Interactive: How Perry Uses His Veto Power

Gov. Rick Perry has vetoed 275 bills since he took office in December 2000 — including two in the past week. Now, dozens of bills from the 83rd Legislature's regular session are on his desk for review. They will either go into law — with or without the governor’s signature — or suffer a veto. In three of Perry's seven sessions as governor, he vetoed 50 or more bills. What was surprising the first time he did it — nixing 83 bills after the 2001 session — has become less surprising over time. It’s the particulars that confound lawmakers, who never seem to know which bills are on the chopping block.

83rd Regular Session (2013)

2 Vetoes (and counting...)

This year — so far, anyway, since the governor’s veto list won’t be complete until June 16 — the headline-grabber was Perry’s veto of a bill that would require nonprofits that get involved in elections to reveal the names of their otherwise secret donors.


High profile vetoes
Bill Caption Veto Proclamation
SB 346 Relating to reporting requirements of certain persons who do not meet the definition of political committee. pdf
View complete list at the Legislative Reference Library

82nd Regular Session (2011)

25 Vetoes

In 2011, the veto of a ban on texting-while-driving got the headlines. A similar bill died in a Senate committee this year.


High profile vetoes
Bill Caption Veto Proclamation
HB 242 Relating to the enforcement of public safety, including the privileges and duties of certain types of law enforcement officers. pdf
View complete list at the Legislative Reference Library

81st Regular Session (2009)

39 Vetoes

After the 2009 legislative session, Perry vetoed an expansion of pre-kindergarten in public schools and a bill that would have allowed state highway officials use state funds to advertise and promote toll-road programs.


High profile vetoes
Bill Caption Veto Proclamation
HB 130 Relating to an enhanced quality full-day prekindergarten program provided by public school districts in conjunction with community providers. pdf
HB 2142 Relating to the promotion of toll projects by the Texas Department of Transportation. pdf
View complete list at the Legislative Reference Library

80th Regular Session (2007)

56 Vetoes

The 2007 surprise was the governor’s veto of an eminent domain bill pushed by fellow conservatives. That fueled a political split between Perry and one of his original institutional backers — the Texas Farm Bureau. He also killed a bill that would have extended special pension benefits — the benefits extended to elected officials — to a couple of non-elected House employees. He had signed a similar bill two years earlier.


High profile vetoes
Bill Caption Veto Proclamation
HB 2006 Relating to the use of eminent domain authority. pdf
HB 3609 Relating to membership and service credit in the Employees Retirement System of Texas for certain employees. pdf
View complete list at the Legislative Reference Library

79th Regular Session (2005)

20 Vetoes

In 2005, Perry was back in the budget, vetoing $35.3 billion in funding for public education. That forced a special session, a revision to the state’s business franchise tax, and a round of property tax relief that turned out to be more short-lived than the politicians hoped as value increases ate up the property owners' tax savings.


High profile vetoes
Bill Caption Veto Proclamation
SB 1 General Appropriations Act. (Line item veto.) pdf
View complete list at the Legislative Reference Library

78th Regular Session (2003)

50 Vetoes

After the 2003 session, he whacked 50 bills, but the vetoes that got attention were in the state budget. At the time, then-Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn said lawmakers had spent more money than they had available and threatened not to certify their work, as the Texas Constitution requires. Perry made some cuts, the budget balanced, and Perry and Strayhorn were on their way to a feud settled when he won the 2006 race for governor and she went home.


High profile vetoes
Bill Caption Veto Proclamation
HB 1 General Appropriations Act. (Line item veto.) pdf
View complete list at the Legislative Reference Library

77th Regular Session (2001)

83 Vetoes

In 2001, the governor vetoed legislation that would have banned the use of the death penalty on convicted killers with profound mental disabilities. Another veto went to a bill that would have allowed undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses.


High profile vetoes
Bill Caption Veto Proclamation
HB 236 Relating to the applicability of the death penalty to a capital offense committed by a person with mental retardation. pdf
HB 396 Relating to the requirement that an applicant for a driver's license provide certain identification information to the Department of Public Safety and to the duty of the department to provide a voter registration application form to an applicant. pdf
View complete list at the Legislative Reference Library

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