NC veto trivia

Gov. Pat McCrory is only the fourth North Carolina governor to wield the veto stamp.

Posted 8:55 p.m. Aug 22, 2013 — Updated 9:08 p.m. Aug 22, 2013

Mark Binker

RALEIGH, N.C. — With the North Carolina General Assembly headed back to town for a veto override session on Sept. 3, here are five bits of veto trivia:

North Carolina did not have the option to veto bills until 1996. Gov. Jim Hunt, a Democrat who had served three prior terms without the veto, was the first chief executive to be vested with veto power. He never used it.

Including McCrory's two vetoes this year, Govs. Mike Easley, Bev Perdue and McCrory have issued a total of 31 vetoes. Perdue, a Democrat, issued 19 of those during 2011 and 2012.

Once a veto is issued, North Carolina's constitution requires the governor to call the legislature back for a special session. If the governor fails to call a veto override session 40 days from the point at which the session adjourned, the bills he or she vetoed become law not withstanding his or her objections.

In order to override a veto, three-fifths of those House and Senate members "present and voting" must vote to pass a bill not withstanding the governor's objections. If all members of the General Assembly show up, that requires 72 of 120 votes in the House and 30 of 50 votes in the Senate.

Lawmakers overrode only one of Easley's nine vetoes. Perdue saw 11 of her 19 vetoes overridden.

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