JUDICIARY PROGRAMS NOT SUBJECT TO LINE-ITEM VETO

For Immediate Release: July 7, 2003

HONOLULU – On June 20, Governor Linda Lingle announced her intention to veto various bills passed by the Legislature, including 20 line-item vetoes of appropriations from the Rainy Day Fund contained in Senate Bill 1305.

According to Lillian Koller, director of the Department of Human Services, and Dr. Chiyome Fukino, director of the Department of Health, the affected programs in each case were new, newly expanded, or duplicative, or the language of the appropriation was legally flawed.

Two of these items involve grants-in-aid to be expended by the Judiciary.

The Office of the Attorney General has since determined that items to be expended by the Judiciary are not subject to line-item veto.  Section 16 of Article III of the State Constitution empowers the Governor to exercise line-item vetoes, “except for items appropriated to be expended by the judicial branch.”

Accordingly, the Judiciary items will not be vetoed tomorrow when the Governor officially exercises her veto power.  The two affected items are in Sections 3 and 14 of the bill. 

Section 3 appropriates $200,000 “to provide treatment services for child victims of intra-familial sexual abuse, including psychological treatment and case management services for child victims and their families who are not covered under the child protective services system of the Department of Human services.”

Section 14 appropriates $150,000 “for the Domestic Violence Clearinghouse and Legal Hotline for Maui program services.”

Contact: 

Russell Pang
Chief of Media Relations
Phone: 586-0034