THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 28, 1996 TAG: 9610280036
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY EMERY P. DALESIO, ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: 48 lines
North Carolina's governors perform their jobs with the weakest array of powers of any in the country - even if voters end their status as the only state chief executives without veto authority, a new study says.
The veto powers North Carolina governors would be allowed to wield, if voters approve a referendum Nov. 5, would be narrowly defined in comparison to the broad vetoes other governors can use, according to a study released today.
In addition, some of the appointing and oversight powers most governors have over state government are divided in North Carolina among the other offices that make up the Council of State, said the study released by the North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research.
The study comparing the formal powers of governors in all 50 states was conducted by Thad Beyle, a political science professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A version also will appear in a textbook on politics in the states published this fall, Beyle said Sunday.
Beyle said comparing the formal powers of each state's governor tells only part of the story of how effective any person holding the job can be. For example, a governor's ability to take advantage of the news media or a leader with charisma can offset a weak institutional hand, Beyle said.
Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. has been effective, in part, by using his power to appoint allies to boards, including the State Board of Education and the state Transportation Board, Beyle said. Hunt also has pushed his spending and budgeting priorities by assembling, and then lobbying for, the budget blueprint the legislature uses as a starting point every two years.
``A person like Jim Hunt knows how to use the power he has, both formally and informally,'' Beyle said. ``He's a governor who is aggressive; an activist governor, a governor who is always pushing.''
The veto proposal on next month's ballot, if approved, would give North Carolina governors a weak stick to wave at political foes in the state Legislature, Beyle said.
The North Carolina veto would give governors a choice to block an entire bill or allow all of it to pass into law. Forty-three other states allow their governors a stronger line-item veto - allowing the state's chief executive to cross out entire lines of printed legislation he does not like.
Also, overriding a veto by a North Carolina governor would take 60 percent of the legislators present for a vote. Other states require two-thirds, 67 percent, of the legislature to back an override.
KEYWORDS: STUDY GOVERNOR NORTH CAROLINA by CNB