As promised, Huntsman vetoes bill regulating inter-state agreements

Legislators better not tell Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. what to do.

Huntsman on Thursday vetoed a bill that would have required legislative pre-approval on any interstate agreements costing the state more than $50,000.

"By reserving for the Legislature the final authority to approve or reject significant interstate agreements, (the bill) violates core principles of government established in the Utah Constitution," Huntsman wrote in a letter to legislative leadership.

While lawmakers deny it, SB144 may well have sprung from displeasure last fall when Huntsman signed a Western climate initiative with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger—a moderate, environmentally friendly Republican not much loved in Utah's conservative wing of the party.

The bill passed both the House and Senate, with more than two-thirds vote, despite a promise by Huntsman to nix the bill. It takes a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate to override a gubernatorial veto.

But an override likely won't happen, as both sides have agreed to communicate in the future about such agreements.

"In order to facilitate greater competition in the future, except in emergency circumstances, I will brief the President, the Speaker, the Majority and Minority leaders in the Senate and the House before signing a significant interstate agreement that within the year following the agreement would require a change in statute or an additional appropriation," Huntsman wrote.

Huntsman said the executive branch of government routinely enters into interstate agreements for things like wildfire suppression, seeding, wildlife transfers and such that can't wait until legislators meet in their January-February general session.

In an interview earlier this week, House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy said there is not a lot of appetite in the House to have a veto override vote against Huntsman on the issue.

Because the bill passed in the middle of the 45-day session, Huntsman had only 10 days to either veto it, sign it or let it become law without his signature.

The Legislature concludes its session Wednesday.

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E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com