ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, May 7, 1996 TAG: 9605070114
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: ROBERT LITTLE STAFF WRITER
As Gov. George Allen prepares for his 14-day trade mission to Asia, his staff and the attorney general are plotting a Supreme Court challenge that could test his constitutional sway over the state legislature.
Monday, Allen released his final list of bills signed and vetoed this year, a house-cleaning of sorts before his two-week trip to Tokyo, Hong Kong and Korea, which begins Friday.
But absent from the list was the one bill the governor has yet to act on - one that includes the list of changes to the state budget.
Allen and Attorney General Jim Gilmore plan to use the bill as the platform for a state Supreme Court challenge later this year.
At issue: How much power the governor has to amend or veto legislation acted on by the legislature. Allen refused to consider the bill legislators presented him because it represented only portions of the budget - not the whole thing.
Allen said the move compromised his line-item veto power, and the state constitution gives him authority to consider the whole budget - not just changes the General Assembly recommends. Legislators argued that Allen's interpretation would grant the governor virtually free rein over state spending.
While the court case unfolds - and, possibly, elucidates the powers of the executive and legislative arms of state government - Allen spokesman Ken Stroupe says money appropriated in the bill can still be spent.
The fiscal year ends June 30. Stroupe would not say when the court challenge might come, but said money can be disbursed under administrative authority.
"The bigger issue is the question of how the General Assembly must present legislation to the governor," Stroupe said.
LENGTH: Short : 43 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1996by CNB