With the Utah legislative session having recently come to a close, hundreds of bills move to Governor Spencer Cox’s desk for his consideration. As the governor weighs the decision to sign or veto legislation, it seems natural to wonder how the veto power of Utah’s governor varies with the veto powers (and corresponding legislative override powers) governors vary across the 50 states.
Each of the 50 states in the United States has a governor who has some kind of veto power. This veto power is granted to governors by their respective state constitutions and the state executive to reject legislation passed by the legislature, acting as a check against the legislative branch. There are four types of veto powers afforded to governors: package veto, line-item veto, amendatory veto, and reduction veto. A package veto (also referred to as a total veto) is the constitutional power of a state governor to reject an entire bill passed by the legislature, preventing it from becoming a law. A line-item veto is executive power to reject specific parts of a bill (usually spending provisions) without vetoing the entire piece of legislation. Utah is among the 44 states that grant this power to their governors. An amendatory veto, permitted just in 7 states, allows a governor to return a bill to the legislature with specific recommendations that the legislature must vote to accept or reject the governor’s recommended changes. A reduction veto is a specialized veto allowing the governor to lower the specific dollar amount of spending items in an appropriations bill without vetoing the entire bill or zeroing out the item. Utah does not grant amendatory or reduction veto powers to the governor.
The governor’s veto power is important in a state’s government, but the veto override power is arguably more important. The map below shows that in six states (concentrated in the Upper South region) require only a simple majority of those elected in both chambers to override a veto. A few states in the Midwest or Mid-Atlantic regions require a 3/5 supermajority (60%) of those elected for veto override. Utah, at present, joins a majority of states in requiring a 2/3 majority to override a veto. Like most of these states, Utah requires 2/3 of those elected for a veto. A smaller number of states allows a slightly more relaxed standard of 2/3 of those present to override a veto, slightly reducing the number of votes required to override given that some legislators may be absent at the moment of a veto override vote. This places the Utah governor’s veto in the category that is most difficult to override.
The veto power and override power are essential parts of interbranch power dynamics in state government. The governor’s veto power to reject (or even alter) legislation positions him or her to be a representative of everyone in a state in exercising a measure of legislative power. A legislature’s ability to override vetoes prevents excessive executive power and encourages compromise within the government system. While the 50 states balance these powers in different ways, all 50 states strive for a system where neither the executive nor legislative branch will have too much power at the cost of the other.
