Finance chief questions Manchin budget power

[davidinalameda]

http://www.wvgazette.com/section/News/Other%20News/2005042613

House Finance Chairman Harold Michael, D-Hardy, questions if Gov. Joe Manchin overstepped his authority when he line-item vetoed 18 spending directives totaling more than $8 million in the 2005-06 budget bill.

Under the state constitution, the governor has line-item veto power strictly for the budget bill. It states, “The governor may veto the bill, or he may disapprove or reduce items or parts of items contained therein.”

Manchin, in a veto message submitted Friday, did not reduce or eliminate any budgeted amounts. In those 18 cases, he removed provisions detailing how the budget appropriations were to be allocated.