Doyle coy on veto pen
Saying he still has "plenty" of veto powers left despite the April 1 voter referendum to curb them, Gov. Jim Doyle said this afternoon that he will have to see what the Legislature gives him before deciding on how he'll alter the budget repair bill.
As he has repeatedly for the past several weeks, Doyle said he has "significant problems" with provisions in the Legislature's proposal to push $125 million in school aids off into the next biennium.
"It will just make our jobs much tougher to do next year," Doyle said to reporters today at the state Capitol.
Doyle was also critical of the use of tobacco settlement cash in the legislative plan, but admitted it may be difficult for him to be ideologically "pure" about it given the dire budgetary straits the state faces.
Doyle proposed pulling $30 million out of securitization in his proposal to fix the shortfall.
Doyle said contracts for summer road projects, which are due to be awarded tomorrow, will go out as scheduled, but said ominously that the state must "hold out the possibility" that the projects may not be able to move forward on their original timetable.
Doyle said one option he will explore is whether to veto the entire bill.
"I hope not. I really do," Doyle said of using his pen to veto the full bill. "I don't think that's what it will come to."
"When the bill is on my desk, I'll make the decision of what I am going to do," he said.
Asked how much the referendum to do away with the so-called "Frankenstein veto" will hamper his powers, Doyle replied, "I think I have plenty of veto power left."
Listen to the press conference here.
Labels: Budget_Repair_Bill, Doyle
