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Mon, Otherwise: Gov on SHP, Veto
posted at 2010-07-20 14:28 | Last modified 2010-07-20 14:28
As you might expect, the questions for Governor Bev Perdue at today’s BD announcement had little to do with the new facility. Most centered on her next steps in replacing Randy Glover as SHP chief.
In case you missed it, Glover stepped down Friday afternoon after less than a year in the Patrol’s top post. Perdue’s office sent out a release saying it had received his resignation, but Glover later told WRAL he had retired, not resigned.
Whichever it was, the SHP needs a new leader. State law requires the commander to be chosen from within the ranks of the Patrol. But critics of the SHP say the only way to clean it up is to bring in new blood from the outside. Perdue said today she’s not opposed to that idea in theory, but she wants the job filled quickly.
I really don’t want to call to have to call the General Assembly back for a special session, and I really don’t want to wait till January. So I’m very hopeful we can work within the parameters, and then change the law if need be in January.
Later this week, Perdue says, she’ll announce the names of the panel she’s putting together to find the new SHP chief. She says she’ll step back and let them do the screening and interviewing.
Perdue’s been accused of favoritism in last year’s appointment of Glover, a longtime friend. She insisted again today there’s no truth to that. Hear it here.
Listen Now!
Warming up the stamp?
As of tonight, there are 101 bills on the governor’s desk, waiting for her signature. She said today there’s one she doesn’t much like.
First, a note. On the federal level, once Congress adjourns (just to clarify), a bill can’t become a law unless the president signs it. If it doesn’t get signed, it’s a “pocket veto,” and the bill dies. At the state level, it works the other way around. Any bill the governor doesn’t act on becomes law 30 days after the end of session. (That’d be Monday, August 9th.) If she wants to veto something, she has to get out the big red stamp, explain herself, and then invite lawmakers back to town to try to overturn it.
Perdue said today she might just do that. She wouldn’t identify the bill, but said it’s a matter of separation of powers.
I have one that we talked about this morning in the morning meeting. There’s one that I’m really considering. It’s a usurpation, I believe, of the governor’s power as governor. And so it’s not so much about the quality – the content of the bill. It’s about the fact that one of my jobs is to make sure that the governor’s powers, whether it’s me or somebody else in the future, stay intact.
My first guess was H1734, DOT Powers and Duties Changes, but I’ve already been informed that that isn’t it.
Here's the list as of 10 pm tonight. If you’ve got a better nominee, send it along.
Comments? Drop me a line.
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