Posted on 07/08/2015 10:20:59 AM PDT by GIdget2004
The office of Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) and the clerk in the Maine House are in disagreement over the fate of 19 bills that the governor apparently did not veto in time to prevent them from becoming law. One of the bills grants welfare benefits to some immigrants, which LePage vehemently campaigned against in 2014.
As the Bangor Daily News reported Tuesday evening, LePage appeared to be attempting to use the parliamentary procedure known as the pocket veto. By not signing the bills and "pocketing" them, LePage could under some circumstances have effectively vetoed them. In theory, that would have allowed the proposals to die without legislators having a chance to override his veto. But the pocket veto only works if the legislature has adjourned after the end of the second regular session. And there is the rub.
The clerk of the Maine House told TPM Wednesday morning that the legislature, which is nearing the end of the first regular session, has not adjourned. By not vetoing the bills within the required 10-day period, LePage allowed the bills the opposed -- some ferociously -- to become law.
But LePage's office is now claiming the legislature did adjourn. "The Legislature passed a joint order on June 30, 2015 to adjourn—not to 'recess,'” LePage's office said in a Wednesday email to TPM.
That has left the clerk of the Maine House thoroughly confused.
(Excerpt) Read more at talkingpointsmemo.com ...
Lefties stirring up confusion.
waiting to the last minute? cowardice.
i sense there is more to the story.
politicians who want to get something passed into law without being blamed for it resort to these kind of tactics. it’s all obfuscation on the surface, but back room deals when you dig deeper.
i hate politicians.
Inept politicians - can you imagine?
If the Gov. intended to veto the bills, why didn’t he simply do so? I’ve never really followed the concept of pocket veto, the decision should be binary. You either do or do not want to pass the legislation.
Don't hold back. It's not good for the immune system. Tell us how you really feel! :)
Too busy excusing Christie.
There would not be “any confusion” had this dumb-a$$ Governor simply
vetoed the bills.
But he is in the GOP, and therefore has to lie.
Like all in the GOP, he has to lie to conservatives
and then, without shame, support Obama.
That hatred is widely shared and much deserved.
So the governor is claiming they adjourned, and the Democrats are claiming that adjourned didn't really mean adjourned.
-PJ
They should be vetoed the second they hit his desk
I agree. He should have the guts to sign his name and say “this is a crappy law and I reject it”.
those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it...
So the question: is there any *there* there?
But before we can determine the meaning of *there*, we must first agree on the definition of *is*.
Once having agreed on the definition of *is*,we can then determine the definition of *there*.
Once all definitions have been established we can then begin litigation to determine if, in fact, there is any appreciable amount of there there.
Oh Joy!
We can keep two judges and three armies of lawyers busy for years!
;)
At the rate law schools are turning them out, there will soon be more lawyers than humans!
After reading the story it doesn't sound like LePage needs any help in that regard.
I live in Maine. Gov. Paul LePage is no coward.
If he was holding on to the bill, he did so because he didn’t want the democrats and the RINOs to override his veto. Like the article says, a pocket would allow the bill to die without giving the dems a chance to override the governor’s veto, just as long as the Maine House and Senate are not in session.
LePage is dead set against illegals getting benefits of any kind.
Maine was a sanctuary state under the previous governor, a democrat.
Two days after being sworn into office in January 2011, Paul LePage ended Maine’s status as a sanctuary state.
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