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Appeals court supports governor’s veto power

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A California appeals court sided Tuesday with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in a fight with state lawmakers over the breadth of the governor’s line-item veto authority.

Last summer, Schwarzenegger wielded his veto pen to make roughly $500 million in spending cuts after lawmakers passed a budget that he said was not balanced. Advocacy groups filed a lawsuit arguing that the governor overstepped his legal rights.

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On Tuesday, the 1st District Court of Appeal ruled in Schwarzenegger’s favor, saying his vetoes, which affected child welfare, state parks and AIDS treatment programs, among other programs, were legal.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and former Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles), arguing on the side of the advocacy groups, had told the judges that Schwarzenegger did not have the right to use his line-item veto authority because the legislation they passed cut an existing budget. They said the governor can use the line-item veto only when a budget is originally approved.

“This argument amounts to little more than wordplay,” the court ruled.

The Schwarzenegger administration welcomed the decision.

“Because the legislature failed to send the governor a balanced budget after months of debate last year, the governor was forced to make these difficult cuts,” said Rachel Arrezola, Schwarzenegger’s spokeswoman. “We applaud the court in upholding the governor’s authority to veto appropriations.”

Steinberg’s office did not immediately respond to request for comment. He has filed a related lawsuit, which has yet to be heard at the trial court level. The fate of that case was not immediately clear.

-- Shane Goldmacher in Sacramento

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