek Golf Park at the LeFleur's Bluff State Park in Jackson.

Other projects included a parking lot at the Jackson Convention Center, renovations to the Russell C. Davis Planetarium in Jackson, a green space next to the federal courthouse in Greenville and money to assist with renovating city offices in Pascagoula.

The governor at the time justified the partial veto by saying that the city of Jackson needed to invest in things like more law enforcement officers rather than spending state tax dollars on a golf course.

"I want Mississippians to have confidence that their money is being spent wisely," Reeves said at a news conference last year.

Reeves didn't cut any Northeast Mississippi projects from the bill, but he could in the future if the Legislature chooses a similar action on spending projects.

Although the bill funded projects, it was technically a "transfer" bill, meaning it shifted funds from one pot of money to another — not an appropriations bill. The Mississippi Constitution allows the governor to only line-item veto appropriations bills, but not general bills.

Gunn said allowing the governor to partially veto a general bill, which the Constitution doesn't permit, sets a dangerous precedent in state government.

"This wasn't about the projects," Gunn said. "This is about does a governor have the authority to line-item veto in a general bill?

Line item vetoes have been a large point of contention the past few years between legislative leaders and the governor, all Republicans.

The Mississippi Supreme Court historically has ruled that a governor's ability to issue partial vetoes is extremely limited. But the state's highest court broke with precedence in 2020 by ruling that Reeves had large power to cut specific items out of spending bills.

Gunn said he does not plan to seek any type of recourse through the courts again with Reeves' latest veto.

taylor.vance@djournal.com