By the Utah Constitution, legislators have until April 30 to call themselves into an override session. If they do, they may only vote any of the vetoed bills up or down, without amending the bills or passing related new bills. And it takes a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate to override a gubernatorial veto.

Huntsman Deputy Chief of Staff Mike Mower says several senators have called the governor's office, asking how they should vote on their override ballots.

It is common practice for legislators who have had one of their bills or spending priorities vetoed to begin lobbying their fellow lawmakers, encouraging them to return their override ballots with a "yes" mark.

House leaders said that as of Tuesday afternoon, 21 legislators had voted for an override, 18 had voted against. "If that trend continues through all 75, we don't have enough" votes for an override session, said House GOP chief of staff Chris Bleak.

"We'd need almost a clean sweep" (get about 80 percent) of the remaining 35 or so representatives to get the two-thirds (50 votes) needed for an override vote in the House, Bleak said, noting the odds of that happening, while possible, are slim.

Huntsman has never had a veto overridden. During the 45 days of the 2006 Legislature he vetoed SB70, Sen. Howard Stephenson's bill that would have taken away some gubernatorial authority in the state approving new hazardous and radioactive waste storage.

The Senate overrode the veto, but the House refused to even vote on it the final day of the session. Since a bill vetoed during a general session must be overridden during the same session, the veto was upheld.

The three bills Huntsman vetoed out of session are:

• HB148, which would forbid courts from using the common law doctrine "in loco parentis" to award any rights of a minor child against the wishes of a biological or adoptive parent. Christensen said it shores up parental rights, while critics said the bill jeopardized existing custodial arrangements, particularly with stepparents or grandparents. Huntsman cited these "unintended consequences" in his veto of the legislation.

• HB100, by Rep. Aaron Tilton, R-Springville, which could require a large bond before someone could sue over an environmental issue, which Huntsman said raises constitutional questions because it could impede access to the courts.

• And HB151, by Rep. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, which would have required high school students taking college courses to pay more for the higher classes. Huntsman vetoed the bill because he said there was sufficient funding for the so-called concurrent enrollment classes.

Valentine said there is little support to override HB100 or HB151, while "only HB148 is still in play" in the Senate.

But House leaders, as of Tuesday, don't see the 50 needed to override any vetoed bill — thus keeping the veto record of Huntsman, who has a very high job approval rating by Utahns, clean.

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